From Amazon to Birds

Issue 16

1. Amazon’s original name was Abracadabra. Bezos wanted his company name to start with “A” to be towards the front of directories or at the top of listings. But he received feedback that this name sounded too much like a dead body – a cadaver. He renamed this new book-selling company to the name of the South American river Amazon, the largest river in the world.

   

2. In an era of political "firsts," yesterday evening offered one of the most symbolic when, for the first time, two women leaders — Vice President Kamala Harris, 56, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 81, flanked the American president Joe Biden, on the dais of the House Chamber as he delivered an address to a joint session of Congress. They are also next in the line of succession the the US Presidency.

3. Tennis was originally played with bare hands. The game was first played in France in the 12th century, using your palm to hit the ball back to your opponent. 

4. Birds cannot chew their food and instead swallow their prey whole. They depend on gravity to push their food down the esophagus and then later be propelled into their stomachs.