Why do cats have nine lives?

"Most animals need to be more alert than humans. No animal can afford to be inattentive if it is to evade predators, and predators themselves survive by outwitting their prey. Among domestic animals, the cat is most reliant upon alertness, inheriting from its ancestor the quick wits and instant reflexes that characterize the wild cat. Even the dog, the only other carnivore widely kept as a pet, seldom maintains quite the same razor-sharp alertness; its forte is stamina, plus cooperation with its fellows, canine and human.

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The cat's combination of caution, agility and swift reaction to emergency has become part of our folklore. The myth prevails that, if there is a way of surviving, the cat somehow will find it whenever its life is threatened."

Article source: Reader's Digest Why In The World

Why do we break a wishbone and wish?

Have you ever had the experience of having a wishbone on your plate at the end of a chicken meal? ...well, you are the lucky one!

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The popular custom of snapping chicken wishbones goes back to ancient times. Back in the 4th century B.C. the Etruscans of central Italy sacrificed an animal, a fowl, in calling upon one of their Gods who would foretell future events or solve grave problems. The forked bone from the bird's breast (the furcula) was dried in the Sun, later, two people broke it and the one who got the larger piece of the broken bone made a wish. This custom was then adopted by Romans, later spread to many parts of Europe.
There are two reasons given why the ancient chose the furcula, and not a rib or wing.

• one says that the bone resembles the human crotch, which is symbolic of life
• another says that the wishbone resembles a good-luck symbol, a horseshoe

We are doing now what was done before, using a chicken wishbone. The one who got the larger part of the bone makes a wish and in the best tradition of fairy tales , it says that the wish will come true.
Now finish your meal and grab that wishbone. Find a partner. Pull and make a wish!

Source: Reader's Digest Why In The World.

Why do we have Christmas trees?

Christmas is fast approaching and almost everyone is counting down. Some are busy buying Christmas decors, some are buying and putting up the Christmas tree. But why do we have Christmas trees?

From the Reader's Digest Why In The World, the explanation goes like this:

Legend has it that a long, long time ago, a child was seeking shelter on a bitter winter's night at a forest hut. A woodcutter and his wife who lived in the hut took the child in and fed him. Then overnight, the child turned into an Angel-- the Christ child -- dressed in gold. The child rewarded the couple for their kindness by giving them a twig from a fir tree,

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and told them to plant it, promising that every year, during the Christmas season, it would bear fruit. And so it did, some silver nuts and a crop of golden apple. It was then the very first Christmas tree.

To express the magic of Christmas, of all its symbols, a custom started with this fir tree ablaze with light, shimmering with frost, real or artificial and crowned with a star.

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This custom has become popular worldwide and the now familiar sight of a giant Christmas trees seen in public places and modern shops are now widespread.

Why do brides wear white?

" Something old, something blue, something borrowed, something blue..."

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There are events that are prone to superstitions such as a wedding ceremony. Aside from the wedding couple's parents, and more than anyone else, the one who's the most concern, if she cares at all, is the bride herself.
During the ceremony, brides usually wear white. It is an old-age rule and has been practiced in centuries that the bride should wear nothing colored, (though usually, something blue is an exception to this because of an old custom) White represents the bride's purity, innocence and simplicity.
To escape criticism from many superstitious beliefs in colored gowns, white (and something blue) is favored for the wedding ceremony. Nevertheless, these superstitions are traditional to some countries.

"Married in red, you'd better be dead,
 Married in yellow, you're ashamed of the fellow,
 Married in green you're ashamed to be seen,
 Married in pink, your spirit will sink,
 Married in white, you have chosen right,
 Married in blue, your lover is blue ".

Reference : Reader's Digest Why In The World

Why doesn't a haircut hurt?

A pinch and much more a cut on a finger hurts. A strong tap on the head also hurts. Why doesn't a haircut hurt?

 Here's a fact : Almost your entire body is covered with hair, though much of it is so fine that makes it barely visible. The hair grows from some 5 million follicles, of which about 100,000 are in the scalp. The hair is already dead by the time each hair emerges from within each follicle. No amount of hair tonic or any wonder cure can revive it.
Our scalp hair usually grows on average of about 12 - 15 centimeters or 5 to 6 inches in a span of one year. It keeps getting longer, even though its dead. These older, dead hair cells are being pushed out by the new hair growth. Cutting the dead hair doesn't hurt, but you'll cry out in pain when your hair s pulled from the root.

Reference: Reader's Digest Why In The World

Why do onions make your eyes water?

In normal circumstances, our lovely eyes are always being watered by up to 1/4 of a teaspoon per day of the secretions to keep our eyes moist and to wash away dirt or foreign particles and bacteria. These fluid secretions are drained away by tear ducts. When tears are secreted faster than they can be drained, the excess tears flow out of the eyes and run down the face. This is observed when we cry.

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When peeling or cutting an onion, it makes eyes water because of the sulfur-rich oil being released from the onion. This oil readily evaporates in the air and soon it reaches the eyes. The nerve endings in the conjunctiva ( this is the transparent tissue that covers the eyes and underside of eyelids) gets irritated by this sulfurous oil from the onion. The instinctive reaction then is for the sensitized nerve to send signals which stimulates the tear ( lacrimal ) gland in both eyes to produce extra fluid. This extra fluid which is the tears then wash over the eyes to flush out the irritating substance from the onion.
Putting the onions under water while cutting them will help reduce tears because the water will capture most of the juices of the sulfur-rich oil.

Reference: Reader's Digest Why In The World 

Why do we blush with embarassment?

Two certain facts: animals don't blush, and people don't blush in private. Why then do we blush with embarrassment? And to add to that, the harder you try to stop yourself from blushing, the more your face gets red!

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Blushing is a complex reaction that psychologists have variety of explanations. Blushing is an involuntary reaction that is dictated by our mind, but a part of our mind over which we have no control. Whenever you blush, tiny blood vessels supplying your face and its surrounding area suddenly dilates or widen, allowing more blood to flow through than the usual.
Some people blush in an instinctive reaction when they commit what they believe is unreal, or when they have done nothing wrong. For instance, many people get embarrassed by praise. Maybe they are shy, or they prefer to be swallowed up by a crowd instead of being singled out from it.
Dr. Murray Blimes of Berkeley, California said that " The striking thing about blushing is its implicit mixed signal. A blush is a funny mixture of wanting to hide and at the same time wanting to attract someone".
For adolescents, a tendency to excessive blushing usually vanishes with age. This is such a consoling fact for teens.

Reference : Reader's Digest Why In The World