Today's interesting fact has to do with Gallons, Quarts, Pints and liquid Ounces.

Most people know that the British Pint (20 British Ounces) is larger than the American Pint (16 American Ounces).

Most people automatically understand therefore, that the British Quart, (2 British Pints) is larger than the American Quart (2 American Pints), and the British Gallon is larger than the American Gallon.

But how many people know that the American liquid Ounce (29.5735296 ml) is larger than the British liquid Ounce (28.4130742)?

To make things slightly more complicated, in the US they also have what is called a US label ounce, which is 30 ml in size.

Nick Myall doesn't like spiders, so he asked me to do something else today.

So, today's interesting fact has to do with Cockroaches.

Cockroaches have been around for at least 300 million years, which is 70 million years before the first identified dinosaurs.

Their overall basic design has not changed in all that time.

The big difference between fossilized examples and present day ones is the loss of a long ovipositor (egg laying tube) in the current crop.

Of the 5000 odd species so far identified, only five try to inhabit our homes.

The big four are: German cockroach, Brown-banded cockroach, American cockroach and Oriental cockroach.

The identifying the names by places may be misleading, as they are found all over the world and there is no evidence as to where they originated.

The fifth inhabitant is a new arrival, which we can positively identify its origin, and that is the Australian roach, which has only recently decided to join our households and is so far mainly located on that island continent.

Cockroaches can spread disease, and lots of people are allergic to their faeces.

Cockroaches eat anything, including human hair, calluses and nails as well as other cockroaches.

Sailors are reported to have sometimes worn gloves to protect their fingernails.

It turns out that Nick isn't that enamoured with Cockroaches either.