Fun Apple Facts

· Apples are a member of the rose family.

· Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at least 6500 B.C.

· Hippocrates, the Greek physician considered the father of medicine, was a proponent of nutritional healing. His favorite remedies were apples, dates, and barley mush.

· Although apples are now considered...well... as American as apple pie, they weren't native to this country. Apples were brought here by the Pilgrims, who found North America's native apple species--crabapples--to be inedible.

· In colonial times, apples were called "winter banana" or "melt-in-the-mouth."

· What did kids do before video games? Settlers made toys for their children from whatever was at hand, including apples. "Apple dolls" were made by carving a face in an apple and allowing it to dry.

· Why do apples float? Because 25% of an apple's volume is air.

· It takes the energy of 50 leaves to produce just one apple.

· The whole process of digesting a raw apple takes only 85 minutes, which makes an apple one of the easiest vegetable substances for the stomach to deal with.

· Ever wonder why it's called an "Adam's Apple?" Because it's said that a piece of the forbidden fruit that tempted Adam and Eve got stuck in Adam's throat, leaving his descendents to live with a lump in the front of their necks for all eternity.

· The United States is the world's second-largest producer of apples. Only China produces more.

· Approximately one out of every four apples harvested in the United States is exported.

· Apples have long been associated with love and marriage. In ancient Greece, an apple constituted a marriage proposal. A man would toss an apple to his beloved, and if she caught it, it meant she had accepted his offer. An Irish and Scottish custom called for throwing an apple peel over your shoulder, which, when it landed, would form the initial of your lover's name. Even the tradition of throwing rice (or now, birdseed) at a wedding is rooted in an ancient practice in which apples were thrown at the newlyweds. Rice and birdseed probably result in a lot less bruising...on both the apples and the bridal couple.

· Apples were one of the foods selected for the first space flight around Earth.

» Spicing Up Your Apples!
» An Apple A Day
» Choosing the Right Apple
» Apples At Every Meal!
» Storing Apples
» The MANY Varieties of Apple!
» Fun Apple Facts

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