remarkable twin facts
Twins together in space for the first time
For the first time in history, two twin brothers will go to space. Scott and Mark Kelly (age 46) will be together in the International Space Station in February 2011. Of the twin brothers Mark the most experienced astronaut. He has three times previously been in space. Scott has two missions to his name.
Showbiz twins on the way
Mariah Carey is pregnant. If the rumors are true then there is double happiness for her and her husband Nick Cannon. Even actor John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are expecting twins. As well as Celine Dion is pregnant with two babies. She and her husband Rene Angélil hoped for one baby "and it is a double blessing that we get two."
Twin brothers born in different decades
The identical twins Marcello and Stephano won't celebrate their birthday on the same day. On New Year's Eve mother Margarita from Florida was brought to hospital for a caesarean. Marcello was born just before midnight and has yet experienced 2009. Brother Stephano arrived after midnight and so has not witnessed the "0 years. The boys were born 10 weeks premature.
André Rieu has become a grandfather to twins
Pierre, the son of the famous violin player, has become father of two healty twin girls Linde and Like on October 13, 2009. André is incredible proud and he can't wait to see his newborn granddaughters. Last June André became grandpa for the first time. His grandson Ivan is the little boy of André's son Mark.
Wil and Lenie Nowee are the oldest twins in the Netherlands
The twin sisters Wil and Lenie Nowee, the oldest twins in the country, have celebrated their 98th birthday on June 3rd 2009. Wil lives in Didam and Lenie stays in Naaldwijk. “We still share our secrets with each other”, reveals Wil. They love to revive old memories together. Wil lives with her husband in a single-storey house in Didam. They have been married for 70 years.
NYC Twins Restaurant
What a concept! There is a restaurant in New York City called "Twins." It was started by twin sisters Lisa and Debbie Ganz on November 14th 1994. The restaurant is staffed by 37 sets of identical twins who work the same shifts. Each evening they get 10 or more sets of twins or multiples who patron their unique restaurant.
In Indian village Kodinhi counts 220 set of twins
People are trying to unravel the mystery of Kodinhi boasting more than 220 sets of twins born to just 2,000 families. Experts who have visited the remote tropical village, in Kerala, have been left scratching their heads over the phenomenon that has seen almost six times as many twins born than the global average. In 2008 alone 15 pairs of twins were born in the village out of 300 healthy deliveries and 2009 is expected to top that number.
What is the change of having twins?
In Western Europe twins occur in 1 out of 80 pregnancies. Worldwide (identical) twins occur at a rate of approximately 1 per 250 births. That is quite a number if you bear in mind that the total number of residents in the Netherlands is 16 million and the world population counts over 6 billion people.
Alicia en Jasmin: ebony and ivory twin sisters
The Australia couple Natasha Knight of mixed-race Jamaican-English heritage and Michael Singerl of origin in Germany are well blessed by one-in-a-million chance. Establishing a little individuality is a challenge faced by most twins. But nature has already given a helping hand. Gorgeously chubby and sunny-natured, the girls already turn heads when their parents take them out. But many do a double take when they realise Alicia is black while Jasmin is white. Alicia's eyes were brown and her hair was dark. Jasmin's eyes were blue and her hair was white.
Twins and left hand preference
Approximately 7 to 10 percent of the adult population is left-handed, and left-handedness is more common in males than females. Left-handedness, in comparison to the general population, also appears to occur more frequently in both identical and fraternal twins. Over 20% of all twins have a left hand preference.
The secret language of twins
About 40% of all twins share a secret language, a form of communication known only to them. Terms such as idioglossia, autonomous language or cryptophasia describe the phenomenon of twin language, a fascinating concept that has intrigued researchers and parents alike. Language development in twins is often delayed, but mostly they catch up over time.
'Über mum' Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev
Incredible, but true! The world record for having the most number of children officially recorded is 69 by the first of two wives of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782), a peasant from Shuya, 150 miles east of Moscow. In 27 confinements, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. The children were born between 1725-1765.
Not fully identical?
Identical twins share their DNA for 100%, but still they don’t have exactly the same finger prints. Though they may have the same pattern and they can have the same classification, some sleights will be different since no one is the same.
Twin brothers fool traffic police of Switzerland
Two identical twin-brothers from Switzerland have evaded the law by constantly blaming each other for hundreds of parking tickets that they received on a shared car. The Swiss police said that in the past year alone, the twins have collected 29 parking tickets, which of course, they refuse to pay by telling the court that other brother was behind the wheel! Being identical twins, the cops can't actually rely on eye-witnesses to prove who was driving the car when they got the tickets!"It is immensely frustrating for our officers. Every time we hand out a ticket to one of them we know what is going to happen next and that they will never pay it. But there really is nothing we can do."