Forums

1. Although mathematicians have used zero since at least the 8th century, the word ‘zero’ was first recorded in English only in 1604.

2. The real name of actor Zero Mostel (1915-1977) was Samuel Joel Mostel.

3. His nickname ‘Zero’ came from his parents telling him he would never amount to anything.

4. When Anders Celsius introduced the scale of temperatures named after him in 1742, zero was the boiling point of water and 100 its freezing point.

5. Bell peppers are rated zero on the Scoville scale of chilli pepper hotness.

6. Ostriches are zero-rated for VAT but feathers and other inedible parts are taxed as normal.

7. The earliest record of the phrase ‘zero tolerance’ was in the New York Times in 1972.

8. In 1985, French astronaut Patrick Baudry announced his discovery that: 'In zero gravity you can put your trousers on two legs at a time.'

9. In 1963 it was confirmed by a spider called Arabella that spiders can spin webs in zero gravity.

10. “The best measure of a man’s honesty isn’t his income tax return. It’s the zero adjust on his bathroom scale,” (Arthur C Clarke).