AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING CXLIII

1. The food restriction KOSHER in Judaism is equivalent to HALAL in Islam.

2. Fenway Park, built in 1912 and home of the Boston Red Sox, is the oldest active ballpark in Major League Baseball.

3. The word PHARAOH in Egyptian means "great house" and originally referred to the royal palace where the pharaoh lived. Like "White House" in our day, - which refers to the President and Executive Branch,  the word pharaoh became a metonym for the the pharaoh himself.

4. The oldest professional musical ensemble in the United States is the U.S. Marine Corps Band.

5. A cowboy rodeo is equivalent to a ROLEO for lumberjacks.

6. Giant pandas are bears, but red pandas are not bears. Red pandas are in the family related to skunks, weasels, and raccoons. Koalas also are not bears. They are marsupials - carrying  their young in a pouch. The closest living relative of the koala is the Australian wombat. 

 7. The dam and sire are the respective female and male names of the parents of an animal, especially a domesticated animal like a horse or cow. 

8. Fernando Valenzuela is the only player in MLB history to have won both the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award (for pitching) in the same year.