The Apple Tree: It might live for over 100 years and grow to over 40 feet.
The apple is a very popular fruit. So popular, in fact, that some believe that Adam and Eve ate an apple against God's express orders. If they did, it was a very bitter apple -- prehistoric apples were not all that great; in fact, they were very sour. I will now proceed to barrage you with a bushel of apple facts.
- Apple drafting (tying two plants together in order to breed them) was begun in 300 B.C. by the ancient Greeks.
- This accomplishment was quickly stolen by the Romans, who were responsible for the apple's spread all over Europe, especially to England.
- Apple orchards were very popular in the Middle Ages, owing to the great demand for the apple.
- When the apple was later taken to America, apple pie became very popular, resulting in the phrase "As American as Apple Pie".
- William Tell, a famous Swiss archer, shot an apple off of his son's head to prove his skill at archery to an evil king. For more information on this (although this source's reliability is sometimes in question) see Asterix en Suisse.
- Isaac Newton, famous English physicist, is rumoured to have started the thought process that led to the formulation of the Theory of Gravity when an apple fell on his head.
- Apples are good sources of potassium and Vitamins A and C, resulting in the saying goes: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away -- if you aim it right."
- Currently, there are perhaps 10,000 types of apples!