The Facts of Life

The Facts of Life may refer to:

Fact

A fact is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability—that is, whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement (by experiments or other means).

Etymology and usage

The word fact derives from the Latin factum, and was first used in English with the same meaning: a thing done or performed, a meaning now obsolete. The common usage of "something that has really occurred or is the case" dates from the middle of the sixteenth century.

Fact is sometimes used synonymously with truth, as distinct from opinions, falsehoods, or matters of taste. This use is found in such phrases as, "It is a fact that the cup is blue" or "Matter of fact", and "... not history, nor fact, but imagination." Filmmaker Werner Herzog distinguishes clearly between the two, claiming that "Fact creates norms, and truth illumination."

Life

Life is a characteristic distinguishing physical entities having biological processes (such as signaling and self-sustaining processes) from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (death), or because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. The criteria can at times be ambiguous and may or may not define viruses, viroids or potential artificial life as living. Biology is the primary science concerned with the study of life, although many other sciences are involved.

Throughout history there have been many theories about life including materialism, hylomorphism and vitalism. Even today it is a challenge for scientists and philosophers to define life. The smallest contiguous unit of life is called an organism. Organisms are composed of one or more cells, undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, can grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce (either sexually or asexually) and, through evolution, adapt to their environment in successive generations. A diverse array of living organisms can be found in the biosphere of Earth, and the properties common to these organisms are a carbon- and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information.

FACT

FACT or FACTS may refer to:

Organisations

Science and technology

Other uses

Thanks for the Memory

"Thanks for the Memory" (1938) is a popular song, with music composed by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin. It was introduced in the 1938 film The Big Broadcast of 1938 by Shep Fields and His Orchestra with vocals by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross.Dorothy Lamour's solo recording of the song was also popular, and has led to many mistakenly believing over the years that it was she, and Hope, who sang the tune in the film (in which Lamour also appeared).

In the film, Ross and Hope's characters are a divorced couple who encounter each other aboard the ship. Near the film's end they poignantly sing one of the many versions of this song, recalling the ups and downs of their relationship (then they decide to get back together).

The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and became Hope's signature tune, with many different lyrics adapted to any situation. In 2004 it finished #63 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

The song is often regarded as a companion piece to "Two Sleepy People", written in September 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Frank Loesser, also performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the movie Thanks for the Memory which appeared in 1939, taking its title from the success of the song.