At funerals in ancient China, when the lid of the coffin was closed, mourners took a few steps backward lest their shadows get caught in the box.

Bill Gates formed a company to sell a computerized traffic counting system to cities, which made $20,000 its first year. Business dropped sharply when customers learned Gates was only 14 years old.

Eskimos use wooden "eyeglasses" with narrow slits for eyepieces to protect their eyes from glare reflected by ice and snow.

The first Eagle Scout medal was awarded in 1912 to Arthur Rose Eldred, a 17-year-old member of Troop 1 in Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York. Eldred was notified that he was to be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a letter from Chief Scout Executive James West, dated August 21, 1912.

Up to the age of six or seven months, a child can breathe and swallow at the same time. An adult cannot do this.

An elephant may consume 500 pounds of hay and 60 gallons of water in a single day.

The word "dude" was coined by Oscar Wilde and his friends. It is a combination of the words duds and attitude.

The squirrel monkey's brain accounts for roughly 5 percent of its body weight - the largest percentage of any other animal. The human brain, by comparison, makes up about 2.3 percent of body weight.

"E" is the most frequently used letter in the English alphabet, "Q" is the least.

Krampus is a mythical creature recognized in Alpine countries. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.

In ancient China, towns were often arranged in patterns so that if seen from the air, the whole community would resemble an animal or a symbolic design. Some were arranged to resemble snakes, stars, sunbursts, and dragons.

Wearing a Claddagh ring on the right hand with the design facing outward (away from the body) is means the wearer is available. Placement on the right hand facing inward means that one has fallen in love. Wearing the ring on the left hand design outward is means to the wearer is engaged, while

The name "Mary Jane" is not only used for little girls; it’s also a kind of sugar candy and a style of shoe, as well as a nickname for marijuana.

If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom more often.

Gibbons live in family groups and communicate to others through high-pitched songs which can be heard for several miles. Songs are specific to each family and convey information such as location, temper, and social position

In baseball, a "can of corn" refers to a fly ball that is easy to catch. This phrase reportedly came from an old practice of grocery store clerks, who used to knock unreachable cans off high shelves with a stick and catch them in their work aprons.

During first half of the twentieth century, New York's Coney Island was considered the world’s largest and premier amusement area. It was a popular beach resort that provided thrilling entertainment and amusement park rides to the millions of residents of New York City. Coney Island featured three huge amusement parks: Luna Park, Steeplechase,...Read more

Mitzi was the name of the dolphin that played Flipper in the movie. For the TV series, she was replaced by Suzy and Cathy.

The largest bird colony in the world is located on the islands off the coast of Peru. Ten million Peruvian boobies and cormorants reside there. Their diet — anchovies — produces the world's finest fertilizer, guano. Because of the value of their droppings, the birds were placed under strict

The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).