The oldest bell in all Germany, the bell in the tower of the monastery of Hersfeld, has been rung periodically for 919 years.
I Bet Ya Didn't Know
I bet ya' didn't know…. 978 items · page 16 of 25
Q: What letter can you insert into the same place in each of these words to form new words? beach, bunch, cater, fight, peach, petty, topic, tough A: The answer is the letter R.
In 33 hours of observation at a suburban shopping center, there were 700 violations of a no-parking fire zone. Women in vans committed 35% of them.
In January there was a two-judge fistfight at the courthouse in New Orleans. According to WDSU-TV, the combatants were judges Steven Plotkin and Charles Jones, and the results were not announced.
By raising its seat, Benjamin Franklin's library chair became a ladder.
When grocery shopping, 90% of people use their bare hands instead of the tongs provided to pick up rolls or pastries.
A woman dies from cardiovascular disease every minute. It's the number one killer of men and women.
Mexico's anthem, Himno Nacional, first performed in 1854, begins "Mexicans, when the war cry is heard, have sword and bridle ready."
The Baroness de Mere (1751-1829), in her 30-year career as a novelist, wrote 320 volumes.
Galileo was the first person to suggest using a pendulum to run a clock.
T-5 was Ford's original project name which was also used for the "Mustangs" built for export to Germany. The word "Mustang" was already covered by German trademark rights so Ford used the original project name. T-5's do not have the name "Mustang" on them.
A 120-pound crocodile exerts a force of approximately 1,540 pounds between its jaws. In contrast, a human being's jaws exert a force of only 40 to 80 pounds.
Most dinosaurs had a life span of over 100 years.
A majority of Americans think the government (i.e., taxpayers) pays for most of the medical research conducted in this country. The fact is that while the federal government is still - just barely - the largest investor in academic research, biotech and pharmaceutical companies finance more than half of the research conducted in the U.S.
During his life, Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph, was better known as a painter than as a scientist.
That popping sound in your knuckles is made by the release of gas trapped between bones.
Most Americans seriously underestimate the time required for new therapies to develop. When asked to guess how long it takes to bring a new drug to market, 29% said 1 - 4 years, 40% said 5 - 9 years, and 21% said 10 - 14 years. It actually takes 15 - 17 years to get new medications into a hospital or a doctor's office.
For healthy, happy people, it's not possible to sleep too much. Chronic oversleeping can indicate the onset of sickness or depression.
Suppressing a sneeze can be harmful. Plugging your nose forces the air and mucus back into delicate ear structures, which could cause an infection and, in rare cases, hearing loss.
Currently, out of the $1.42 trillion spent on health care in the U.S. about $82 billion - 5 cents to 6 cents - goes to research. More than 50% of Americans say we should increase spending on research to 7 cents on the dollar or more.
The Tootsie Roll was named after the inventor's daughter.
A healthy, mature cat spends about 15 percent of his/her life in deep sleep, 50 percent in light sleep, and 30 percent in awake time. Cats attain full alertness faster than any other creature.
What's in the water? Illinois was home to Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), the tallest man in the world at 8'11", and Robert Earl Hughes (1926-1958), who, at the time of his death, was the fattest man in the world at 1,069 pounds.
When in Illinois, make sure to visit The Double-Decker Outhouse, in Gays and the world's biggest Abe Lincoln, in Charleston.
Who said the Amish don't know how to have fun? Rockome Gardens in Arcola, Ill., is America's only Amish amusement park. Sound like a contradiction? No way! Play tic-tac-toe with a trained chicken, cut wood with a horse-powered buzz saw, or tour the Haunted Cave.
Carrying a couple of extra pounds? Then blame Chicago, the city that gave us deep-dish pizza, Dove Bars, Cracker Jacks, and those delectable Twinkies. Now we know what happened to Robert Earl Hughes (the world's fattest man).
As a child, Blaise Pascal once locked himself in his room for several days, not allowing anyone to come in. When he came out, he had figured out all of Euclid's goemetrical propositions totally by himself.
One of Napoleon's drinking cups was made from the skull of the Italian adventurer Cagliostro.
A hat of solid gold found buried in county Tipperary in 1692 had been used as a crown by the ancient kings of Ireland.
Alexandra Gustave Eiffel, the man who designed the Eiffel Tower, also designed the inner structure of the Statue of Liberty.
Matches used in the U.S. in 1840 could be lighted from either end.
Santa's Trolley is a Christmas street car driven by a motorman dressed as Santa Claus, which annually travels the shopping district of Zurich, Switzerland, each afternoon of December. It has logged a total of over 2,000,000 miles.
Fritz Siegel climbed 9,728 feet to the snow-covered peak of Germany's Zugspitze without shoes (July 15, 1932).
Before the invention of the stirrup in 420, horses were trained to receive their riders by dropping to their knees like camels.
The round fishbowl was invented by Countess DuBarry, mistress of King Louis XV of France.
The top of Corinthian columns, considered the most beautiful column design, was inspired by the prickly leaves of the Mediterranean acanthus plant.
The first aluminum pot, a stew pan, was made by Henry W. Avery in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1890, and his wife used it for 43 years.
A dagger found in the tomb of King Tut had a blade of iron that was still bright & shiny although it had been buried for 3,300 years.
The oldest harp in the world was found in the grave of Queen Shub-Ad in the city of Ur of the Chaldees, home of the Biblical patriarch Abraham and was constructed 5,000 years ago.
June 2, 1953, was chosen to be the date of the coronation for Queen Elizabeth II because meteoroigists said it was the most consistently sunny day of the year. You guessed it---it rained.