The ball on top of a flagpole is called a "truck."

Some crickets burrow megaphone-like tunnels that help transport the sound of their chirps as far as 2,000 feet away.

The heart beats faster during a brisk walk or heated argument than during sexual intercourse.

The common carp lives up to 25 years in the wild, and up to 40 years in captivity. The durable fish can survive in waters up to 90 degrees F, and can even withstand freezing for short periods.

Scientists have found that the skin of the armpits can harbor up to 516,000 bacteria per square inch, while drier areas, such as the forearm, have only about 13,000 bacteria per square inch.

According to one poll, 60 percent of the men surveyed admitted that they spit in public.

William Caxton, an English printer, established the first printing press in English in 1476.

Company in Brazil (Suite Vollard) constructed a building in which each floor can rotate 360 degrees. Each building has 11 apartments and each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour, but apartment owner can set rotation speed through apartment control panel. Facades are made of three different types of ...Read more

Not exactly -- Initial results with tanks were mixed, with problems in reliability (and impatient high command) causing considerable attrition in combat. Deployment in small groups also lessened their tactical value and impact, which was still formidable during first encounters. German forces suffered from shock and lacked counter-weapons, ...Read more

A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy. The story claims that a university student saved himself from a charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. He then...Read more

A rodent's teeth never stop growing. They are worn down by the animal's constant gnawing on bark, leaves, and other vegetable matter.

The first macaroni factory in the United States was established in 1848. It was started by Antoine Zegera in Brooklyn, New York.

Our hands are recognized by medical professionals as a major source for spreading flu and cold germs. Flu and cold germs can be spread on computer mice and keyboards, chewed pencils, telephones, pens, salad-bar tongs, light switches, door knobs, taxi door handles, and countless other common objects. People can't avoid touching things. To ...Read more

The tarantula spends most of its life within its burrow, which is an 18-inch vertical hole with an inch-wide opening. When male tarantulas are between the ages of 5 to 7 years, they leave the burrow in search of a female, usually in the early fall. This migration actually signals the end of their life cycle. The males mate with as many females ...Read more

Comet Hyakutake is a comet that was discovered in January 1996 which passed very close to the Earth in March of that year. It was one of the closest cometary approaches to the Earth in the last 200 years. The comet became very bright in the night sky, and, as a result, temporarily upstaged the long-awaited Comet Hale-Bopp. Scientific ...Read more

Tennessee leads the United States in hazardous material mishaps with 15.4 accidents per 100,000 people, a 1996 federal report showed. The national average is 6.3 accidents per 100,000 people.

As the game is played, each player character (PC) grows and changes as they gain experience. To represent this, PCs are awarded an appropriate number of experience points (XP) when they defeat an enemy or accomplish a difficult task. Attaining a certain number of experience points allows a PC to advance a level, granting the character enhanced ...Read more

On February 17, 1959, Vanguard II was the first satellite to send weather information back to Earth.

The Statue of Liberty's index finger is 8 feet long, and it displays a fingernail measuring 13 by 10 inches.

The groom's cake dates back to the mid-19th century. At that time, the traditional wedding cake had evolved from a popular single-layer fruitcake into a stacked pound-cake shaped like a church steeple. But guests still wanted fruitcake. To appease the masses, newlyweds would serve two cakes -- the wedding cake and the fruitcake. The wedding cake...Read more