The first crosswords appeared in England during the 19th century. They were of an elementary kind, apparently derived from the word square, a group of words arranged so the letters read alike vertically and horizontally, and printed in children's puzzle books and various periodicals. In the United States, however, the puzzle developed into a ...Read more

During the 1900's, piggeries were developed in small- to medium-sized towns where swine were fed fresh or cooked garbage in order to cut down on waste in landfills. One environmental expert estimated that 75 pigs could consume 1 ton of refuse per day.

Man has tiny bones once meant for a tail and unworkable muscles once meant to move his ears.

A South African bullfrog can grow to be 35 inches (90 cm) in length -- longer than your arm.

According to John Adams, "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival." Adams's prediction was off by two days as Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the Declaration ...Read more

Auto racer Dan Gurney was one of the first U.S. drivers to use rear-engine race cars. He won the Le Mans race (1967), and finished second in the Indianapolis 500 twice (1968 and 1969).

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.

There are 640 acres in a square mile.

Barbara Jo Rubin became the first female jockey to win a horse race on February 22, 1969. She rode Cohesian to victory at Charlestown Racetrack in West Virginia.

When the Krampus finds a particularly naughty child, it stuffs the child in its sack and carries the frightened thing away to its lair, presumably to devour for its Christmas dinner.

Disposable diapers in the United States make up enough trash to fill a barge half a city block long, every six hours, every day.

On the average, each American consumes 117 pounds of potatoes, 116 pounds of beef, 100 pounds of fresh vegetable, 80 pounds of fresh fruit, and 286 eggs per year.

There is an average of 50,000 spiders per acre in green areas. Essential to the balance of nature, spiders annually consume a hundred times their number in insects.

The "you are here arrow" on a map is called the IDEO locator.

The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, began with a modest thirty-four investigators in 1908. Later, it became the powerful force that it is today, currently employing more than 12,000 agents across the United States.

There are about 2 million sweat glands in the average human body. The average adult loses 540 calories with every liter of sweat. Men sweat about 40% more than women.

Under U.S. federal guidelines, there should be 21 to 25 jumbo shrimp in a pound.

Thor's only worthy adversary was a serpent dragon known as Jormungand, or the Midgard Serpent. Jormungand was the son of Loki and Angerboda and was expelled by Odin, forcing it to encircle the earth and hold its tail in its mouth under the depths of the sea. Many ages passed before the "Day of the Last Battle," a war pitting gods against giants,...Read more

Arizona boasts a great variety of fossils, the best known of which were of creatures that lived during the Triassic Period. These include early dinosaurs and the trees that left us Arizona petrified wood, (Araucarioxylon arizonicum), the state's fossil. Arizona petrified wood is protected in Petrified Forest National Park. Another famous Arizona...Read more

Arabian horses have one less vertebra in their backbones than other horses.