The red, yellow, and dark blue Renaissance uniform worn by the Swiss Guard at the Vatican was designed by Michaelangelo. It is one of several costumes worn by the Gendarmeria Pontifica.

There are 5 million different species of insects in the world. The insect population of the world is at least 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. The weight of the world's insect population exceeds that of man by a factor of twelve.

Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Barack Obama passed most of his childhood and adolescent years in Honolulu, Hawaii. At age six, he moved to Jakarta where he lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather for four years.

The average snail moves at a rate of approximately 0.000362005 miles per hour.

Acapulco got its start as a major tourist destination during the early days of World War II. German U-boats threats off the eastern United States compelled the wealthy to find new places to vacation. At one time one had to be a millionaire to enjoy Acapulco, but that hasn't been the case for

The sensitivity of the human eye is so keen that on a clear, moonless night, a person standing on a mountain can see a match being struck as far as 50 miles away. Much to their amazement, astronauts in orbit were able to see the wakes of ships.

Energy experts say that ceiling fans consume as little energy as a 60-watt bulb, which is about 98 percent less energy than most central air conditioners use.

It costs more to buy a new car today in the United States that it cost Christopher Columbus to equip and undertake three voyages to and from the New World.

King Charles VII, who was assassinated in 1167, was the first Swedish king with the name of Charles. Charles I, II, III, IV, V, never existed. No one knows why. To add to the mystery, almost 300 years went by before there was a Charles VIII (1448-57).

During the 1960s, cast members from The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres, and Gomer Pyle served as spokespeople for Jell-O instant pudding in nationally-televised commercials.

It's probably not a good idea. Acorns are poisonous to humans, and, if eaten, will cause kidney damage.

The oldest city in Germany, Trier was once the capital of the Western Roman Empire, and residence of the Emperor Constantine. Despite a bloody history, a remarkable amount of Trier's past has been preserved, including an impressive group of Roman monuments north of the Alps.

Pocahontas and her husband John Rolfe had one son named Thomas who was born and educated in England, but settled in Virginia.

Of all professionals in the United States, journalists are credited with having the largest vocabulary -- approximately 20,000 words.

A recent study found that 75 percent of headache patients felt relief when they rubbed capsaicin (the component that makes chile peppers hot) on their nose.

There are 420 seats on the standard 747 jumbo jet.

Key lime, a yellow lime with a bitter rather than sour taste, was named after the Florida Keys. Key lime pie became popular in the 1950s – a custardlike pie made with lime juice, condensed milk, and eggs and served in a pastry shell.

In a note in his diary Munch described his inspiration for the image thus: "I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood ...Read more

James Ramsey invented a steam-driven motorboat in 1784. He ran it on the Potomac River, and the event was witnessed by George Washington.

Cape Disappointment, a nob of land on Washington state's coast at the mouth of the Columbia River, lives up to its name. It was named by a British captain who, thanks to fog, couldn't find the mouth of the river said to exist there. Fog covers the land an average of 106 days per year.