The chiao is an official unit of currency in China. Also known as jiao, it is a copper-zinc coin that is one-tenth of a yuan and equal to 10 fen.

Every year an inmate spends in prison costs taxpayers an average of $22,000. As prisoners get older, the cost of maintenance rises, ultimately reaching an average of $69,000 per year for those over the age of fifty-five. A study by a Stanford University professor estimated that the cost of a life term for an average California prisoner is $1.5 ...Read more

In 1951, Jack in the Box opened its first restaurant in San Diego, California, pioneering the drive-thru concept and featuring 18-cent hamburgers.

Shotgun houses were most popular before widespread ownership of the automobile allowed people to live further from businesses and other destinations and when building lots were kept small out of necessity, 30 feet (9 m) wide at most. An influx of people to cities, both from rural areas in America and from foreign countries, all looking to fill ...Read more

Arguably Miyzaki's most accessible film is My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a story of two sisters taken to the countryside by their father while their mother is hospitalized with a serious illness. While exploring their environment they come in contact with a number of magical creatures, including the Totoro characters in the title. The great ...Read more

St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan religious order in 1209, was a layman born rich. When he embarked on a career of charity, his father disowned him.

Victoria Woodhall, the radical feminist who ran for the Presidency in 1872, feared that she would die if she went to bed in her old age. She spent the last four years of her life sitting in a chair. (She died at the age of 89 in 1927.)

Most spiders have eight eyes. These are arranged on top and near the front of the head, usually in two rows of four each.

Cap'n Horatio Crunch is a fun-loving sea captain, born and raised on Crunch Island, which is located in the Milk Sea. He wears a blue captain's uniform, and a large blue captain's hat. His ship is the S.S. Guppy, which he sails with his first mate, Seadog (1963), and his crew of four kids. Their mission is to keep the cargo hold of cereal from ...Read more

To date, the baseball Hall of Famer who's received the highest percentage of votes for induction into the hall was pitcher Tom Seaver in 1992 at 98.82 percent. He is closely trailed by Nolan Ryan at 98.79 percent, Ty Cobb at 98.23 percent, and George Brett at 98.19 percent.

Mother-of-pearl is not always white. It can be pink, blue, purple, gray, or even green. Nor is it produced only by the pearl oyster. The abalone and the pearl mussel both have shells that are lined with fine-quality mother-of-pearl.

In 1845, the third Earl of Ross, a wealthy amateur astronomer, built the world's largest telescope on his Ireland estate. The earl's reflecting telescope had a 72-inch metal mirror, and was suspended between two ivy-covered stone walls.

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

Benjamin Franklin had seven sisters and nine brothers. He was the fifteenth child and youngest son.

Only about 1.6 percent of the water on Earth is fresh. Most of it is locked -- unusable for living things -- in snow and the ice at the poles and on the peaks of the highest mountains.

The maximum height allowed for a fence in equestrian horse-jumping competitions is 5 feet, 6 inches.

The Popsicle was invented by 11-year-old Frank Epperson in 1905. He left a container of soda and a stirrer outside overnight, and in the morning discovered them frozen together.

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

Teenagers often have episodes of anger and negativity in which they slam doors and scream tirades. According to experts, most puberty-driven "snit fits" last an average of 15 minutes.

Australia is the smallest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent in the world. It is the only country which is also a whole continent - 18.6 million people live here.