A kangaroo cannot jump if its tail is lifted off the ground. It needs its tail for pushing off.

In many countries, it is the custom to wish friends a "Happy Birthday" on January 1st, rather than a "Happy New Year." This day is nicknamed "Everyman's Birthday," and is considered the day when everyone becomes a year older, whether it's their actual day of birth or not. Similarly, this practice is observed in horse racing. No matter when a ...Read more

A "dandiprat" was an English coin of the value of three halfpence, coined by Henry VII.

Quisp and Quake were two sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals originally released in 1965 in the U.S. by The Quaker Oats Company and generally advertised together (during the same commercial) as products competing against each other. The very successful ads were cartoons created by Jay Ward of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame, and used some of the same ...Read more

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

As a teenager Ben Franklin became an expert swimmer. On his visit to London at age nineteen, Ben went on a boating excursion with his printer friends. During the trip he leaped into the Thames River and swam from Chelsea to Blackfriars, performing every kind of feat, under water and above. He had learned these feats in the Schuylkill River at ...Read more

Men over the age of 24 shave an average of six times a week.

In Massachusetts, snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked and it is illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.

According to a Motorcycle Industry Council survey conducted in 1994, the average motorcyclist is male, age 32.5 years (up from the average in the 1980s of 27.5 years), married, and has some college education; his annual income averages $33,200.

Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast absentee ballots from space. The first to exercise this right to vote while in orbit was astronaut David Wolf, who cast his vote for Houston mayor via e-mail from the Russian space station Mir in November 1997.

Drinking a glass of red wine every day is said to be good for your heart, but it is not the best choice for your teeth. The acids found in all wine varieties can erode tooth enamel. Red wine causes the worst stains. Again, the solution is to brush often and well.

A tenth of the 7 million tons of rice grown in the U.S. each year goes into the making of beer.

The human brain is insensitive to pain. The suffering of a headache come not from the organ itself but from the nerve and muscles lining it.

When Polish interviewer Slawek Wojtowicz queried him during a 1988 interview, prolific science fiction author Isaac Asimov stated that his favorite science fiction writer was Arthur C. Clarke.

Any onion that does not form a large bulb is called either a scallion or shallot. These onions are also called green onion, and in larger, variety, leek.

Robert Mitchum was an actor's actor. He enjoyed his celebrity, but never took being a star very seriously. His movie career began during World War II, when the rugged, sleepy-eyed actor was fired from an aircraft plant because he threw a punch at his foreman. Acting in the movies, he figured, couldn't be any worse. Years later, he was arrested ...Read more

Winking at women, even to express friendship, is considered bad manners in Australia.

Zoonoses are animal diseases communicable to man.

The maximum life span of koi has been documented to be over 200 years in exceptional cases. The average life span of the large colorful fish, however, is 25 to 35 years.

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