The Best Interesting Random Facts
The silkworm is the larva of the domesticated silkmoth known as Bombyx mori, which means “silkworm of the mulberry tree” in Latin. Bombyx mori is a domesticated variety bred from the Bombyx mandarina species from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan and eastern Russia. As hinted by its Latin name, the Silkworm loves white […]
The Rhinoceros, also known as rhino for short, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family rhinocerotidae. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek words ῥῑνο-, (rhino-), meaning nose, and κέρας (keras), meaning horn. The plural for rhinoceros in English is rhinoceroses, and a group of rhinoceros is […]
The banana has been called the most ancient fruit on earth, for it was being enjoyed by man long before recorded history began. The banana probably first grew in Malaysia and Thailand in Southeast Asia, and was spread by natives to China and India at a very early date. Alexander the Great and his soldiers, […]
Beluga whales are mammals, and like all but two species of mammals, they don’t lay eggs. It would be impossible to slice them open as we do fish and pull out their eggs to salt, pickle, and sell to status seekers with too much money. But the word belukha means “white” in Russian, meaning there […]
A baby boomer is someone who was born after soldiers of the Second World War had come home and up to eighteen years later, so the period differs in some countries. In the U.S. and Canada, 20 million babies were born during the boom between 1946 and 1964. North America’s first baby boomer, Kathleen Casey […]
We use the term Swiss cheese for a certain kind of cheese with holes in it. In other countries, and in Switzerland too, this cheese is known as Emmentaler, because it was first made during the fifteenth century in the Emmen Tal, a valley in Switzerland. Did you know that little of the Swiss cheese […]
There are thousands of corn hybrids, but almost all fall into six general groups. The most common variety grown in the United States is dent corn, used for chemicals and animal feed. Sweet corn is the kind most people consume, on or off the cob; its sugar doesn’t convert to starch, so it is sweeter […]
Technically, there is no such thing as female peacocks. The birds are known collectively as peafowl, the males are called peacocks, and the females are peahens. The peahen cannot raise her feathers. As a matter of fact, she doesn’t have much to raise in the first place. Although both sexes of peafowl share a crest […]
Just smile. Anyone who thinks steaks contain blood, well, they’re wrong. They’re not necessarily wrong in their preference for eating well-done steaks, although many would argue that such behavior should be declared a felony. Where they’re wrong is in calling your steak bloody. There’s practically no blood in it at all. Blood, you might politely […]
Mali means “hippopotamus” in the African Bambara language. The Republic of Mali, also known as République du Mali in French, is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali is next to Algeria, has Niger on its east border, and is Guinea on the south-west. The country’s economy is based on agriculture and fishing, and some […]
There are four variants of Peru’s national coat of arms. They are, the Coat of Arms per se, the National Coat of Arms or National Shield, the Great Seal of the State, and the Naval Coat of Arms. All four versions of Peru’s national coat of arms include the vicuña, because it is the national […]
The cheetah was previously believed to be the primitive species among the big cats and evolved approximately 18 million years ago. Recent studies have suggests that the last common ancestor of all species of felines lived only about 11 million years ago. The same research shows that the cheetah, does not have ancient lineage, and […]
These days, only special time travel will provide a chance of becoming a samurai warrior. The samurai began as a class of warriors in feudal Japan and stayed in power through the 17th century. But even if you could transport back to the days of the samurai, chances are you wouldn’t have measured up. Few […]
The annoying housefly “bugs” people living in all states, except Alaska. Because of Alaska’s cold climate, flies cannot breed there. However, some houseflies have been known to visit Alaska, coming in on planes and ships, but they live only a short time and cannot reproduce because of the cold.
Brown eggs being healthier than white eggs is a stupid myth that started because people assumed that brown foods like breads, sugar, flours are healthier than white ones. In fact, the fictional James Bond would only eat one type of egg, the one from the Helsumer chicken. Its egg is a dark, chocolaty brown, sometimes […]
The oldest pair of scissors that still exist come from Egypt, and were made around 300 B.C. But these scissors were not like the ones we use today. Instead of two blades connected by a screw, the scissors of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were made out of one piece of metal, with two […]
From the 16th century Portugal was a world naval power, and the man-of-war was a large war ship armed with cannons and propelled mainly by sails and not by oars. The man-of-war was developed in England in the early 1600s from the carrack ship design, which later evolved into the galleon. The man-of-war was designed […]
When a baby brown bear or grizzly bear is born, it weighs about a pound and a half and is eight inches long. Fully grown, they are nine feet tall and weigh over 500 pounds. These huge animals live in wild mountainous areas and in forests and wander about either in family groups or singly. […]
The frisky little otter, who lives on the banks of lakes and streams, is not much of a worker, but is a great player. While its neighbor on land, the beaver, is busy building dams, the otter builds slides on snowy slopes for its favorite game – bellywhopping. The otter has a smooth stomach which […]
Elephants make several sounds when communicating, and are famous for their trumpet calls made by blowing through its nostrils. Trumpeting is often made when an elephant is excited or startled. Researchers have known for years that elephants use their trunks to interact socially. However, they’ve more recently discovered that elephants use low-frequency verbal communication as […]
The Great Dane, also known as German Mastiff or Danish Hound, is a breed of domestic dog known for its giant size. The Great Dane is one of the world’s tallest dog breeds, and is commonly referred to as the “Apollo of all breeds”. It is believed that the Great Dane was developed from mastiff-like […]
A Lock of Peacocks and Peahens is often called a muster, although we like the less used phrase, an ostentation of peafowl. Today most peafowl are raised in captivity, and their numbers in the wild are dwindling. The two types that we see most often in zoos are the Indian and the Javanese peafowl. Indian […]
Tree kangaroos are macropods that live in trees in the mountainous rainforests of New Guinea, northeastern Queensland Australia, and a few islands nearby. Tree-kangaroos evolved from animals similar to modern kangaroos, and have strong hind legs and very long tails for balance, and stronger forelimbs with longer claws for climbing. On the ground, tree-kangaroos are […]
Millipedes and earthworms have similar lifestyles. Both burrow in soil, eating dead and decaying vegetation, but they have evolved very different methods for forcing their way through the soil. Worms use the strong muscles in their body walls to build up pressure in the body cavity, and so develop the forces needed to push forward […]
The smallest planet in the solar system is the planet Mercury. Also the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is about 20 times smaller than Earth and orbits the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. Although bright, Mercury is not easily seen from Earth as it is normally lost in the glare of the Sun. […]
The South American black-headed duck, the African honeyguides, and the whydas are some examples of parasitic breeder birds. The best known bird to North Americans that lays eggs in other nests is the brown-headed cowbird. These birds have actually evolved the capability to mimic the size and color of other birds’ eggs. Aiding their survival […]
Thousands of years ago, vast empires rose and fell in Egypt, Greece, Italy, the Middle East, northern Africa, China, and India. Bold explorers from these civilizations, such as Pytheas and Hanno, ventured into unknown lands and seas. Most of them searched for new trade routes or places to settle. Today, scholars have limited knowledge of […]
The word Butterfly is definitely not another word for “flutterby.” Butterfly comes from the Old English word buterfleoge, meaning “butter/flying creature.” Some linguists speculate that maybe the buter refers to the butter-yellow color of some European butterflies. However, that doesn’t make a lot of sense; plenty of colors besides yellow are represented in the butterflies […]
Elephants are not afraid of mice, it’s a myth, and there are quite a few. The one about the “elephants’ graveyard,” where all pachyderms go to die is also a myth. The myth about elephants never forgetting is also quite popular, despite their obvious intelligence. Still, Westerners aren’t the only ones who have given the […]
Domestic chickens can indeed fly, but are not capable of long distance flight. Most chickens are able to fly for short distances, such as over fences or into trees where they roost in the wild. Chickens will also sometimes fly to explore their surroundings, but usually only fly when threatened and to escape predators. The […]