The Best Interesting Random Facts
Bears are mammals of the Ursidae family, and can be found in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Bears are usually solitary animals and diurnal, meaning they are active during the day and sleep at night. The English name “bear” comes from Old English word “bera”, which means “brown” in Germanic languages. The ancient […]
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 […]
Yes, flamingos come in different colors besides pink. Flamingo babies, for example, are born white with gray streaks and take one or two years to develop their pinkish color. And depending on which of the five flamingo species you look at, the color will vary in intensity to the point that some of the lighter […]
Millions of years ago penguins did in fact fly around like regular birds but they have evolved to swim instead of fly. Eventually, flying was no longer necessary. Penguins spent most of their time in the water, and did not have any predators on land that would require airborne escape. Wings for flight became flipper-like […]
The bad-smelling odor of skunks is contained in a liquid which the animal produces and then discharges if it is frightened or in danger. The liquid is called musk. Musk is produced by two glands near the base of the skunk’s tail. The scent glands produce enough musk for six consecutive discharges. Until more liquid […]
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 […]
There aren’t any Fightin’ Emus at EMU, nor are they the mascot of the other significant EMU, Eastern Mennonite University. That’s too bad, because the name would sort of make sense, and not just because of the EMU initials. After all, Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti is overshadowed by its larger, more prestigious relative, the […]
New York is called the Empire State not because of the Empire State Building, the state had its nickname long before 1931, when that famous skyscraper was built. No one knows for sure how New York got the nickname, but some historians think the name can be traced to George Washington, who once said the […]
The time will come to each of us to chuck one’s weight around; to exhibit a period of ostentation, influence, or power. It may be long in the coming, but, according to the old proverb “every dog has his day”, everyone will at some time, at least once, be able to emulate the dog that, […]
The raccoon is sometimes spelled as “racoon”, also colloquially known as coon, is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, Raccoons can also be found across Europe and Japan due to a few escapes and introductions over the past hundred years. The Raccoon’s […]
There’s a little bit of neon in the air we breathe, so yes, our atmosphere contains neon. You can extract it by using a process called adsorption. That involves superchilling the air at temperatures below 411 °F so it becomes a liquid. When you run the super cold liquid over charcoal, the neon molecules stick […]
The name Wildebeest means “wild beast” in Dutch, but you can’t believe every tag the Europeans gave animals, see gophers, aardvarks, groundhogs, etc. Also called the gnu, the wildebeest a hooved, or ungulate mammal. The wildebeest is a large antelope that roams through grassy plains of southern Africa, grazing in huge, usually placid herds. They […]
Despite what you might have heard, camels don’t really store water in their humps. Instead, the humps are big chunks of fat. Sure, it looks funny, but it’s a system that works. In the desert camels may have to go for days and weeks without food, so the humps act as a storehouse of energy. […]
Cod liver oil is a nutritional supplement that comes from the liver of cod fish, which is how its name originated. It has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, and is also high in vitamin A and D. Cod liver oil is known to reduce the symptoms of arthritis, and its other […]
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents found in the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs, black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs, and are a type of ground squirrel. These rodents can grow up to 3 pounds, and are found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In the […]
Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that live only in Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. The word “penguin” is neither French, Breton nor Spanish in origin. Many etymologists believe that the name is from the Welsh word “pen”, meaning “head”, and “gwyn”, which means “white”. An alternative etymology suggests the name originates from the Latin word […]
Beavers are water animals whose diet is tree bark. They are excellent swimmers and wood cutters, and they use the trees they chew down not only for food, but also for building lodges and dams. Beavers live together in groups. They cut down trees together, one beaver chews while the other rests, and then the […]
Corn is the second most widely grown crop on earth today, after wheat, and in the United States it’s the largest crop. But no one in Europe knew about corn until Columbus sailed for the New World. Corn probably first grew in Central America and, by at least 2000 B.C., was cultivated by the Indians […]
The words parkway and driveway come from the days when only the well-off could afford an automobile. The long, winding roads from the highway to the manor were, and are still, called “driveways.” Driveways rarely have traffic lights, although some leading to commercial businesses and parks that have heavy traffic sometimes do. On the other […]
Japan’s population is expected to drop to 95 million by 2050. In 2011 about 127,960,000 lived in Japan, and in the 2010 census the population of Japan was 128,056,026. Yup, that means the country’s population decreased. The main reason for the decline can be blamed on a low birth rate, Japan’s birth rate has been […]
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 […]
When canning was invented, no one knew why food that was packed and heated inside containers remained fresh for a long time. Then, in 1860, French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered that food spoilage was due to bacteria present in all fresh food and in the air. These organisms breaks down substances in the food and […]
Blood is a bodily fluid that transports important nutrients and oxygen to the body’s cells, and transports waste products away from those same cells. In vertebrates or mammals, it contains blood cells suspended in a liquid called blood plasma. Plasma contains dissolved proteins, glucose, hormones, carbon dioxide, and blood cells themselves. The most abundant cells […]
Many farmers still use scarecrows in their cornfields and gardens to scare away crows, but while this “make-believe man” might keep the large black birds away for a while, crows are really not easily frightened and soon return to the fields and even perch on the arms and head of the scarecrow. The old custom […]
The simple answer to why black tea changes color is that adding lemon juice alters the acidity of the tea and the color change is an indication of this. The color change is the same way that litmus paper changes color. A similar effect can be observed by substituting the tea with some cooked red […]
Have you wondered how soap is made? The history of soap is actually quite interesting. Soap is made from combining fats and oils with an alkali. When mixed with water, soap loosens and attracts dirt, allowing it to be washed away. The earliest known soap-like material was found in the excavation of ancient Babylon and […]
The Ladybug’s name seems to be a case of insect sexism, either that or it was named by a drunk man. The alternative names in English are also feminine, ladybirds, lady beetles, and even, for some reason, lady clocks. However, merely claiming sexism isn’t that simple. During the Middle Ages, the insect-killing beetles were regarded […]
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 […]
A larger amount of gas can dissolve in a liquid when it is cold than when it is hot. Or as a chemist would say, the solubility of a gas in a liquid increases with decreasing temperature. But that’s how chemists talk. In practical terms, why does the carbon dioxide choose to leave the beer […]
In the early days of our country, there were many different kinds of coins in use. In the southwestern parts of the United, States close to Mexico, the Mexican peso was common, and so was a small Mexican coin called the real, which was worth 12.5 cents. When the 25-cent piece, or quarter, came into […]