It is so cold in Yakutia, Russia that trees explode. Exhaled breath turns into a shower of ice crystals, generating a crackling noise called “whispers of the stars”.

Each year, sixteen million gallons of oil run off pavement into streams, rivers and eventually oceans in the United States. This is more oil than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.

A woman was chewing what was left of her chocolate bar when she entered a Metro station in Washington DC. She was arrested and handcuffed; eating is prohibited in Metro stations.

Research indicates that shopping has a direct effect on the brain’s pleasure centers. It can flood the brain with dopamine, similar to the way a drug addict experiences a fix.

Two very popular and common objects have the same function, but one has thousands of moving parts, while the other has absolutely no moving parts – an hourglass and a sundial.

A Swedish man was trapped in his car by a blizzard for 2 months without food. He managed to enter a dormant state and survived with his body temperature dropped to 31 degrees Celsius.

Speak of the Devil is short for “Speak of the Devil and he shall come”. It was believed that if you spoke about the Devil it would attract his attention and he would appear.

In 1752, Britain replaced the Julian Calendar with the current Gregorian Calendar. September 3 instantly became September 14. Many believed their lives would be shortened by this change.

The stereotype of the dumb blonde came from Rosalie Duthè in the 1700s, a blonde French debutante, who was well-known among Parisians, for being pretty, rich, but slow and stupid.

The first jigsaw puzzle was created by map maker John Splisbury who mounted one of his maps on a sheet of hardwood. He proceeded to cut around the borders of each country using a fine saw

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades – King David; Clubs – Alexander the Great;Hearts-Charlemagne and Diamonds – Julius Caesar.

The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.

People generally favor the first item on a list regardless of whether it’s a menu or a ballot. Having your name listed in the middle of a ballot decreases you chances of wining by 2.5%

The term “Mayday” is used for signaling for help. It comes from the French term “M’aidez” which is pronounced “MayDay” and means, “Help Me.”

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.