According to the CIA World Fact Book, Greenland has a 100% literacy rate.

Keeanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon.

Ever wonder why we always solve for X in algebra?  Well, it's because algebra was invented in the Middle East, and the character that equations solved for was, roughly, "sh".  This sound is a single character in Arabic.  When algebra entered Europe through Moorish Spain, Arabic characters were changed to Spanish characters, and in Spanish there is ( Read more... )

The twin chest-length beards of Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top was not deliberate.  The band took a two-year break, and when they finally got together after that period they had discovered that the two of them had, quite independently of each other, grown out their facial hair.  Oddly enough, the drummer, whose name is Frank Beard, came ( Read more... )

The Voyager 1 spacecraft was only expected to continue functioning until it got to Saturn in 1980.  Instead, it is currently about to leave the Solar System entirely and is still sending back data.  It is currently expected to finally run out of power in 2025-2030, some 45 to 50 years longer than expected.

In the middle ages, if you needed surgery you went to the barbershop.

The flower known as Queen Anne's Lace is actually a species of wild carrot.

Despite their names, in the ancient world Upper Egypt was in the south and Lower Egypt was in the north.  They were named after their position along the Nile rather than their geographic position -- Upper Egypt was upriver from Lower Egypt.

Cone cells are cells in the eye that allow someone to detect colors.  Humans have three types -- one for red, blue, and green -- that allow us to see millions of colors.  Adding a fourth doesn't just add one color -- it would add the ability to detect thousands more.

With that in mind, the following I find fascinating:

- Dogs have two types of cone ( Read more... )

8675309 (from the song) is a prime number.