A prolific and imaginative writer, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 26 Tarzan books without ever visiting Africa.

Mexico banned imported films that depicted Mexicans as villains in 1926. The ban was ignored by Hollywood, but the effect on exports south of the border was sufficiently serious for the Hays Office to order no more Mexican heavies in 1930. Film censors let it be understood that it would be quite acceptable for the stock foreign undesirable to be...Read more

The coffee filter was invented by Melitta Bentz, in Germany in 1908. She pierced holes in a tin container, put a circular piece of absorbent paper in the bottom of it and put her creation over a coffee pot.

In England a quarter penny was originally known as a fourthing - when coins were cut into pieces to make change - farthing is a corruption of fourthing.

Although it is now a traditional part of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Moravian, Presbyterian and Methodist traditions, Advent didn't become routine until the fourth century A.D., when the Roman Emperor Constantine designated Dec. 25 as the official birthday of Christ.

Nobody knows where the body of Voltaire is. It was stolen from its tomb in the 19th century and has never been recovered. The theft was discovered in 1864, when the tomb was opened and found empty.

The Romans had three words for kissing: basium was the kiss exchanged by acquaintances; osculum, the kiss between close friends; and suavium, the kiss between lovers.

A newborn Chinese water deer is so small it can almost be held in the palm of the hand.

Marine iguanas, saltwater crocodiles, sea snakes, and sea turtles are the only surviving seawater-adapted reptiles.

The term "hush money," meaning a bribe to keep someone form revealing scandalous or damaging information, was first used in the early 1700s.

Moths and butterflies pollinate flowers in the same manner as bees – they move from plant to plant carrying pollen on their hairy feet and promote cross-fertilization just as effectively as bees.

Absolutely -- The very first day it was for sale, most dealerships only had a single Mustang which customers clamored over, debating who was going to be the lucky one to drive it home. Ford took 22,000 orders for the Mustang on that initial day.

While all of Miyazaki's films are excellent, many consider Spirited Away (2001) to be, perhaps, the best expression of his themes. The film broke box office records set by Titanic and became the biggest box office success ever in Japan. Spirited Away is about a young girl, Chihiro, who leaves her home to move to a new city with her parents by ...Read more

In the harem of Mughal kings in India, ladies of royal blood changed their garments several times a day and never put them on again. They were then given to slaves.

In 1973, Dungeons & Dragons was invented by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. The innovative game created a whole new fantasy/adventure category of toys, which quickly became a $250-million market.

Studies shown by the Psychology Department of DePaul University show that the principal reason to lie is to avoid punishment.

The Felix the Cat television program is remembered by many for its distinctive theme song written by Winston Sharples:

Felix the Cat, the wonderful, wonderful cat.
Whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks

You'll laugh so much your sides will ache.
Your heart will

The infamous Lindbergh case marked a turning point in the U.S. federal government's role in crime control. A new statute was enacted just over three months following the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. This legislation was popularly referred to as the “Lindbergh Law.” Congress passed the statute on June 22, 1932, making kidnapping a federal crime...Read more

A polecat is not a cat, or a pole. It is a nocturnal European weasel.

A space vehicle must move at a rate of at least 7 miles per second to escape Earth's gravitational pull. This is equivalent to going from New York to Philadelphia in about 20 seconds.