A healthy man who is good physical shape has about 12 to 15 percent body fat. A woman in good shape has between 15 to 18 percent. The models used in most of the advertising for abdominal machines, on the other hand, have less than 10 percent body fat.

In Cape Town, South Africa, a must-see for tourists is the Bo-Kaap Museum. This house, built in the eighteenth century, portrays the lifestyle of a typical Malay family in the nineteenth century. An exhibition of carts and coaches can be seen in the courtyard of the museum.

Irving Berlin was prolific, writing more than 900 songs, 19 musicals, and the scores of 18 movies. Some of his songs that have become beloved classics include "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Easter Parade," and "White Christmas."

The Tarantula nebula is the largest known. It is 160,000 light-years away. If it was as close to us as the Orion nebula, its light would cast shadows on Earth.

The U.S. Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it more difficult for black slaves to escape to freedom. Prior to the act passing, slaves were free if they could get to a free state or territory. The Fugitive Slave Act required that slaves be returned to their owners.

Maine is the only state in the United States whose name is just one syllable.

In 1889, the first coin-operated telephone, patented by Hartford, Connecticut inventor William Gray, was installed in the Hartford Bank. Soon, "pay phones" were installed in stores, hotels, saloons, and restaurants, and their use soared. Local calls using a coin-operated phone in the U.S. cost

All the planets in our solar system could be placed inside the planet Jupiter.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, launched his business career in 1969, at age 14 by forming a company named Lakeside Programming Group. Gates and his friend Paul Allen signed an agreement with Computer Center Corporation to report bugs in PDP-10 software, in exchange for computer time.

The hypodermic needle was invented in 1853. It was initially used for giving injections of morphine as a painkiller. Physicians mistakenly believed that morphine would not be addictive if it by-passed the digestive tract.

Thor's only worthy adversary was a serpent dragon known as Jormungand, or the Midgard Serpent. Jormungand was the son of Loki and Angerboda and was expelled by Odin, forcing it to encircle the earth and hold its tail in its mouth under the depths of the sea. Many ages passed before the "Day of the Last Battle," a war pitting gods against giants,...Read more

In the southern part of Japan, it rarely snows to any great amount except for the mountains, but the northern part usually has plenty of snow in the winter. Autumn is by far the best time to visit Japan, as far as the weather goes.

The publishing rights to "Stormy Weather" and "Hello, Dolly!," as well as the soundtracks from "Grease," "Mame," "Annie," and "A Chorus Line" are owned by rock star Paul McCartney.

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

Government by a woman or women is called a "gynarchy."

The largest known egg ever laid by a creature was that of the extinct Aepyornis of Madagascar. The egg was 9.5 inches long. It had a volume of 2.35 gallons.

Louis Pasteur saved France's silkworm industry. When the industry in southern France was dealt a staggering blow by a disease that was killing the silkworms, the call for help went out for Pasteur — no one but Pasteur. Pasteur's solution on locating a tiny parasite infecting silkworms and the mulberry leaves that were fed to them, was drastic ...Read more

Portugal is the world's largest producer of cork. The country has regulations protecting cork trees dating back to 1320. During the 1920s and 1930s, it became illegal to cut down the trees other than for essential thinning and removal of older non-producing trees.

King Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, miscarried during her fourth month of pregnancy. She did produce Henry an illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth (born before they were married), who would rule England for 45 years.

Either, but pick a state and leave it that way. Don't use the on/off switch on your personal computer any more than necessary. There's a surge of electricity every time the switch is turned on. For fragile computer chips, it's much like starting the day by jumping into an icy pool. To prolong the life of your home computer, turn it on when you ...Read more