Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

The star known as LP 327-186, a so-called white dwarf, is smaller than the state of Texas, yet so dense, that if a cubic inch of it were brought to Earth, it would weigh more than 1.5 million tons.

In recent years, young people have begun to use the term "preppy" as slang to describe those who appear clean-cut or strive to seem better off financially than others in a middle class environment. In most regions, especially amongst young people, this usage has virtually replaced the traditional

Pringles is known for the packaging (invented by Fred Baur), which consists of an upright tubular can with a foil interior, and a resealable plastic lid. The chips are made to a uniform size and saddle shape, so they stack very efficiently within the container, unlike other chips, which are packaged loosely in a bag (typically) or a box. This ...Read more

Nyctitropism is the tendency of the leaves or petals of certain plants to assume a different position at night.

The Associated Press reported in December 1985, in Eugene, Oregon, a 6-month-old kitten set a Christmas tree on fire while batting at the lighted bulbs. The heat of the fire cracked a nearby fishbowl, and water from the bowl doused some of the fire. Firefighters arrived within minutes of the fire starting and put out the fire, which had spread ...Read more

The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you," is "And the rest of the day to yourself."

A little over one hundred years ago, cholera arrived in the United States for the first time. It was transmitted by an infection carried aboard the Hamburg-American Line's Moravia on August 30, 1892.

Major-league baseball clubs didn't start putting numbers on uniforms until the 1930s. As a result, Ty Cobb, who broke many batting and base-stealing records while playing with the Detroit Tigers (1905-1926), didn't have his uniform number retired. This was, simply, because Cobb never was issued a

Ideally, tripe is cooked for 12 hours. As it is difficult to digest, tripe shouldn't be eaten by those who are dyspeptic or goutish.

Medical experts are perturbed that TV medical dramas suggest that people who receive CPR usually recover; the truth is, only about 15 percent of victims survive after receiving CPR.

"Happy Birthday" was the first song to be performed in outer space, sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland, where the climate is temperate oceanic, was 33.3ºC (91.9ºF) at Kilkenny Castle on 26 June 1887.

The world's first singing commercial aired on the radio on Christmas Eve, 1926 for Wheaties cereal. The four male singers, eventually known as the Wheaties Quartet, sang the jingle. The Wheaties Quartet, comprised of an undertaker, a bailiff, a printer, and a businessman, performed the song for the next six years, at $6 per singer per week. The ...Read more

In 1978, a poll showed that one French television program broadcast on August 14 was watched by no viewers at all. The show was an in-depth interview with an Armenian woman on her fortieth birthday. It covered how she met her husband, her illnesses, and her joy of living. According to the TV survey, 67 percent of viewers had watched a Napoleonic...Read more

Civil War General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson has two separate burial sites. His left arm, which was amputated after the battle of Chancellorsville, was buried on a nearby farm. A week later, Jackson died and was buried in Lexington, Virginia.

Sleeping Beauty's name was Princess Aurora. The prince who woke her with a kiss was Prince Philip.

Rattan palms found in the jungles of Southeast Asia have vinelike stems that trail along the jungle floor up to 250 feet in all directions.

In general, Italian brands of pasta are thicker than their American counterparts.

City squirrels will eat just about anything, and often, it's the junk food that people offer them that they prefer, like Cracker Jack peanuts. Many naturalists have concluded that a peanut diet is harmful to squirrels: it seems to result in a weakening of eyesight and a thinning of the animal's