There are more 25,000 McDonald's restaurants in over 115 countries. McDonald's has actually been remarkably responsive to the local cultures: they offer "ayran" (a popular chilled yogurt drink) in Turkey; McLaks (a grilled salmon sandwich) in Norway, and teriyaki burgers in Japan. In New Delhi, India, where Hindus shun beef and Muslims refuse ...Read more

Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins." This was because their uniforms were red. The British Post Office grew out of the carrying of royal dispatches. Red was considered a royal color, so uniforms and letter-boxes were red. Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering

Unlike most fish, electric eels cannot get enough oxygen from water. Approximately every five minutes, they must surface to breathe, or they will drown. Unlike most fish, they can swim both backwards and forwards.

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

Mary Anne Nichols, Martha Turner, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, and Catherine Eddowes were London prostitutes who were murdered and dismembered by the notorious "Jack the Ripper" in the autumn of 1888. The perpetrator of these chilling atrocities was never found, although many theories as to

In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce, and spinach. The meal is traditionally eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before Christ's birth.

The Empire State Building in New York City has 6,400 windows.

Some lady beetle, or lady bug, colonies have been reported to contain as many as 500 gallons of beetles. A gallon of beetles contains from 72,000 to 80,000 adults.

While in New York, struggling actor William H. Macy (E.R., Fargo) worked as "voice-over talent" for commercials. His personal "biggest" ad line was that of "Secret: strong enough for a man but made for a woman."

The life expectancy of the average mockingbird is 10 years.

Jayne Mansfield decorated her "Pink Palace" by writing to 1,500 furniture and building suppliers and asking for free samples. She told the donors they could then brag that their goods were in her outlandish mansion. The pitch worked, and Jayne received over $150,000 worth of free merchandise.

In the 1850s, Ohio was the nationa (tm)s largest wine producer. Although its remaining 3,000 acres of vineyards are but a fraction of what they once were, Ohio remains the largest wine producer in the Midwest.

Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind, never wrote a book before that, and never wrote a book after that. Her original title for the book was Tomorrow Is Another Day; her publisher changed it to Gone With the Wind. The publisher also changed the heroine's name from Pansy O'Hara to

Mechanical clocks were invented in the late Middle Ages. The length of an hour had varied prior to that, depending on the time of year.

A spider is not an insect. It is an arachnid – it has eight legs instead of six, and has no wings or antennae. The same is true of the daddy longlegs, scorpion's mite, and tick – none is technically part of the insect class.

John Wayne was on the Top Ten Box Office List 25 times during his career, more often than any other film star in history. Between the years 1949 and 1974, there was only one year that Wayne did not appear on the list: 1956. Four times Wayne landed in the Number 1 Box Office spot - in 1950, 1951,

No -- In 1547, Henry died, to be succeeded by Edward VI. Edward was England's first Protestant monarch; his Parliament's Act of Uniformity prescribed Protestant rites for church services, such as the use of Thomas Cranmer's new Book of Common Prayer. The Lady Mary, desirous of maintaining the old Roman Catholic form, asked to be allowed to ...Read more

Though not a federal holiday, some states have begun observing “The Day after Thanksgiving” as one so that state government employees can take advantage of Black Friday promotions. This is done in lieu of another holiday, such as Columbus Day. Currently, 22 states consider Black Friday an

JOHN DEERE

In 1962, a University of Illinois archaeological team unearthed the exact location of the blacksmith shop where John Deere developed the first successful steel plow in 1837. The site is now preserved by an exhibit hall complete with a simulated conversation between John and Demarius Deere talking about their every events on ...Read more

President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. CST on Friday, November 22, 1963, while on a political trip through Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged at 7:00 p.m. for killing a Dallas policeman by "murder with malice", and he was also charged at 11:30 p.m. for the murder of the President (there was no charge for the "...Read more