Developed in Egypt about 5,000 years ago, the greyhound breed was known before the ninth century in England, where it was bred by aristocrats to hunt such small game as hares. Today the dog is widely used in racing.

The spiny mouse, when grabbed by a predator, will lose entire chunks of the its fur, skin, and underlying flesh. It will simply peel right off while the rest of the mouse scurries away, no worse for wear except for some icky holes in its body. It will then begin to heal its wounds almost immediately, taking only three days to begin growing back ...Read more

The day before January 1 is called Silvester in Germany. The holiday is named after pope Silvester I, who died 335 A.D. Typically, Germans will meet somewhere or gather together in their houses on Silvester, waiting until midnight to celebrate the new year.

A rainbow can be seen only in the morning or late afternoon. It is a phenomenon that can occur only when the sun is 40 degrees or less above the horizon.

In a 1996 interview, actor Walter Matthau related this self-deprecating story about his film career: "Apparently, I shout a lot in most films. I did a film with Elvis Presley, King Creole. And the Hungarian director says to me, 'Matt-ow, you are high-priced actor. Pretend you are low-priced actor

The Sun is colossal. It contains 99.8 percent of the total mass of the solar system. More than one million Earths would be required to match its volume.

Shampoo was first marketed in the U.S. in 1930 by John Breck, who was the captain of a volunteer fire department.

New Zealand was the first country to give woman the vote, in 1893.

Coined about 1930, the popular Greek dish moussaka consists of layers of seasoned ground lamb and eggplant, and is usually topped with a custard or cheese sauce and baked.

During Canada's summers, an average of one tornado every five days is reported in Canada, compared to five tornadoes every day in the United States.

French consumers drink an average 88 servings of Coca-Cola products per year.

An ant can lift 50 times its own weight, which is equivalent to a human being pulling a 10-ton trailer.

The first 12-ounce aluminum soda can was introduced in 1964 by Royal Crown Cola. Coke didn't start using aluminum until 3 years later, and that same year Pepsi came out with a seamless can.

In 1822, in his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Thomas DeQuincy invented the word "tranquilizer" to describe the effect of opium.

There are 170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ways to play the ten opening moves in a game of chess.

James J. Ritty, owner of a tavern in Dayton, Ohio, invented the cash register in 1879 to stop his patrons from pilfering house profits.

Few heroes have garnered the following of the people as did John F. Kennedy. A powerful speaker, his memorable inaugural speech has left it's mark on history for all time: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Springing from Irish forefathers, Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, ...Read more

The now-extinct ancestor of the horse, eohippus, had a short neck, a pug muzzle, and stood no higher than a medium-sized dog.

The rainbow effect can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind the observer at a low altitude or angle. The most spectacular rainbow displays when half of the sky is still dark with draining clouds and the observer is at a spot with clear sky overhead. The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near ...Read more

Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove, and then testing the batch on his own head. His invention was introduced as Coppertone Suntan Cream in 1944.