The point of a samurai sword is called a Kissaki. This is the hardest part of the sword to polish and forge and to hand create a quality one would require an extremely skilful artisan. The value of a sword is determined largely by the quality of the point.

In 1843, mathematician Ada Byron published the first computer programs. She based them on Jacquard's punch-card idea. Her programs were for the first general-purpose mechanical digital computer that had just been invented by Charles Babbage.

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.

In Bangkok, Thailand in 1996, police searched the men's room of Thailand's Parliament after an anonymous bomb threat was phoned in. They got a surprise. They found a box they feared contained a bomb, but discovered the contents were an abandoned monitor lizard. "Monitor lizard fails to explode in MPs' toilet," the Bangkok Post reported in its ...Read more

The Penny is the only coin currently minted in the United States with a profile that faces to the right. All other coins – the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and nickel -- all feature profiles that face to the left.

Rhubarb is named after the Volga River. In Greek, the name of the Volga is Rha, and barb means "uncultivated." Rhubarb is thus a wild plant that grows along the Volga.

The flower of the Calla lily is 8 feet high and 12 feet wide. It is grown in Sumatra.

Evergreens, because of their long life span and their needles' year-round exposure to pollution, are the most vulnerable trees to air pollution.

The dense globules of gas from which stars are born are much larger than the stars they will form. In the Orion nebula, globules have been detected which are 500 times larger than the solar system.

In Alaska, it is legal to shoot bears. However, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

John Adams, credited by Thomas Jefferson as the unofficial, tireless whip of the independence-minded, wrote his wife Abigail on July 3, "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding

The most common proposal is a tether, usually in the form of a cable or ribbon, that spans from the surface to a point beyond geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates, the inertia at the end of the tether counteracts gravity and keeps the tether taut. Vehicles can then climb the tether and escape the planet's gravity without the use of ...Read more

A full seven percent of the entire Irish barley crop goes to the production of Guinness Beer.

Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

When asked about the unexpected impact she had on the women's liberation movement with her 1970s blockbuster song "I Am Woman," singer Helen Reddy admitted, "I certainly didn't hear it as a hit. I didn't hear it as an anthem."

If today's ice caps melted completely, sea level would rise across the world by between 200 and 230 feet. This means the Statue of Liberty would be immersed up to her armpits, and the clock face on the Houses of Parliament in London would be under water.

The story of Don Juan has been told over 35 times in the movies. The 1926 version, starring John Barrymore holds a place in movie history, as Don Juan (Barrymore) plants 191 kisses on various females during the course of the film, an average of one every 53 seconds.

Before a wrist injury changed her career plans, Marlene Dietrich had wanted to become a professional concert violinist.

Six-inch-high heels were worn by the upper classes in seventeenth-century Europe. Two servants, one on either side, were needed to hold up the person wearing the high heels.

The voice of Scat Cat in Disney's 1970 animated feature "The Aristocats" was supposed to be provided by legendary jazz trumpet master Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. The character's look was modeled after Armstrong -- the way he played his trumpet, his roly-poly physique, right down to the prominent gap between his teeth. In 1968, Louis even recorded...Read more