The Black Mission fig, the most popular variety of fig growing in desert areas, is so named because of its color and because it was the variety introduced at the California and Southwestern Spanish missions.

The longest muscle in the human body is the sartorius. This narrow muscle of the thigh passes obliquely across the front of the thigh and helps rotate the leg to the position assumed in sitting cross-legged. Its name is a ...Read More

One of the deadliest diseases in the world is Japanese River Fever, with a mortality rate of more than 50 percent. It is found only near rivers in certain areas of Japan, China, Korea, Burma, and India.

Oscar-winning director James Cameron (Titanic) was a risk-taker even when a boy. He organized his playmates in building a functional catapult that threw boulders large enough to make impact craters. He and his buddies also...Read More

The totalitarian superstate of Oceania is comprised of four ministries which are housed in huge pyramidal structures, each roughly 300 metres high and visible throughout London, displaying the three slogans of the party on...Read More

During the Civil War, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant believed that onions would prevent dysentery and other physical ailments. He reportedly sent the following message via wire to the War Department: "I will not move my army ...Read More