Medieval humor: The giant siege catapults used during the 4th Crusade could hurl projectiles weighing up to a quarter ton with enough force to break down the thickest defensive walls. One of these engines of destruction was named "Bad Neighbor".
Movie exploitation toys are big business. Last year licensees sold $14 billion in Disney related materials, returning $1.9 billion to Disney. Mattel pulled in over $100 million from sales of Lion King materials. In order to cut costs and maximize profits, Mattel is manufacturing its new Pocahontas movie exploitation dolls using Barbie doll bodies with different heads and packaging. Maybe Mattel should take a note from the software industry, and in addition to complete dolls, sell the Pocahontas head separately as an "upgrade" for existing Barbie installations...
On average, Americans throw away 20,000 televisions, 150,000 tons of packaging materials, and 43,000 tons of food per day.
The hottest temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees (Fahrenheit) in Libya on Sept. 13, 1922. The coldest temperature of -128 degrees was recorded in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.
The oldest repair work on the Sphinx was done over 4000 years ago.
More people are killed by pigs and bees each year than by sharks.
The discharge from an electric eel can pack 650 volts - enough to shock an elephant.
The Mayflower, the ship that crossed the Atlantic in 1620 with 102 colonists still exists - sort of. After the ship returned to England from its historic voyage, it was purchased in 1624 by a farmer named Russel. Russel floated the Mayflower up the Thames River to his farm. He disassembled the ship and used the timbers to build a barn that still stands today in Old Jordans, Bucks, UK. William Penn asked to be buried next to the old barn when he died in England in 1726.