Smallpox, which killed more than 100 million people in its day, first showed up as a mutation of cowpox, a disease commonly found in the auroch. What's an auroch? It's the ancient European animal from which today's domesticated cows are descended

The electricity required to operate all the exit signs in U.S. buildings costs about $1 billion per year.

In all cases of human death, the trigger is a lack of oxygen.

John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday dinner, on May 19, 1962, featured crabmeat baked in sea shell, chicken broth with spring wheat, medallions of beef glazed in Madeira, herbed carrots, woodland mushrooms and the presidential birthday cake.

Scotland's King James IV wanted to be a dentist. Historians say the monarch sometimes paid patients so he could get practice in his desired profession by working on their teeth.

A fastball, traveling at 95 miles per hour, takes 4/10 of a second to reach home plate.

The Morse code "V for Victory" signal for the BBC during World War II was played by percussionist James Blade on an African membrane drum with a timpani mallet. It was broadcast up to 150 times a day to encourage the Resistance in Continental Europe.