The nation of Nepal takes its name from the Tibetan word for "wool market."

William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg received Nobel recognition in 1915 for their work on X-ray crystallography, making them the only father and son to ever share a Nobel prize.

Prisoners on Death Row are most likely to ask for French fries as part of their last meal. The second most popularly requested...read more

Although best remembered for their fairy tales, the Brothers Grimm - Jacob and Wilhelm - were librarians and linguists. The two traveled Germany, listening to and recording traditional peasant stories. The Grimm's most important find was Frau Katherina Viehmannin, also known as Gammer Grethel. Viehmannin repeated stories like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "The Frog Prince"...read more

With more than 2 billion households around the world, Santa Claus would have to travel at a steady rate of 8 million meters per second in order to reach every chimney in 24 hours or less.

Life insurance companies have found that the older you are, the longer you'll live. For instance, Americans who live to see their 75th birthday have an average life expectancy of about 86 years or more than...read more

South Dakota's Black Hills aren't. That's because, geographically speaking, hills are any rise of less than 1,000 feet. Just about anything higher than that is a mountain. The Black Hills rise from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the surrounding area, with Harney Peak reaching 7,242 feet above sea level, higher than any of the Appalachian or Ozark mountains.

In Greece, it's St. Basil who...read more

Ever heard that the Earl of Sandwich invented the food in which sliced meats and cheeses are encased in two pieces of bread? It's not true. Historians report that the first sandwich was most likely created by Rabbi Hillel between 70 B.C. and 10 A.D. Hillel combined fruits, nuts, honey and bitter herbs and sandwiched them between two pieces of matzah or unleavened bread.

The plural word "dwarves"...read more

A group of widows is called an ambush while more than one messenger is called a diligence. Multiple shopkeepers are called a haggle, and an assemblage of devils is referred to as a pandemonium. More than one bachelor makes a parcel. More than one thief makes a skulk.

Although a geek used to be a carnival performer who bites the heads off live chickens or snakes, the contemporary use of the word...read more

In J.K. Rowling's initial Harry Potter novel, the student's first Hogwarts School banquet includes roast beef, chicken, pork, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled and baked potatoes, French fries, Yorkshire Pudding, peas, carrots, mint humbugs, ice cream, apple pie, treacle tart, chocolate clairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jello and rice pudding

In Latin, the country name...read more

The jacket known as a tuxedo is named for an Algonquin Indian chief, P'tauk-Seet (with a silent P), whose name means "wolf."

Hong Kong's name comes from the Cantonese "heung gong," which means "fragrant harbor" or "spice harbor."

The Bangles sang of "Manic Monday," while the Rolling Stones intoned "Ruby Tuesday." Simon and Garfunkel...read more

Other than the female representations of Justice and Liberty, only four women have ever appeared on U.S. currency. Martha Washington was featured on the face of the 1886 and 1891 $1 silver certificates and on the reverse of the 1896 silver certificate. Pocahontas' likeness appears on the back of the 1875 $20 bill. Women's suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony is on the 1979 $1 coin, and in 2000...read more

The first American cast iron plow was patented by Charles Newbold in 1797. But farmers were slow to adopt the device because many believed it would poison the soil or encourage weeds. Thomas Jefferson's experimental farm helped allay farmers' fears and led to the widespread use of the new invention

Oklahoma's name comes from the combination of two Choctaw words, "ukla" or person...read more

America's best-selling poet isn't American. In fact, he's not even alive. Translations of Sufi poetry by Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi (1207-1273) sold more copies in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s than did the collected poems of any other single author. Ar-Rumi said this of love: "This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to...read more

I'm turning most everything off through Thursday and taking a long-needed rest in Seattle. But I won't be completely out of touch (literally or figuratively). You can still follow me on Twitter, and you can still find For the Record in the Idaho Press-Tribune.

From the 1870s to the 1940s when their population was at its peak, American hobos were usually men who traveled and looked for work. Tramps, on the other hand, traveled but didn't look for work, and bums survived by begging or stealing. Proper bums didn't travel.

The average American eats about a pound of meat every two days

In 1896, 1900 and 1908, U.S. voters had a choice of voting for...read more

In Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," each of the dwarfs is identified by the color of the hat he wears: Bashful (green), Doc (mustard), Dopey (purple), Grumpy (brown), Happy (orange), Sleepy (also green) and Sneezy (tan)

Charged with creating an English dictionary, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) set to work. But unlike today's tomes, Johnson's edition revealed a bit of...read more

Although billed as "The Three Stooges," the slapstick comedy group actually had six members. Larry Fine (1902-1975), Moe Howard (1897-1975) and Shemp Howard (1895-1955) were the original performers. Curly Howard (1903-1952) stepped in when Shemp temporarily went solo. Joe Besser (1907-1989) and Curly-Joe DeRita (1909-1993) were drafted to fill in the gaps when Shemp and Curly died in the...read more

Before he was president, Franklin D. Roosevelt dropped out of law school, complaining that it was interfering with his social life. No problem. He still managed to pass the New York State Bar Examination

On-the-job accidents occur across the nation at the rate of about one every 18 seconds. But work is safer than home. Accidents in the home take place at roughly twice the rate with one household...read more

Cockroaches are amazingly hardy. For instance, the troublesome insects can be frozen for two days and still live. They can go three months without food or live a week without a head. It has also been proven that the bugs can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes, navigate perfectly if deaf and blind and live through a thermonuclear explosion.

Both apple juice and apple cider, in their unadulterated...read more

Statisticians know that more American babies are born in August (9.2 percent) and October (9 percent) than in any other months

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a cyclist involved in a motor vehicle collision will suffer, on average, 1.4 days in the hospital, 1.4 days in bed at home, 4.3 days missed from school and 23.6 days of pain and discomfort.

New York state...read more

Some ancient Latin insults include the following: Caudex! (Blockhead!), Quid gurgustium! (What a dump!), Garrula lingua! (Bigmouth!), Stulte! (Stupid) and the worst of all, Es barbarus! (You're a barbarian!).

A Gallup poll finds that washing dishes is the most-hated household task. Cleaning the bathroom is in second place, and ironing takes third

That National Weather Service reports that of...read more

American novelist Herman Melville may have stolen his idea for a white whale named Moby Dick. It seems that Melville's famous novel, which first appeared in 1851, closely fit Jeremiah Reynold's 1839 story of Captain Nathaniel Palmer's battle with a huge, albino beast he called Mocha Dick.

Grape tomatoes, which are smaller and sweeter than their cherry tomato kin, first appeared in supermarkets...read more

Taphophobia - the fear of being buried alive - used to be a common concern. Even George Washington ordered of his burial that his body should not "be put into a vault less than two days after I am dead."

The average weight of an adult human's skin is about nine pounds.

All snowflakes fall into one of six basic types: plates, stars, dendrites, columnar, needles and capped columns...read more

The Canadian beaver may be large as far as rodents go, but it's not the largest such animal. That honor goes to the capybara, also known as the carpincho or water hog. This South American native has been known to reach lengths of more than 4 feet and weigh up to 174 pounds

Humans have anywhere from two to four million eccrine sweat glands on the body's surface.

When appointed to the U.S...read more

Adolf Hitler failed the entrance examination to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, two years in a row. In the meantime, Hitler supported himself by making posters for shopkeepers, painting picture postcards and by taking odd jobs, shoveling snow, carrying suitcases at the Vienna train station and as a day laborer on construction projects.

Crabs of the species Neptunus pelagines are pretty...read more

Cheop's Great Pyramid - also known as Khufu - rises 481 feet, and its construction consumed about 2.3 million stones that weigh an average of 2.5 tons each. But it's not the world's largest pyramid. Until recently, that honor was commonly conferred on Mexico's Quetzalcoatl Pyramid, which stands a mere 181 feet high, but is about 26 percent larger than Khufu in total volume. But archeologists...read more

Not all smiths are blacksmiths. Blacksmiths traditionally worked with iron while whitesmiths worked with tin.

Yellow, a color usually used to get attention (think highlighters and post-it notes), speeds up human metabolism

While the Asiatic elephant endures a pregnancy of 608 days, the American opossum bears its young only 12 to 13 days after conception.

Contrary to popular belief, England's...read more

Experts on the psychology of color claim that orange is often used in packaging to make an expensive product appear more affordable

Shoppers beware. Chickens described as free-range don't necessarily run free or live on the range. Experts claim that the term means only that the chickens have access to the outdoors. Many of these birds are coop-dwellers.

Racing pigeons commonly fly at rates...read more

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher

Actor John Rice smacked vaudeville comedienne Mae Irwin on the lips in Thomas Edison's studio for an 1896 feature called "The Kiss." The short film, called "absolutely disgusting" by one reviewer, was the first-known movie smooch.

The world's first auto death was caused in 1895 when the horseless carriage demonstrated...read more

Nepetalactone, the secret ingredient that makes cats go crazy for catnip, is known to repel cockroaches and the mosquitoes that carry yellow fever

Experts claim that the only muscles in the human body that don't shiver are those that control the eyes.

A group of cats is formally known as a clutter or a chowder of cats. Bears gather in sleuths or sloths.

British soldier Richard Shuckburg is...read more