Most Americans have no idea that the United States and Russia did openly engage each other in war. In 1918, about 11,000 American soldiers and Marines were sent to Russia to support what remained of the Czarist Russian army, where (in future irony) they joined Japanese troops fighting in support of the Czarist forces. In September of 1918, 7000 Marines landed in Vladivostok, and shortly thereafter, 4000 soldiers arrived in the far north of Russia, where British troops were already fighting the Bolshevik army. It was not until 1920 that Woodrow Wilson decided that he could not stop the Bolshevik takeover and quitely withdrew all American forces from Russia. American involvment in the Russian Revolution was well remembered in Russia, especially during the Cold War, even though it has been nearly forgotten in the United States. The number of American dead has still not been officially released to the American public.
Read More......
The world's largest coins, in size and standard value, were copper plates used in Alaska around 1850. They were about a metre (3 ft) long, half-a-metre (about 2 ft) wide, weighed 40 kg (90 lb), and were worth $2,500.
Read More......
It's not pretty to look at, but Namibia's plant Welwitschia Mirabilis can truly claim to be one of a kind. There really is nothing like it. Welwitschia plant consists of only two leaves and a sturdy stem with roots. That's all! Two leaves continue to grow until they resemble the shaggy mane of some sci-fi alien. The stem thickens, rather than gains in height, and can grow to be almost 2 meters high and 8 meters wide. Their estimated lifespan is 400 to 1500 years. It can survive up to five years with no rain. The plant is said to be very tasty either raw or baked in hot ashes, and this is how it got its other name, onyanga, which means onion of the desert.
Read More......
The first millennium, 1 - 1000 AD, consisted of 365,250 days. Our current millennium, 1001 - 2000 AD, will consist of 365,237 days. The third millennium, 2001 - 3000 AD, will consist of 365,242 days. The reason for the differences is the calendar system that was in use during the milleniums.
Read More......
Temperature plays an important role in how much hungry we are at a given point in time. To make matters worse, it is absolutely harder to go to the gymnasium or to travel around outside when you are freezing, so winter makes you feel hungrier than ever.
Read More......
Each year U.S. factories spew 3 million tons of toxic chemicals into the air, land, and water. That compounds the over one-half billion tons of solid hazardous wastes - we're not talking about your garbage here - that get dumped across the nation for our generation to one day clean up. (The Gale Environmental Scorecard)
Read More......
Watermelon is thought to have originated in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. The watermelon was brought into America across the Atlantic oceans by African slaves.
By the 1600′s, watermelon made it’s way to Spain, China, Great Britain, and even farther beyond.
The flowering watermelon plant produces a fruit called by botanists “pepo” .
Watermelons are more than 90% water.
Watermelon is actually a vegetable and not a fruit. It is also related to the pumpkin, cucumber and the squash. Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae.
The 1996 Guiness Book of Records lists the largest watermelon as being 262 pounds!
Over 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide.
The watermelon is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.
A whole cup of watermelon contains only 48 calories.
Read More......
Animals
