Amusing Facts

Considering that it is the wellspring of life for all living creatures, it’s no wonder that the heart has entered our lexicon and lives with such frequency. We have a wealth of expressions like heart of the matter, heartbroken, heart sick, heartless, and of course, the symbol of Valentines which ties it to the emotion […] More

Lemons are one of those delightful citrus fruits that can start the saliva flowing, just by thinking about the juicy contents inside the peel. Although in the case of lemons, they’re not the type of treat you want to peel and stick right in your mouth. Lemons are appreciated more for their juice, and its […] More

At one time, psychologists theorized that using dark blue plates, cups, etc. would serve as an appetite deterrent since blue on foods, is ingrained in the human mind as meaning it has gone bad, rotted, or turned moldy. On the other hand, bright colors have always been held up as mood elevators. So is it […] More

India is a country of mystery and myths, a region that includes more than 7,000 kilometers of coastline, while at the same time, bordering other countries like Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Bhutan. The entire country spreads over 1.25 million square miles of mostly arid land, where only 9.5% of the surface area is water. Inside […] More

That most familiar of fruits, the banana, is also America’s favorite, with the average citizen eating a whopping 26 pounds of them each year. So popular is the banana, it has become part of our lexicon and terminology. Somewhere in the 1930s, the expression “going bananas” came to be understood as someone who was nuts. […] More

The chocolate chip cookie, that favorite treat of adults and kids alike, was the accidental invention of an inspired cook. In 1930, Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, decided to enrich her butter cookie dough by chopping up a Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate bar. The resulting cookie was so popular, that it came […] More

Hair is often thought of as the beauty province of women, but throughout history, men have suffered the slings and arrows of everything from curling irons, to prejudice for its length. Remember, in early civilized times, peasants in particular had no access to shaving utensils, let alone ones that would scrape the face and leave […] More

The human ear is a marvel of Nature’s design, with its drum, nerve endings, and auditory system that conducts signals through to the brain. We can hear a range of sound from about .2 to 17KHz. That’s in the open, on a clear day, and with no distracting sounds. And while humans can hear underwater, […] More

Before Spaniards and other “civilized” nations set foot in the Americas, there was no concept of sin as we know it. Or as the church knew it back then. So the natives were downing hot chocolate, without considering their immortal souls. The cocoa tree is endemic to the South American climate, likely originating in the […] More

Chili, or Chili Con Carne, is a staple, and even a revered gourmet dish in areas of the southwest, particularly Texas, where they claim to be the birthplace of the mind-blowing blend of meat, spices and tomatoes. But the name is Spanish, which has always lead people to believe it was an invention of Mexicans, […] More

Most people prefer to see cobras in a movie, where they emerge with sinuous movements, from the basket of a snake charmer as he mesmerizes them with his music. But occasionally, these sssssssslithering charmers turn up where they’re least expected. Cobras are venomous snakes, recognized by the trademark hood behind their heads, which expands when […] More

For records of civilization we rely on what those generations before us left behind. Sometimes that is only in the bits and pieces of their daily lives, like pottery from which scientists can determine the contents of wine from thousands of years ago. In more spectacular cases, we are actually left with their words in […] More