The Mongol conqueror Timur the Lame (1336-1405), played polo with the skulls of those he had killed in battle. Timur left record of his victories by erecting 30-foot-high pyramids made of the severed heads of his victims.

For many years, the fig has been used as a coffee substitute. The fruit contains a proteolytic enzyme that is considered an aid to digestion and is used by the pharmaceutical industry.

Chocolate chip cookies are made with sugar, flour, eggs, semi-sweet baker's chocolate and butter. While the Toll House recipe is considered the standard, the ingredients can be adjusted to give the cookies slightly different properties.

- For a thin, crisp cookie, increase the baking soda by up to 50%, replace one of the eggs with milk, and ...Read more

A racehorse averages a weight loss of between 15 and 25 pounds during a race.

In the summer of 1994, international film star Sophia Loren signed a multimillion-dollar deal to lend her name to promote a line of furs. Animal rights activist and former French film sex kitten Brigitte Bardot lambasted Loren in the media for the endorsement. Bardot (or "BB," as her fans refer to her) attacked La Loren in a letter made public ...Read more

Before 1933, the dime was legal as payment only in transactions of $10 or less. In that year, Congress made the dime legal tender for all transactions.

In the Thomas Nast cartoon that first depicted Santa Claus with a sleigh and reindeer, he was delivering Christmas gifts to soldiers fighting in the U.S. Civil War. The cartoon, entitled "Santa Claus in Camp," appeared in Harper's Weekly on January 3, 1863.

Electrical hearing aids were invented in 1901 by Miller R. Hutchinson.

Pink elephants? In regions of India where the soil is red, elephants take on a permanent pink tinge because they regularly spray dust over their bodies to protect themselves against insects. The parades are optional.

Federal regulations specify that 90 percent of peanut butter has to be peanuts.

Michelangelo's David is based on the artistic discipline of disegno, which is built on knowledge of the male human form. Under this discipline, sculpture is considered to be the finest form of art because it mimics divine creation. Because Michelangelo adhered to the concepts of disegno, he worked under the premise that the image of David was ...Read more

Aristotle believed the main purpose of the human brain was to cool the blood.

Birth defects in Moscow are alarmingly high. The infant death rate stands at 15 per 1,000 live births, nearly twice the U.S. rate. American experts believe that chemical pollution, lead poisoning, and/or exposure to radiation are the primary causes of these defects and infant deaths.

Sunday school teachers Patty and Mildred Hill wrote a song in the 1890s that we still sing today. Happy Birthday to You was a rewrite of their earlier song, Good Morning to All.

There are 284 restrooms along the 17.5 miles of corridors in the Pentagon.

Carte blanche, which means unconditional authority or power, was coined during the mid 1600s and literally means in French “blank document.”

The modern Sudoku was designed anonymously by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old retired architect and freelance puzzle constructor, and first published in 1979. Garns added a third dimension to the traditional Roman practice of Latin Squares and presented the creation as a puzzle, providing a partially-completed grid and requiring the solver to fill ...Read more

The word "gazelle" comes from the Arabian term for "affectionate," and it is believed to be inspired by the creature's large, gentle eyes.

American Margot Fraser "discovered" Birkenstock sandals while on a holiday in Germany in 1966. She gained relief from a foot condition, and founded a trading company called Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, Inc. in Novato, California, based on her enthusiasm for the sandals. Renamed Birkenstock Distribution USA, Inc. in 2005, it remains the ...Read more

Chief Sitting Bull was originally named "Jumping Badger." Among some American Indian tribes, it was customary to give newborn males temporary names. The names were changed later, as the boys developed character and showed courage in manhood.