The word "whiskey" comes from the Gaelic term "usquebaugh," which translates as "water of life."

Baseball may be America's favorite pastime, but it's certainly not the country's favorite spectator sport. In a 2004 survey, 10 percent of Americans reported that they most liked to watch baseball. Basketball was chosen as the top spectator sport by 14 percent...read more

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...read more

The Spanish city of Pamplona publishes safety guidelines each year for participants in the Running of the Bulls. Some quotations from the brochure include gems such as, "Do not stand still," or "making the run on a drunken spree is totally out of order." But potential participants should take special care, according to the guide, because "if you get up right in the path of...read more

A 19th-century railway expansion in Egypt resulted in so many unearthed mummies that they were used as fuel for locomotives.

The Greyhound bus line got its start in Hibbing, Minn. The town is even home to a museum, housing 11 retired buses. But there's no longer a Greyhound stop in Hibbing

The idea for best-selling game Trivial Pursuit was hatched by two Canadian reporters, Scott Abbott and...read more

Roman soldiers chewed garlic before battles in the hope that it might give them courage

Tobacco-related illnesses kill 17 Americans each year for every one American who is murdered.

In the United States, roughly 80 percent of all deaths occur in hospitals.

The word "scrabble," as in the board game, means "to grope frantically."

School buses are painted a shade known as National...read more

Not every pop band gets its name right the first time. For instance, Chicago got its start as Big Thing, and the Beach Boys were originally billed as Carl and the Passions. Polka Tulk eventually changed its name to the better-known Black Sabbath. Creedence Clearwater Revival started out as The Golliwogs.

In England, about 65 percent of all beer is consumed in pubs and other public places. But in...read more

Meteoroids don't become meteorites unless they hit the Earth.

Orange carrots may be the most common, but the vegetable also comes in white, yellow, red, green and purple

All U.S. presidents have had at least one sibling.

Citing "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss as one of the most influential anti-arms-race books of the 1980s, experts point out that the rhyming and rhythmic challenge...read more

During Prohibition, President Warren Harding hosted liquor parties, and the Senate Library had a secret bar behind one of its walls. But not all were corrupt. Rep. Thomas Blanton tried to have the Washington Post prosecuted for printing George Washington's recipe for beer

The design and wording on U.S. wine labels is overseen by the American Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, an agency...read more

In the early 19th century, experts on the complete British home agreed that a household of husband and wife with three children and the money to support it should have a staff of 24: housekeeper, cook, lady's-maid, nurse, two housemaids, laundry maid, still-room maid, nursery-maid, kitchen maid, scullion, butler, valet, house-steward, coachman, two grooms, one assistant groom, two footmen, three...read more

Developed in 1914 by George Bunting, Noxzema was originally sold as Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy.

Experts claim that the word "vampire," an Old Slavic verb meaning "to fly," probably entered the English language in the early 18th century. "The Vampyre," a short story published in 1819 by English Doctor John William Polidori made the creature a cultural icon

Of...read more

The kea, a bird native to New Zealand, has a particular affection for rubber. Stories abound in which the kea pecks away at the rubber of a vehicle's windshield wipers, though birds reportedly release their grip if the driver accelerates past 40 miles per hour

Television viewers remember Ray Charles's endorsement of Pepsi in a series of commercials first broadcast in 1989. What they may not...read more

For eggs to be called jumbo, a dozen of them must weigh more than 30 ounces. Extra large eggs must weigh at least 27 ounces, and large eggs must weigh at least 24 ounces per dozen. Other egg sizes include medium (more than 21 ounces), small (18) and peewee (15).

Florida has more billboards than does any other state, with Ohio and Michigan in second and third places. Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont...read more

WWAX, a radio station in Duluth, Minn., tried a 5-day experiment in which the typical talk and music formats were disbanded in favor of playing nothing but commercials. The station eventually gave up all commercials, all the time, and switched to an "easy listening" format

Lemons have a pH level of 2.3 to 2.6 while apples range from 3.0 to 3.3. Other foods and their pH levels are as follows...read more

Some of the animals that are specifically forbidden as food in the Bible's Old Testament include eagles, vultures, ravens, owls, swans, bats, weasels, mice, tortoises, ferrets, snails and moles.

In a study of 49 stadiums, it was found that 70 percent of the companies that named a stadium (like Taco Bell Arena) saw their stock price increase after the naming. Researchers theorize that the effect...read more

An entrepreneurial Canadian farmer, Frazier Mohawk, started selling advertising space on the sides of his Jersey heifers in 1984. Each cow placement cost $500 for a year's use.

The U.S. exports 326,000 tons of chicken feet to China each year

The average human visits the restroom six to eight times per day.

One horsepower is supposed to be the average rate at which a horse does work, but since...read more