Traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria, southern Bavaria and South Tyrol during the first week of December, particularly on the evening of December 5th, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells

Parts of the human anatomy have evolved into common expressions in American speech. A few examples include: A good head on his shoulders; the shoe's on the other foot; a heart of gold; chip on his shoulder; a nose for crime; turn the other cheek; a pain in the neck; rub someone's nose in it; a price on his head; apple of his eye; snap his head ...Read more

Jason Robards, nominated for more Tony Awards than any other actor, made his New York City acting debut in 1947 as the rear end of a cow in a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk."

A brown dwarf is a very small, dark object, with a mass less than 1/10 that of the Sun. They are "failed stars" – globules of gas that have shrunk under gravity, but failed to ignite and shine as stars.

Until the Middle Ages, passports were given only to the privileged well-to-do. In 1215, the Magna Carta established that "All merchants are to be safe and secure in leaving and entering England." One of the earliest U.S. passports on record was issued in France in 1778. It was signed by Benjamin

Seven-foot-two Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born just a bit longer than the average newborn at 22½ inches, but he weighed a hefty 12 pounds, 11 ounces. His name at birth was Lewis Alcindor.

Saint Boniface is said to have substituted a fir tree for the pagan oak in the eighth century as a symbol of faith. Martin Luther fostered the Christmas tree cult by using a candlelit tree as a symbol of Christ's heavenly home, while trees decorated with candles, fruit and paper flowers were introduced into Britain soon after Queen Victoria's ...Read more

Snails have teeth. They are arranged in rows along the snail's tongue and are used like a file to saw or slice through the snail's foot.

In architecture! Gargoyles are the carved terminations to spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings. Gargoyles are mostly grotesque figures. The word comes from the French gargouille, originally the throat or gullet, or Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from root gar, to swallow, the word representing the gurgling ...Read more

A baby giraffe is about six feet tall at birth.

No, anyone can contract AIDS. One possibility for the misconception that AIDS infects only homosexual men is that AIDS was termed Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome when it was first recognized in 1981 (it was subsequently renamed after it was recognised that there were methods of transmission other than male-male intercourse). HIV appears ...Read more

The San Blas Indian women of Panama consider giant noses a mark of great beauty. They paint black lines down the center of their noses to make them appear longer.

The first drug that was offered as a water-soluble tablet, was aspirin in 1900.

Salt Lake City, Utah, gets an average of 17 inches more snow annually than Fairbanks, Alaska. Santa Fe, New Mexico, gets an average of 9 inches more snow each year than New Haven, Connecticut.

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.