Have you ever wondered where the superstition that breaking a mirror would bring seven years of bad luck originated? This ancient superstition dates all the way back to Roman times, according to our fun fact about mirror number 8.

The Romans believe that breaking a mirror would harm both your soul and your life, which are renewed every seven years. As a result, seven years of bad luck followed.

They are all cities in the United States, located in Georgia, Arizona, and Indiana. For many years, the one in Indiana has sold maps with specific spots for Christmas parties. Tourists may encounter Santa Claus, the holiday's major emblem, here. Santa Claus, Georgia, has just a park, a church, and eight streets with seasonal names like Rudolf St. or December St. The third Santa Claus is from Arizona. It is a ghost town with only a few buildings along a road.

If you want to have an everlasting connection with a loved one who has passed away, you can compress their ashes and turn them into a man-made diamond. You will be able to cherish them in this manner for the rest of your life.

We have always heard that life is only possible on the planet Earth. But of all the planets in our solar system except Earth, Mars is most likely to hospitable to life on earth. In the year 1986, NASA found something that they thought to be the fossils of microscopic living things in a rock recovered from Mars.

It is said that Chhath Puja worshipers take holy baths, observe a time of abstinence, and withdraw from the main family for four days. Throughout the period, he or she is said to be a pure spirit and sleeps on the floor. Vrati are those who fast throughout the four days of the Chhath puja ceremony.

The Exorcist, based on William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name, was produced in 1973 and sparked quite an amount of controversy in the years preceding its release. For instance, when a bird flew into a circuit box, the set used as Regan MacNeil's home burnt to the ground. The only room that remained standing was the one where the exorcism took place. Even creepier, not only did actors get various injuries while making the film, but two of them died shortly after production ended—actors who played characters who perished onscreen. To make matters worse, when the film aired in Rome, lightning damaged a 400-year-old crucifix atop a local church, according to CBS News.

In the United Kingdom, nearly £368 million is spent on whole cakes each year, which includes birthday cakes! That's nearly £1 million worth of cake per day, which is a lot of cake (and even more candles). When you extrapolate this to the entire world, you'll discover that people eat between 50 and 100 million birthday cakes every single day, not just once a year.

Nepal does not observe an independence day because it has never been occupied by a foreign power. The country is the oldest in South Asia. Nepal was a monarchical monarchy until 2008 when it became a federal democratic republic. Isn't that amazing for a small country surrounded by Asian behemoths?

After 160 years of British occupation, Malta attained independence in 1964. Many vestiges of the British Empire can still be found in Malta today.

The world's first Kinokuniya bookshop is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. You may study as much as you want about Japan and Japanese culture with the abundance of publications available here - as long as you understand Japanese! This bookshop also caters to specialised interests such as anime and provides a limited selection of English-language books.

Do you want a large, muscular baby? Then formula is your ticket, according to a study published in the Journal of Proteome Research by UC Davis. Researchers discovered that when five formula-fed infant rhesus monkeys were compared to five breastfed monkeys, the former developed quicker and bigger than the latter. One probable explanation is that formula includes higher protein than breast milk: human milk contains 8% protein whereas rhesus monkey milk contains 11.6 percent. At 18%, formula outperforms both.

The terrifying noises made by the raptors in Jurassic Park were sourced from recordings of tortoises mating. The sound designer also experimented with horses breathing and geese hissing, but the tortoises proved the most evocative.

As you try to decide between products that treat each area of the body, the skin-care aisle at your neighbourhood drugstore might make your head spin. It's perfectly acceptable to use different products for different places depending on your preferences, skin type, and circumstances (such as acne). But keep in mind that taking care of your skin doesn't have to be difficult just because it performs a lot of tasks.

According to swissinfo.ch, Switzerland has one of the greatest shares of internationals among other nations, accounting for around 24.6% in 2015. More over 80% of foreigners in Switzerland are from Europe, with nearly half coming from France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal alone. Switzerland leads the European immigration countries, with 19 arrivals per 1000 population on average in 2014, considerably ahead of Germany (11), the United Kingdom (9.8), Spain (6.6), and France (5.1).

Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, yet their optimal life span may surprise you. The average lifespan is a little less than two months: a male mosquito normally survives for three to five days after mating, whereas a female mosquito can live for a month or two under optimal conditions. Females lay eggs every three weeks at the period.

Obviously, it failed. McDonald's has been introducing healthy choices onto its menus for the last decade. It now provides a wide variety of salads, and in 2011, it made it possible to substitute apples for fries in Happy Meals. However, before settling on apples, the fast food company experimented with a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably broccoli. But not just any broccoli will do. Recognizing that youngsters dislike the waxy green vegetable, McDonald's designed it to taste like bubblegum.

The Lamborghini Winter Academy teaches you how to have fun while driving 5-700 horsepower Lamborghinis over the Alps. During the winter. Nothing except snow and ice covered the ground. Unless you strike anything, it's also pretty cheap.

Stephen Strange has always been more about intelligence than brute strength. Strange wins by out-thinking his opponents rather than out-zapping them, which is part of what made the Lee/Ditko run remarkable. He can pack a punch when necessary, both physically and magically. Mordo creates a whole cult to seek down his archfoe in Strange Tales #130 and 131. They get a nasty surprise when they approach him from behind before he can cast a spell: Stephen's magical training includes martial arts. They are really potent. Defenders #9 demonstrated that Strange is more than just skilled. He can compete with Mantis, who is among the finest Marvel martial artists.

Ferrari is no longer a family-owned company. Enzo Ferrari sold half of the firm he controlled outright to rival Italian carmaker Fiat Group in 1969. The transaction provided Ferrari with much-needed capital. Just before his death in 1988, Enzo Ferrari and his son Piero Ferrari sold even more of the firm, leaving the Ferrari family with only 10% control. The parent company of Ferrari is now known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, according to a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Today, the Ferrari family earns just a small portion of the earnings from Ferrari sales and branded items, which are worth billions of dollars each year.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species notes that while the majority of rattlesnake species are not in danger, there are three particular species that warrant attention. The Tancitaran dusky rattlesnake is listed as endangered because of its small range in Mexico, whereas the Santa Catalina rattlesnake, which is native to Isla Santa Catalina, is regarded as critically endangered. 1213 Similar to this, the long-tailed rattlesnake is classified as "vulnerable" because it is so uncommon and has only a few known specimens in western Mexico.

The strangest thing of all time is that certain snails may sleep for up to three years! This is because they require wet circumstances to exist, and if the weather does not provide adequate moisture, they will hibernate. Honeybees, which can flap their wings 230 times per second, are also fascinating creatures. And did you know that baby pandas are born smaller than mice? They're only four ounces! Finally, horses and cows can sleep standing up but only dream while lying down.

We'll look through cricket in further detail. A century is an innings in which one batter runs a hundred runs without being hit. That is really difficult for me to achieve. Alastair Cook is the oldest player to reach the age of 38. But that is not the all-time record held by Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar retired in 2013 at the age of 100. Tendulkar is known as the "God of Cricket."

Here's a rather contentious DC fact! Diana's romantic interests included both men and women when she was created in 1941. It's understandable when your identity is defined by your struggle with love and you're from an island populated entirely by women. Her creator, William Moulton Marston, was particularly inspired by his polyamorous situation. By the way, this was in 1940, when homosexuality was illegal.

Every book has its own worth. But the most expensive printed book in the world is the 1640 Bay Psalm book. The book is from America and was sold in 2013, in November, for USD 14.2 million.

Long-term lung function reduction can result from exposure to air pollution throughout childhood. Fetuses' growth has also been proven to be impacted by dirty air. The majority of the UK's regions exceed the EU's air pollution regulations. However, according to the government's present plans, it won't be safe to breathe until at least 2020, and 2025 in London.