An annual competition for students who are blind, the Braille Institute hosts more than 1,400 students from the U.S. and Canada to test their braille skills. Contestants compete in categories like reading comprehension, proofreading, and spelling. Winners in each age group walk away with monetary prizes – and braille bragging rights for a year.

Physics confirms what you've probably known since childhood: wet or moist snow is ideal for making your own backyard Frosty. According to one scientist, the ideal snow-to-water ratio is 5:1.

Hot Pockets have experimented with a plethora of tastes throughout the years, but there are a few standbys that will never go away. The most popular flavors are Pepperoni Pizza and Five Cheese Pizza, since who can resist frozen pizza that cooks in two minutes?

We watch television far too much as a culture. Unless you are watching something educational or spending quality family time when everyone is too exhausted to do anything else, relaxing is typically a complete waste of time. However, there is no more wasted time if you crochet. I finished most of my projects while watching television, and each time I did so, I felt accomplished. Now you can look back on your Netflix binge with pride and WITHOUT feeling like a sleuth!

Who knew a high-ranking Norwegian officer could be found in the Edinburgh Zoo? Originally, King Penguin Sir Nils Olav served as the Norwegian Guard's mascot. He swiftly rose through the ranks, from Corporal in 1982 to Knighted in 2008, and Brigadier in 2016.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a furious rock anthem that exploded out of the speakers, making everything else on MTV seem puny and insignificant in comparison. The author of the song heard it differently. "It's such a perfect combination of cleanliness and nice, candy-ass production," Cobain said in an interview with biographer Michael Azerrad. "It may seem extreme to those who aren't used to it, but I think it's kind of lame."

If you're a fussy eater, you may have a new reason to loathe eggplant or be sensitive to the smallest scent of onion. You might be a supertaster—one of the 25% of persons with additional papillae on their tongue. This implies you have more taste buds and consequently more specialized taste receptors.

Urban planning in the city has the potential to be smart, efficient, and affordable. Pune is being divided into various urban and residential zones to increase the city's efficiency and to meet the growing demands of its residents.

Chisinau, occupied by the Red Army in June 1940, was devastated by a severe earthquake in October of that year, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale and destroying much of the city. As if that wasn't enough, the Luftwaffe arrived the next year and destroyed what was remained the city to smithereens.
 

Bulgaria required a flag to symbolize its independence when it became a sovereign nation in 1878. Petko Slaveykov, a poet who also authored the Bulgarian national hymn, was the designer.

The first train in India began service on April 16, 1853. Mumbai Locals are the world's busiest railroads, carrying over 2.2 billion people each year. Mumbai also features India's most out-of-date electric train network, established in 1925.

Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872, is the oldest national park in the United States. Every year, almost 4 million people visit the national park to admire its beauty. Yellowstone has around 16 fish species, 5 amphibian species, at least five reptile species, 67 mammal species, and over 250 bird species.

Libya imports the majority of the food it consumes due to its inability to produce it locally. Because the nation is located within the vast Sahara desert, it receives extremely little precipitation. It also has weak soil and a harsh climate, both of which hinder food production. The financing of the Great Manmade River Project, which was designed to irrigate farmed fields, was a major attempt by former Libyan President Gaddafi to reverse the situation. This project ended up becoming the largest irrigation project in the world. It consists of a 1750-mile subterranean water pipe network. Libya's people, meanwhile, continue to rely on imported food to survive.

If you want to view the Eiffel Tower in all its splendor, you should go to Paris in the summer. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 1,062-foot monument grows more than six inches taller in the heat due to thermal expansion, which allows the iron structure to literally grow. However, if you want the best view, go during the day because the tower begins to shrink as the sun sets.

This one from Amazing Facts About Hindi tells us about the origins of Hindi films. Raja Harishchandra is the plot of Hindi cinema's future.

Amsterdam’s beautiful bridges are an icon of the city. There are 1,281 bridges in Amsterdam which connect the city’s 165 canals. 

There are several historic bridges, while others are decorated with bright flowers or lit up at night. You can even see 15 bridges at once, by crossing the Reguliersgracht and Herengracht bridges.

Every crystal you find has a mineral structure. For some, this structure corresponds to sacred geometry, regulating how the crystal functions with a specific type of energy. These structures are distinct from tetragonal, hexagonal, trigonal, triclinic, or monoclinic structures. Each of them contains core structures that have been observed to reverberate across nature and within your body. Hexagonal crystals, for example, are known to be the most powerful healers, although cubic and isometric minerals are good conductors of energy. It is better if you become more acquainted with this before purchasing some of these stones.

When the city was in the hands of the Portuguese, they saw it was a natural water bay. Hence, they called it ‘Bom Bhaia,’ the Portuguese term for ‘good bay.’ Later, Bombay was given to the British as dowry when a Portuguese princess married an English prince. They renamed the city, Bombay. And that’s how the city got its name!

The mid-year solstice denotes the moment that the Sun arrives at its most noteworthy point overhead. This is the longest day of the year, and the days gradually get shorter after that until the winter solstice, which is on December 21. The winter solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year, occurs in the Southern Hemisphere at the same time as the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Half of the globe, the summer solstice happens at some point between June 20 and June 22, and between December 20 and December 23 in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the 1920s, makeup artist Michelle Menard invented a nail polish made of car enamel. Her recipe was popular among flappers. Their preferred method, known as the Moon Manicure, was to paint only the centre of the nail, leaving the tip and cuticle uncovered. Menard was working for Charles Revson, which is now known as Revlon, at the time.

If your clip-ins become damaged over time, don't toss them out completely! If the wefts appear to be in good condition, you may simply extend its life by removing the broken clip and sewing in a new one.

Other minerals can be combined with sand, lime, and soda ash to produce different colored glass. Adding nickel oxide, for example, results in the violet glass.

When Princess Margaret was born in 1930, The Sunday Express decided to commission an analysis of her birth chart. The job ended up in the hands of R.H. Naylor, assistant to in-demand astrologer Cheiro. His piece was so popular, that the newspaper commissioned a regular astrology column from him—the grandfather of every newspaper's daily horoscope section.

Building pyramids kept the Ancient Egyptians occupied! Over 130 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt so far, and archaeologists are continually searching for more!

Approximately 2 million people were slaughtered during the Khmer Rouge's four-year reign. That equates to one-fifth of the population. Because of the atrocities that occurred between 1975 and 1979, up to 63% of Cambodia's population is under the age of thirty.