Few people realise it, but the city's environment and surrounding countryside served as inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's classic sagas The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The author grew raised in Moseley from the age of four, and the stories are based on local sites and people.  The Hobbits' home, the 'Shire,' was inspired by the fields and mill at Sarehole, a village that has since been absorbed into the city's suburbs, while Perrott's Folly and the Waterworks Tower in Edgbaston, as well as the University of Birmingham's illuminated clock tower, can be seen in The Lord of the Rings.

Rattlesnakes have vertical pupils in their eyes like cats, unlike grass snakes. According to studies, the slit pupils of rattlesnakes aid in their ability to perceive depth, which helps them ambush their prey. According to 2015 research, species like rattlesnakes that have vertically extended pupils are more likely to be ambush predators who prey both during the day and at night.

Because earthenware is porous and allows for even heat distribution, the food cooks more tenderly and tastes better. The benefits and goodness of nutrition and flavor are retained in the food cooked in these pots, which keeps it fresher for longer.

 Cronus castrated Uranus, and she was the consequence. His cut genitals dropped in Pontus (the sea), and the goddess of love sprang from the froth. She is credited as Zeus' daughter, although according to the original narrative, she is considerably older than him, actually his great-aunt. This lends credence to the notion that the Greeks were unconcerned with their timeframes.

Harvard is an Ivy League school. These schools were first known to have highly competitive athletic teams. As the teams gained more funding, the universities improved their standards of education and as a result, these schools are now an elite group that produces distinguished graduates. Ironically, Harvard actually tried banning football twice because of its violent and dangerous characteristics. However, the pressure from alumni and students has helped keep Harvard’s football legacy intact. The first stadium was completed in 1903. Their biggest rival? Another Ivy – Yale!

The administration, legislature, and lower judiciary deal with problems and work for the people of the area. In India, the Hindi language is often utilised to inform people about any notice or rule.

With its Mediterranean environment of hot, dry summers and moderate, rainy winters, you may be tempted to undress when in Spain. There are few better places to top up your tan with 3,000 hours of sunshine every year. And any aspiring naturists will be glad to hear that nudity is permitted in Spain. Still, it is deemed undesirable in many locations.

The Nabataeans revered their dead and took special care to honor them as they transitioned from this world to the next. They constructed over 1,000 protected tombs in the mountains surrounding the city. These tombs coexist with depictions of their gods, creating a sense of fluidity between the sacred and the mundane.

Who can forget Gwyneth Paltrow's sobbing during her 1999 acceptance speech for Best Actress for "Shakespeare in Love"? Or Julia Roberts, who burst out laughing and neglected to thank "Erin Brockovich," the subject of her movie. However, Greer Garson, an actress, received the award for Best Supporting Actress in 1934 and delivered a speech that was seven minutes long.

According to the NIH, there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and obesity, but endocrinologist and director of the Bone Health Care Clinic at Boston University Medical Center Michael Holick, MD, Ph.D., says there is no evidence to support the claim that taking a vitamin D supplement will help you lose weight.

Christened Alexandrina (but called Drina as a child), she started using Victoria—her middle name—at 18 when she ascended to the throne.

Silk is a very adaptable material that has proven to be perfect for a wide range of applications, including rugs, prosthetic arteries, parachutes, formal wear, and sleepwear.

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.

The size of a person's "orbitomedial prefrontal cortex" (the area of the brain that recognises other people's moods and personalities) can predict the size of that person's social circle, according to an Oxford researcher. In a social network, the typical prefrontal cortex has roughly 147.8 pals.

Would you believe a small, landlocked country of 147, 181 square kilometers? Is an abode of 80 ethnic groups speaking 123 languages squeezed among its neighboring giants? Despite the fact that Hinduism is the official religion, Nepal has never experienced religious or ethnic riots. The Nepalese take pride in their country's ability to maintain peace.

The other 97.7% are ethnically Chinese. This is because Taiwan was ruled by the Qing Dynasty for 200 years from 1683 to 1895. During this time, the locals were pushed out in the same way native Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders were by Europeans. This isn’t an upbeat Taiwan fact but it’s important to know.

Nowadays, there are just 500,000 indigenous people made up of eight different tribal groups. Sadly, their 26 native languages have become almost extinct. Unemployment rates are high and education levels low. However, since the 80s there has been a bit of a revival and several cities host indigenous cultural events. Will it be enough?

Middle schoolers and anyone trying to understand the latest slang terms loves Urban Dictionary, an online, crowdsourced listing of millions of slang words and phrases. However, Urban Dictionary is more than just a dictionary. It also has an online store where you can buy mugs, T-shirts, an official card game, and plush dolls based on dirty phrases popularised by the dictionary (like Golden Shower and Donkey Punch). If you don't know what those disgusting phrases mean, we'll let you look them up, but don't say we didn't warn you.

We all praise the Goods along with the Devtas and Devis, as mentioned in the Aranyakas and Upanishads. But it is also believed that Brahma was the re-creator of the Universe and the actual creator was Shiva, Vishnu Or Shakti, and Brahma is the current creator.

Acadia National Park in Maine is one of the country's top 10 most visited parks. Over 3.5 million visitors visited the park in 2018. From October 7 to March 6, Cadillac Mountains in Acadia National Park is the first spot in the United States to see the dawn. In 1918, the peak was named after Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, a French explorer, and adventurer. Cadillac is an automobile business named after the great explorer. It is 49,075 acres in size and includes Cadillac Mountain, woods, lakes, and cobble beaches. The Rockefellers funded a carriage road system that makes it easier to get about.

In Germany, the desire to pursue freedom in every way possible is regarded as a primal human instinct. Therefore, if a prisoner makes an attempt to escape, they won't face further penalty for the action itself. However, the prisoner will face charges for any crimes they commit while trying to flee, including any property damage, personal injury, murder, or other offences.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the head of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, won the general election in July 1960 and became the world's first female prime minister. She served the country for three terms before resigning in August 2000 due to health issues. Sirimavo Bandaranaike died of a heart attack in the same year she voted in the parliamentary elections, at the age of 84.

Although rattlesnakes lack limbs, they are nevertheless effective predators. This is partially because rattlesnakes can see smaller animals even in total darkness because to heat-sensitive pits on each side of their heads. The snake can "see" the heated image of its prey thanks to the pits' assistance in detecting heat by sending neurons to the same region of the snake's brain that receives optic nerve impulses.

With over 500 million copies sold, Don Quixote is the best-selling novel of all time. The novel by Miguel de Cervantes, about a man who becomes obsessed with tales of knights and decides to become one, is the one that gave us the phrase "tilting at Windmills" to describe a noble but futile endeavour. Since its publication in 1612, Don Quixote's misadventures as he travels across the Spanish countryside seeking to right wrongs and uplift downtrodden peoples have entertained generations of readers. Don Quixote is also regarded as one of the first novels ever written.

The rooftop of Central's HSBC Hong Kong building has two deflector rods. This is because the building faces the Bank of China building, which has sharp edges that are thought to cut and dilute good energy.

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.