Did you know that "serendipity," one of the British's favorite words, is derived from "Serendip," the Arab and Persian names for Sri Lanka? The English writer Horace Walpole coined the term in 1754, based on the title of a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, in which the princes "were perpetually making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in pursuit of." Sri Lanka is known as the "Land of Serendipity" for a reason: it has unspoiled beaches, timeless ruins, wonderful wildlife, and breathtaking landscapes.

Nail polish was used to represent class in Ancient Egypt. The lower classes wore naked or light colours, while the upper classes favoured red hues (naturally). Cleopatra's tips were dyed a rusty colour with henna plant juice, while Nefertiti's were painted ruby colours.

Bond is a very adaptable character. He looked to be capable of accomplishing everything the story needed, dishing out a lot of harm in every film, book, comic, and just about any piece of media he's been in. This involves firing practically any type of firearms, defeating powerful and intimidating opponents, and speaking several languages, to mention a few. However, Kingsley Amis' book The James Bond Dossier made it plain that, while Bond was skilled, he was easily trounced by his teacher. Not only that, but he is decent but not the greatest in things like hand-to-hand combat or sports like golf.

Australia and New Zealand have a long history of competition, but one Australian guy came very close to winning in 2006. In May 2006, he launched a bid on the New Zealand e-commerce platform. Bids began at $0.01. Bidding prices reached $3,000 when eBay administrators took it down, stating that "obviously, New Zealand is not for sale." Nonetheless, New Zealand was irritated by the hoax. At the time, the country's foreign minister referred to it as "nonsensical foolishness."

Chia seeds are a great nutritional enhancer and can be used in place of eggs, according to Tracee Yablon Brenner, RDN, CHHC.

The ancient Indians employed four methods to calculate the duration of a year: 'Nakshatra,' 'Savana,' 'Lunar,' and 'Saura.' Saura was one tropical zodiac-based technique for defining the seasons: equinoxes, solstices, year half, and months in connection to the (six) seasons. Saura calculates the length of a year to be exactly 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds.

The purchase of Core's parent company by Eidos Interactive in 1996 was the final step in Lara's evolution. Laura Cruz was replaced because Eidos wanted the game to appeal to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. So, how did they come up with Lara's new surname in the United Kingdom? The Core team in Derby, England, took out a phone book and began looking for names that sounded similar to Laura Cruz. They landed on Lara Croft, and all of a sudden, some random Derbyite became famous.

The domestic silkworm Bombyx mori produces the majority of the world's silk, subsisting almost entirely on mulberry leaves. After reaching adulthood, the silkworm produces a fine fibre that is wound into a compact cocoon. Fibroin, which makes up the core filament, and sericin, a gooey substance that holds it all together, are the two main proteins that make up the fibre. The individual filaments of silk are slowly and carefully unwound from the cocoon and reeled together to create one very long, continuous strand of silk yarn. Silk is an entirely natural fabric if it is left undyed and untreated.

Soufflés usually come apart after 5 or 10 minutes of being puffed up and fluffy.

If you’ve watched your little kitty charging around the living room when they’re feeling lively you know that cats are pretty quick, but you won’t believe this cat fact. They can hit speeds of around 30mph which is so fast that they could beat Usain Bolt in a 200-meter dash!

Tomb Raider was cutting-edge stuff in 1996, but cutting-edge didn't always necessitate a staff of hundreds or thousands. The game was developed by Core Design over the course of three years (1993–96), with only six people on staff at the time.

There are no hospitals or, more critically, birth rooms in the Vatican. As a result, no one may be a naturalised citizen of the Vatican. You are awarded citizenship based on your assignment to work in a certain capacity for the Holy See. Spouses, parents, and other family who reside together are granted citizenship. When the appointment expires, the citizenship is revoked.

The iconic horned helmet of popular culture was really a fantasy construct dreamed up by costume designer Carl Emil Doepler for a staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1876. In fact, the majority of them may not have worn helmets at all. Only one full Viking helmet has ever been discovered, implying that many battled without helmets or used leather headgear rather than metal.

The camera, invented by Thomas Edison and William Dickson, allowed a single person to view a film through a peephole window at the top of the device. The only surviving Kinetoscope film is the 1890 test film "Monkeyshines, No. 1."

Thyme's bronchodilator effects on the respiratory system have been demonstrated to help asthmatic people breathe easier. After inhaling thyme oil, patients with asthma showed improvement, indicating thyme may be helpful for treating asthmatics. Thyme may be successful in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) in light of its success in treating various lung ailments (COPD).

If you have done everything your doctor advised and you are still having breathing problems, you should leave your suffering at home. The more information you can give your healthcare professional, the better, so be sure to keep track of when and where you are experiencing these challenges.

Isaac Newton was just seeing the fall of a fruit, which inspired the development of Newton's law of universal gravitation. The scientist's biographer, William Stukeley, noted this in his book Memoirs of Isaac Newton's Life. This is the source of the legend of an apple falling on Newton's head.

Glass, contrary to popular belief, is not a solid... liquid... or gas. Glass cools to form a "amorphous solid," which allows molecules within the glass to continue moving.

It's true what you just read! Windows 10 may be installed using a USB flash drive. You can quickly and easily upgrade your desktop Windows if you haven't already (where have you been?).

Melanism can be an advantageous evolutionary process. Panther facts reveal that darker members of a species are frequently more disguised and so more likely to survive and reproduce. This is especially true in some environmental environments, such as deep woodland areas with minimal light, where melanism is more widespread. Melanism is thus passed on by a dominant gene in Panthera onca, the kind of panther derived from the jaguar species. This implies that although black jaguars can have either black or spotted offspring, normal jaguars can only have spotted cubs.

Most of us are aware that Christmas is also a time for gift-giving. But do you know what the largest Christmas present ever given is – the Statue of Liberty! In 1886, France presented the Statue of Liberty to the United States as a Christmas gift.

This fabled temple has been destroyed and rebuilt several times by Islamic invaders and Hindu rulers. It was most recently constructed in November 1947, when Vallabhbhai Patel visited the region for the integration of Junagadh and proposed a restoration plan. Following Patel's death, the reconstruction was overseen by Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, another Government of India minister.