On August 15, 1947, India gained independence from British rule, but the Portuguese refused to relinquish control of Goa. Goa's independence struggle was fought both within and outside the state, and on December 17, 1961, the Indian Army, air force, and naval forces invaded Goa and overpowered the under-prepared Portuguese army. The Portuguese governor officially surrendered on December 18th, and Goa became a part of India the next day! Every year on December 19th, Goa commemorates its second independence day.

Sleep rejuvenates the body, and dreams revitalise the mind. This is because dreams are similar to creativity, according to the American Psychological Association. The way the brain solves problems in dreams is similar to how it thinks creatively in the waking world. As a result, many artists are more likely to be inspired by their dreams and to think creatively while awake.

Your liver uses cholesterol to make bile acids, and bile is the only way your body can get rid of excess cholesterol.

Your body also uses cholesterol to make sex hormones, like estrogen and testosterone. If you have liver disease, you’ll have trouble absorbing fats as well as hormonal problems.

But fats are chemically different from cholesterol; the body burns fats for energy. That’s why food labels list fat and cholesterol separately.

The majority of the outward indicators of aging on your skin are caused by the sun, which is why dermatologists have created the unique category of photoaging for sun damage.

That is five times as fast as the typical airplane, which flies at 575mph.

I thought it was only available in South Africa. Think again. Particularly Namibia has a sizable population of Afrikaans speakers, which is a neighbour of South Africa. Argentina, more specifically Patagonia, where a tiny community of Afrikaans-speaking farmers live, is unquestionably the most intriguing region. They are descended from an Afrikaner migration to South America that took place between 1903 and 1909, following the Anglo-Boer War, and involved roughly 800 people. Amazingly, the language has persisted among a select few of them up until this point.

According to Commonwealth University studies, a single month of sleeping in a 66-degree room increased respondents' fat-burning abilities by up to 10%. Sleeping in the cold can help you lose weight, according to research, since the body's metabolism speeds up to keep you warm.

It should come as no surprise that "Avatar" has the highest production budget of any Oscar-winning film, with an estimated $280 million spent on its making. It received Academy Awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects despite not winning Best Picture or Best Director.

Almonds are abundant in mono-unsaturated fats, which are the same sort of health-promoting lipids found in olive oil and have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease.

The Komodo Dragon is the world's largest lizard, and this 3 metre long, aggressive, scaly beast can only be found on five Indonesian islands: Padar, Gili Motang, Flores, Rinca, and, of course, Komodo. With their deadly bites, massive height, and carnivorous habits, these animals are extremely fearsome. They hunt and kill animals much larger than themselves, even humans.

It's incredible to consider how a tiny magnet can defy the gravity of an entire planet. Gravity, on the other hand, is the weakest of physics' so-called fundamental forces. It is also insignificant in comparison to the electromagnetic force that holds the magnet to the fridge.

Seafood was the most prevalent source of protein for Vikings, which makes sense for seafarers. They also ate animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, and poultry. The most prevalent seasoning was salt, which was also used to preserve meat for lengthy periods of time. Smoking was another popular method of seasoning and preserving meat, however, spices from other countries were also employed as seasoning. The Vikings cultivated their territories as well, planting rye and wheat for bread and oats for ground meal. They also farmed fruits and vegetables, however archaeologists believe the quality of their farming was poor.

Being selected to have your own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is a big deal. It’s the ultimate sign of respect from the Academy and proof that you have truly made it. It’s also an expensive process. One of the many interesting facts about the Walk of Fame is that it costs money to have a star on the Walk of Fame. When a person is nominated, a benefactor must also pay for the star. How much does it cost you ask? Just a cool $40,000.

During the medieval period, Khajuraho had 85 temples, of which only 22 Hindu temples remain, the rest having been destroyed by natural disasters.

The Republic of China (RoC) is not to be confused with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Both parties fought during the Chinese Civil War which ended in 1949 and ignore each other’s sovereignty. Today the PRC controls mainland China and the RoC control Taiwan.

 

Poveglia, Italy, is the world's most haunted island. The Romans quarantined plague patients on Poveglia Island in the 18th century. Those infected with the plague, along with other diseased people, were abandoned on this island to die. This area was later converted into a mental hospital, which closed in 1968. Poveglia is off-limits to visitors, so any other creepy facts about this island will remain hidden.

which is why braille books are much larger than their counterparts. For example, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is 10 volumes in braille, the “New American Bible’’ is 45 volumes, and “Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” is a shelf-hogging 72 volumes.

During the scientific excavation of the site from 1912 to 1915, Hiram Bingham's team collected thousands of artifacts from the ruins and sent them to Yale University. Ceramics, jewelry, silver pieces, and human bones were among the artifacts discovered. For years, the Peruvian government argued that the artifacts should be returned, until Yale finally returned them in 2012.

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."

The films remain ambiguous on Natasha Romanov's age, simply implying that she is old enough to have been nurtured by the KGB. In the comics, though, she has been able to survive for decades thanks to different medical operations and pieces of biotechnology. As the KGB fades from memory, it's increasingly likely that the youthful Natasha is considerably older than she appears. She's reported to be 70 years old in the comics!

A line of trombone players performs the routine by bending and standing in time to a drumbeat until one player's trombone is where the head of a neighboring player was just moments earlier. Players who mistime the routine in practice frequently suffer from broken noses or black eyes, earning the routine the moniker "trombone suicide." Another name for it is a "head chop" for obvious reasons.

Stuart Sutcliffe, a Scottish painter and bassist, was a founding member of the Beatles when they were only a club act in Hamburg, Germany. He met his fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr, there and decided to stay to be with her. Only a year later, he died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 21. Meanwhile, his former comrades went on to become some of the most famous artists in history. Many others, including producer George Martin, public relations manager Derek Taylor, and road manager Neil Aspinall, have been dubbed the "Fifth Beatle" throughout the years.

The Wankaner House, which covers 10,000 square yards, was erected in the 1930s. It was sold to the American government in 1957 for Rs. 18 crores ($ 4 million) since the royal family could not afford to maintain such a large property and there was a large tax owed. Another building owned by the Wanaker royals was the Amar Building on Firozsha Mehta Road in Bombay. It was sold to the government of India for Rs. 19 crores ($4.2 million) and presently houses the Reserve Bank of India's foreign currency department.