In Germany, the most common last name is Müller. This last name is shared by nearly 900,000 people in Germany! In Germany, surnames are frequently based on professions. The German equivalents of Smith, Weaver, and Baker are Schmidt, Weber, and Becker, respectively. English and German nomenclature are fairly similar.

In a 2011 article, Martha Smith, a horticulture educator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, notes that in the 1620s, "Tulips were more valuable than gold. " Why were these plants so expensive?" Initially, the tulip was a luxury item only the wealthy could afford "She goes on to explain. Indeed, a single "Rembrandt-type bulb" cost the equivalent of $1,500 at the time, which was "ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman or the price of a large house."

After the success of the 2007 film telling the story of the lovable, culinary-inspired vermin, kids everywhere asked their parents, "Can we get one? I promise I'll take care of it." At least one domestic pet chain saw sales of pet rats jump 50 percent after the movie's release. We wonder how many of those rats immediately became parental responsibilities…

No surprise here - 'Avatar' holds the crown for the most expensive movie ever to win an Oscar with a production budget estimated to be around $280 million. While it failed to win Best Picture or Best Director, it did pick up Academy Awards for Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

While umbrellas are used and valued by almost everyone who lives in a wet area, they were once thought to be exclusively for women, as they were connected with the stylish parasols ladies would carry on good days to keep the sun off their skin. However, boundaries began to crumble in the mid-eighteenth century, with notable personalities such as benefactor Jonas Hanway using umbrellas at public occasions. Others soon saw the usefulness of the item, and it wasn't long before males were wearing them as frequently as women.

Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport the materials needed to build the Taj Mahal. It was mostly white marble and red sandstone that needed to be transported, and it came from all over India and the Middle East. Red sandstone is common in Persian architecture and can be found in other Mughal structures such as Delhi's Red Fort and Jama Masjid, while white marble was used as a representation of the divine.

Article 32 of the Indian Constitution — ‘Right to Constitutional remedies’ — is considered the 'heart and soul of the Constitution'. This guarantees the fundamental rights of individuals. It is what makes all other rights effective.

Charles Dickens was a bit of an outcast. Growing up in London during the nineteenth century exposed him to such grim realities as working-class life expectancy being twenty-two years old, half a million Londoners suffering and dying from typhus due to a lack of sanitation, 220 crimes being punishable by death, and nearly half of all funerals in London being held for children under the age of ten, the majority of whom had full-time jobs as labourers in 1839, when Dickens was 27.

Females tend to live longer than males, and they also mature sexually more quickly. Within the first year of life, male and female round stingrays, a species known for their rapid growth, reach 58% and 70% of their entire size, respectively. Males only live five to seven years on average, while females live an average of 15 to 22 years.

If you think your current steering wheel is complex, wait till you see what Formula One drivers have to deal with. Their steering wheels can have up to 25 buttons. Every button and switch controls every part of the vehicle, giving the driver complete control. It is even stated that pressing the wrong button might lose a race. To put that into context, some buttons alter the way the brakes operate, allowing the balance to be adjusted in split seconds. These modifications might cause the automobile to behave differently from corner to corner. Talk about power!

Football is one of the things that Bengalis are born with. More specifically, Bengalis from all over the world enjoy watching the rivalry between the two clubs East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan. These two clubs, which have a combined history of more than a century, regularly hold derby matches. There is a lot of excitement as they compete with one another and strive to outdo one another every time they meet. One of Kolkata's most fascinating aspects is its rivalry.

Asparagus, which has a sweet-earthy flavor, is a good source of folate. This B vitamin may be an ally in the fight against high blood pressure, according to research.

Although the '90s Disney princesses are thought to be more feminist than the older ones, a surprising study found that this is not entirely true. Despite being bolder, more independent, and less reliant on men, princesses still speak 40% less than their male counterparts. More recent Disney princesses, such as Rapunzel from Tangled and Merida from Brave, are more equal, but even Frozen, a film about two sisters, had 59 percent male dialogue.

Leonardo was born on 14/15 April 1452 at a farmhouse outside the hamlet of Anchiano in Tuscany, the son of Ser Piero, a rich Florentine notary, and Caterina, an unmarried peasant woman. They had 12 other children with other partners, but Leonardo was their sole kid together. Because of his illegitimacy, he was not expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a notary. He was instead free to pursue his own interests and enter the creative arts.

In their typical poses, flamingos tuck one foot under their body. It has not been proven, but one theory contends that they do it to retain body heat in the chilly water of their feeding areas. Surprisingly, a study revealed that this behaviour does not result in muscle strain in their legs, meaning they

For years, I had heard about the Canadian cuisine Poutine but had never eaten it. Despite having seen it on menus in the United States, I wanted to sample this Canadian cuisine for the first time in Canada. Poutine originates in the province of Quebec. It's made out of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds. I realize that doesn't sound very tasty (or perhaps it does). We were able to taste it at the first eatery that offered it in the area-Chez Ashton-during my Saint-Roch walking food tour in Quebec City. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it!

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."

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!

Retinol does indeed both smooth out your existing fine lines and stop new ones from emerging. Retinol also shows brighter, smoother skin since it exfoliates at the cellular level. Retinol also evens out your skin tone by lightening hyperpigmentation, acne scars, dark spots, and sun spots. Not to mention, retinol heals acne by controlling oily skin and preventing clogged pores. In actuality, Accutane, a well-known oral retinoid, treats acne.

By the late nineteenth century, lipstick had grown in favor as all the beautiful and stylish Victorian-era girls began to wear it. The first commercially successful lipstick made from grapefruit and butter was produced by the French cosmetic firm 'Guerlain' in the 1880s. Thank god for ingredients that don't make you puke. While lipstick began to appear in department shops, applying lipstick was still considered an extremely intimate process. In the 1800s, actress Sarah Bernhardt provoked a tremendous incident merely by wearing lipstick in public. That may sound incredibly typical to us moderns. It would have been some extremely hot gas if you were an 1800s person.

You are genetically programmed to be more active at night or during the day. A trait called chronotype determines whether you are a morning person or a night owl. This discovery was made by wearing wristbands on 85,000 people. They also discovered that morning people awoke half an hour earlier than night owls, implying that there may be scientific reasons why you prefer to sleep in every morning!

Brakes that do not lock up under full pedal pressure are becoming commonplace. They've saved numerous lives by letting the driver to keep steering the car and, hopefully, avoid a collision while braking hard. Mercedes-Benz improved the technology with Bosch in the 1970s before incorporating it into the S-Class in 1978. Anti-lock brakes were soon made standard on all Mercedes-Benz models.

Chances are good that you've heard of the Starbucks "secret menu," which is basically a huge list of drink combinations that aren't on the menu. Going through all of those options would take a very long time because as Starbucks spokesperson Lisa Passe told The Wall Street Journal, "If you take all of our core beverages, multiply them by the modifiers and the customization options, you get more than 87,000 combinations."

The Banshee is Ireland’s best-known spirit. This female figure roams the countryside and is said to wail as a warning that death is near. Though she does not cause death, her presence is believed to foreshadow death’s arrival. Historians have traced the Banshee story back to the 8th century when it was customary for women to sing sad songs to lament a death. There are a few variations as to how the Banshee appears: some depict her as a beautiful, young woman with flowing white hair, while others describe an old woman with dirty, rotting teeth and long fingernails.