Splash Mountain, the fastest ride in the Disneyland theme park, reaches a top speed of 40 miles per hour as riders plummet into the briar patch below.

Pigeons can find their way home from 1,300 miles away, believe it or not! Furthermore, they have demonstrated that they can do so after being relocated in full isolation to a region they had never been to before. The cages were even rotated during shipment to keep the birds guessing which way they were going. Scientists aren't sure how pigeons manage to find their way back when there are no visual, olfactory, or magnetic cues to help them. They now believe that pigeons have compasses and map mechanisms that aid in navigation. While the mapping mechanism is unknown, the compass mechanism is most likely based on the location of the sun.

Legend has it this 15th-century vase was given to a bride on the eve of her wedding in Naples, Italy, but she was murdered that night holding the artifact. After her death, any family member it passed to also died. The family stored the vase, but it resurfaced in 1988 with a note warning of its capabilities. Even so, the vase was auctioned off for $2,250 without the note. The pharmacist who bought it died shortly after as did various others who owned it until, finally, a family demanded that the police do away with it completely.
 

One of the sweetest facts about the Netherlands is that the Dutch adore licorice. They eat around two kilos per person per year. That’s around 32 million kilos of the sweet treat consumed each year! 

You’ll be spoilt for choice, with shops in the Netherlands selling over 80 different kinds of drop (the Dutch word for licorice).

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.

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.

Santa has a workforce of Elves that labor all year long to prepare presents for Christmas. The precise number of Elves at Santa's workshop is unclear, but we contacted the Grotto's HR department and were given an estimate of at least 12'.

We say "cheese" because it makes us happy, but if Victorian-era people saw our delighted grins, they'd laugh. Smiling in pictures was once considered demeaning and reserved for the impoverished and inebriated. To maintain a more serious appearance in their photographs, they would utter "prunes," a word so uninteresting that the odds of it eliciting a grin were minimal to none.

Anxiety is often a cause or a trigger of depression. Research indicates women who have generalized anxiety disorder are at an increased risk of developing depression. People with chronic depression often develop symptoms of anxiety as a result of the mental exhaustion of depression. The same is true for sufferers of chronic anxiety. For example, people who struggle with Social Anxiety Disorder often develop depressive symptoms as a result of lifestyle choices made to accommodate the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder, such as avoiding others and public places.

Gaea, the goddess of the Earth, is the mother of both Thor and Atum. Thor's older half-brother, Atum, received various characteristics from their mother. Thor's father, Odin, desired a son who could comprehend and endure life on Earth, and this was a feature he got from his mother. However, Atum is not the same as Thor. Atum is the physical manifestation of the earth's ecosystem, making him more powerful than Thor. They don't have much of a connection. However, there was an encounter with Atum in the Marvel Universe when he took the guise of Demogorge. Atum is far more powerful than Thor.

Almost every pirate ship had its own set of rules that all pirates had to follow. This included how the loot would be distributed, who would be assigned which chores, and what was expected of everyone. One of the most common rules, believe it or not, was no fighting onboard. If two pirates disagreed, they would have to wait and fight on land.

The appendix used to be mainly disregarded as being useless. The appendix would need to be removed in the event of appendicitis, a potentially fatal condition. The vermiform appendix was the subject of study by Randal et al. in 2007 at Duke University. The probiotic bacteria in the appendix were found to release when the body was being attacked by a particular sort of infection, as was discovered by the researchers. When the body is contaminated, the appendix accomplishes this by releasing them into the cecum.

The frozen meals staple was not always connected with the catchphrase "Hot Pockets!" They were originally named "Chunk Stuffers," but thankfully someone thought better of that unappealing moniker.

The Teutonic Order's Castle at Malbork is the world's largest castle in terms of land area. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was originally erected in the 13th century as a Teutonic castle and stronghold. In that regard, Poland is home to a whopping 15 UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

As an alternative to the Gross National Product, Bhutan's Fourth King devised the notion of Gross National Happiness in the 1970s to assess the nation's well-being. They take a comprehensive approach to advancement and place equal emphasis on non-economic components of happiness. Its four pillars are frequently used to explain it: sustainable development, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and good governance. Before being approved, all of Bhutan's governmental programmes and initiatives must go through a GNH screening mechanism to ensure they do not have a negative influence on its people's well-being.

The typical dust mite produces 1,000 allergen waste particles during its 80-day lifespan.

In the last 300 million years or so, several types of plants have evolved a tree form, or "arborescence." It's a tricky stage in plant evolution, requiring innovations like sturdy trunks to keep plants upright and strong vascular systems to pump water and nutrients up from the soil. The extra sunlight, on the other hand, is worth it, causing trees to evolve multiple times throughout history, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution.

A food allergen is a kiwi. A sore throat, runny nose, and itchy eyes are possible side effects for people allergic to kiwis. People who experience severe allergic reactions may have trouble breathing or develop hives. People allergic to latex or pollen are more likely to react allergically to kiwis.

Despite the look of these primates in films like King Kong, they are not nearly as fearsome as their appearance suggests. Gorillas are highly gentle and live in groups. They just consume plants. Despite their benign demeanor, humans must exercise caution around gorillas because they are considerably stronger than humans and could endanger a person's life if the gorilla feels threatened.

When the cashew apples mature, they are taken from the tree limb with the seeds still attached. Then the one-of-a-kind harvesting procedure begins. The seed is manually twisted and picked out while still in its shell, then dried and steamed. It must be frozen and cooked after drying before it can be extracted from its shell. Cashews are dried and roasted after harvesting in a long process that removes harmful oils and makes the shell brittle and simple to remove.

Ocimumosides A and B are chemicals found in tulsi. These molecules alleviate stress and help the brain's neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine balance. Tulsi's anti-inflammatory qualities lower inflammation and blood pressure.

The Trans-Siberian Railway crosses 3,901 bridges on a one-way trip. The Trans-Siberian Railway is not only Russia's longest railroad but also the world's longest. During the seven-day journey, passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.

Everyone’s traits, struggles and ability to cope are different. Some people with ADHD are hugely popular, the funniest, most interesting people in every room – even as they struggle to pay their bills or hold down a job. Other people can’t maintain relationships, but are great in emergencies, when the pressure and thrill of the moment seem to give them super-human powers.

Surgery is used to treat hernias. And mesh is typically used during surgery, which frequently raises questions from my patients. I explain to them that the mesh is not in contact with their internal organs because it is positioned outside of the belly cavity. The goal of the mesh is to encourage the growth of scar tissue within the mesh so that it forms a reinforcing layer over the weakest area.