Although sunflowers come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, only one has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. A sunflower owned by Hans-Peter in Germany stands more than 30 feet tall.

The part of the eye that limits the amount of light that reaches the retina is called the iris. The iris shrinks and lets in less light while it's bright outside, and the opposite is true at night.

Dolores Umbridge, the worst villain in the Harry Potter series, wound condemned to Azkaban after Order of the Phoenix. According to Pottermore, the reason was that she was involved in imprisoning, torturing, and even ordering the deaths of several innocent witches and wizards during the Second Wizarding War. Being the worst fictional villain since Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is a fairly good justification to be imprisoned in Azkaban on its own. Was she worse than him who shall not be named? Maybe not, but wizards and witches like this one were crucial to his machinations, so she's surely in the running for the worst of the wizarding worst.

Austen had an affair with her neighbor Tom Lefroy when she was 20 years old, beginning in December 1895. Lefroy was a recent college graduate on his way to London to study law. Due to a lack of funds, Lefroy and Austen did not pursue their mutual attraction. In January 1896, Lefroy was sent away by family members who were unhappy with the match, and Austen never saw him again. Austen received her only known marriage proposal in December 1802 from Harris Bigg-Wither, the son of long-time family friends. Austen initially accepted, but the next morning she rescinded her acceptance. It's unclear why she changed her mind.

Pay attention. Advise my patients to trust their body knowledge. They should consult their doctor if they find something has altered or just doesn't feel right.

Dogs that are moderately active and well-behaved are ideal for senior persons. Indian pariah dogs make wonderful companions thanks to their outgoing personalities and independent way of life.

Did you know that certain NASA scientists have shown that a flame would be spherical under microgravity (like on a space station)? The absence of gravity is what causes this phenomenon.

Beluga whales have a low dorsal ridge but no dorsal fins. Less surface area can be used to lose heat to the environment because there is no dorsal fin. A beluga may also more easily swim beneath large ice sheets and find breathing holes without a dorsal fin.

While Pluto's icy neighbours are to blame for the planet's demise, they are also part of what makes the New Horizons mission so interesting. "Pluto may be the star witness to the entire third zone of the solar system," NASA's Jeff Moore told TIME. The solar system was thought to be divided into two zones until the Kuiper Belt was discovered: the inner zone, which contained the rocky planets from Mercury to Mars, and the outer zone, which contained the gas giants from Jupiter to Neptune. Pluto, on the other hand, introduced astronomers to the third zone of our solar system, which Moore described as a "vast region of ice planets."

Do you want a large, muscular baby? Then formula is your ticket, according to a study published in the Journal of Proteome Research by UC Davis. Researchers discovered that when five formula-fed infant rhesus monkeys were compared to five breastfed monkeys, the former developed quicker and bigger than the latter. One probable explanation is that formula includes higher protein than breast milk: human milk contains 8% protein whereas rhesus monkey milk contains 11.6 percent. At 18%, formula outperforms both.

Russia’s Ekaterina Lisina has legs that measure 132.8 cm (4 ft 4.2 in) and 132.2 cm (4 ft 4 in) for the left and right leg respectively, take from the heel to the top of the hip. That’s more than twice the height of the world’s Shortest woman ever.

Because of their rigid bodies, sunflowers can be used all over your house as decorations or even as bird feeders, but did you know they also make a great scrubbing pad? All those flowers are very effective at removing the grime from your favorite pots and pans. Sunflowers can be used as the ideal single-use scrubbing pad after drying.

There are numerous references to this phenomenon when looking deeper into the online crochet community. This completely surprised me because I try to live simply and am generally turned off by consuming more than is necessary. According to a practical joke, crochet hooks ought to be labeled "Caution, use of these may cause yarn addiction!" I think I've got it under control by this point, mostly because I've run out of room and have a closet full of yarn—referred to in the needlecraft community as a stash.

Kudrow stated that she was surprised to hear Perry's interpretation of Chandler during the first table read because she thought Chandler was supposed to be gay when she first read the script. She wasn't the only one who felt this way. Many fans speculated about Chandler's sexual orientation during the first few seasons of the show. "No, Chandler isn't gay," David Crane told Entertainment Weekly in 1997. He will not be gay."

The richest cat in the world according to Guinness World Records is Blackie. When his millionaire owner passed away he refused to recognize his family in his will and instead gave his 7-million-pound fortune to Blackie! We can’t believe that interesting cat fact!

Queen Victoria ruled for 63 years, and up until September 2015, was the longest reigning British monarch. The current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II—celebrating her Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne—now holds the title.

The Artist' may lead the film pack this year, with 12 Academy Award nods, but the most nominated movies of all time garnered a whopping 14 nominations. First up was the black and white film All About Eve in 1950. 50 years later, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's doomed love story 'Titanic' sank all competition.

They begin by gathering citations for the word, documenting the source, and recording its contextual meaning. Then, lexicographers conduct database research, looking for evidence that people from various backgrounds used the word over time. Finally, dictionary editors look over the evidence and decide whether or not to include the new word in a future edition of the dictionary. As a result of this lengthy process, modern words like manspread, presstitute, and athleisure can now be found in several dictionaries.

In the year 1810, on October 12, the first Oktoberfest was held. It lasted for five days and was intended to commemorate the union of Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen and the Bavarian Crown Prince, who would later become King Ludwig I. It later developed into an annual celebration with an agricultural fair, live music, and food stands. As time went by, booths evolved into beer halls, and nowadays, brewers construct transient constructions that can accommodate up to 6,000 people.

Walt moved to Los Angeles with his older brother Roy in 1923 to pursue an animation career. Walt was encouraged to do the same by Roy, who had been selling vacuum cleaners door to door to make ends meet. Before Walt could fall for a Kirby-esque scheme, he received a call from a company in New York asking him to create shorts for them.

At least among women, that is. A 2013 survey of 10,000 U.K. women reported by Hello! found that Leos were twice as likely to go to the gym compared to any other sign.

Sound waves provide considerably lower levels of energy than other types of energy. Because any sound creates low energy levels, you don't want to use it to generate electricity, which demands a lot of energy.