Consider industrialist Matthew Boulton if you thought Bill Gates was wealthy. At his peak, the Birmingham-based inventor acquired a personal fortune equal to that of Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates! Boulton lived in the beautiful Soho House in the late 18th century.

With approximately 3,000 paintings, drawings, prints, and other specimens of 19th century ornamental art and design, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, located next to the Town Hall, houses the world's greatest collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

Birmingham actually boasts more canals than Venice, Italy, with a 35-mile-long water network. Not only that, but Birmingham's canals carry more cubic meters of water than any other city on the planet! You can board a boat at Gas Street Basin and tour the city while learning about its industrial history.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, people with insomnia were roughly twice as likely as those without insomnia to report using alcohol to sleep. If not managed properly, insomnia can lead to an increase in alcohol misuse, which can lead to additional liver and lung illnesses.

Some pets were discovered to suffer sleep issues as well. Canine sleeplessness is sometimes seen as an indication of worry, stress, or an undiagnosed chronic medical issue in dogs. It can also emerge as a result of a lack of sufficient activity and is commonly seen in older dogs.

For men, ashwagandha may have reproductive benefits. By normalising reproductive hormone levels, ashwagandha has been proven to considerably enhance sperm quality in infertile males. One study found that 14% of male patients' partners fell pregnant after the study. Separately, in an ashwagandha stress trial, researchers discovered that the herb boosted testosterone levels in male but not female subjects. Another study on the effect of ashwagandha on muscle strength in men found a considerable increase in testosterone.

You're probably wondering how to pronounce "ashwagandha" when you first encounter it. However, it is not as complicated as you may believe. Although it may appear strange, it has a meaning. It means "horse odour" in Sanskrit. This is because the roots of ashwagandha have an odd, disagreeable odour similar to that of a horse. Furthermore, this plant is related with horses because it is recognised for giving individuals energy and power similar to horses.

Ashwagandha is an evergreen bush that bears red berries. These berries resemble tomatillos or husk cherries because they are members of the Solanaceae family, sometimes known as nightshades. If you are sensitive to eggplant, tomatoes, or peppers, you may be allergic to ashwagandha as well.

Tea in Sri Lanka is equivalent to coffee in Laos. Lattes, espressos, and cappuccinos abound in Laos, and the Arabica coffee bean is the country's most important agricultural export. Every year, coffee plantations grow and extend across the country, and high-quality beans are in high demand in the international market. Cheers to all things caffeinated!

This horrific reality is the outcome of US airstrikes on Laos during the Vietnam War, when the US unleashed more than two million tonnes of bombs throughout Laos for nine years, from 1964 to 1973. Because 30% of these bombs did not explode, most of Laos' soil is unfit for agriculture. Hundreds of Laotians are still injured or murdered as a result of unintentionally finding bombs and grenades.

You probably enter a hypnotic state at least twice a day, believe it or not. Common examples include arriving at your destination without remembering how you got there, zoning out while reading a book page, becoming so engrossed in the television show you're binge-watching that you don't realise half a day has passed, or experiencing involuntary sleep hypnosis.

When most people hear the word "hypnosis," they immediately think of stage hypnosis. This is the popular show in which a hypnotist selects seemingly random people, puts them to sleep, and then forces them to perform hilarious (and somewhat mean) tricks for laughs. Stage hypnosis, as entertaining as it is, has little to do with clinical hypnosis. The latter is a recognised form of therapy that assists people in overcoming various ailments through a relaxed mind and strategic suggestion.

Hypnotherapists are sought after for a variety of reasons. These include seeking help for overcoming fears and phobias, losing weight, dealing with negative and traumatising memories, insomnia, and quitting smoking. It has even been discovered that hypnotherapy can help labouring mothers by reducing pain during childbirth. More parents of ADHD children are discovering that hypnotherapy has a positive, drug-free effect on their children. "Hypnotherapy allows the child to gain a sense of control, increase self-esteem and competence, and reduce stress," according to the British journal Paediatrics Child Health.

Before erasers, people would use lumps of bread to erase their mistakes. As you might expect, these "erasers" were ineffective because they, like all bread, were susceptible to mold and rot.

A group of volunteers decided to put this theory to the test in 2007. They used only one pencil to write "To Kill a Mockingbird." The novel is 100,388 words long.
 

That's enough pencils to circle the globe 62 times, believe it or not.

People found this extremely frustrating because round pencils frequently rolled off surfaces. As a result, the popular hexagonal pencil shape was introduced. People used to use breadcrumbs to erase their mistakes before erasers were invented.

Due to the popularity of Sudoku puzzles in 2008, pencil sales in London increased significantly.

"If you write with a pencil, you get three different looks at it to see if the reader is getting what you want him to," Hemingway said. First, read it over; then, once typed, you have another chance to improve it; and finally, in the proof. Writing it in pencil first gives you a third more chance to improve it."

Jingdezhen, also known as 'Jingde Town,' is China's well-known "porcelain capital." It is a prefecture-level city located about 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Hangzhou, the ancient capital and "tea capital." In 1004, Emperor Jingde of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) named Jingdezhen after the fine bluish-white porcelain produced for the emperor.

Most antique Chinese porcelain has a mark on the bottom. Besides the potter's brand, the dynasty and emperor's reign was included. Viewing the branding is a key to spotting fakes and imitations

One of the most powerful natural resourcesTo protect the Taj Mahal from German bombers during WWII, the British government covered it with bamboo scaffoldings.

Did you know that bamboo can withstand high temperatures that most plants cannot? Bamboo was the only plant to withstand the radiation from the Hiroshima atomic explosions in 1945. Except for one bamboo grove, the incinerating heat obliterated all trees and other plant life. The grove has since been demolished, but culms from it are kept in a museum in Hiroshima.

Bamboo has the distinction for the fastest growing plant on the planet. Certain bamboo species can grow up to 91 cm every day, or over 4cm per hour!

The coconut bought in western shops does not resemble the ones growing on the tree. There are three layers to an unopened coconut. The exocarp is the outermost layer, which is usually smooth and green or yellow in colour. The fibrous husk, or mesocarp, is the next layer. The final one is called the endocarp, and it envelopes the seed. When you buy a coconut at the shop, the exocarp and mesocarp are usually removed, leaving only the endocarp.