Jordan is home to the world's oldest dam. The Jawa Dam was the first dam to be built, and it was built in 3,000 BCE in the driest areas of Jordan's Black Desert. 

Criminals have been sailing the seas for as long as there have been ships. Historians, for example, have discovered evidence of pirates in the Mediterranean as far back as 1353 B.C. During this period, the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten complained about pirates raiding his coastal cities and ports. According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, the tyrants also threatened ancient Greece's trading routes and looted grain and olive oil cargoes from Roman ships.

When pirates wore earrings, they weren't just trying to look fashionable. According to National Geographic, sailors believed that applying pressure to the earlobe would keep them from getting seasick. In many cases, the pirates would do so by putting on an earring. Unfortunately, while your inner ears affect your sense of balance, wearing earrings in your earlobes does not affect seasickness.

"Pirates had extensive land networks that kept them in touch with the outside world," Geanacopoulos explained to Georgetown. "They had a sort of mail system (ships ferrying letters back and forth) that allowed them to communicate with relatives, as well as a commuter service to take 'retiring' pirates from their famous haunts in Madagascar to more mundane lives in America."

According to E. Bruce Goldstein's Sensation and Perception, pirates would patch one eye so it was always adjusted for the darkness to help their eyes adjust more quickly between the bright ship deck and the dark belowdecks.

It is home to the country's only legal two-wheeler taxis. This is the only place in India where you can pay a motorcyclist for a lift without fear of riding off with a stranger! Goa is teeming with motorcycle taxis and pilots, who are known as the state's most cost-effective mode of transportation.

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.

A few other fictitious-sounding details about pirates are correct. According to National Geographic, battling pirates would have lost limbs from time to time, and some of them would have replaced their missing appendages with a hook or a wooden peg. "Members of the crew... received compensation for the loss of body parts in action—an early form of worker's compensation," according to the Smithsonian Institute.

The infamous Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Emperor Shah Jahan, is known to change colour every morning, noon, and midnight. Many people believe it is because of the white marble used in the construction, which is shiny and reflective. Others believe that the structure is infused with historical magic.

Palm trees have been associated with humans since the dawn of time. Archeological discoveries have revealed that the date palm was widely used in Mesopotamian society, both for food and for other purposes. Palm branches were given to triumphant champions of games and wars by the Romans as a symbol of victory.

Palm wine, also known as "kallu," is a popular alcoholic spirit in Asia and Africa. It can be made from coconut palms, date palms, Chilean wine palms, and other plants. Though many palm species are strong and plentiful, as many as 100 are threatened by deforestation and unsustainable cultivation practises, such as the heart of palm, which comes from a part of the tree that cannot be regrown. The Hyophorbe amaricaulis palm tree is the most rare. The only one left now resides at the Curepipe Botanic Gardens in Mauritius .

Not All Palm Trees Are 'Trees,' and Not All Palm Plants Are Actually Palms These evergreen plants can grow as shrubs, trees, or long, woody vines known as lianas. Plants such as the yucca palm, Torbay palm, sago palm, and traveler's palm do not belong to the Arecaceae family.

Palm trees are revered religious symbols. The people of Jerusalem greeted a triumphant Jesus just one week before his death and resurrection in the Bible, a tradition that is now known and celebrated as Palm Sunday, the week before Easter. Palms appear numerous times in both the Bible and the Quran. Palms are associated with peace and abundance in Judaism.

Some amateur scholars believe that aliens built Machu Picchu. They find it difficult to believe that a people without iron tools, draught animals, or even the wheel could have lugged such large stones up the mountainside and built such magnificent structures. Archeologists and scholars agree, however, that the Incas, with their impressive engineering techniques and use of human labor, were more than capable of constructing the site without the assistance of outside (or otherworldly) forces.

The Nabataeans, like many other ancient peoples, revered the sun as a source of light and life, and Petra's design reflects that reverence. Many of the city's most sacred spaces are designed to correspond to solar patterns, such as solstices. This meticulous design provides modern scientists and archaeologists with valuable insight into what the Nabataeans valued and how unique Petra must have been.

In A.D. 363, a massive earthquake struck Petra, leveling most of the city and bringing the city's reign as a thriving and prosperous trading center to an end. Following the disaster, many Petra residents left the area, and the city was lost to the ages.

Moses, according to the Bible, drew water from a stone in Wadi Musa, also known as the Valley of Moses. The water supply for Petra came from this location, which, according to Biblical legend, continued to gush water after Moses' miraculous act. Even though the architects of Petra were not Christians, the ancient city's proximity to Wadi Musa makes it an appealing pilgrimage destination for Christians.

The World's Most Famous Treasury Is Actually A Graveyard Petra's Treasury, contrary to popular belief, is not a looming maze of booby-trapped rooms designed to separate the righteous from the unworthy, but rather a relatively small area that is most likely a beautifully decorated graveyard. Any buried treasure was most likely removed a long time ago, but the Treasury facade is a work of art, lovingly carved by the Nabataeans centuries ago.

According to an Air Accident Investigation & Aviation Safety Board report, those masks only provide 12 minutes of continuous airflow on a 737. Fortunately, that is usually just enough time for your plane to find a safe landing spot.

While humidity levels in the Western United States' Mojave Desert can reach up to 50%, you'll only get a fraction of that moisture aboard a plane. According to the World Health Organization, the average aircraft has a humidity level of less than 20%.

In 2016, a Ukrainian aero-engineer unveiled a system that would allow pilots to eject the cabin of a plane if the engine failed. After ejection, parachutes would be deployed to safely lower passengers to the ground. However, as it turns out, most crashes are not caused by engine failure. Because problems typically occur during takeoff and landing, the pilots would have very little time to successfully eject the cabin and save passengers. But kudos for your effort!

ETOPS, or extended twin operations, is a designation that indicates the amount of time a twin-engine plane can safely cruise with one engine out of commission. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner received 330-minute ETOPS certifications in 2014, indicating that it can operate safely on just one engine for more than five hours before landing.

Though you might think there is a standard procedure to follow if a passenger dies in flight, what happens to your dearly departed cabin-mate varies greatly depending on the airline and type of plane. While some planes, such as Singapore Airlines' Airbus A340-500 planes, were designed with a special place to store bodies, according to one flight attendant, on many flights, the body is simply moved to a back row and covered—except for the head—until medical professionals on the ground can attend to the deceased.

Srinagar was controlled by the Mauryan empire until the 14th century, and it was emperor Ashoka who brought Buddhism to Kashmir's valley. The Kushans are said to have governed over this region throughout the first century from their strongholds in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even King Vikramaditya of Ujjain reigned over this region before handing up sovereignty to a nomadic clan known as the Huns in the sixth century. Mihirkula, a member of this clan, was one of the city's most fearful governors.