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 Austen initially accepted, but the next morning she rescinded her acceptance.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.

Blackbeard (AKA Edward Teach) was the most feared pirate in the world. He would weave hemp into his beard and light it on fire before boarding a ship, giving him a demonic appearance. Yikes! That would frighten us as well.

If blessings are on one side of the coin, an evil eye is on the other. We can't refute it; all we can do is shield ourselves from it. Tiger Eye Gemstone has served as the wearer's protector. The stone keeps opponents' ill will and jealousy from close relatives at bay. If you know of someone in your family who is always sick or who becomes sick after a certain incident, purchasing a protection stone for them might be the first step in establishing a protection wall around them.

Mango grafting, which produced well-known varieties like Fernandina, was first used by the Portuguese, according to the book "A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food." The mangoes so enchanted the seafaring Portuguese that they took the fruit and its seeds and gave it to many other nations that had never tasted the fruit.

Civet is an animal whose anal secretions are used in perfumes. Why would anyone do that, you ask? Well, the initially pungent and repulsive smell, when used in small amounts, has a warm floral character when used in smaller amounts. If you don’t believe that something like this can smell nice, you should know that Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy have all used this note in popular perfumes like Coco, Chanel No.5, Diorissimo, Kouros, Gentleman, and more.

The demise of massive stars results in black holes because the gravity of the star overwhelms the natural pressure that the star maintains to sustain its form. When the pressure from nuclear reactions drops, gravity overwhelms and destroys the star's core, and the star's various layers are hurled off into space, resulting in a supernova. The rest of the core collapses, leaving a place overrun by density and devoid of volume — a black hole.

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.

The brain encodes odors received via the nostrils as originating from the nose but smells detected through the back of the throat activate regions of the brain linked with signals from the mouth. Because most taste involves odor going to olfactory receptors in your brain, it stands to reason that if you can't smell, you won't be able to taste anything at all. If you can't smell because of a head cold, smoking, drug side effects, or a broken nose, your olfactory receptors may be too damaged, obstructed, or inflamed to transmit signals up to your brain.

The majority of Pune's area and surroundings are heavily urbanized, which has led to an increase in real estate costs recently. Pune has the highest per capita income in India and the narrowest gap between average incomes for rich and poor.

Thyme flavor is one of the benefits of using it in cooking. Many people enjoy the savoury, warm flavour of thyme. But thyme has advantages beyond its delicious flavour. While many spices contribute minerals and antioxidants, other herbs, like thyme, also have antiseptic or disinfection properties. This may assist in halting the spread of dangerous microorganisms. Thyme's antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant qualities are another incentive to use it in cooking. All of these will enhance the flavour of your food and keep you healthy.

We don't even know how many stars there are in the cosmos. We now use our best estimate of the number of stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Then we increase that figure by our best estimation for the number of galaxies in the cosmos. After all of that calculation, NASA can confidently state that there are zillions upon zillions of uncountable stars. A billion is an endless number.

The early toothbrushes were little more than "chew sticks," which were tiny frayed twigs used to scrape plaque and food residue off and between teeth. Twisting and rubbing these sticks against their teeth was a slight improvement over the traditional way of rubbing and cleaning the teeth with plants, feathers, or anything else. To refresh the breath, certain chew sticks were constructed from aromatic wood. Chew sticks have been found as far back as Babylon, Egypt, and China.

Mirrors first appeared in ancient times, when people would simply use a pool of dark water or a dark container filled with water. This only changed around 6000 BC, when polished glass was introduced.

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.

While Hollywood extols the virtues of Spartan culture, the world's first human rights charter is thought to have been drafted by the Persians (or at least something very similar to the scope of human rights, as believed by both the British Museum and United Nations). Since it is essentially a cylinder-shaped piece of baked clay with engraved Akkadian writing from 539 BC, this charter is more commonly referred to as the Cyrus Cylinder. When King Cyrus' army entered Babylon and peacefully overcame the legendary city, he gave the order to create the artefact. The ancient writings on the tablet primarily speak about equality for people of all races, religions, and languages.

Moisturizing isn't only for the day! After cleaning your face at night, apply moisturizer since it works better on your skin when sleeping and is not exposed to the elements.

It contains antioxidants like Vitamin C, which assists in our body's ability to combat free radicals.

According to Alzheimer's Orange County, "as the size and proportion of the U.S. population 65 and older continue to expand, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will climb each year." The number of persons with Alzheimer's and other dementias is predicted to increase by more than 40% from 2015 to 7.1 million by 2025. With an estimated 13.8 million, this will almost triple by 2050.

Consider space to be a stretched rubber sheet with intersecting grid lines. When you set something on the sheet, it sinks somewhat. The larger the thing on the sheet, the deeper it sinks. The sinking effect alters the grid lines, causing them to become curved rather than straight. The farther you drill into space, the more space bends and curves. And black holes create the deepest wells. Nothing, not even light, has enough energy to climb back out of a black hole, which creates such a deep abyss in space.

According to Commonwealth University studies, a single month of sleeping in a 66-degree room increased respondents' fat-burning abilities by up to 10%. Sleeping in the cold can help you lose weight, according to research, since the body's metabolism speeds up to keep you warm.

It might come to you as a matter of surprise, but kakapo, the world’s largest parrot, can not fly. Kakapo can grow up to two feet and can weigh up to nine pounds. Kakapo is the only flightless parrot in the world. But that’s not the only interesting fact about the world’s largest parrot. Kakapo is also the only parrot that is active at night.

I really had no idea about this crochet fact and was a little surprised when I opened a book of patterns instead of expecting instructions and found a book full of symbols and diagrams. If you are just starting out with crocheting, I would suggest learning how to read crochet patterns as soon as you can so you can fully benefit from the abundance of fantastic patterns available!

Throughout his run as British Secret Service agent James Bond, actor Sean Connery wore a toupe. Despite being just 31 years of age, the Scottish legend was balding. Not wanting the suave and sophisticated Bond to have a bald patch, Connery was given a toupe to wear. To be fair, it actually looks pretty good considering the time the films were made. Plus, the Bond franchise probably wouldn’t have been as successful if sex symbol Connery didn’t have a full head of hair.