Shellac is also known as "confectioner's glaze" because it gives candies like jelly beans and candy corn a shiny coating. However, shellac, which is also used as a brush-on colourant and a wood finish, is derived from the excrement secretions of female Kerria lacca insects. In other words, it's bug excrement.

Under the sea, there are more historic artefacts than in all of the world's museums combined. There are approximately 1,000 shipwrecks off the Florida Keys alone, some of which are protected by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Other underwater museums have opened in recent years, including Christ of the Abyss, a submerged bronze statue in the Mediterranean.

Ecologists estimate that treating one ton of ore yields 1–2 grams of gold. The same quantity of precious metal may be obtained by processing all gold-bearing components from 41 mobile phones. A tonne of electronics includes almost 300 grams of gold. However, the cost of the devices is prohibitively expensive for this gold-mining method to be profitable.

With its enormous size and mass, you'd think Jupiter would rotate slowly around its axis. With a rotational velocity of 45,300 km/h, it is the fastest spinning planet in the solar system. As a result, a day on Jupiter lasts only 9 hours and 55 minutes. A year, on the other hand, is much longer; Jupiter orbits the sun once every 11.8 Earth years.

King Idris I was the first and last ruler of Libya. Born into the Senussi order, he was both a political and religious leader. Before becoming King of Libya in 1951 with the end of colonial control, King Idris I served as the Emir of Cyrenaica. Because of his conservatism, the king's rule was unpopular. Colonel Gaddafi, who eventually replaced King Idris I, was toppled in a coup orchestrated by Colonel Gaddafi in 1969.

The Tonle Sap supports about half of Cambodia's agriculture and is a key fishing source. The incredible thing about this lake is that it regenerates in major areas throughout the rainy season, when monsoon rain pours and floods the centre area between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

It's amazing how ancient some of Europe's structures and cities are. Pharmacies are no different. The Raeapteek on Town Hall Square, according to VisitTallinn, is one of Europe's oldest continually running pharmacies. This institution appears to have been in operation since 1422.

Some of these European facts are more recent than others. Kosovo gained independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, becoming Europe's youngest country. Kosovo, a landlocked nation in the European Balkans, with a population of almost 2 million people.

Without mentioning the city's diverse population, no list of interesting facts about New York is complete. The city's residents speak roughly 800 different languages collectively. Almost half of New York households speak more than one language, and one-third were born outside of the country. And, because New York has the most people of any city in the United States, one in every 38 people in the country is a New Yorker.

A local winery erected a fountain in the northern Italian town of Caldari di Ortona that splashes red wine instead of water 24 hours a day. The fountain is intended for pilgrims walking the Cammino di San Tommaso, a 196-mile journey from Rome to Ortona in the footsteps of St. Thomas the Apostle. Wine is a pleasant way to celebrate after such a long hike.

In 1769, Spanish colonists established the city that is now known as Los Angeles. In 1781, another group of 44 residents moved to the new settlement. The city was titled El Pueblo de Nuestra Seora la Reina de los ngeles de Porcincula by the Spanish ruler. This translates as "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porcincula." Because the name is extremely long, it was condensed until it became Los Angeles. As a result, Los Angeles is now known simply as "The Angels."

Most people are unaware of how biodiverse Papua New Guinea is; the magnificent wildlife underwater has made it one of the world's best scuba diving destinations. Despite having only 1% of the Earth's total surface area, Papua New Guinea includes 20,000 plant species, 800 coral species, and over 650 fish species. Do you have your PADI scuba diving certification? If you don't have one, you should obtain one before going to Papua New Guinea to make the most of this unique underwater world.

Egypt's ancient pyramids were built during an 85-year period, between 2589 and 2504 BC. The Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's masterwork, began building in 1882 and has continued under development ever since. Gaudi was never able to see his masterpiece completed. After 144 years of development, Barcelona hopes to have it finished by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

Guinness World Records certified the mixed-use hotel and office complex as the World's Farthest Leaning Manmade Tower in 2010. The lean of the Capital Gate structure is 18 degrees, which is more than four times that of Italy's famous leaning Tower of Pisa.

Libyan tea is thick because it is made with a lot of tea leaves and a lot of sugar. It is mostly made by women. The tea boils for 20 to 30 minutes after the two components are combined and a suitable amount of water is added. When the tea is done, it's served in little pyrex glasses with sumak and khobza, two popular Libyan snacks.

Despite the fact that Nazi scientists tried to produce weaponized versions of illnesses such as typhoid and cholera, Hitler banned the employment of offensive biological weapons in war, probably due to his experiences with bioweapons during World War I.

This is one of the Japanese facts for children! Because the ice cream will ultimately melt, the term is a little deceptive. It appears that the non-melting ice cream will take several hours to thaw. Consider this, kids: this is unquestionably the finest of the kid's Japan facts! Yummy! The finding happened by chance as scientists were working with strawberry chemistry. This was done to assist farmers affected by the 2011 earthquake.

Humans have celebrated the start of each new year with parties, festivals, and religious ceremonies for millennia. However, we haven't always agreed on the beginning of the year. Four thousand years ago, the first new moon after the Vernal Equinox was regarded as the dividing line between the previous year and the new one in ancient Babylon. After Julius Caesar made major changes to the Roman calendar in 45 BCE, January 1 became the start of the new year for the first time. Ancient Romans commemorated the day with sacrifices to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings (after whom the month of January is named), as well as gift exchanges and large parties.

While Assassin's Creed is already a household brand, it almost became something quite different. The original crusade-era period game was inspired by a Prince of Persia game called Prince of Persia: Assassin, which had a prince's bodyguard as the protagonist. Unhappy with the thought of a Prince of Persia game not being about a prince (which, interestingly, Nintendo doesn't see as an issue with when it comes to Zelda), Ubisoft's upper brass insisted on a new brand, and Assassin's Creed was created.

Despite being surrounded by poverty, wealthy inhabitants of Soroca have turned to flaunting their riches by constructing flashy residences inspired by monuments such as St. Peter's Basilica and the Bolshoi Theatre. As a result, the settlement, called Gypsy Hill, has become something of a tourist attraction, with visitors arriving to marvel at the bizarre buildings.

If you go to Moldova for a vacation, you won't have to compete for space with other tourists: just 121,000 foreigners are believed to have entered the nation in 2016 (according to the UN World Tourism Organization), making it the least visited country in Europe. According to Priceonomics, only Bangladesh and Guinea are less touristic places on a worldwide scale (in terms of tourists per inhabitant).

Although yellow is widely regarded as a mood-enhancing colour, it is not recommended as a primary colour scheme. According to studies, rooms with too much yellow may cause people to lose their tempers more easily.

Texas is where German chocolate cake was invented. The "German" in German chocolate cake is the work of an American man, not a European country. It is named after Sam German, who created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker's Chocolate Company in 1852, which was later renamed Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate. Let's go back to June 13, 1957. According to What's Cooking America, the Dallas Morning Star published the recipe for the cake, which was invented and submitted by a reader identified as Mrs. George Clay.

In the United Arab Emirates, the week begins on a Sunday! Sunday in the UAE is just like any other day, with children going to school and adults going to work. Weekends are Friday and Saturday for them. Because Friday is a special religious day in Islam for afternoon prayers, many Middle Eastern countries follow this timetable.

Nobody knows for sure where the kites came from. Flying kites is said to have begun around 3000 years ago in China. The first person to fly a kite was Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty. Han was actually calculating the distance his army would have to travel to reach the defences.