Dolphins swim in circles while they sleep with the eye on the outside of the circle open to keep watch for predators. After a certain amount of time, they reverse and swim in the opposite direction with the opposite eye open.

There are more than 15,000 different varieties of rice.

Coined about 1930, the popular Greek dish moussaka consists of layers of seasoned ground lamb and eggplant, and is usually topped with a custard or cheese sauce and baked.

Not always -- Several female mules have produced offspring when mated to a purebred horse or ass. Since 1527 there have been more than 60 documented cases of foals born to female mules around the world. Mules and hinnies have 63 chromosomes that are a mixture of one from each parent. The different structure and number usually prevents the ...Read more

On a clear day with blue skies, lightning can jump outside of its parent cloud and travel for more than five miles through clear air. This is called the "bolt from the blue" phenomenon. The study of lightning is called keraunopathology.

The bumblebee does not die when it stings – it can sting again and again. In bumblebee hives, the entire colony, except for the queen, dies at the end of each summer. Each year, an entirely new colony of bees must be produced.

A vamp is the upper front top of a shoe.

Based on research with the human body's internal clock, the period between the hours of 4 and 6 in the afternoon is when people are the most irritable. Evidence has shown that more human bites are treated in hospitals at this time of the day than any other.

Winking at women, even to express friendship, is considered bad manners in Australia.

In 1533, Henry VIII secretly wed Anne Boleyn. The Vatican Library preserves twelve love letters he wrote to her.

Cotton Mather, famous American clergyman, has an odd first name. His father had an even odder one: Increase.

The largest order of mammals, with about 1,700 species, is rodents. Bats are second with about 950 species.

In 1822, in his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Thomas DeQuincy invented the word "tranquilizer" to describe the effect of opium.

Usually Bushmen hunt with poison arrows. The poison is extracted from the pupae of beetles found in the soil beneath infested marula trees. A few drops of the poison squeezed onto an arrow are enough to kill an antelope; one drop of it can kill a human if it enters the bloodstream. For safety, arrowhead tips are not treated – the poisonous ...Read more

The color combination with the strongest visual impact is black on yellow. Next to follow black on white, yellow on black, white on black, dark blue on white, and white on dark blue.

In an industry where award ceremonies are second to oxygen, an award was dreamed up in 1951 to honor animals in the entertainment field. Called Patsy, "P.A.T.S.Y." is an acronym for both "Picture Animal Top Star of the Year" and "Performing Animal Television Star of the Year." Emceeing the first award event was Ronald Reagan. Patsy winners ...Read more

Americans ingest 1.7 million tons -- or 10.8 pounds per person -- of sugar each year from Coca-Cola alone. Americans drink an average of 399 servings of Coke products per year. 50% of these are Coke brands, and 63% of those are Coca-Cola Classic. That comes out to 125.7 Classic Coke servings per person. With 39 grams of sugar per serving, that ...Read more

Most people can't. Ivory from one animal species is difficult to distinguish from that of another. Even experts can have difficulty.

After some small film roles, actress Sissy Spacek soared to fame as the title character in Stephen King's 1976 movie shocker Carrie, where she portrayed a homely, unpopular high school student with deadly telekinetic powers. She did such a convincing job in the role that few people are aware that Spacek was selected as the homecoming queen at ...Read more

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the best time to spray household insects is 4:00 p.m. Insects are most vulnerable at this time.