There are more 25,000 McDonald's restaurants in over 115 countries. McDonald's has actually been remarkably responsive to the local cultures: they offer "ayran" (a popular chilled yogurt drink) in Turkey; McLaks (a grilled salmon sandwich) in Norway, and teriyaki burgers in Japan. In New Delhi, India, where Hindus shun beef and Muslims refuse ...Read more

Cookies are also subject to a number of misconceptions, mostly based on the erroneous notion that they are computer programs. In fact, cookies are simple pieces of data unable to perform any operation by themselves. In particular, they are neither spyware nor viruses, despite the detection of cookies from certain sites by many anti-spyware ...Read more

Seven thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians bowled on alleys not unlike our own.

In 1948, on her way to movie stardom, Marilyn Monroe stopped in a Salinas, California, jewelry store to reign over a diamond ring promotion. Among her many fans that day were members of the California artichoke industry, who thought it would be terrific idea to make Monroe their Artichoke Queen. Next stop for the stunning starlet was Castroville...Read more

The Empire State Building in New York City has 6,400 windows.

One Native American has served as vice president of the United States. Charles Curtis of Kansas was Pres. Herbert Hoover's vice president. Curtis's mother was a full-blooded member of the Kaw tribe.

If the Earth's axis was not tilted, there would be 12-hour days everywhere, and no seasons. At the poles, the sun would always be on the horizon.

Native peoples of South America catch piranha and use their razor-sharp teeth to make tools and weapons.

Irving Berlin could play in only one key, the key of F-sharp. As one of America's great songwriters, he taught himself to play the piano by practicing on a piano in a saloon where he worked as a singing waiter.

Sugar Bear was the advertising cartoon mascot of Post Super Sugar Crisp (later Golden Crisp) cereal, appearing in commercials for the cereal. His consistent nemesis was an elderly woman called Granny Goodwitch; the two would engage in elaborate contests, often involving trickery, magic, and high technology (often one or more of these methods), ...Read more

Apparently, cattledrive cooks were just as cranky in real life as they were portrayed in Hollywood westerns. Cowpokes knew better than to tease or mess with "Cookie." They might wake up with biscuit dough in their hair or find rocks mixed with their beans. Cattledrive cooks had to serve three meals a day, seven days a week. They kept alert to ...Read more

On a bingo card of 90 numbers, there are approximately 44 million ways to make B-I-N-G-O.

The hair of an adult man or woman can stretch 25 percent of its length without breaking. If it is less elastic, it is not healthy.

The human heart rests between beats. In an average lifetime of 70 years, the total resting time is estimated to be about 40 years.

Nearly half of all psychiatrists have been attacked by one of their patients.

It took three years of constant printing to complete Johann Gutenberg's famous Bible, which appeared in 1455 in two volumes, and had 1,284 pages. He reportedly printed 200 Bibles, of which 47 still exist.

If 80 percent of your liver were to be removed, the remaining part would continue to function. Within a few months, the liver would have reconstituted itself to its original size.

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance manufactured by the human body.

In Korea, the deer is a symbol of long life, and is often portrayed in the company of immortals.

Dame Judith Anderson received two Emmys, one in 1954 and the other in 1961, for Best Actress in a Single Performance for Macbeth, becoming the first person in TV history to win the trophy twice for the same role in two different feature productions.