The banana plant has long been a source of fibre for high quality textiles. In Japan, the cultivation of banana for clothing and household use dates back to at least the 13th century. In the Japanese system, leafs and shoots are cut from the plant periodically to ensure softness. This traditional Japanese banana cloth making process requires ...Read more

Only two women directors have been nominated for an Oscar by the Academy for achievement in directing: Lina Wertmuller in 1976 for Seven Beauties and Jane Campion in 1993 for The Piano. To date, no woman has won an Oscar for directing.

In size, materials, and human labor, the Great Wall of China is the largest construction project ever undertaken by man. Enough stone was used in the 1,700-year project to build an 8-foot wall girdling the globe at the equator. The Great Wall snakes its way over more than one-twentieth of the

France is the largest Western European country. Its area is slightly less than twice the size of Colorado.

No one can say just when Walt Disney began to think about undertaking his biggest project to date, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but by the summer of 1934, his ideas were beginning to take concrete form. An exploratory outline that he distributed to his animation staff, dated August 9, 1934, included the following discussion of the dwarfs' ...Read more

The classic metal tokens that roam the streets of Atlantic City in the game Monopoly were not part of the original game. When Monopoly was first introduced, it didn't include any game pieces, only suggestions that players use household items like buttons and pennies.

Old firehouses have circular staircases because, in the days when horses pulled fire engines and were stabled on the ground floor of fire houses, they figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

In the constellation Cygnus, there is a double star, one of whose components has such a high surface gravity that light cannot escape from it. It is Cygnus X-1, which many astronomers believe to be the first "black hole" to be detected.

One of the sleighs of Catherine the Great was a miniature palace on runners. It contained a salon, library, and bedroom.

The word "coffee" was at one time a term for wine, but was later used to describe a black drink made from berries of the coffee tree. This black drink replaced wine in many religious ceremonies because it kept the Mohammedans awake and alert during their nightly prayers, so they honored it with

As an advertising gimmick, Carl Mayer, nephew of lunchmeat mogul Oscar Mayer, invented the company's "Wienermobile." On July 18, 1936, the first Oscar Mayer® "Wienermobile" rolled out of General Body Company's factory in Chicago. Wienermobiles still tour the U.S. today.

On October 17, 1949, Northwest Airlines became the first airlines in the United States to serve alchoholic beverages in flight.

The first coin-operated machine ever designed was a holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century A.D.

In 1954, RKO Pictures Corporation stockholders approved the $23.5 million sale of the company to multi-millionaire Howard Hughes. He became the first individual ever to be the sole owner of a major motion-picture company.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first to suggest using contact lenses to see back in 1508.

All super glue comes with warnings about the instant bond that the glue will make upon contact.Acetone has the power to unglue and remove traces of super glues from surfaces, and even human skin. Acetone is found in many household products, but the most common form is everyday nail polish remover. So keeping a bottle of in the house can be ...Read more

The Dieri tribe in Australia has strict laws regarding who can marry whom. For example, a man can legally marry his mother's mother's brother's daughter's daughter. He can also marry his mother's father's sister's daughter's daughter. Go figure!

Golf was banned in England and Scotland in 1457 by King James II because he claimed it distracted people from the archery practice necessary for national defense.

The "black box" that houses an airplane's voice recorder is orange so it can be more easily detected amid the debris of a plane crash.