Marathons are one of the most difficult tests of human endurance ever devised.
Training your body to run 26.2 miles requires constant practice and determination. Running a marathon at midnight would seem to make a hard task even harder, but that’s exactly what happens every June in the Norwegian town of Tromsø, one of the world’s northernmost cities.
Three decades ago, Texas was facing an enormous problem: trash, as far as the eye could see, piled up along its scenic and city roadways.
The cleanup was arduous and costly. By the mid-1980s, the Texas Department of Transportation (aka TxDOT) was spending nearly $20 million each year in rubbish removal along highways alone.
Although poinsettias are a multimillion-dollar business in the U.S. today, these fiery plants have ancient roots.
They were first cultivated by the Aztecs hundreds of years ago. Native to Mexico and Guatemala, the poinsettia, known to the Aztecs as cuetlaxóchitl (kwet-la-sho-she), was used for medicinal purposes.
In their first year of life, human babies nearly triple their weight.
And while that sounds like an impressive stretch of growth, it’s nothing compared to blue whales.
These cetacean newborns, which already weigh around 3 tons at birth, pack on upwards of 200 pounds a day, meaning baby blue whales bulk up at a rate of about 8 pounds an hour.
The Swiss are known for their historic commitment to neutrality.
But they have taken a firm stand on one of the most important issues of our time: guinea pigs.
The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865 after four grueling years of conflict.
But the Confederacy’s surrender at Appomattox Court House didn’t instantly bring closure to a tattered nation.
