According to Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, every time the price of oil increases by $1 a barrel the U.S. military’s costs increase by $31 million. featured image credit: ylikoski

Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota are the only three U.S. states that do not recognize Columbus Day at all.

In the early days of Yellowstone National Park the geyser nicknamed ”Old Faithful” was often used to launder clothing. featured image credit: wikicommons

Jørn Utzon is only the second architect whose work (the Sydney Opera House specifically) has been declared a World Heritage Site during his lifetime. featured image credit: wikicommons

According to the Department of Mathematics at the University of Copenhagen there are 915,103,765 possible ways to combine six eight-stud LEGO blocks. featured image credit: Jez Page

Of the 147 survivors huddled on the raft of the Méduse only 15 were found alive when the Argus accidentally found them 13 days following the ship’s running aground.

The head of Australian criminal Edward “Ned” Kelly was used by police as a paperweight following his execution in 1880.

Officially all deaths as a result of the September 11 attacks were ruled to be homicides except those of the 19 hijackers. featured image credit: wikicommons current mood image credit: Bob Jagendorf

According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association there are 4.7 million barrels of bourbon and other whiskeys currently aging in Kentucky, outnumbering the state’s population of 4.3 million. featured image credit; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barrels_with_a_flavour_to_impart_-_geograph.org.uk_-_286747.jpg

Until reaching agreement with Peru in 2007 Yale University retained the first artifacts of Machu Picchu excavated by Hiram Bingham under the argument that the country did not have the infrastructure or proper conditions to take care of them. featured image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peru_Machu_Picchu_Sunrise_2.jpg