Scientists claim that female boa constrictors and Komodo Dragons can sometimes produce offspring with no males involved.  That information must be a blow to the masculine egos of certain reptiles.  It is little wonder that they crawl.

In December of 2010, a passenger train traveling from Shanghai to Beijing reached a top speed of 302 miles per hour.  The U.S.A. is purportedly investing $53 billion to develop a high speed rail system by 2017.  Engineers assert that speeds in excess of 600 mph are feasible for magnetically levitated trains.  These trains could be more exciting than most carnival rides.

Are you hoping to soon purchase a home in order to avoid rent?  One might consider particular regions of Georgia.  Recent data indicates that dwelling rents average more than 150% the cost of monthly mortgage payments in the Atlanta area.

Historians generally agree that the world’s very first federal income taxes were levied on the citizens of Great Britain in order to fund war efforts against Napoleon.

More than a few knowledgeable people have declared the banjo to be an American invention, but there exists evidence that the instrument had beginnings in southwestern Africa as early as the 1600’s. A native musical apparatus quite similar to the banjo is described in some journals of 17th century English explorers of Africa and is called an “akonting” and a “banjar.”

“Nike” is Greek for “victory.” It seems that long ago folks did not have English and often had to make up words.

Karl Marx was once a correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune newspaper.

The Great Pyramid was built for the pharaoh Khufu (apparently his real name) in circa 2500 B.C. For more than 4000 years this construction was the tallest manmade structure on earth. In 1880 the Cologne Cathedral (515 feet) surpassed Khufu’s pyramid in height.

The owners of the ill-fated Titanic never advertised the ship as “unsinkable.” It may have been that the “unsinkable” label was largely the result of newspaper reporters who used the term (post-tragedy) to better sell their stories with themes of human arrogance and folly.

Who says that librarians are dull folks? Casanova, who is reputed to be one of the greatest “lovers” in history, was a librarian.

Some remote regions of Asia are sporadically plagued by The Plague. There are occasional outbreaks, and untreated victims suffer a death rate nearing 90%. Timely medical treatment reduces the mortality rate to approximately 5%.

Well, smile at a librarian and have a great week.