The colored part of the eye is called the iris. Behind the iris is the soft, rubbery lens which focuses the light on to a layer, called the retina, in the back of the eye. The retina contains about 125 million rods and 7 million cones. The rods pick up shades of grey and help us see in dim light. The cones work best in bright light to pick up colours.

Your mouth produces 1 liter (1.8 pints) of saliva a day.

Over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialized nations increased by 10 cm (4 in).

In the Middle Ages the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow was called an ell.

Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.

Ulysses Simpson Grant thought Venice would be a nice city if it were drained.

The only time in American history that the president and vice president were members of different political parties occurred in 1797, when Thomas Jefferson, Republican, became vice president under John Adams, a Federalist.

The first and only vice president to be drunk at his inauguration was Andrew Johnson. His doctor had prescribed an alcoholic drink to relieve pain.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was so obsessed with secrecy that he often wrote “burn this” on personal letters. This was so personal that no one on Earth including me knew about this.

The first wife of a president to have a college degree Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of Rutherford Hayes. She had a degree in geology, which was rare for a woman to have degrees at that time.

Coffee is the seed of a cherry from the tree genus Coffee

The number of people who starved to death in the last 25 years of the 20th century is less than the number who starved to death in the last 25 years of the 19th century.

The first European to encounter tea was the Portuguese Jesuit Jasper de Cruz in 1560.

Pepsi-Cola was invented by Caleb Bradham in 1890 as “Brad’s Drink” as a digestive aid and energy booster. In was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898.

Watermelons are 97% water, lettuce 97%, tomatoes 95%, carrots 90%, and bread 30%.

In May 1997, Paul McCartney broke his own world record by obtaining his 81st gold disc.

Paul McCartney was the last bachelor Beatle when he married Linda Eastman in a civil ceremony in London, 1969. Paul’s brother Mike was his best man. No other Beatle attended the wedding.

The longest song to reach number one on the Billboard charts on LP was “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf, the shortest: “Stay” by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs.

Lebanon is the top movie-going country – 35,3 movies per person p.a. China is second with 12,3, followed by Georgia (5,6), India (5), Iceland (4,5), Australia is 6th at 3,9 then New Zealand and the US at just under 3,9.

The British anthem was performed the most times in a single performance. In 1909, while waiting for King Edward VII who was getting dressed a German band played the anthem 17 times.

Ulysses Simpson Grant once got a $20.00 fine for speeding on his horse.

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the first president to speak in the radio, and to have one in the White House.

He was also the president to be in office for the least period of time, a month, or 32 days to be exact.

Andrew Jackson’s tombstone does not mention that he served as a president of the United States.

Dwight David Eisenhower was the first American president to hold an airplane pilot’s license.