The cuckoo-pint is an unusual plant of hedgerows and woodsides, which produces bright red berries in the autumn. The berries are extremely poisonous to all birds, except the thrush.

The first definite and documented lighthouse in the world was the Pharaohs of Alexandria built in 200 BC, although beacons were certainly used before that. The oldest working lighthouse in the world is at La Coruqa in north-west Spain near the town of Ferol. A lighthouse has been on this site since the time of the Roman emperor Trajan. The …

Historians consider the dance form that is today known as belly dance the oldest form. It originated 6,000 years ago and was practised by many ancient cultures. Even though the modern belly dance has many negative connotations and is considered to be seductive, it had a totally different purpose in ancient times. Originally, it was performed only by women, for …

The Sumerian civilization is the oldest civilization known to mankind. The term ‘Sumer’ is today used to designate southern Mesopotamia. In 3000 BC, a flourishing urban civilization existed. The Sumerian civilization was predominantly agricultural and had community life. The Sumerians were adept at building canals and in irrigation. Excavated objects such as pottery, jewellery and weapons show they were also …

All western languages, as well as the written languages of Africa, are based on the Roman alphabet, which was developed in about the 7th Century BC. Then it had only 21 letters; J, U, W, Y and Z were added later.

It must be the domestic turkey. Some have been known to drown in a heavy rain shower because they didn’t realize that it would be dry and safe inside their hutches! Others are so brainless that they can’t even remember how to eat, and must be fed by the farmer.

It is very difficult to evaluate intelligence in terms of animals such as birds. In the wild, there are birds that use small sticks in their beaks to poke insects from the bark of trees and, in urban areas of some countries, others which peck the tops from milk bottles, in order to reach the cream. Both these examples must …

In terms of numbers of species, the answer is insects. Although no one is really sure just how abundant they are, for new species are discovered almost every year. Estimates of the number of different species of insect range from well over a million to nearly three million. Whatever the true number, there are at least three times as many …

किन्नौर: जनजातीय क्षेत्र जिला किन्नौर में समुद्र तल से लगभग दस हजार फीट की ऊंचाई पर स्थित यूला कंडा में बनी प्राकृतिक झील के मध्य में विद्यमान भगवान श्री कृष्ण का मंदिर क्षेत्र वासियों के लिए धार्मिक आस्था का प्रतीक है। यूला कंडा एन. एच. पर चोलिंग नामक स्थान से लगभग 12 कि.मी. की दूरी पर है तथा वहां पहुंचने …

Kansai International Airport in Japan which is 1700 metres long is the longest building in the world. In the ’60s, when the Kansai region was rapidly losing trade to Tokyo, planners proposed a new airport near Kobe and Osaka. Osaka International Airport, located in the densely-populated suburbs of Itami and Toyonaka, was surrounded by buildings; it could not be expanded, …