The wild goldfish is a very common fish from China, usually green or brown in colour. About a thousands years ago the Chinese noticed that red forms of the wild goldfish occasionally appeared. They started to keep these more attractive forms in ponds and bowls and managed to breed them. Since then goldfishes have always been popular as pets and …

The sun we see everyday is just one of the thousands of stars we see at night. Such a huge collection of stars is called a galaxy. And the stars we see belong to a galaxy called the Milky Way. There are millions of galaxies in the sky, most of whom are hidden from our view. However, there are some …

Khazan Singh — Khazan Singh Tokas is one of the most outstanding swimmers India has ever produced. Born on 6 May 1964, in a small village of Munirka in Delhi, Khazan Singh stands tall in a sport, where mediocrity has been the byword for Indian sportspeople. He made a sensational debut in competitive swimming, when he bagged five gold medals …

The animal kingdom is divided into those animals which have backbones, vertebrates, and those animals which do not have backbones, invertebrates. In terms of the numbers of animals which have ever lived throughout the history of the Earth, the invertebrates are much more common. Many invertebrates had external shells made of chalk-like materials to protect them. Others had internal skeletons …

During the sixteenth century, the Portuguese were the principal traders in the East Indies. By 1600, however, their place had been taken by the Dutch who, sailing via the Cape of Good Hope, set up a powerful base on the island of Batavia. Soon their ships were seeking new lands in order to open up more trade. In 1606 a …

Most European speaks one of the Indo-European languages. However, one language, Basque, which is spoken by people in north-eastern Spain and south-eastern France, isn’t related to any other tongue. Its origins are shrouded in mystery and some people have even suggested that it was spoken in the ‘lost continent of Atlantis’. It now seems likely that the ancestors of the …

Kevin Pietersen — Kevin Peter Pietersen is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey. He had also played for Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore for its second and third seasons, captaining the side in his first, prior to being bought by the Deccan Chargers …

Although David Livingstone had trained to be a doctor, he decided to go to Africa as a missionary. He sailed for what was then called the Dark Continent on 20 November 1840 and soon found that his work took him into areas that were virtually unknown. In time he crossed the great Kalahari Desert and later reached the bank of …

The first successful English settlement in North America was founded in 1607 by Captain Christopher Newport. It was situated on an island ad named Jamestown in honour of the king, James I, who had given the settlers their Charter. Newport later returned to England and Captain John Smith became the new leader. Early in 1608 he was exploring the Chickahominy …

Saudi Arabia has the largest petroleum reserves in the world. It comprises almost 1/4th (24 %) of the world’s proven total petroleum reserves. Saudi Arabia’s economy is petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. Officially, it has about 260 billion barrels (41,000,000,000 cubic metres) of oil reserves. It has become one …