Family facts and facts about families.
49 facts on this shelf
If your family could use only renewable energy for all your energy needs, you could help reduce the amount of emissions in the air each year by 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 70 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 50 pounds of nitrogen oxide.
It is claimed that 13 ancient crystal skulls have been found with mysterious properties.
The Mitchell-Hedges family loaned the skull to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories for extensive study in 1970. Art restorer Frank Dorland oversaw the testing at the Santa Clara, California, computer equipment manufacturer, a leading facility for crystal research. The HP examinations yielded some startling results.
Researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if they carve "against the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods.
To compound the strangeness, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had been carved with metal instruments. Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours adding up to 300 years to complete.
Note: 5/08, crystal skulls find themselves in the lates Indiana Jones movie!
No president of the United States was an only child.
In the theme song from "The Flintstones" the line after "Let's ride with the family down the street" is "Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet."
Japan's imperial family is considered the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world, with traditional records tracing the line back more than 1,500 years.
The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, in the 1300s, fueled by wealthy patrons like the Medici family.
President Bill Clinton owned a chocolate Labrador Retriever named Buddy, who lived in the White House alongside the family's famously independent cat, Socks.
American Shorthairs are easygoing and patient, so they tend to do well with kids and other pets.
Elephant herds are led by the oldest female, called the matriarch, whose memory of water sources and dangers can mean survival for the whole family.
The orca, also called the killer whale, is actually the largest member of the dolphin family, not a true whale in the everyday sense.
Scientists debated it for years, but DNA evidence confirmed that giant pandas are true bears, members of the same family as grizzlies and polar bears.
The idea of an aggressive "alpha wolf" came from studies of unrelated captive wolves. In the wild, most packs are just families led by the parents, and biologist David Mech, who popularized the term, later worked to correct it.
The Medici were a wealthy banking family in Florence who funded artists like Michelangelo and Botticelli, which helped make the city the center of the Renaissance.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was introduced in 1937 during the Great Depression as a cheap, filling meal that could feed a family.
The Toyota Corolla debuted in Japan in 1966 as an affordable family car and has gone through more than a dozen generations since.
The price of a Ford Model T dropped from $850 in 1908 to about $260 by 1925, putting a car within reach of ordinary families.
Festivus, the made-up holiday from "Seinfeld," came from the real family tradition of writer Dan O'Keefe's father.
Creator Matt Groening named most of the Simpson family after his own relatives. Bart's name is an anagram of "brat."
"Modern Family" aired on ABC from 2009 to 2020, running for 11 seasons.
"Modern Family" won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series five years in a row, from 2010 to 2014, tying the record set by "Frasier."
"Modern Family" is filmed in a mockumentary style.
Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney said "Modern Family" was a favorite show in 2012.
The 2015 "Modern Family" episode "Connection Lost" was filmed on iPhones and iPads and plays out entirely on a laptop screen.
Members of the "Modern Family" cast sued in 2012 to renegotiate their pay.
Sofía Vergara was named the highest-paid TV actress by Forbes for several years in a row.
"Modern Family" won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards.
"Modern Family" is set in Los Angeles.
"Modern Family" follows three related households in one extended family.
Strawberries belong to the rose family.
Cherries belong to the rose family.
Saint Augustine's mother was Saint Monica.
Berry Gordy started Motown Records in 1959 with an $800 family loan.
Charles Dickens had 10 children.
Edgar Allan Poe was orphaned as a child and taken in by John Allan.
After Albert Einstein died in 1955, pathologist Thomas Harvey removed and kept his brain for study, reportedly without the family's permission.
Johannes Vermeer had 11 children who survived.
In some orca populations, sons stay with their mothers for life.
The onion family includes garlic, leeks, and chives.
Lettuce belongs to the daisy family.
Botanically speaking, a cucumber is a fruit in the gourd family.
Ottawa's Canadian Tulip Festival began after the Netherlands gave Canada tulips to thank it for sheltering the Dutch royal family during WWII.
Orchids are one of the largest plant families, with about 28,000 species.
The daisy family is one of the largest plant families, with about 32,000 species.
Lavender is in the mint family.
The chrysanthemum is the symbol of Japan's imperial family, whose throne is called the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Happy Families is a British card game similar to Go Fish.
Marie Curie's daughter Irène Joliot-Curie won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.
Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste was a nun who exchanged letters with him.
Cleopatra was from a Greek ruling family and was reportedly the first in her dynasty to learn the Egyptian language.