Arthur Conan Doyle contributed to the popularization of alpine skiing. After the writer moved to Davros in Switzerland in 1893 [mountain air was prescribed to his wife], Arthur studied the basics of skiing with the Branger brothers. They studied at night to avoid comments from local residents. It was Doyle who was the first Briton to describe the thrill of skiing. The writer correctly predicted that in the future hundreds of Englishmen would go to Switzerland for the «ski season».
Cenotes are a kind of interconnected natural wells located throughout the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The Maya considered them sacred, and this is one of the most mysterious natural formations. In addition to the Mayan artifacts buried in their depths, the cenotes themselves form an extensive network of caves, which still remains unexplored properly. There are currently about 6,000 documented cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula. Speleologists believe that there are many more such wells throughout the region, as well as completely new ecosystems and life forms that we have probably never encountered before.
The main attraction of Venice, of course, are the gondoliers. Their total number is always the same and does not depend at all on whether the gondoliers have retired or newcomers are coming to their guild. The Guild of Gondoliers was established in 1094, there were never women among its members, it was always the exclusive prerogative of men, and foreigners were treated with prejudice there.
Ancient Rome has always been famous for its cruelty. For example, Apuleius [the Golden Donkey] and Lucian [Lucius, or the Donkey] described in their writings such torture: first they killed the donkey, ripped open the belly and took out its internal organs. Then the accused was stripped naked and stuffed inside the animal. The stomach was sewn up, leaving the slave's head outside so that he would not suffocate, thereby causing him to suffer even longer. The body of the animal with the slave immured in it was left in the sun, and over time it began to decompose. Insect larvae crawled on it, and vultures began to peck at the flesh of the animal — the victim of such torture waited for his death for a very long time.
The hard-to-pronounce word Mamihlapinatapai belongs to the Yagan language, which is spoken in Tierra del Fuego. It was even listed in the Guinness Book of Records as «the most capacious word». Members of the Yaganov tribe use it to denote an exchange of views between two people, in which each expresses the desire for the other to become the initiator of what both want, but neither wants to be the first.
Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which is 940 kilometers in diameter and is the closest dwarf planet to the Sun. Ceres was discovered in 1801 by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi at the Palermo Astronomical Observatory and was named after the ancient Roman goddess of fertility.
In absolute darkness, a cat, contrary to popular belief, cannot see. Yes, these pets have excellent eyesight — they are nocturnal predators by nature. Therefore, in low-light conditions, they see much better than a person due to the greatly increased number of photoreceptors-rods in the eyes and a special reflective layer — tapetum. As a result, at dusk, the cat's vision is 7 times sharper than ours. Interestingly, in ordinary and bright light, on the contrary, human vision will give a head start to a cat, especially if it concerns stationary objects that cats perceive not as well as moving ones. And, unlike humans, cats have a slightly larger viewing angle [200° instead of 180°], but they perceive the color difference much less and have difficulty refocusing from close objects to distant ones and back.
The Paris cinema Le Grand Rex, capable of accommodating up to 2,650 people at the same time, is considered the largest in Europe. In 1981, it was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of the French Republic and since that year it has been under special protection of the state. During the occupation of Paris, the cinema Le Grand-Rex was not closed, but its name was changed to the German Soldatenkino, and its main audience were Wehrmacht soldiers. In the post-war years, the cinema was modernized more than once, and all the changes only emphasized the exclusivity of this place. There are guided tours in the cinema, where visitors are shown how impressive film effects are created.
To grind food well, snail teeth need calcium. Its deficiency leads to the fact that the snail begins to sharpen its shell, which collapses, leaving the body without protection. This leads to dehydration and death. Therefore, domestic achatin snails are always fed with something with a high calcium content — for example, crushed eggshells.
Surtsey Island, one of the youngest islands on Earth, was formed in 1963 as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption. The area of the island is 1 square kilometer. The island is named after Surt, a fire giant from Icelandic mythology.
