Showing results by narrator "Giovannie Cruz" in All Categories

Werewolves aren't real. But if they were real, they'd be scary, considering they are man-beast hybrids with enormous strength, no judgment or compassion, and a vicious case of blood lust.

The word "dude" means "man" and, nowadays, is generically applicable to any person. (But you already knew that.) The term has been around since the late 1880s, but unlike most words, the etymology of the term was, until recently, mostly a mystery.

The village of Kalachi is located in the center of Kazakhstan – the world's largest landlocked country – toward the north. The village is home to about 600 people – many of which have been known to suddenly fall asleep, sometimes for days at a time.

Richard Feynman was one of modern history's greatest scientists. A well-respected academic, Feynman won the Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1965 and later served as a member of the commission that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

Beginning in the 1630s and lasting for more than two centuries, Japan's foreign policy was one of strict isolationism – to a violent degree. According to Wikipedia, the policy, called "sakoku," held that "no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death."

CTRL+ALT+DEL ["CONTROL-ALT-DELETE"], a familiar keyboard command, first became commonly used in the 1990s when it was generally used by anyone with Microsoft Windows-based computer. When things went wrong, the computer froze up or the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" appeared – simultaneously striking these three keys on one's keyboard was often the best route to recovery.

At the close of World War II, the victorious Allies split Germany into four parts—one controlled by France, another by the United Kingdom, another by the United States and another by the Soviet Union. And Berlin, although it was embedded within the Soviet-controlled sector, was itself divided into four similarly managed parts.

"Don't scream if you meet a cow. If she sees you first, she will run/Don't undertake a long ride if you are not confident of performing it easily/Don't contest the right of way with cable cars/Don't emulate your brother's attitude if he rides parallel with the ground"—those four "don'ts" are from the now-defunct New York World newspaper.

History, it's said, is written by the winners – they're the ones who are still around to do the research, write the magazine articles, author the books and curate the encyclopedias.

Typhus is a bacterial-borne disease that is transmitted by flea, tick and mite bites. It can be fatal if untreated, but, thankfully, in almost all cases antibiotics, are effective.

In 1973, author Sidney Sheldon published the book The Other Side of Midnight, centering on a love triangle between an American World War II pilot, the lover he takes while stationed in France, and the woman back home whom he abandons her for after the war is over.

In 1918, the United Kingdom passed the Representation of the People Act, resulting in a major overhaul of the U.K.'s voting system.

The building located at 33 Thomas Street in Manhattan – like many buildings in Manhattan – is tall. But at 550 feet, it isn't all that tall by New York City's standards – it doesn't even crack the top 100.

Matthew Broderick's best movie was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In the film, Broderick's character, a teen named Ferris Bueller, was able to skip school while avoiding the consequences of an absenteeism policy he ran afoul of many times over.

Charles Dodgson was an English mathematician. He taught at Christ Church, a college that is part of the University of Oxford, from 1855 until retiring in 1881, and he remained at the college in residence until his death in 1898.

In 1953 North and South Korea entered into an armistice, ending the Korean War and providing a shaky basis for something close to peace between the two nations.

Alligators' tails allow them to swim. By moving its tail from side to side, the animal can propel itself through water at fish-like speeds, which is important because when it comes to eating, alligators have a pretty easily defined diet: if it is in or near the water, it is food.

Pineapples are indigenous to South America and were domesticated and spread throughout the tropical areas of the Americas well before Europeans landed in the New World.

Take some paper and various other materials, bundled into one neat package. Light it on fire. Use it for a bit and then, when you're done, throw it away, still lit.