Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

In 1845, Ralph Waldo Emerson said that adding Texas to the Union was an event that would "retard or retrograde the civilization.

"One theory about the origin of nunchakus suggests they were once used as a tool for taking the bark off banana trees. Nobles, who were prohibited from carrying weapons, usually improvised with whatever was available, including slippers, chopsticks, and even farm tools.

In 1968, the U.S. military switched its primary ID for personnel from service numbers to Social Security numbers. The old service number had a two-letter prefix before the seven-digit number, which would designate branch of service such as RA for regular army, NG for national guard, and NR for naval reserve.

Four tons of potatoes were required to distill the alcohol component of the fuel for each German V2 rocket launched in World War II.

Xenohyla truncate, found in Brazil's Atlantic forests, is the only species of frog in the world that eats fruit in addition to insects.