Barbados Is Known as the "Land of Flying Fish"

The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations drank cacao for over 3,500 years — but their version was cold, bitter, and spiced with chili and cornmeal, often frothed by pouring between vessels. Europeans added sugar and heat only after the 16th century. The word 'chocolate' comes from the Nahuatl word 'xocolatl'.

In Utah's Fishlake National Forest, a clonal grove of quaking aspen trees named 'Pando' (Latin: 'I spread') consists of about 47,000 individual stems that are genetically identical, sharing a single root system. Weighing approximately 6,000 metric tons and covering 43 hectares, it is estimated to be 80,000 years old.

In 1762, John Montagu — the 4th Earl of Sandwich — reportedly asked for sliced meat placed between two pieces of bread so he could eat without leaving the gambling table. The story was recorded by explorer Edward Gibbon. Others may have eaten similar food before, but the Earl's habit popularized the name.

In the Malheur National Forest, Oregon, a single Armillaria ostoyae (honey fungus) spreads across 965 hectares (2,385 acres) — roughly 1,350 football fields. Estimated to be about 8,000 years old, it grows mostly underground as mycelium. Discovered in 1998, it broke the previous record held by a similar fungus in Michigan.