The Kelpies stand 100ft tall & weigh 300 tonnes each. The works of art have become iconic after being modelled on icons of times gone by, with names from mythological transforming beasts, that possess the strength & endurance of 100 horses.

Interesting Things with JC #184: "Blue Whale Heartbeat" - A 2019 study unveiled surprising facts about the heartbeat of the blue whale, Earth's largest animal.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a 16th century Renaissance-era world famous Polish astronomer, who proposed that the Sun is the center of the solar system and that the planets circle the Sun. Copernicus also noted that Earth turns once daily on its own axis and that very slow long-term changes in the direction of this axis account for the precession of the equinoxes.

The Library of Congress in Washington DC is essentially both the national library of the U.S. and the country's oldest federal cultural institution. Though it consists of only three buildings, it is the largest library in the world with more than 170 million items.

The Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division holds 600,000 volumes in the non-Roman script languages of the region. The oldest written material in the Library is a cuneiform tablet dating from 2040 B.C.

China officially ended its one-child policy on January 1, 2016, with the signing into law of a bill allowing all married couples to have a second child as it attempted to cope with an ageing population and shrinking workforce.

Mary Sawyer, an 11-year-old girl in Boston, was followed to school one day in 1817 by her pet lamb, and she remembered her lamb all her life. The hand-reared lamb had little affection for its fellow sheep, preferring horses and cows as companions. But above all, the sheep loved Mary. It's attachment to Mary was similar to that of a lamb to it's own mother.

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore, a 17 year old girl from County Cork, Ireland, made headlines as the first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island. She is honored by statues on both sides of the Atlantic at Ellis Island National Monument, New York Harbor and at the Cobh Heritage Centre, County Cork, Ireland.

After you enjoy this podcast, please visit AnnieMoore.net to learn more.

The bowl had to contain 100 grams of pasta (uncooked weight) and at least 50 grams of sauce.

Every noodle entering the mouth had to be delivered via fork. You could use fingers to push noodles onto the fork, but could not lift or otherwise manipulate the bowl to facilitate noodle consumption.

26.69 seconds later, setting a Guinness World Record, Michelle Lesco easily surpassed the old mark of 41 seconds set four years ago by Canadian Pete Czerwinski for pasta eating.

Known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, 40 miles off the coast of southeast India in the Indian Ocean within the Bay of Bengal. Sri Lanka is 25,332 mi², just slightly larger than the US state of West Virginia. Scholars actually believe that Sri Lanka and India were once connected by a land bridge thousands of years ago, but it has since been washed into the ocean.

Buddhism is Sri Lanka's major religion, practiced by over 70% of the population. Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity make up the remainder. If you're looking for one of the most diverse, highest concentration of cultural spots within a small area, look no further than Sri Lanka.

The SS Richard Montgomery is an American warship from the second world war that sunk in the river Thames just outside of London. Her cargo contains 1400 tonnes of dynamite and other explosives. If the ship ever explodes, it will take the city with it. On board is an assortment of more than 9,000 US-made explosives (around 1,400 tones). These include 286 giant 2,000lb ‘blockbuster’ bombs, 4,439 1,000lb devices and more than 2,500 cluster bombs. Cluster bombs would have been transported with their fuses in place, leaving them more prone to accidental detonation.

On February 3rd, 1863 Samuel Clemens used the pen name Mark Twain for the first time in a Virginia City newspaper, the "Territorial Enterprise". Before using the pen name Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens had previously used the names “Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass”, “Sieur Louis de Conte”, “John Snook” and just “Josh”.

The Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, is always celebrated on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice. In 2022 this falls on February 1st, when we will usher in the Year of the Water Tiger.

In ancient times, the Chinese legend goes, the Jade Emperor held a race among all the animals. The 12 first animals to cross the finish line would get to be honored forever as the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Tigers are known as a symbol of strength and bravery, and people born in the year of the Tiger are said to have these traits as well. 2022 is going to be a good year for Tigers to get married, fall in love, or get promoted!

STS-107 was the disastrous 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 16 January 2003 and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit.

On February 1st, Columbia began re-entry as planned, but the heat shield was compromised due to damage sustained during the initial ascent. The heat of re-entry was free to spread into the damaged portion of the orbiter, ultimately causing its disintegration and the loss of all on board.

Columbia was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in March 1979. Two years later, April 12, 1981, it lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center to become the first shuttle to fly in orbit.

The crew of its final voyage were 3 Mission Specialists; David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, a Payload Specialist and Commander; Ilan Ramon and Michael Anderson, Shuttle Commander; Rick Husband, and Shuttle Pilot; William McCool.

Arlington National Cemetery is the home of a Columbia memorial which is dated and has an outline of a Shuttle.

The tea bag was invented accidentally when New York merchant Thomas Sullivan sent out tea samples in silk bags and customers put them directly into teapots.

January 10th, 1992 - A container ship from Hong Kong was trapped in a terrible storm. As the waves tossed the ship around, 29,000 rubber duckies escaped their container but were reclaimed by Davey Jones. Believed to have been lost at sea, they began washing ashore, and they are still finding land all over the world 30 years later!

Agent 355 was a female spy who worked directly for George Washington during the American Revolution, and was one of the first spies for the United States. Her real identity is still unknown to this day.

The Ozarks are an incredible region of the United States, popularized by tourism and the Netflix series. It's home to a rich history as well as vast and unique population, with interesting local folklore. One such story is that of the Blue Man who is believed to have made this region home.

KongThong is located in a beautiful lush region of Meghalaya. It's in this village that a unique language based on music exists. When a child is about to be born, the mother starts preparing a unique tone for her child. No two people have the same tone and is inspired by the sounds of birds and nature. They use this for their whole life to communicate.

The living root bridges of Meghalaya are a wonder of the world. The roots of rubber trees are put into hollow betel nut plant trunks and positioned to grow over rivers. Once to the other side, the roots are fortified and a natural bridge continues to grow!

Chorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and fat, with chilli spice, paprika, and garlic. Recipe ingredients might vary a bit. While the basic recipe remains the same, there are literally thousands of varieties across the globe. The legendary Chorizo Iberíco is made from the highly prized meat of Iberian pigs specially farmed in oak forests feasting almost exclusively on acorns!