Interesting Things with JC #675: "Gratitude" - Embrace the power of gratitude and unlock a contented life filled with joy and abundance. Cultivate an attitude of appreciation, count your blessings, and savor the present moment. Let gratitude reshape your perspective and open your heart to meaningful connections.

This story was inspired by the Darpinian Family

Interesting Things with JC #673: "Kindness" - Spread kindness like wildfire and witness the transformative power it holds. Small acts of compassion have a profound impact, creating a ripple effect of positivity. Let's build a brighter, more beautiful world together.

Interesting Things with JC #599: "Our 9 Senses" - Did you know there are 9 senses instead of 5? In addition to sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, there's proprioception, thermoception, equilibrioception, and interoception. Our senses make the world vibrant and dynamic.

Interesting Things with JC #526: "Bending Light with Air" - The greater the density of the medium, the more light is bent!

Interesting Things with JC #479: "Go See The World" - Explore as much of the planet as possible.

Interesting Things with JC - #235: “Sea of Okhotsk” is at the same latitude as the Gulf of Alaska, but unlike the Gulf, the sea freezes between October and March. At 611,000 square miles (1,583,000 sq km) the sea is considered one of the richest north temperate marine ecosystems in the world, and one of the most biologically productive of the world’s seas.

The four leaf clover is one of the most common good luck symbols of the Western world. An independent study carried out by Swiss researchers looked at 5.7 million clovers and found that the likelihood of finding one four-leaf clover was one in 5,076.

Countries to the north and south of the tropics, see sunrise much earlier and sunsets much later in summer, than these regions do in winter. On most farms, this isn't a problem. People and animals just shift their habits as the hours of daylight shift. In most cities, the amount of energy used to make artificial light and heat becomes costly, if they don't shift their routines. This is where William Willett, the godfather of Daylight Savings comes in.

If you visit the Restaurant Chiggeri in the city of Luxembourg, you can take your pick from more than 2,200 different wines. A professional connoisseur is on-site to guide you with what food is best paired with each wine. The majority of the wines on the menu having been there for more than six months. The wine menu is said to resemble a telephone book!

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a tribute one of the greatest artists ever to have lived. The exhibition hall opened June 2, 1973. The historical backdrop of the Van Gogh Museum design is intriguing. The primary structure, planned by Gerrit Rietveld, opened in 1973. Engineer Kisho Kurokawas presentation wing was finished in 1999. It is the most visited Van Gogh museum worldwide.

March 6, 1945, George Nissen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received a patent for the first modern trampoline. He sold so many trampolines to the military, to help pilots experience weightlessness, that he had to postpone his enlistment in World War II to fulfill the orders. Interestingly, trampoline only became an Olympic sport during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As the Olympic games draw to a close, let's look at some of the more interesting things about the city of Beijing. It is China’s second-most populous city after Shanghai, estimated at 20.4 million people. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. The first city erected on the spot, Jicheng, was founded in 1045 BC and was the capital of the Ji Kingdom.

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.