by Bill McLain
Sweet spices have caused bitter wars. During the 15th through the 17th centuries, numerous wars broke out for control of the spice trade, the most notable being between the English and the Dutch.
The United States entered the spice trade in the 17th century. Between 1800 and 1890, nearly 1,000 United States ships made the around-the-world voyage to the Spice Islands. Later, Texas settlers developed chili powder and researchers in California developed techniques for drying onions and garlic.
Today the United States is the world’s largest buyer of spices, followed by Germany, Japan, and France.
More questions? Try these Web sites.
BUSINESS AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS AROUND THE WORLD
http://public.wsj.com/careers/resources/documents/cwc-countries.htm
Just click on the name of any country to read about its customs, including meeting people, body language, corporate culture, dining, entertainment, gifts, and helpful hints.
WORLD ALMANAC
http://www.infoplease.com/world.html
This is your World Almanac on the Internet. It has facts about countries, disasters, architecture, geography, flags, and international relations. It has a number of other features including world statistics and current events.
OCEAN MYSTERIES
http://floridasmart.com/subjects/ocean_mystery.htm
The ocean covers 75 percent of our planet and is virtually unexplored. It is the last frontier of our planet. This Web site discusses mysteries of the ocean such as the Bermuda Triangle and the Lost Continent of Atlantis. There is also an informative section on pirates.
The following two Web sites also have information about ocean mysteries, as well as other information about the oceans of the world:
http://montereybayaquarium.org/aa/aa_pressroom/pr_mysteries_deepfacts_pr.html
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/oceans_mysteries_of_the_deep.html
COUNTRIES THAT NO LONGER EXIST
http://geography.about.com/education/geography/library/weekly/aa071999.htm
Have you ever wondered what happened to the countries of Siam, Bengal, Persia, and Rhodesia? This site will tell you. It’s updated often, so the information is usually current.
WORLD FACTS ONLINE
http://www.worldfactsonline.com/
This site lets you find information about countries throughout the world. You can select either global (worldwide) or national (select the country of your choice). If you select global, you’ll see a lengthy list of links to other sites covering worldwide topics including capitals, composers, flags, maps, population, travel, weather, and much more.
If you select a specific country, you’ll see one or more Web sites devoted to that specific country.
Index
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.
Academy Awards, 173-176
Acadians, 106-108
Agent 007, 165
aircraft:
crashes, 75-77
fastest, 234-235
race, 235-236
smallest, 235
Alaskan malamute, 240
alligators, 145-146
almanac, world, Web site, 301
Alps, 292-293
ampersand (&), origin, 81
animal bytes, Web site, 21
animal planet, Web site, 21
animals, children raised by, 295
Arisan Maru, 63
armor, 35, 36
assassination of governor, 30
at (@) symbol, 82
attractions, tourist, Web site, 264
autistic savants, 119-120
babies:
famous, 84-85
Gerber, 83-84
badges, we ain’t got no, 182
Bakelite, 149-150
ball lightning, 272-273
Web site, 283
Balto (dog), 241-242
bank robbery, 26-29
barns, 53-55
baseball, 216-219
origin of hand signals, 218
basset hounds, 187-188
bathing, 123-124
batteries, 192-194
bay leaves, 300
bears, 1-4
koala bears, 3
polar bears, 2, 3
sloth bears, 3
beluga caviar, 109
best boy, 179
bicycling, 242-245
history, Web site, 245
bingo, 212-213
Blake, Robert, 183
Blarney Stone, 44-45
Blind Tom, 119
Blissitt, Arthur, 242-243
body language, 127
Bond, James, 165
bourbon, 163-164
Boy Scout songs, Web site, 189
brain, 117-120, 132-133
brain fitness, Web site, 134
bubble gum, Web site, 152
bubble-gum blowing, 148
bugle calls, 184-186
bulls, running of, 48-50
bumper stickers, 140-141
Burbank, Luther, 202
burials, famous, Web site, 96
bushrangers, 34-37
Byrd, Richard, 197
cable TV, Web site, 191
Cajun, 106-108
camouflage, 14
Campbell’s soup, 139-140
Cannonball Express, 233-234
cans, 138-140
Cap Arcona, 62
castle, stone, 258-261
caviar, 109-111
cellophane, 151
celluloid, 150
cereal, 162-163
Channel 1, 176-177
cheese, Web site, 114
chewing gum, 146-149
chickenpox, 168-169
chicle, 146-147
children raised by animals, 295
China Clipper, 237-238
cinnamon, 300
circuses:
flea, 93-95
flea, Web site, 97
clowns, 95-96
city, cities:
distances, Web site, 246
slang, Web site, 171
clipper ships, 239
cocktails, 163-165
code, Morse, 63-65
coffee, 111-114
Comanches, 186-187
condensed soup, 139-140
Coral Castle, 258-260
Web site, 264
corpse, 32-33
countries, Web site, 302
Cowan, Lionel, 194-195
cowpox, 168-169
cramps, heat, 276
credits, movie, 179-181
“Cremation of Sam McGee, The” (Service), 103
Creole, 106-108
crescent moon on outhouses, 50
crime:
bank robbery, 26-29
bushrangers, 34-37
of the Century, Web site, 41
degrees of murder, 29
grave robbing, 31
Library, Web site, 40
mass murder, 37-39
potential victim, Web site, 41
crystal glass, 205
customs, world, Web site, 301
death:
from flu, 247-249
star, 200
of Zachary Taylor, 250-251
Death Valley Scotty, 260-261
diesel trucks, 229-231
dimples, on golf balls, 214
dinosaurs, 4-7
Argentinosaurus, 4
Giganotosaurus, 4
Sauroposeidon, 5
Tyrannosaurus Rex, 4
Ultrasaurus, 5
Web site, 22
Dionne quintuplets, 85
disasters, 60-63
historic, Web site, 78
vessel casualties, Web site, 78
wrecks, Web site, 78
Discovery Channel, Web site, 209
dogs:
Alaskan malamutes, 240
Balto, 241-242
basset hounds, 187-188
Maytag dog (Newton), 187
/>
Siberian huskies, 240
sled, 239-242
dollar bills, 257-258
earth, center of, 195-197
earthquakes, 69-72
Web site, 79
eating customs in China, 59
Edmund Fitzgerald, 255
86’ed, 154-155
elephants, 292
engines, running, 228-230
England-to-Australia race, 235-236
executions, 23
exercises, stretching, 131-132
exhaustion, heat, 276
exhumation:
of Abraham Lincoln, 251
of Zachary Taylor, 250-251
eyebrows, 128
facts, world, Web site, 302
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), Web site, 40
FDA (Food and Drug Administration), Web site, 115
Ferris wheels, 137-138
fiery foods, Web site, 115
fires:
deadliest, 72-74
Peshtigo, 72-73
Tillamook, 74
first-degree murder, 29
“first lady,” origin, 251
flamingos, 18-20
flashlights, 194-195
flea circuses, 93-95
Web site, 97
Flight of the Phoenix, The, 20
floods, 269-271
flood stories, 271
flu, 247-250
epidemic, 247-248
symptoms, 248-250
Foley artists, 180
forensics, Web site, 41
fountain of youth, 87-88
frames, movie, 206-208
Frankenstein (Shelley), 280
freezing rain, 266-267
Frisbees, 222-224
Web site, 228
Fugitive, The, 25
full moons, 120-123
gaffers, 179
gaggle, 157
Gatorade, 143-145
geese, 157-158
General von Steuben, 62
Genie, 296
Gerber baby, 83-84
glass, 203-206
laminated, 205
milk, 205
golf:
balls, 214-216
links, 215
scratch, 214-215
Web site, 227
Goya, 62
graffiti, 142-143
graupels, 267
gravity, 195-196
great air race, 235-236
greatest inventor, Web site, 153
Great Seal, 256-258
Great Wall of China, 285-287
grips, 180
groups of animals, 157-158
gum, 146-149
Website, 152
gumbo, 107
Hadrian’s Wall, 287-288
hail, 266-268
hailstone, largest, 267
hair, 128-130
Halley, Edmund, 197
hamburgers, 156
handwriting on the wall, 142
Hannibal, 290-292
harps, 57-58
hash house jargon, 154-156
Website, 171
Hatfield, Charles, 269-271
headhunters, 165-168
heads, shrunken, 167-168
health, Web sites, 133
heat index, 274-277
calculator, Web site, 283
hibernation, 1
Hollywood stars, Web site, 190
Holmes, H. H., 37-38
homicides, 29
horses, 33
hot foods, Web site, 115
How Stuff Works, Web site, 209
Hoy, William “Dummy,” 218-219
Huichol, 183-184
human body, Web site, 133-134
ice storms, 268-269
idiot savants, 119-120
Iditarod Sled Dog Race, 241-242
Web site, 245
innocent people executed, 23-26
inventor, greatest, Web site, 153
inventors, Web site, 152
Irish harps, 57-58
jambalaya, 107
java, 112
Jivaros, 165-168
“Joe,” 111
Jones, Casey, 233-234
Journey to the Center of the Earth (Verne), 197
junk food, Web site, 116
Junyo Maru, 63
Kellogg, Will Keith, 162-163
Kelly, Ned, 34-37
key grips, 180
King Kong, 207-208
kissing, 42-45
Kopi Luwak coffee, 113
Kroc, Ray, 89
lakes:
deepest, 254
highest, 254
largest, man-made, 254
largest, underground, 254
most, man-made, 254
languages, 296-297
leprechauns, 282
lie detectors, 126
lighthouses, 254-255
lightning, 272-274
ball, 272-273
Lionel Train Company, 195
Lonely Maytag Repairman,” 187
longest bicycle trip, 244-245
longest walk, 242-243
love, in tennis, 225
Lowe, Edwin, 212-213
lunch house jargon, 154-156
lycanthropy, 121
MacRobertson air race, 235-236
mai tais, 164
manslaughter, 29
marbles, 205-206
shooting, Web site, 209
Marconi, Guglielmo, 63-64
Martinique, 66-67
martinis, 164-165
Maytag commercials, 187-188
McDonald, Ronald, 88-91
McDonald’s, 89-90, 156
meteors, 199
Moluccas, 298-299
monkeypox, 170
Moody, King, 89
moons, full, 120-123
Morse, Samuel F. B., 63-65
Mount Tambora, 278
movie credits, 179-181
movies:
best year in, 208
King Kong, 207-208
Stagecoach, 208
Website, 190
murder:
degrees of, 29-31
mass, 37-39
mushers, 239-241
mysteries, ocean, Web site, 302
Native American customs, Web site, 59
network television, Web site, 191
New Madrid earthquake, 69-72
Newton (dog), 187
NOVA, Web site, 209
obscure patents, Web site, 153
ocean mysteries, Web site, 302
Olympics, 219-222
dog sled race, 240
Web site, 227
oregano, 299
Oscars (Academy Awards), 173-176
osetra caviar, 109
outhouses, 50-52
most expensive, 51
races, 52
Web site, 58
Owens, Jesse, 221-222
palms, sweating, 125-126
paranormal, Web site, 97
Paricutin, Mexico, 68-69
patents, obscure, Web site, 153
Patrick, Saint, 55-58
Web site, 59
peanut butter, Web site, 114
Pelée, Mount, 67-68
Peshtigo, 72-74
pet vacations, Web site, 21
phoenixes, 19
phone numbers, Web site, 97
Ping-Pong, 226-227
pitching, 216-217
planets:
Pluto, 199
tenth, 198
Venus, 199
plastic, 149-150
polygraph, 126
Ponce de Leon, 87
Pony Express, 261-264
Web site, 264
pot of gold, 282
pox, 168
Prester John, 85-87
property masters, 180
pruneyskin, 123-124
psychokinesis, 92-93
punch, 163
quacks, 160-162
Quetzalcoatl, 12
quotations, Web site, 172
race, aircraft, 235-236
&nb
sp; radio, 177
radionics, 160
rain, freezing, 255-267
rainbow, 280-282
Web site, 283
rainmaker, 269-271
red barns, 53-55
rings, Olympic, 219-220
road information, Web site,
246
roe, 109
Rome, 293-295
Romulus and Remus, 293-295
Rough and Ready, Calif, 252
Ruffian (horse), 33
running of the bulls, 48-50
saffron, 300
salt, 99-101
Sarnoff, David, 176-178
scoring in tennis, 225-226
Scott, Willard, 88-89
Scotty’s castle, 260-261
search engines, 304
second-degree murder, 29
seeded, in tennis, 224-225
seedless watermelons, 200-202
seven seas, 288-289
7th Cavalry, 186-187
sevruga caviar, 109
shamrocks, 57
Shelley, Mary, 279-280
Sheppard, Sam, 25-26
ships:
Arapahoe, 64
clipper, 239
Cutty Sark, 219
Titanic, 65
ship sinkings:
Arisan Mam, 63
Cap Arcona, 62
casualties, Web site, 78
Edmund Fitzgerald, 255
General von Steuben, 62
Goya, 62
Junyo Maru, 63
Thielbek, 63
Wilhelm Gustloff, 60-62
shooting marbles, Web site, 209
shorelines, 253-254
shrinks, 165-167
shrunken heads, 167-168
Siberian huskies, 240
Silly Putty, 150
slang, city, Web site, 171
sleep of insects, 7
smallpox, 169-170
snakes, 10-12
black mambas, 10
fastest, 10
hoops, 11
and Saint Patrick, 56
soda cans, 138-140
softball, 216-217
songs, Boy Scout, Web site, 189
Songs of a Sourdough (Service), 103
SOS, 63-66
soup, 139-140
sourdough bread, 101-103
Spanish flu, 247-248
Spectro-Chrome therapy
machines, 161
Spice Islands, 298-301
spices, history, 300-301
spiders, 7-9
sports catalog, Web site, 228
Spruce Goose, 158-160
squirrels, 15-17
flying, 17
pygmy, 16
Web site, 21
white, 16
Stagecoach, 208
stars:
death, 200
