Laughing boosts the immune system, burns calories and reduces stress hormones, making it a very healthy activity.

Scientists found that the most relaxing song ever is “Weightless” by the Marconi Union—it reduced anxiety by 65 percent in the average test subject.

The world’s oldest socks were in fact designed to be worn with sandals. Made in Egypt sometime in the fourth or fifth century, the wool socks have two toes.

• In 2012, the Smithsonian officially recognized video games as an art form and had an exhibit to “comprehensively examine the evolution of video games as an artistic medium.”
• The only word that rhymes with “purple” is “hirple,” which means “to limp awkwardly.” Nothing rhymes with “woman.”
• An 8-week meditation course will cause the amygdala, associated with fear and other emotions, to shrink while the prefrontal cortex, associated with awareness, concentration and decision-making, will thicken.

The first U.S. town to be completely lit by electric streetlights was Wabash, Indiana, in 1880. It had a population of 320 at the time.

New York City’s oldest house is a cottage in Queens near LaGuardia Airport. It was built in 1654 by the Rikers family (the same family that gave Rikers Island its name) and even has a family cemetery in the backyard.

The Waldorf Astoria hotel once had its own private railroad track at Grand Central so that its guests could clandestinely enter and exit New York City. Largely abandoned now, it operates only when the president is in town, in case the need arises for an emergency exit.

• Bananas are more effective in replenishing electrolytes than Gatorade. They also have serotonin and dopamine—chemicals that help you feel happy.
• Every time you lick a USPS stamp, you ingest about 10 percent of a calorie. British stamps, however, contain about 5.9 calories. Israeli stamps are kosher.
• Laughing boosts the immune system, burns calories and reduces stress hormones, making it a very healthy activity.

• The first U.S. town to be completely lit by electric streetlights was Wabash, Indiana, in 1880. It had a population of 320 at the time.
• Pablo Picasso carried a revolver loaded with blanks, which he would fire at whoever asked him what his work “meant.”
• Artist Ivan Albright was so meticulous, he often worked with a single-haired brush and would spend whole days working on 1 square inch of canvas.
• Simply taking 1 step uses over 200 muscles in the body.

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; “7” was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. “UP” indicated the direction of the bubbles.

The word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Seuss in “If I Ran the Zoo.”

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.