Genghis Khan exempted the poor and clergy from taxes, encouraged literacy, and established free religion, leading many peoples to join his empire before they were even conquered.
28
In 1542, French aristocrat Marguerite De La Rocque survived being marooned for 2 years alone on a remote island off the coast of Quebec.
12
Until the nineteenth century, solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia.
80
It is estimated that there is in excess of 3,000,000,000 bibles been sold throughout the world!
56
London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight in 1807!
39
In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
130
Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal, and approximately 20,000 of them contracted malaria and yellow fever.
14