A diamond will not dissolve in acid. The only thing that can destroy it is intense heat.

A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis
court.

Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.

An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 50 miles long.

Colored diamonds are caused by impurities such as nitrogen (yellow), boron (blue). With red
diamonds being due to deformities in the structure of the stone, and green ones being the result
of irradiation.

Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance, and is also one of the most valuable
natural substances. Diamonds are crystals formed almost entirely of carbon. Because of its
hardness, the diamond is the most enduring of all gemstones. They are among the most costly
jewels in the world, partly because they are rare, Only four important diamond fields have been
found - in Africa, South America, India, and the Soviet Union.

In 1957, the Shipping port Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to
generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)

In 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center
implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived
112 days with the device.

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.

Mineral deposits in caves: The ones growing upward are stalagmites, the ones growing
downward are stalactites.

Natural gas has no odor. The smell is added artificially so that leaks can be detected.

Prussic acid, in a crystalline powder called Zyklon B, was used to kill in Germany's gas
chambers. The gas would paralyze the victim's lungs, causing them to suffocate.

Sea water, loaded with mineral salts, weighs about a pound and a half more per cubit foot than
fresh water at the same temperature.

Ten per cent of the salt mined in the world each year is used to de-ice the roads in America.

The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen, 21.5% oxygen, .5% argon and other gases.

The Chinese were using aluminum to make things as early as 300 AD Western civilization didn't
rediscover aluminum until 1827.
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. Found in 1905, the
original 3,100 carats were cut to make jewels for the British Crown Jewels and the British Royal
family's collection.

The largest gold nugget ever found weighed 172 lbs., 13 oz.

The largest hailstone ever recorded was 17.5 inches in diameter - bigger than a basketball.

The most abundant metal in the Earth's crust is aluminum.

The only rock that floats in water is pumice.

The three most common elements in the universe are 1) hydrogen; 2) helium; 3) oxygen.

The United States government keeps its supply of silver at the US Military Academy at West
Point, NY.

All the moons of the Solar System are named after Greek and Roman mythology,
except the moons of Uranus, which are named after Shakespearean characters.

Astronauts brought back about 800 pounds of lunar rock to Earth. Most of it has not
been analyzed.

In 1959, the Soviet space probe "Luna Two" became the first manmade object to
reach the moon as it crashed onto the lunar surface.

In 1968, "Apollo Seven," the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with
astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, and is larger than
the planets Mercury and Pluto.

Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in our solar system.

On a clear night in the Northern Hemisphere the naked eye can discern some 5000
stars.

On February 7, 1969 a meteorite weighing over 1 ton fell in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star.

Robert Goddard a scientist and holder of 214 patents fired the first rocket using liquid
propellant in 1926.

Sunday, July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, Edwin
Aldrin was the second. They were members of Apollo 11, and landed in the Sea of
Tranquility. The Lunar Excursion Module was named the "Eagle." Michael Collins
stayed onboard the mother ship, "Columbia."

The Apollo 11 plaque left on the Moon says, "Here men from the planet Earth first set
foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. / WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL
MANKIND."

The first American satellite in orbit, Explorer I, was launched February 1, 1958.

The first man-made object to circle the earth was Sputnik I, launched in 1957.

The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as a
football field.

The three most recently discovered planets were Uranus in 1781, Neptune in 1846,
and Pluto in 1930.

Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side.

What we call the sky is merely the limit of our vision into the atmosphere. The sky,
like the horizon, is always as far away as one can see.