The speed of light is generally rounded down to 186,000 miles per second. In exact terms it is 299,792,458 m/s (metres per second – that is equal to 186,287.49 miles per second).

The thermometer was invented in 1607 by Galileo.

It takes 8 minutes 17 seconds for light to travel from the Sun's surface to the Earth.

The African Elephant gestates for 22 months.

October 12th, 1999 was declared 'The Day of Six Billion' based on United Nations projections.

Every hour the Universe expands by a billion miles in all directions.

In October 1999 an Iceberg the size of London broke free from the Antarctic ice shelf .

When Krakatoa erupted in 1883, its force was so great it could be heard 4,800 kilometres away in Australia.