Minamata disease is a neurological condition brought on by severe mercury poisoning. Ataxia, numbness, paralysis, loss of senses, and muscle weakness are all symptoms. It is named after a Japanese city where the Chisso company opened a chemical plant in 1908.

The Iskar River is the longest in Bulgaria, at 230 miles. A tributary of the Danube, it flows near eastern Sofia, the capital.

The $100,000 US note, the largest denomination ever issued, bore Woodrow Wilson's portrait.

Amati was a dynasty of violin makers from Cremona, Italy, flourishing 1550-1740. Nicolo Amati is said to have taught Antonio Stradivarius.

Sonic Hedgehog protein

Even though this sounds ridiculous, the gene that helps determine physical structures in people, including teeth and appendages, has been named Sonic Hedgehog (SHH). Yes, after the video game character. It is one of three hedgehog homologues in mammals.

An acre is a measurement of area equal to 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet. That is 4046.8 square meters. It was supposedly originally defined as the amount a man could plow with an ox in one day.

"Land der Berge, Land am Strome" (Land of Mountains, Land on the River") is the national anthem of Austria. The music is adapted from a work by Mozart, itself adapted from an earlier work by Johann Holzer. The lyrics were written in 1946 by Paula von Preradović.