The Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia uses stalactites as resonating keys — the largest natural musical instrument.

The world record for the high jump exceeds eight feet.

The Dutch Golden Age saw major trade and artistic achievements.

Aboriginal Australians have oral traditions and songlines that preserve ecological knowledge going back tens of thousands of years.

Humans are unique in their capacity for cumulative culture — each generation builds on the last rather than starting over.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, directly challenging Hitler's ideology of Aryan supremacy.

Carthage was destroyed by Rome in 146 BCE.

The marathon race commemorates a legendary run in ancient Greece.

Roman gladiatorial games were often less lethal than popular culture suggests — gladiators were expensive to train.