Did you know…cats can travel up to 31 mph for a short distance?

Did you know…Sloths can fall 100 feet without injury?

Torsaker Witch Trials

The largest witch trials in Swedish history, in a single day in 1675, 71 people were killed. As Sweden did not have a separation between the Church and State, the state-employed Lutheran priests helped to spread the hysteria known as ‘stora ovasendet’, which began after the trial of Maret Jonsdotter in Dalarna, 1668.

The end result of the trial was that roughly one fifth of the women in the region were killed.

Cyrus the Great of Persia

Cyrus II of Persia founded the Achaemenid Empire (the First Persian Empire) in 550 BC. This spanned across all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, eventually expanding to contain most of Western and Central Asia. The Greeks called him Cyrus the Elder, possibly due to his thirty-year reign. 

Throughout his reign, Cyrus was well known for respecting the various customs and traditions of the lands he conquered, along with developing a central administration system. His Edict of Restoration (encouraging the Israelites return to Israel) is described in the Bible, along with his role in ending the Babylonian captivity, making him the only non-Jewish figure in the Bible to be called a messiah (Isaiah 45:1).

Did you know…the wooden porridge stirrer is called a spurtle?

The World Porridge-Making Championships takes place in Carrbridge, and the trophy is known as the Golden Spurtle.