If you're trying to impress people with anecdotal knowledge, make sure it's interesting! Illustrated throughout with photographs and period art, these guides are jam-packed with intriguing events and fun facts from the realms of history, science, and culture. Each volume ends with a quiz to make sure you were paying attention.

What is watermelon snow, and can you eat it? Are dogs really able to smell our emotions? Did Mark Twain try to devise a better bra? And who invented sliced bread, anyway? Get ready to galvanize your gray matter with this grab-bag of more than 130 fascinating articles on weather, the human body, art, animals and plants, ancient history, food, literature, sports, and science, with profiles of such figures as Frida Kahlo, Vincent van Gogh, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dr. Seuss.