“Fingers were made before forks．”When a person gives up good manners，puts aside knife and fork，and dives into his food，someone is likely to repeat that saying． The fork was an ancient agricultural tool，but for centuries no one thought of eating with it．Not until the eleventh century，when a young lady from Constantinople brought her fork to Italy，did the custom reach Europe． By the fifteenth century the use of the fork was wide-spread in Italy．The English explanation was that Italians were averse to eating food touched with fingers，“seeing all men's fingers are not alike clean．”English travelers kept their friends in stitches while describing this ridiculous Italian custom． Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years．Men who used forks were thought to be sissies，and women who used them were called show-off sand overnice，Not until the late 1600's did using a fork become a common custom．

Columbus made four voyages to the west between 1492and 1504 in his vain search for a sea route to Asia．The mystery of why he failed to find it haunted him and filled with sadness． Wherever he went——to Cuba，Puerto Rico，Jamaica，South America，Panama，down the coast of Central America——it was always the same story．Instead of golden palaces，there were grass huts and palmleaf tents．Instead of silk robed merchant princes，he found “Indians”who did not have so much as a shirt on their backs． At times Columbus became reconciled to the truth that this new land was not China，not Japan，not the spice Islands．He seemed to accept it as a part of the earth that the geographers of Europe had never heard of before．It was another world——and he called it exactly that——but Columbus also insisted until he died that the land he had reached was an unknown part of Asia．

Whales——or their ancestors——were once land animals．Scientists believe that they roamed the earth about 150million years ago． The landd welling ancestors of this modern king of the sea were hunters with legs and the jaws and teeth of killers．Their favorite hunting grounds were probably shallow waters near the mouths of rivers or off a level stretch of coast，for fish，both finny and shell，were then more plentiful and easier to catch than animals．Because of this，these land mammals came to spend more and more time in the water． Ages passed，and these creatures swam more easily than they walked；millions of years later they were able to do without legs altogether．They were now recognizable as whales．Their forelegs had turned into the flippers that today's whales use for steering；their hind legs had shrunk so that mere traces of them can be found under the skin when a whale is dissected．

Although the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word ballet is a graceful ballerinagliding across the stage，the ballet is not just dancing．The final production is a combination of four arts：dancing，music，drama and painting．It is also a combination of the efforts of many people． The ballerina and her partner dance the main roles．It may be hard to realize that behind their seemingly effortless movements are long years of practice．She had to dance in minor roles for many years．The premier danseur had to learn the art of partnering，of showing off the ballerina so that she appears to be perfect． Some of the people who create a ballet never appear on stage．They are responsible for the music to which the dancers move，the theme of the ballet's story，the sets，and the costumes．It is the fusion of these many talents that creates the one，overall effect that is a ballet．

Strange things happen to time when you travel，because the earth is divided into twenty-four time zones，one hour apart．You can have days with more or fewer than twenty-four hours，and weeks with more or fewer than seven days． If you make a five-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean，Your ship enters a different time zone every day．As you enter each zone，the time changes one hour．Traveling west，you set your clock back；traveling east，you set it ahead．Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours． If you travel by ship across the Pacific，you cross the international date line．By agreement，this is the point where a new day begins．When you cross the line，you change your calendar one full day，backward or forward．Traveling east，today becomes yesterday；traveling west，it is tomorrow！

When the pioneers began their conquest of the western prairie，they found materials for building shelters close at hand．Where timber was availabls，the settlers sometimes built log houses．Most prairie homes，however，were either sodhouses or dugouts．These houses could be built quickly and easily． The dugout was a room dug in the side of a hill．A few railsor posts were used to make a door frame and，possibly，a window．The front wall was made of pieces of sod or logs．Sloping back onto the hill was a roof made of poles or logs covered with a layer of brush，a layer of prairie grass，and a layer of dirt． As soon as a covered wagon halted at a new homestead，the head of the family took out his spade．The family lived in the wagon for the few days that it took him to build a dugout．

For every man in the Civil War who died in battle，two or three men died of disease．Doctors of that time knew very little about causes of sickness or ways of preventing it．Thousands of men in poor health became soldiers．Hundreds of others had never had childhood diseases．Many of these soldiers could not withstand the epidemics of measles，mumps，and whooping coughthat went through the camps． Army life was hard．Soldiers got few fruits or vegetables．There was no milk unless they happened to find a cow．Neither their clothes nor their shelters protected the troops from rain，snow，and cold．Sickness and disease were spread by insects，rats，and impuredrinking water．Often the men drank straight from muddy streams． Gunshot wounds were serious，as in any war，but they did not cause as much death and suffering as disease did．

The last part of this century will be an age of exploration such as man has never known．There are eight planets，at least thirty moons，and thousands of asteroids to be explored．Their total area is about 250 times that of the earth．Space-ships will not be able to land on some of them．But that still leaves to be explored an area ten times as great as the continents of the earth． Exploring space may seem terrifying to some people．No doubt explorers of the past were terrified by the great empty oceans that lay before them．They conquered their fears，crossed the oceans，and built the New World． In the past when explorers set sail into the unknown，they had to say good-by to everything they knew at home．Space explorers will not face such great loneliness．Even when they travel far beyond the sun，they will be able to send messages back．

Because he wrote his name so that it could be read easily，John Hancock has a place in the dictionary． John Hancock was a wealthy man who helped the patriots in the American Revolution．He was president of the Continental Congress．He was also governor of Massa-chusettsand one of the first men to sign the Declaration of Independence．Yet he is remembered best for his large signature． The story is told that when Hancock sat down to sign the Declaration of Independence，he said that he would write his signature large enough for John Bull to read without his glasses．（John Bull stands for England，as Uncle Sam stands for the United States．）Hancock's signature on the Declaration is four and three-quarters inches long——an inch longer than his usual signature． Today John Hancock can be used to mean any person's signature．

When is a horse a pony？ Horses are measured in hands：one hand equals 4 inches．The height of a horse is measured from the ground to the highest point of the withers（the part of a horse's back between its shoulder blades）．Any horse under 14 hands 2 inches（58inches）is a pony． By this definition，a baby horse is not a pony；baby horses are called foals．Horses that do not develop to roughly the same size as the rest of their breed are not ponies either．Underdeveloped horses are called runts． There are more than twenty breeds of ponies in the world．The bestknown are the Shetlands，the smallest of all breeds，which average a little less than 10 hands，about 39 inches． Shetlands were first used in England as work animals in coal mines，because they were strong．They are also gentle，and may be trained to be good pets．

No one knows who made the first cheese，but an old leqend says that it was an Arabian merchant．He put his milk in a pouch made from a sheep's stomach and set off across the desert．The jouncing of his camel，the desert heat，and the chemicals in the pouch lining made the milk separate into curds and whey．The thick part，or curd，was the first cheese． Ancient records show that cheese has been eaten for more than four thousand years．From earliest times it has been considered a very nourishing food．Americans eat less cheese than people in some countries do，yet they still consume eight to ten pounds a year per person． Today cheese is made all over the world．Most cheese is made from cow's milk，because the suppply of this milk is greater throughout the world．Smaller quantities come from the milk of other animals—goats，sheep，camels，and even reindeer．

Man's first real invention，and one of the most important inventions in history，was the wheel．All transportation and every machine in the world depend on it． The wheel is the simplest yet perhaps the most remarkable of all inventions，because there are no wheels in nature-no living thing was ever created with wheels．How，then，did man come to invent the wheel？ Perhaps some early hunters found that they could roll the carcass of a heavy animal through the forest on logs more easily than they could carry it．However，the logs themselves weighed a lot． It must have taken a great prehistoric thinker to imagine two thin slices of log connected at their centers by a strong stick．This would roll along just as the logs did，yet be much lighter and easier to handle．Thus the wheel and axle came into being，and with them the first carts．

At the village off La Brea，on the island of Trinidad，in the West Indies，is a large lake of asphalt called Pitch Lake． The asphalt is hard and is dug out with a big scoop shovel or a pick，leaving a hole in the surface of the lake．Within a week or two the hole is filled with new asphalt that pushes up from below．The supply of asphalt seems to be endless． An ancient legend explains how Pitch Lake came to be：Many centuries ago two Indian tribes fought a great battle．The victorious tribe built a village and held a victory celebration，They killed hundreds of beautiful hummingbirds，ate them，and used their feathers to decorate their clothing．The Great Spirit was so angered that the birds had been killed that he caused the entire village to sink into the earth．The crater where the village stood has been filled wish asphalt ever since．

Thomas Alva Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American．When he died in 1931，Americans wondered how they could best show their respect for him． One suggestion was that the nation observe a minute or two of total blackout．All electric power would be shut off in homes，streets，and factories． Perhaps this suggested plan made Americans realize fully what Edison and his inventions meant to them．Electric power was too important to the country．Shutting if off for even a short time would have led to complete confusion．A blackout was out of the question． On the day of Edison's funeral，many people silently dimmed their lights．In this way they honored the man who had done more than anyone else to put the great force of electricity at his countrymen's fingertips．

Copper was the first metal that man learned to make．In some mountainous lands there were rocks streaked with green minerals．One day some rocks were accidentally heated by a roaring fire．When the fire burned low，little beads of copper were seen on the rock wall． After that，men heated the rock deliberately to see whether more copper would appear．They soon found a good way to make copper．They would build a trench on a hillside and fill it with charcoal and copper－bearing rock．They covered this furnace with flat stones． They started a wood fire to heat the charcoal and the hot charcoal released copper from the rock．A hot red pool of melted metal formed at the mouth of the trench．When it was cool，the solid metal could be lifted out and cut and pounded into shapes．