The first direct evidence that white dwarf interiors crystallise into huge diamonds was announced in February 2004. Observations of pulsations of BPM 37093 allowed astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, to deduce that the carbon white dwarf had crystallised into a diamond some 4,000 km (2,500 miles) across. BPM 37093 is around 50 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus. Many astronomers have believed for decades that white dwarfs could solidify into huge diamonds, but this is the first Continue reading →

Nearly an eighth of the world’s land surface is arid, with a rainfall of less than 25 cm (10 in) per annum. The Sahara in North Africa is the largest hot desert in the world. At its greatest length it is 5,150 km (3,200 miles) from east to west. From north to south it is between 1,280 and 2,250 km (800 and 1,400 miles). The area covered by the desert is about 9.1 million km² (3.5 million miles2). A “desert” is simply an area that Continue reading →

The largest wild dog of all time was Hayden’s bone-crushing dog (Epicyon haydeni). Estimated to weigh up to 170 kg (374.8 lb), it existed for 15.3 million years during the mid-late Miocene epoch in North America.

The largest driver of hardware sales for the Nintendo DS is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training. According to figures from Nintendo, as many as six out of ten people who purchased the Nintendo DS also picked up a copy of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, indicating that consumers are buying the hardware primarily in order to play the game.

The largest earthenware pot had a height of 223 cm (7 ft 3.72 in), a maximum circumference of 517.6 cm (16 ft 11.76 in), a mouth circumference of 214 cm (7 ft 0.24 in), a mouth diameter of 69.4 cm (2 ft 3.24 in), and a floor circumference of 285 cm (9 ft 4.2 in), and was achieved by the local government of Ulju-gun (South Korea) at Oegosan Onggi Village in Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea, on 28 June 2011. The style of the pot was Continue reading →

The eardrum of the gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) measures approximately 97 mm2, making it the largest of any living creature. The human eardrum, by comparison, is just 62 mm2.

The largest drum measures 5.54 m (18 ft 2 in) in diameter is 5.96 m (19 ft 6 in) tall and weighs 7 tonnes (15,432 lb 5.76 oz) and was created by Yeong Dong-Gun local government and Seuk Je Lee (all South Korea) in Simcheon-Meon, South Korea, on 6 July 2011. The drum is a traditional Korean “CheonGo” drum.

During the evacuation of Hungnam, North Korea, in the face of advancing communist forces during the Korean War, the freighter SS Meredith Victory evacuated 14,000 civilian refugees to the safety of Pusan, South Korea between 22 and 25 December 1950. Meredith Victory was one of the last ships to leave Hungnam and thanks to the dangers she faced her entire crew was awarded the Gallant Ship Unit Citation Bar by the US Congress. Meredith Victory was 138.6 m (455 ft) long and 19 m (62 Continue reading →

On 9 December 2008, the European Union commenced its largest ever mission, EULEX, when it deployed the first of nearly 1,900 officials who will take over police, customs and justice responsibilities from the United Nations staff in Kosovo. The EU officials will be supported by 1,100 local staff, (final staff target 3,000), and the aim is to oversee the running of the courts, the police and customs services as well as assisting the authorities to combat organised crime. A spokeswoman indicated that the mission would Continue reading →

By share of population, the largest empire was the Achaemenid Empire, better known as the Persian Empire, which accounted for approximately 49.4 million of the world’s 112.4 million people in around 480 BC – an astonishing 44%. Originating in modern-day Iran, the empire was first established by Cyrus the Great and included parts of Central Asia, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and even European territories such as ancient Thrace and Macedonia.