The United States minted about 857 million silver-colored "Susan B. Anthony" dollars between 1979 and 1981, but the coin proved unpopular because it looked and felt too much like a quarter.

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

Scientists have identified an asteroid, 2000 BF19, that is about half a mile wide and, if it strikes Earth, it can do tremendous damage to part of the planet but probably not cause planetwide destruction.

In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910–1911.

In Japan, a government advisory committee called for the breakup of Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company, the largest telephone company in the world, so it would be two local phone companies and one long-distance provider.

Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.

Retail sales rose 0.8 of 1 percent in August, intensifying expectations that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of the 1.4 percent growth rate in personal spending for the previous quarter.

Over 75 percent of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power, while in Germany it is just over 33 percent.

According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.

Were it not for the fusion-powered heat and radiation that rush from its core, instead its own weight would cause a star to collapse.