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• Hawaii became a U.S. state in 1959, nearly 18 years after the Pearl Harbor attacks.

• Industria Armi Galesi (AG) began producing pistols in 1914, soon after Italy entered WWI.

• Jacques Cousteau`s film The Silent World features the first diver propulsion vehicle (DPV).

• Diver Propulsion Vehicles carrying warheads were used to attack ships during WWII.

• Early DPVs were used by US Navy SEALs to perform covert underwater operations.

• 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball, features DPVs in several underwater fight sequences.

• Lava sleds were originally ridden as a tribute to the volcano goddess Pele.

• Closely related to popular Hawaiian Koa wood, Koaia is harder and much more rare.

• The hit TV series Lost was filmed almost entirely on Oahu.

• The Navy base near Kailua was the first target hit by Japan during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• "Hydroponics" is a method of growing plants in water, without soil.

• Monkey pod is a lightweight, island wood native to tropical regions.

• The Cushman company started in 1903 by making motors for boats and farm equipment.

• Recent legalization of medical marijuana has spawned a boom in the hydroponics industry.

• A hydroponic grow tent allows plant growers to control light, temperature and humidity.

• In 1998, a 164 year-old conch shell belonging to Hawaiian royalty was found near Kauai.

• Ancient Hawaiians believed tattoos helped guard one`s health and spiritual well-being.

• The American Motoped, introduced in 1915, is believed to be the first motor scooter.

• The Cushman company made motor scooters from 1936 to 1965.

• Cushman made nearly 5,000 airborne scoots for the U.S. military beginning in 1944.

• Water buffalo have been domesticated in the Philippines for over 500 years.

• A 5300 year-old frozen mummy discovered in the Alps in 1991 sports 57 tattoos.

• According to Guinness, the longest tattoo session on record lasted 50 hours.
 

• Over 61 million total passengers passed through LAX in 2011.

• Some competitive remote controlled cars can reach speeds up to 90 mph.

• Remington began manufacturing the first commercial typewriter in 1873.

• Completed in 1877, France`s Creusot power hammer weights over 780 tons.

• Water-powered hammers were used by the Chinese to pound grain as early as 40 BC.

• A 4000 year old portion of a knife found in Turkey is the world`s oldest steel artifact.

• It took 83,000 tons of steel to build San Francisco`s Golden Gate Bridge.

• The biggest monster truck in the world "Bigfoot 5," weights over 28,000 lbs.
 

• (About Hermosa Beach.) The Name "Hermosa" comes from the Spanish word meaning "beautiful".

• One "troy ounce" is equal to roughly 1.09714 ounces.

• The world`s largest gold bar weights 551 lbs. and is worth approximately $15.3 million.

• In 2012, the gloves worn by Muhammad Ali in his 1965 title fight sold for $1.1 million.

• "Western Flyer" bicycles were first introduced in the 1930s and discontinued in 1959.

• A "trebuchet" was a weapon used in the Middle Ages to launch large projectiles.

• Ancient Greeks introduced boxing to the Olympic Games in 688 BC.

• During a 1997 heavyweight bout, Mike Tyson bit off a one inch piece of Evander Holyfield`s ear.

• In the 1400s, the trebuchet was used to fling corpses in an early kind of germ warfare.