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Every year you probably celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Someone may have told you that this is the day of Jesus' birth. But nobody actually knows when he was born! The Bible does not give us a date for the birth of Jesus. So early Christians took the date of important ancient festivals and placed Christmas around the same time.Before Christianity, the Romans had a winter festival called Saturnalia, which took place for one week in mid-December.

Learn about securitization with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Securitization as a financial term has evolved over the decades, as different methods and products have developed from the process. At a basic level, securitization is the process of taking an illiquid asset, or a group of relatively homogenous assets, and through financial engineering, transforming them into a security. The assets are pooled together and repackaged into a single security, which is then sold to investors.

Learn about the history of the Latin Quarter in Paris with iMinds Travel's insightful audio-knowledge series. Spanning the fifth and part of the sixth arrondissemonts in Paris, the Latin Quarter is located on the Left Bank of the Seine where it borders Saint Germain-de-Pres and Montparnasse. The Latin Quarter derives its name from the plethora of universities in this part of Paris. Latin was widely spoken along with French in this Parisienne district until 1789.

There's nothing like a good comeback. It's witty, snappy and completely devastating to your verbal sparring partner. But how many times have you gone completely blank when arguing with someone, only to think of the perfect comeback an hour later? More than anything, you wish you could wind back time and deliver your riposte at the perfect moment. That's l'esprit de l'escalier.

Crop circles are geometric patterns found in agricultural fields, most often in Southern England. They consist of flattened plant stems lying in regular patterns, some of which are highly complex. Crop circles usually appear in fields of wheat, barley, canola and other common crops. Because of their size - hundreds of feet across - crop circles can only be truly appreciated from the air.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is one of the world's most famous conspiracy theories. It is a statement of prejudice and paranoia, a fake historical record and a grand hoax all rolled into one.

Learn about Junk Bonds with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Junk bonds are bonds with a potential for high returns but which also come with many risks. A junk bond is like an IOU from an organisation that states the amount it will pay you back, the date it will pay you back and the interest it will pay you back. But what truly sets junk bonds apart from similar investments is the credit quality of their issuers.

Learn about the development of In Vitro Fertization with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. "In Vitro Fertilisation", also known as IVF, is concerned with enabling infertile couples to have children. As a result of IVF, thousands of couples and individuals have been able to fulfil their dream of procreating. To fully appreciate the complexities of IVF it is important to know the history of experiments in reproduction.

Sovereign debt is the debt of a country or government. This debt is usually comprised of bonds issued by the government. Sovereign debt can be contrasted with government debt. Government debt is when bonds are issued in a nation’s own currency. Therefore, this debt is mostly created within a country’s own economic boundaries. Sovereign debt, however, is created from bonds issued in foreign currencies or through loans.

Learn about subprime lending with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Originally, the term subprime lending described any loan that charged less than the prime, or base, rate of interest. This definition, however, has changed over the last twenty years to mean quite the opposite. Now subprime refers not to the interest rate charged, but to the credit worthiness of the loan taker.

Learn about the theory of Evolution with iMindsJNR audio learning series for younger minds. Evolution is a theory which explains how life on earth developed. At its heart, it proposes that all species, including human beings, are formed by way of a gradual process of mutation from other species. According to this theory, humans are related to gorillas and reptiles because they share common ancestors.

Hone your knowledge with iMinds Specialist Series. Have a particular interest? Recognize gaps in your knowledge? iMinds Specialist works across each of our 12 categories bringing you targeted information to broaden your mind. Medicine & Invention, Volume 1 looks at the invention of penicillin, the history of the bubonic plague, the modeling of epidemics, the nature of REM sleep, the development of the Internet, and the disease hemophilia.

The aurora borealis, often referred to as the Northern Lights, is a natural light-show that appears in the sky around the north magnetic pole. Auroras can sometimes be seen in other places of the world, but not as clearly. In the southern hemisphere, the phenomenon is called "aurora australis".

A compilation of diverse topics across our 12 categories. You will learn about: the history of whaling, the art of film noir, the psychology behind the Stockholm Syndrome, the history of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the story of Joan of Arc, the discovery of penicillin, the science of meteorites, the history of the D-Day Invasion, the unexplained phenomenon of crop circles, the adventure of climbing Everest, the thought of Confucius, and the start of fireworks.

Which country separates the United States of America from Central America? Where, on average, do people eat half a kilo of tortillas every day? And, where is home to the cactus and the Chihuahua? Mexico, of course! Mexico, or the United States of Mexico, is a federation of 31 sovereign states. Its land mass is almost three times that of Texas, which it borders. In fact, Mexico is the world’s 14th largest nation.

Have you ever witnessed 200 dancers in gold-lamé trousers invade a Los Angeles department store? Or maybe 300 nude cyclists riding down Paris' Champs-Elysees? Or perhaps you've received a text message inviting you to an impromptu 500-person pillow fight in London's Piccadilly Circus?

If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are you've unwittingly been exposed to the contemporary but curious cultural phenomenon of the flash mob.

The Champs Elysées is the main boulevard of Paris in France. Over the years, it has been a popular rallying point in times of national crisis and celebration. In 1998, for example, the people of Paris assembled here to party all night in celebration of France's soccer win in the World Cup. And every year in July people flock to the Champs Elysées to witness the end of the famous Tour de France bicycle race.

Learn about Murphy's Law with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Murphy's Law is a tongue-in-cheek and rather pessimistic adage of eight simple words: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The translation of these words into "Murphy's Law" was in honour of US aerospace engineer Edward Aloysius Murphy Junior.

Imagine living in a world where different skin colours are celebrated, where gender is not a controversy, and where disabilities are always respected. Such a world would be one that recognised 'civil rights'. Civil rights are people's rights to be equal, regardless of race, religion, gender, and disabilities. In democratic countries, civil rights are also known as "natural rights".

Learn about the New Wave cinematic genre with iMinds insightful audio-knowledge series. Cool. Auteur. Jump cut. Godard. Truffaut. New Wave. These were the words on every film lover's lips in the late 1950s and 1960s. A new type of cinema was exploding on screen.The French New Wave, or Nouvelle Vague, was one of the most influential movements in the history of cinema.