Top 10 America facts

It is not known. The city is ancient - its largest pyramid, the Pyramid of the Sun, was completed by AD 100. It predates most known cultures of Mesoamerica. The origin of its founders is uncertain, and its original name is also unknown. It housed a population of about 150,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in the world at that time.

Mississippi. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery was ratified after three-fourths of the states backed it in December 1865. Four remaining states all eventually ratified the amendment -- except for Mississippi. Mississippi voted to ratify the amendment in 1995 - 148 years later -- thanks to the movie "Lincoln."

Harpy eagle. Female harpy eagles typically weigh 6 to 9 kg (13 to 20 lb). An exceptionally large captive female, "Jezebel", weighed 12.3 kg (27 lb). The bald eagle, the national bird of the United States of America, weighs up to 6.3 kg (13.9 lb).

Tipi. The tipi was used by the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains, because it could be disassembled and packed away quickly when a tribe decided to move. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in the United States in general, however, Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains mostly used different types of dwellings.

U.S. The Guano Islands Act is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress that enables citizens of the United States to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of another government.

French. The Statue of Liberty is a gift from the French nation to the American nation, commemorating the alliance of both nations during the American War of Independence. In 1924 the statue was declared a national monument of the USA. In 1984 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

J. Edgar Hoover built the agency into a highly effective arm of federal law enforcement. However, later in life and after his death, he became a controversial figure as evidence of his secretive abuses of power began to surface. He used the FBI’s enormous surveillance and information-gathering powers to collect damaging information on politicians, which put him in a position to intimidate even sitting presidents.

Heron. The boat-billed heron, colloquially known as the boatbill, is a member of the heron family, and was formerly thought to be in a monotypic family, Cochlearidae. It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying 2–4 bluish white eggs in a twig nest.

From Italy. John Cabot (Italian: Giovanni Caboto, Venetian: Zuan Chabotto) was a Venetian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England was the first European exploration of the mainland of North America.

New York. "Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph. Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by the New York tourist authorities. The term "big apple" was used by Frank Sinatra in conversation with opera singer Dorothy Kirsten. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in 1997 signed legislation designating as "Big Apple Corner".