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Some have days of the week named after them and others are Marvel superheroes, but many Norse gods haven’t been thought about much outside of academic circles since the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson wrote about them in the 13th century. That’s a shame, since the pantheon of Norse mythology extends far beyond the likes of Thor and Odin — and includes such deities as the crone who brought the god of thunder to one knee in a wrestling match. (Snorri wrote the Prose Edda, which, alongside the Poetic Edda, whose author is unknown, remains the foundational text for modern understanding of Norse mythology.) Here are five lesser-known mythological figures Snorri wrote about, and why they’re worth knowing — or perhaps even making a movie or comic book — about.

Elli

Few mythical figures, whether gods or otherwise, can claim to have held their own against Thor. Even fewer can say they beat him, but the giantess Elli is one of those who can rightfully make the boast.

Admittedly, there’s some trickery involved in the story. The giantess, considered the personification of Old Age, is said to beat Thor in a wrestling match while the god of thunder visits the giant king Utgard-Loki in his castle. As part of a series of tests of strength, Thor agrees to wrestle Utgard-Loki’s nurse — a challenge he accepts without realizing his opponent’s true identity. Thor struggles throughout the contest until Elli forces him to one knee, at which point Utgard-Loki declares the match over, and commends Thor for faring as well against old age as he did.
The tale is recounted in the Gylfaginning section of the Prose Edda, and sadly marks Elli’s only mention in the text.

Lofn

Norse mythology tends to evoke images of strength, battle, and violence. One exception is Lofn, a kind of matchmaker who specializes in forbidden love affairs. She’s described by Snorri as “so gracious and good to call on that she gets permission from Alfodr [Odin] or Frigg for the intercourse of people, men and women, although otherwise it would be banned or forbidden.” Also known as “The Comforter,” the goddess of love and gentleness has a special fondness for small and/or helpless beings. “Lof,” meaning “praise,” is derived from her name.

Víðarr

Sometimes known as the Silent God, Víðarr (also anglicized as Vidar and Vithar) is the son of Odin and the jötunn (a being akin to a giantess) Gríðr — making him Thor’s half-brother. He’s often associated with vengeance, and with good reason: Odin’s ultimate fate is to be killed by the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarök, the “Twilight of the Gods” that’s essentially Norse mythology’s end of the world; Víðarr’s destiny, meanwhile, is to avenge his father by slaying Fenrir. Víðarr is also one of the few gods who survives Ragnarök (at least in some accounts), though little is written about him beyond his actions during these cataclysmic events other than to mention his status as the second-strongest god after Thor.

Víðarr is mentioned in both the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, with the latter describing his most important deed thusly:

“Then comes Sigfather’s | mighty son,

Vithar, to fight | with the foaming wolf;

In the giant’s son | does he thrust his sword

Full to the heart: | his father is avenged.”

Angrboða

With a name that’s been translated as “she who brings sorrow” and “grief-bringer,” Angrboða has a lot to live up to. For better and (mostly) for worse, she does. A giantess (jötunn) and one of the trickster god Loki’s lovers, she ultimately gives birth to three monsters: Fenrir, the wolf fated to kill Odin during Ragnarök; Hel, who rules over the dead; and Jörmungandr, the serpent who encircles the entire world and is Thor’s archnemesis. The mother of monsters is indirectly responsible for some of Norse mythology’s most catastrophic events, though there’s no indication that Angrboða herself is evil — after birthing that terrible trio, she’s mostly known to reside in Jötunheim (the land of the giants) on her lonesome without any contact with either Loki or the monstrous spawn they had together. Some people’s children, as they say.

Hoenir

Hoenir — whose name is spelled several different ways (Hönir is also common) — works alongside Odin and Loki to create the first humans, Ask and Embla, by imbuing two pieces of driftwood with “essential gifts” whose exact properties remain a matter of debate centuries later. Here’s how the moment is described in Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress), the first poem in the Poetic Edda:

“They had no breath,

they had no soul,

they had neither hair nor voice,

nor a good appearance.

Odin gave them breath,

Hoenir gave them a soul,

Lodur / Loki gave them hair

and a good appearance.”

Here’s where it gets confusing. Hoenir’s gift imbues the humans with óðr, an untranslatable Old Norse word that can encompass everything from understanding to poetic inspiration to frenzy on the battlefield. But since óðr is the root of Odin’s name and another Norse tale suggests that humans derive their óðr from Odin himself, some consider this mention of Hoenir to be an extension of Odin himself. Hoenir remains important not despite this ambiguity but because of it — much of Norse mythology is murky and ambiguous, with few figures embodying those qualities quite like he does.

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Louis Armstrong changed the face of jazz in the 20th century, with enduring hits such as “West End Blues,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World.” Born in 1901, the influential trumpeter and vocalist started playing gigs as a child in New Orleans, and long after his death in 1971, remains a giant of the genre.

Satchmo (as he was lovingly nicknamed) had a long and rich career, but was he always a singer? Which enduring hit went unnoticed for decades? And how did he revolutionize the trumpet? Take a journey through the “wonderful world” of Louis Armstrong with these seven amazing facts about his life.

Louis Armstrong’s Childhood Nickname Was “Dippermouth”

Long before “Satchmo” came along, Armstrong was known in his childhood home in the Storyville district of New Orleans as “Dippermouth,” or “Dipper” for short. He supposedly got the moniker from his wide smile as a child, although the nickname later came to be associated with his embouchure (the way a player puts their mouth around an instrument).

Armstrong’s mentor, King Oliver — a fixture in the Storyville jazz scene during Armstrong’s youth — recorded a song in 1923 called “Dippermouth Blues,” which he co-wrote with Armstrong. Dipper himself would later go on to record his own version in 1936.

Armstrong Honed His Skills in a “Waif’s Home”

After firing off six blanks at a New Year’s Eve party in New Orleans in 1912, 11-year-old Armstrong was arrested and sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, a facility that was part juvenile detention facility, part orphanage, and part reform school. It was his second stay at the home — according to recently uncovered records, Armstrong did a brief stint there when he was only nine, after he and five of his friends were arrested for being “dangerous and suspicious characters,” a charge used often at the time to detain people without cause.

By the time of his second stay, the Waif’s Home had hired a music teacher and started a band program. Under the tutelage of instructor Peter Davis, Armstrong learned the bugle and the coronet, and spent some time as the bandleader. Early on, he showed a skill for harmonizing and improvising that seemed beyond his years. It was far from his first exposure to the instruments, but it was the first time he received proper training. Armstrong started playing gigs after his release from the home in 1914.

Armstrong Didn’t Start Out as a Trumpet Player

While he is remembered today for his distinctive voice and rich trumpet solos, the trumpet wasn’t Armstrong’s original instrument of choice — even years into his career. Satchmo rose to prominence in his mid-teens playing the cornet, which is similar to a trumpet but smaller and with a few subtle differences.

For example, a trumpet is a cylindrical brass instrument, meaning the tube stays the same diameter throughout, but a cornet’s tube tapers off on its way to the mouthpiece, giving it a mellower tone. From the 1800s to the mid-1900s, the cornet was a standard part of a brass or jazz ensemble, as well as a popular solo instrument. While trumpets were also played, they weren’t typically solo instruments.

Armstrong, however, has been credited with reinventing the trumpet in the public consciousness. In the mid-1920s, as Armstrong tells it, the bandleader of an orchestra he played with said he “looked funny… with that stubby cornet.” The band’s other brass player played the trumpet, and Armstrong thought the sound of two trumpets sounded better. He started playing the trumpet as he would the cornet, with extensive improvisation and crowd-pleasing solos. He wasn’t the only jazz musician doing this, but as he rose to national prominence, his inventive style helped change public opinion about what a trumpet could sound like.

He Used to Play in a Silent Movie Orchestra

In the mid-1920s, Armstrong played with Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra — the same band that inspired him to pick up a trumpet. The Big Band ensemble was one of the early players on Chicago’s jazz scene and performed at the Vendome Theatre in Chicago, providing accompaniment and intermission entertainment for silent films. Armstrong not only played jazz solos, but also performed operatic arias.

Lip Injuries Were a Common Ailment for Armstrong

There was one bad habit Armstrong picked up at the Waif’s Home: a poor embouchure that proved unsafe for his face. Bad form is especially dangerous with brass instruments, including cornets and trumpets, because shifting one’s embouchure is fundamental to playing a melody, requiring near-constant lip and tongue movement.

According to Armstrong, the damage started early in his career. “In my teens, playing in that honky tonk all night long, I split my lip wide open,” Armstrong recalled in a 1966 Life interview. “Split my lip so bad in Memphis, there’s meat still missing. Happened many times. Awful. Blood run all down my shirt.”

While some of his peers sought professional help and even plastic surgery, Satchmo treated his lips using home remedies. He had a special salve he’d apply to his lips, and when callouses built up, he’d shave them down himself with a razor and take some time away from performing. One particularly nasty split in 1935 took him offstage for a year. While embouchure overuse syndrome can be common among brass players, it’s perhaps associated with Armstrong more than any other musician. Some doctors even use the term Satchmo syndrome for a tear in the lip muscle.

Armstrong Insisted on Adding Singing to His Act

Armstrong is almost as well known today for his distinctive, gravelly singing voice as he is for his trumpet skill. While he formed a vocal quartet with other kids in his neighborhood and sang in a choir at the Waif’s Home, Satchmo built his early career on the cornet and later the trumpet, not singing.

In 1924, he joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, then a big name in the New York City music scene, for an engagement at the Roseland Ballroom. Armstrong asked repeatedly to sing, yet recalled that Henderson wasn’t interested. But according to jazz drummer Kaiser Marshall, Satchmo found a way to sneak it in anyway: Roseland would host a Thursday revue of amateur performers (similar to an open mic), and one night Armstrong went on stage and performed “Everybody Loves My Baby,” both on cornet and vocals. Marshall recalled that “the crowd surely went for it … from then on they used to cry for Louis every Thursday night.”

“What A Wonderful World” Took 20 Years to Reach the U.S. Charts

Armstrong’s most popular song, “What a Wonderful World,” topped the British music charts upon its 1967 release, staying at No. 1 for 13 weeks. The inspiring tune was a hit elsewhere in Europe and South Africa, too, but because the president of Armstrong’s record company, Larry Newton, disliked the song, the record was never actually promoted in the United States. According to the song’s co-writer and producer Bob Thiele, it didn’t even crack 1,000 copies in the U.S. after its initial release.

But in 1987, 16 years after Armstrong’s death, “What a Wonderful World” was featured in the film Good Morning Vietnam. Only then did the song reach the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 33. The original album was re-released and certified gold.

Armstrong was drawn to the song because it reminded him of Corona, Queens, where he and his last wife Lucille settled down permanently in 1942. “Lucille and I, ever since we’re married, we’ve been right there in that block,” Armstrong said in 1968, according to the Louis Armstrong House. “And everybody keeps their little homes up like we do and it’s just like one big family. I saw three generations come up on that block. And they’re all with their children, grandchildren, they come back to see Uncle Satchmo and Aunt Lucille. That’s why I can say, ‘I hear babies cry/I watch them grow /they’ll learn much more/than I’ll never know.’ … So when they hand me this ‘Wonderful World,’ I didn’t look no further, that was it.” Since then, the song has become a timeless classic, featured in many other films and shows and covered by artists such as Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder.

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On October 16, 1923, Walt Disney formally agreed to send a new series of short films to a New York distributor, thereby launching the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Needless to say, a few things besides the company name have changed since then, as Disney has gone from a bare-bones operation to the creator of groundbreaking talking funnies, the stewards of iconic characters and franchises, and, finally, the overlords of a sweeping enterprise with interests all over the globe. With 100 years of movie magic in the rearview mirror, here’s a look at six facts about all things Disney.

Animator Ub Iwerks Was Integral to Disney’s Early Success

Disney’s history is filled with the hard work of unsung geniuses, but none was as integral to the company’s foundational success as Ub Iwerks. Indispensable to Walt Disney since their days together at Kansas City’s Laugh-O-Gram Studio, Iwerks joined his friend in Hollywood in the 1920s to produce a groundbreaking live-action/animated series of short films called the Alice Comedies. Iwerks remained loyal to Disney after a distributor stole their creation of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and hired away the studio’s animators. He’s credited with sketching the very first Mickey Mouse, and single-handedly animated the landmark 1928 Mickey cartoon Plane Crazy, with an output that reached 700 drawings in a single day. Although personal and creative differences prompted Iwerks to branch out on his own in 1930, he returned to the fold 10 years later as a special effects expert, and went on to bolster the studio’s animation capabilities with his innovations in optical printing and xerography.

Disney Has Created More Than 800 Films

More than 800 feature films have been made under the Disney banner since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hit theaters in 1937. The studio’s first full-length, live-action feature was Treasure Island, in 1950. Its first R-rated flick was Down and Out in Beverly Hills, developed under the then-recently inaugurated Touchstone Pictures subsidiary in 1986. Disney’s highest-grossing entry was (unsurprisingly) a Marvel movie, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, while its highest-grossing animated feature also arrived that year with Frozen 2.

Disney Essentially Served as a Media Branch of the U.S. Military During World War II

After the attack on Pearl Harbor led to the requisitioning of Disney’s Southern California studio as an anti-aircraft base in late 1941, the company turned its focus to supporting the war effort. Several films produced during this time were used to train Army and Navy personnel; others, like Der Fuehrer’s Face (1943), were propaganda fare that portrayed stereotyped and inept versions of enemy leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Additionally, the studio designed more than 1,200 insignia for various military units and helped raise funds by permitting its characters to appear on war bonds. All told, Disney was devoting more than 90% of its output to war-related material by 1943, enabling the studio to weather lean financial times and survive to deliver the next wave of classics, which included Cinderella (1950) and Peter Pan (1953).

Disneyland’s Disastrous Grand Opening Was Dubbed “Black Sunday” by Employees

Although Walt Disney’s long-gestating dream of a theme park was realized with the televised grand opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in July 1955, the disaster that unfolded was better suited for a nightmare. Most attractions remained unopened despite the rushed construction, and the sweltering heat transformed the fresh asphalt of Main Street, USA, into a sticky mess. Meanwhile, overcrowding from thousands of counterfeit tickets contributed to a 7-mile backup on the Santa Ana Freeway, and resulted in the park’s restaurants running out of food. But Disney remained unbowed by what was internally dubbed “Black Sunday,” and apparently so did the paying public: Disneyland surpassed 1 million in attendance just seven weeks later, and the company eventually doubled down on the theme park experience with the unveiling of Florida’s Walt Disney World in October 1971.

Disney Kick-Started the Careers of Numerous Celebrities

The House of Mouse has nurtured an impressive roster of young talents since Annette Funicello emerged as an original Mouseketeer in 1955. A teenaged Kurt Russell became a Disney film regular in the 1960s, before subsequent incarnations of The Mickey Mouse Club fueled the rises of mega pop stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera, along with A-list actor Ryan Gosling. Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo both starred on their own Disney shows before becoming chart-topping singers, while fellow Disney alums Zac Efron, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Zendaya achieved fame as musicians, actors, or both. And then there’s Steve Martin, who didn’t appear in a Disney feature until 1991’s Father of the Bride, but nevertheless learned to perform in public as a Disneyland employee from ages 10 to 18.

Disney Is a Very, Very Big Business

It’s been a long time since Disney was merely a studio of ink-stained animators and noisy voice actors, but even its visionary founder would likely be staggered by its multifaceted presence across numerous businesses today. Along with resorts in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, the Mouse Kingdom oversees a line of cruise ships, Hollywood Records, the Adventures by Disney travel company, and the Steamboat Ventures venture capitalist firm. Among its media subsidiaries, Disney owns 20th Century Studios, ABC, National Geographic, LucasFilm, and the massive cash cow that is Marvel Studios. Altogether, the century-old conglomerate was valued at just under $150 billion as of September 2023.

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Pink is arguably one of the most popular tints in existence, and its warm tone is full of meaning both historical and cultural. Its importance shows up in the clothes we wear, the rooms we paint, and in some cultures, the accessories we use for our babies (though which ones depends on the time and place). These seven facts about the color pink may have you rethinking your relationship with this hugely popular hue.

Pink Is Named After a Type of Flower

Although the word “pink” is most often associated with the light-hued tint of the color red, the word actually originated with a specific genus of flower: Dianthus. While flowers in this genus (there are more than 300 species) are often pink, the term for the flower may have originally referred to the perforated or frayed edges of the blossoms — at the time, the verb “to pink” meant to decorate with a perforated pattern. (Think “pinking shears.”) Over time, the meaning shifted from the pattern to the color.

This isn’t the only “chicken before the egg” moment on the color wheel — “orange” was originally a reference to the fruit, and then became entwined with the color itself.

There Are Many Pink Lakes Around the World

According to at least one estimate, 117 million lakes exist on Earth, covering roughly 4% of its surface. Among these millions of lakes, most sport the bluish and brown hues commonly associated with landlocked bodies of water. However, there are a few lakes that stand out from the crowd, including more than two dozen or so pink lakes spread across the world.

Although pink lakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, Australia has the lion’s share. One of its most pristine examples is Lake Hillier on Middle Island. While many lakes may be pink only a few months out of the year (during the warm, dry season), Lake Hillier has been permanently pink for centuries. This hue is caused by a salt-loving algae called Dunaliella salina, as well as a bacteria named Salinibacter ruber, which both produce pinkish pigments. Although it looks like a tasty bubblegum soda, it’s best not to take a sip — the lake is 10 times saltier than the ocean.

Pink Is an Nonspectral Color

There have been some heated debates online about whether pink is a true color. The argument may seem strange at first, but technically the color pink doesn’t exist without a little help from our eyes. That’s because pink is a nonspectral color, meaning it isn’t represented by a specific wavelength of light in the electromagnetic spectrum. In other words, in order to get pink, you need to combine spectral colors — in this case, red and white — which makes pink a construction of our minds.

Yet many colors we know and love are similarly nonspectral. Purple is a big one: It’s close to indigo and violet but technically isn’t found in that 380 to 740 nanometer sweet spot. Brown is similarly a nonspectral color. So cut pink some slack: While it may not technically exist, it’s certainly easy on the eyes.

Pink Was Once Considered a Masculine Color

These days, a baby’s biological sex is often denoted using blue for a boy and pink for a girl. However, this is a relatively recent development. Back in the 18th century, boys wore blue and pink in equal measure, and as late as 1918, an article in the trade journal Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department described pink as a “stronger color [that] is more suitable for the boy.” By the 1940s, the U.S. marketing machine established the current color/gender rules, and remnants of this idea are still with us today. However, younger men are more comfortable with wearing pink, so it’s likely this arbitrary distinction will likely fade away, and color styles will return to their 18th-century roots.

Some People Listen to Pink Noise To Fall Asleep

Similar to the electromagnetic spectrum and light, there is also a spectrum for sound that’s described using color. Most of us are familiar with “white noise,” which contains all the frequencies humans can hear in equal parts. (Its name comes from the visible light spectrum: Just as white light is made up of all the colors, white noise combines all the frequencies of sound.) Pink noise contains all sounds in this same spectrum, but emphasizes lower frequencies. Some things naturally create white noise, including waves crashing on the beach or rain falling, which are often soundscapes people turn to when in need of a good night’s sleep. But if that white noise machine maybe sounds a bit too grating, give pink noise a shot.

One of India’s State Capitals Is Named “The Pink City”

Originally founded in 1727, Jaipur is now the capital of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India. While Jaipur is the region’s largest city, it’s also known for another startling characteristic — many of its buildings are painted in rosy hues. To understand this unexpected architectural choice requires a look back in history. In 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh, who ruled Jaipur from 1835 to 1880, painted the city’s buildings pink in preparation for a visit from Prince Albert Edward, Queen Victoria’s eldest son. The maharaja chose this specific hue because pink is traditionally associated with welcome and hospitality throughout India. Fast-forward nearly 150 years, and Jaipur is now one of the most Instagrammable cities in the world.

Scientists Discovered a Pink Exoplanet in 2013

Our solar system is filled with eye-popping color. Of course, there’s the “pale blue dot” known as Earth, but there’s also our next-door neighbor the red planet, as well as the calming, icy blues of Neptune, the tempestuous browns of Jupiter, and the butterscotch otherworldliness of Saturn. Our cosmic neighborhood doesn’t sport any pink planets — but the same cannot be said for the rest of our galaxy.

In 2013, NASA spotted a peculiar gas giant circling the star GJ 504 (faintly visible by the unaided eye in the constellation Virgo) some 57 light-years from Earth. This gas giant, simply called GJ 504b, is about the size of Jupiter — and it’s bright pink. NASA describes the color as a “dark cherry blossom,” and the shade is due to the planet “still glowing from the heat of its formation.” So while seeing this pink world would be quite the sight, best to scratch it off your bucket list unless your idea of a tropical getaway includes 460-degree Fahrenheit temperatures.

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There’s something about diamonds that catches our eyes and won’t let go. Humans have traded, gifted, and worn the brilliant gemstones for thousands of years, with the first known descriptions of them dating to the fourth century BCE. In the time since, diamonds have retained their value and splendor, though there’s more to these elegant gems than just their jewelry uses. Read on for six splendid facts about diamonds.

The First Diamond Engagement Ring Was Presented Nearly 550 Years Ago

Some historians believe ancient Egyptian couples were the first to exchange love-related bands, a practice eventually picked up by the ancient Romans. However, it wasn’t until 1477 that diamonds entered the picture. That year, Archduke Maximilian of Austria presented a diamond-bedazzled engagement ring to his future wife, Mary of Burgundy. Yet the diamond engagement ring trend wouldn’t trickle through all of society’s ranks until the early 20th century; as gems became more attainable, engagement rings often featured other precious jewels such as rubies, emeralds, and topaz, and were often picked based on the bride’s birthstone. Following the Great Depression, diamond monolith De Beers began marketing its stones as the ultimate symbol of love and commitment, a plan that would entirely change the jewelry-exchanging tradition.

Diamonds Are Used for More Than Jewelry

Not every diamond will make the journey from below the Earth’s surface to a jewelry store — in fact, many never do. Around 30% of mined diamonds are considered jewelry-quality; the remaining 70% are less-appealing diamonds called “bort.” But these stones aren’t discarded, because they still have many practical uses outside of jewelry; a diamond’s sturdiness makes it particularly suited for use in medical devices, electronics, and industrial tools. Dentists rely on diamond-encrusted drill bits that can easily bore through teeth. Similarly, the gemstones are embedded into saw blades and other tools to strengthen their cutting abilities and boost their longevity. Some scientists believe diamonds may even be a helpful material in electrical power advancements, possibly used as efficient, durable, and heat-resistant transistors (aka the mechanism that regulates electrical signals).

The World’s Largest Diamond Weighed More Than a Pound Before Carving

In 2021, the average engagement ring diamond clocked in at 1.5 carats, which is nearly microscopic when compared to the world’s largest known diamond. Called the Cullinan diamond (for Sir Thomas Cullinan, owner of the mine from where it came), the gem weighed in at 3,106.75 carats — about the size of a fist. It was pulled from the Premier Mine in South Africa in 1905, and eventually made its way to British King Edward VII, who arranged for the diamond to be cut by the Asscher Diamond Company in Amsterdam. Carving the precious stone was a massive feat; preparation took six months before the diamond was cut into nine large stones and 97 smaller ones. Several of the stones, which are among some of the largest and clearest diamonds ever unearthed, became part of the British crown jewels.

Diamonds Can Actually Break

Diamonds are known for being particularly durable, though it is possible to damage one. Considered one of the toughest naturally occurring materials on the planet, diamonds are rated the maximum 10 on the Mohs scale, which ranks a mineral’s hardness when scratched. However, many jewelers warn that these virtually indestructible gemstones aren’t necessarily invincible; like any precious stone, diamonds have vulnerabilities. Inclusions — aka small imperfections deep within the stone, like cavities, specks, and cracks — can affect a diamond’s structural integrity, occasionally causing pressure to build up inside the stone. When hit in just the right way, the weakened gem can crack, chip, or break apart. Nearly all diamonds, even lab-grown versions, have some form of inclusion, though the odds of having a catastrophic break remain relatively rare.

Earth Had Diamonds Before Dinosaurs

In 1948, diamond company De Beers launched its famous marketing campaign: “A diamond is forever.” While the goal was to boost diamond sales following the Great Depression and World War II, the phrase touched on something we know about diamonds: They’ve been around for what seems like forever. All diamonds found on Earth are estimated to be between roughly 1 billion and 3.5 billion years old, making even the youngest diamonds older than dinosaurs. Some geologists believe the Earth’s diamond cache formed in the first couple billion years of the planet’s existence, though knowing for sure is particularly difficult because the stones can’t be carbon dated (carbon dating only works on organic material less than 60,000 years old). However, inclusions in diamonds can offer some clues; whenever the imperfections contain other minerals, researchers can better estimate the entire diamond’s age based on when its contaminant was once present on the planet’s surface.

There Are Diamonds in Space

Diamonds aren’t unique to Earth; they’ve also been found in the universe around us. Some are amazingly enormous — like the suspected star-turned-planet made entirely of diamond material, found nearly 4,000 light-years from Earth. It’s not the only celestial body with the gems, though; scientists have long suspected some planets in our own solar system experience diamond showers. Lightning storms on Saturn transform the planet’s methane gas into soot, which experiences enough pressure to likely transform into diamonds that then rain from the sky. Researchers have long suspected that a similar phenomenon occurs on Neptune and Uranus, where high temperatures and pressure combine to create diamonds that sink toward the planets’ cores. Space researchers have also discovered diamonds in meteorites, possibly created in ancient collisions between dwarf planets and asteroids before landing on Earth, where they continue to intrigue scientists as much as our own diamonds do.