Interesting Facts - Page 68

The cease fire ending WWI was signed at 5:45 am on November 11, 1918. But it didn't come into effect until 11:00 am that day. Sadly, in the intervening hours, fighting continued and 2,738 men died on the last day of the war.

Aluminum is the most common metal in the Earth's crust. But aluminum used to be very difficult to extract from aluminum ore. This made it extremely expensive. In the mid-1800s, ingots of aluminum sold for $550 a pound - about twice the price of gold.

The tip of the Washington Monument is a solid piece of aluminum weighing 100 ounces. Today this seems like a strange choice, but at the time it was extremely impressive. Aluminum used to be very difficult to manufacture. In 1884, the tip of the Washington Monument was the largest single piece of aluminum anywhere in the world.

The world's oldest, tallest, and heaviest trees can all be found in California.

Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the United States outside of Alaska. It is located less than 90 miles away from Death Valley - the lowest point.