Coldest Temperature
The coldest temperature recorded in the northern hemisphere was not within the Arctic regions. A temperature of -71° C. (-96° F.) was recorded in January 1964, in the village of Oymyakon in eastern Siberia. It is 320 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.

Glaciers in Africa?
Africa, the warmest of the continents, has thirteen square kilometers of glaciers on three of its highest mountain peaks. Only Australia, of all the continents, has no glaciers, because it is relatively unmountainous. (Nearby New Guinea and New Zealand have glaciers.)

Palace of Death
Russia's Winter Palace was an abode of death during construction. Thousands of men would work in rooms heated to 86° F. and on leaving for the day enter outdoor freezes down to 20° below zero. The Marquis de Custine observed, in 1839, that "a considerable number died each day, but, as the victims were instantly replaced by other champions who filled their places, to perish in their turn in this inglorious fashion, the losses were not apparent….Nevertheless, the sovereign was called ' Father ' by men sacrificed in such great numbers under his eyes."

Largest Iceberg
An iceberg larger than Belgium was observed in the South Pacific in 1956. It was 208 miles long and 60 miles wide--the largest ever seen.