We thought we should take some time this week to welcome new visitors (especially all you proud recipients of a brand-new 2007 World Almanac) to our blog. While you're digesting your holiday meal, take a few minutes to browse some of the highlights from recent weeks:

Blogging From a War Zone: If you enjoyed the "Voices of Service to America" feature in the World Almanac 2007, take a look at this entry for links to all of our featured military bloggers and more. Also click here for information about sending care packages to active duty soldiers around the world.

Oh, Penguin, the Pipes are Calling: This is one of my favorite historical features — the weird but true tale of a Scottish Antarctic expedition, a kilted bagpiper, and a "phlegmatic" penguin who most emphatically did not have Happy Feet. Or if you're more into sports than penguins, read this for the tale of the first football game played under artificial lighting.

Dow 12,000... Population 300 Million: Just in case you missed it, the U.S. passed a major population milestone back in October. Check out this feature for links to a little more historical perspective. And if you want to play around with all the population (and other) statistics in your new Almanac, check out this feature for information on Swivel, "the YouTube for data visualization."

We'll highlight other features throughout the week—in addition to our regular schedule of new facts each weekday—so please bookmark us for future visits... or better yet, read this entry for complete details on how to subscribe to this blog in your favorite newsreader (or by e-mail) so you don't miss a single fact.