Where does the word Gold come from?

The word gold is derived from the Indo-European root 'yellow', reflecting one of the most obvious properties of gold. This is reflected in the similarities of the word gold in various languages: Gold (English), Gold (German), Guld (Danish), Gulden (Dutch), Goud (Afrikaans), Gull (Norwegian) and Kulta (Finnish).

If all the gold was laid around the world, how far would it stretch?

If we make all the gold ever produced into a thin wire of 5 microns (millionths of a metre) diameter, then all the gold would stretch around the circumference of the world an astounding 72 million times approximately!

Why is gold measured in carats?

This stems back to ancient times in the Mediterranean /Middle East, when a carat became used as a measure of the purity of gold alloys. A carat was originally a unit of mass (weight) based on the Carob seed or bean used by ancient merchants in the Middle East . The Carob seed is from the Carob or locust bean tree. For gold, it has come to be used for measuring the purity of gold where pure gold is defined as 24 carats.

Fool's Gold
During the California gold rush in the late 1840s and early 50s, some prospectors were deceived by 'fool's gold' - iron pyrite - a substance that has the luster and sparkle of gold. Unlike gold, iron pyrite is flaky, brittle, and virtually valueless. Experienced miners know that real gold is soft, malleable, and doesn't break under pressure.

Unreachable Gold
In every cubic mile of sea water there are 25 tons of gold! That's a total of about 10 billion tons of gold in the oceans; however, there's no known way to economically recover it.

Most famous piece of gold
The face mask of the boy-king of Egypt (1361-1352 BC), Tutankhamun was discovered in his tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter.