Category: Mars...

Mars in named for the Roman god of war because of its color, blood-red
Mars has the largest known volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, at 65,600 feet
Mars's symbol ?
Babylonian astromer-astrologers called the planet Nergal for their god of death and pestilence
this is the only planet whose solid surface and atmospheric phenomena can be seen by telescopes from Earth, revealing its similarities to Earth (clouds, winds, 24-hr day, seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons
Mars as the inspiration for H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Kim Stanley Robinson
Mars has only 28% of the surface area of Earth but because Earth is 3/4 water, the total land areas are comparable
the earliest telescopic observations of Mars were by Galileo (1610)
elaborate maps of the Martian canals by Percival Lowell
Human beings will be happier-not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia. (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)
Strange beings who landed in New Jersey tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from Mars. (O. Welles/H.G. Wells)