2/28/10 – Nearly four percent of all ankle sprains are fatal.
2/21/10 – Franklin Roosevelt delivered most of his speeches — including the ‘Day of Infamy’ address — while brushing his teeth.
2/14/10 – If you listen closely to a potato, you can tell where it was grown and how long it has been out of the soil. The skill is called ‘potato reckoning.’ Most farmers were adept at potato reckoning, but over the last twenty years computer applications have made it unnecessary. Now it is mainly practiced by potato enthusiasts.
2/7/10 – Pine cones are far more cautious and distrustful than most people realize.
1/31/10 – Tennis ball manufacturing plants emit ultraviolet radiation, and it is possible to get a sunburn from standing too close. All tennis balls are made by robots. When workers have to go inside (to maintain the robots, retrieve loose tennis balls, etc.) they wear SPF 30 or higher.
1/24/10 – In Croatia, to give someone an extension cord is a condemnation, a sign that all respect has been lost and all contact is now severed. Lending an extension cord is okay, but only for two or three days, tops.
1/17/10 – Spiders were invented by Dr. Stanley Hereford-Spider in 1844. Prior to that, spiders had three legs and were known as “thruppings.”
1/10/10 – Scattering salt on roads has no effect on snow or ice. The original intent was to prevent spirits from rising through the roads on winter nights, a Celtic druid custom. Drivers to this day feel safer on salted roads, so the practice continues.
1/3/10 – The common squirrel (Sciurus griseus) has a natural lifespan of over eight hundred years.
