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A best-selling 15th century work of fiction was The Tale of the Two Lovers, an erotic novel by the man who later became Pope Pius II.

In 1967, Picoaz, Ecuador, elected a brand of foot deodorant as the town’s mayor.

The word ‘fun’ does not appear in the King James Bible.

At least 109 journeys between adjacent London Underground stations are quicker to walk.

Apostasy, the abandonment of religion, is a capital offence in Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

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The flags of Afghanistan and Ecuador display their flag on their flag; creating the so-called Droste effect, i.e. the image of the image in the image ad infinitum.

The asteroid 13681 is called Monty Python.

Jon Brower Minnoch was an American man who, at his peak weight, was the heaviest human being ever recorded, weighing approximately 1,400 lb (634 kg, 100 stone). This figure was only a close estimation, however, because of his extreme size, poor health, and lack of mobility prevented use of a scale. He died in 1983, aged 41.

In Latin, the verb vireo means ‘I am green’.

When all four members of The Beatles received MBEs in 1965, John Lennon defended this honour as follows: “Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I’d say we deserve ours more.”

See other: Quite Interesting Facts