A “Bug” is an insect that has sucking mouth parts.
The oldest active synagogue in Europe is in Prague. It is called the Old New Synagogue.
Humans and elephants are the only animals with chins.
The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbede and Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior are actual titles in the English Peerage.
Australia was discovered by the Chinese. The Dutch were the first Europeans to discover it. William Dampier was the first Englishman to discover it.
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In Victorian England, terms such as lesbian and sapphic came into use for female relationships. For some time, the Victorians never seemed to consider criminalising female homosexuality.
Apocryphally, these were also due to be criminalised in the 1885 legislation know as the Labouchere Amendment, until Queen Victoria declared them impossible, whereupon the clause was omitted – a joke that serves to underline a common, and commonly welcomed, ignorance, at a time when lurid, fictionalised lesbianism was often figured as an especially repulsive and seductive French vice.
“The single best thing about coming out of the closet is that nobody can insult you by telling you what you’ve just told them.” – Rachel Maddow
One of the first people to break the amendment was Oscar Wilde. The judge sentenced him to two years hard labour, although he wished he could punish him even more saying that, “this is the worst case I have ever tried.” A week earlier, the same judge tried a case of child murder.
Athens is the only capital city in Europe where the air is more polluted outside than inside.
In AD 380, the Catholic Church issued a law specifically forbidding anyone to read the Bible whilst naked.
There is a plant called Hooker’s Lips (Psychotria Elata).
In 2006, later Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
Since 1963, the reverse of the United States ten-dollar-bill has stated “In God we trust”. Between 2000 and 2017, the reverse of the Bank of England ten-pound-note has portrayed Charles Darwin.
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“What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea.”
– Mohandas Gandhi
Eskimos use refrigerators to stop their food from freezing.
Boots fitted with springs were forbidden by the original Queensberry Rules for boxing.
In 2014, a single parking space in London was sold for £400,000.
There is a Canadian skeleton racer called Dave Greszczyszyn.
Paris and Rome have only each other as sister city, following the motto “Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris.”
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A character is presented two alternatives, A and B. If the character chooses A, then something bad happens. If they choose B, a similar or identical bad thing happens—but for a different reason.
Consider the following excerpt from the Jacobean play Pericles, Prince of Tyre, which is at least partly attributed to Shakespeare:
I am no viper, yet I feed
On mother’s flesh which did me breed.
I sought a husband, in which labour
I found that kindness in a father:
He’s father, son, and husband mild;
I mother, wife, and yet his child.
How they may be, and yet in two,
As you will live, resolve it you.
– Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Act I, Scene I) Continue reading
Topsham is a suburb of Exeter in the county of Devon, England.
There is some difference of opinion on the correct pronunciation of the town. Generally it is referred to as “topshum” /ˈtɒpʃəm/ with the sh sounded as in shoe. The local pronunciation amongst older native Devonians, however, is “topsum” /ˈtɒpsəm/ with the s being sounded as in some and the -ham suffix being reduced to um.
‘Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,’
– Gerard Nolst Trenité, The Chaos
Penistone is a town South Yorkshire, England.
The “Make America Great Again” caps designed for the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign were made in China.
Women were not allowed to serve on Royal Navy submarines until 2011.
Lizards cannot breathe and walk at the same time.
The national anthem of Bangladesh includes the lines: “The fragrance from your mango groves makes me wild with joy.”
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