Strange But True
By Samantha Weaver

+ Add to the list of ridiculous headlines: "Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told."

+ Before they became successful, the Beatles were turned down by four record companies. A spokesperson for the Decca Recording Company is quoted as saying in 1962, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out."

+ When figured on a per-participant basis, pole vaulting has the highest mortality rate of any sport. Between 1982 and 1998, there were 16 reported deaths among about 25,000 athletes.

+ In 1982, David Grundman was killed by a cactus in the desert near Phoenix. For reasons unknown, he decided to shoot a giant saguaro cactus measuring 23 feet tall. After firing two shots at it, the plant fell over on top of Grundman and crushed him to death.

+ Do you remember the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" from when you were a child? Did you have any idea what it was about? Well, most people don't - it has nothing to do with animals at all. It is thought to have originated with hat makers in London. To a hat maker, a "weasel" was one of the tools of his trade, and "to pop" once meant "to pawn." Whenever a hat maker needed some extra cash, he would "pop his weasel."