Strange but true
By Samantha Weaver

. If you had been a guest at a banquet in ancient Rome, you might have had the opportunity to sample one of that culture's delicacies: flamingo tongues.

. It was, of course, Mark Twain who made the following sage observation: "Few things are harder to put up with than a good example."

. There was a time when some Swanson frozen dinners had printed on the label "Serving Suggestion: Defrost."

. Some of the ice in Antarctica is 400,000 years old.

. Anyone who's been on a serious bender probably will not be surprised by the following fact: The English word "intoxicate" comes from the Latin word "toxicum," which, literally translated, means "poison."

. In his will, wealthy Canadian press baron Lord Beaverbrook had a special message for his great-nephew, Jonathan Aitken: "I am going to pay you the greatest compliment ... I am not going to leave you a cent." I doubt that Aitken much appreciated the sentiment, however.

. In 2000, students in Leicester, England, spent more than 106 hours reading Shakespeare's complete works, setting a world record in the process.

. When chocolate was first introduced to Bayonne, France, officials banned concocting it within city limits. Why they did so -- and why they considered the culinary delight that is chocolate to be a "concoction" - - is still unknown.

Thought for the Day: "I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven't had time for tobacco since." -- Arturo Toscanini

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.