Strange But True
BY SAMANTHAWEAVER

. Have you ever seen a sesquipedalian? You certainly have -- in fact, there's one in this very paragraph. "Sesquipedalian" simply means "long word."

. When you picture Elizabethan England, you probably don't conjure up a mental image of terribly hygienic people. In fact, it's reputed that the queen herself bathed only twice a year.

. Colgate toothpaste is good for more than just cleaning those pearly whites, evidently. Domestic scientists claim that it's also great for cleaning piano keys and removing scratches from glass.

. It was Atari founder Nolan Bushnell who made the following observation: "Business is a good game -- lots of competition and a minimum of rules. You keep score with money."

. A woman in Mount Shasta, Calif., went a little too far in trying to help her sons succeed in their careers. Her sons were firemen, so she started setting things on fire so they could show off their firefighting prowess. She was finally arrested for arson after setting five fires in one month.

. Would you like your son or daughter to become a nimgimmer? You might, indeed, if you knew what the word meant. "Nimgimmer" is just an old-fashioned way of referring to a surgeon.

. On Mars, a year lasts 687 days.

. Those who study such things report that the huge mountain range known as the Himalayas is actually growing -- at a steady rate of 3.3 feet every 1,000 years.

. In a rather stunning display of poor judgment, the manager of the Braves once said that record-breaking slugger Hank Aaron "can't play."

. In London in 1306, the burning of coal was forbidden -- and the penalty was death.

Thought for the Day: "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' ('I found it!') but 'That's funny...'." -- Isaac Asimov

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.