Strange But True
BY SAMANTHAWEAVER

. It was award-winning journalist Charles Kuralt -- best known for his "On the Road" segments aired on "The CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite" -- who made the following sage observation: "Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything."

. The winds on Mount Everest are known to get up to 177 mph; it's said that the noise created by that wind is as loud as a 747 taking off.

. If you're like the average adult American, your feet hit the ground 7,000 times, your heart beats 104,000 times and you use 7 million brain cells -- and you do that every single day.

. Those who study such things say that if you put a little bit of alcohol on a scorpion, it will go crazy and sting itself to death.

. In ancient Greece, grapes were considered to be an aphrodisiac, and the ancient Romans thought that octopus would increase human amorousness.

. If Thomas Jefferson had had his way, America might have states named Sylvania, Saratoga and Metropotamia. He also proposed the names Illinoia and Michigania, state names that were adopted -- with some modification, of course.

. You may be surprised to learn that green beans, eggplant, avocados, olives, cucumbers, green peppers and mustard seeds are all fruits. So the next time your mom tells you to eat your vegetables, make sure she knows what she's talking about.

. Thanksgiving began to be widely celebrated in the 1670s, but before that, the early settlers only really celebrated three holidays: Election Day, Muster Day (during which the militia conducted drills) and Harvard Commencement Day.

Thought for the Day: "There is so much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community." -- Oscar Wilde

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc