STRANGE BUT TRUE - Feb. 11, 2010

• It was François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld and prince de Marcillac, a noted 17th-century French author and memoirist, who made the following sage observation: “Few are agreeable in conversation, because each thinks more of what he intends to say than of what others are saying, and listens no more when he himself has a chance to speak.”

• Rutherford B. Hayes, the country’s 19th president, was the first to install a phone in the White House.

• It was 1948 when the first vinyl musical recording was made. The piece of music so immortalized was Tchiakovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.”

• Although we tend to think of the bikini as a modern fashion innovation, two-piece bathing suits can be seen in murals in the ancient city of Pompeii.

• According to Romanian tradition, a sure-fire hangover remedy is tripe soup. In Poland, drinking sour pickle juice is supposed to cure the morning-after agonies. And if you’re in Germany, you should try the local remedy: pickled herring.

• The shortest street on record can be found in the small town of Wick, Scotland. Ebenezer Place is a mere 6 feet, 9 inches long.

• Do you suffer from pogonophobia? If so, you probably have some issues with Santa. Pogonophobia is a fear of beards.

• If you’re like most Americans, you’ve stolen from your employer — though probably not much. It seems that 58 percent of your fellow citizens admit to taking office supplies for personal use.

• The Hundred Years’ War actually lasted 116 years.

• Albert Einstein’s final words are lost to history. He spoke his last words in his birth tongue, German, and it seems that the nurse who was attending him during his last moments spoke only English.

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Thought for the Day: “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” — E.E. Cummings

(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.