STRANGE BUT TRUE - Jan. 20, 2011

It was American astronomer, astrophysicist and author Carl Sagan who made the following sage observation: “The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.”

If you’re like the average American woman, you will eat 4 to 6 pounds of lipstick during your lifetime.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Alaska is the most northern and western state in the Union, but would you believe that it’s also the easternmost state? Yep. Because the state crosses over into the Eastern Hemisphere, it’s technically farther east than Maine.

In Alabama, lawmakers once thought it necessary to pass a law forbidding the operation of a vehicle while wearing a blindfold.

Traffic is so bad in Tokyo that for most trips shorter than 50 minutes, it’s faster to ride a bicycle than it is to drive a car.

You’re almost certainly familiar with the grouping of stars known in the U.S. as the Big Dipper, made up of the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. You might not know, though, that other cultures call it by different names. In India, for example, the stars are known as the Seven Sages, and Mongolians call them the Seven Gods. Many in Northern England see a Butcher’s Cleaver rather than a dipper. Scandinavians think it looks like King Charles’ Wagon, those in Finland call it the Salmon Net, and the Dutch have named it the Saucepan.

A shrimp’s heart is located in its head.

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Thought for the Day: “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” —

George Bernard Shaw

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.