STRANGE BUT TRUE

• It’s still not known who made this sage observation: “Wisdom is divided into two parts: a) having a great deal to say, and b) not saying it.”

• In 1931, the Newspaper Enterprise Association predicted that crime would be nearly gone in 20 years.

• Do you subscribe to the adage “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”? Consider this: Would that teen heartthrob of an earlier day, Bobby Darin, have become so popular if he had been known by his given name, Walden Cassotto?

• At one time, Canada’s CBC network banned the children’s cartoon “Rocky and Bullwinkle” because of its sometimes unflattering portrayal of the Mounties.

• The Goodrich company, known primarily for its tires, also invented the first modern golf ball.

• Sometimes scientists get to express their creativity when they have the opportunity to name things. Take deep-sea sites, for example: in the North Atlantic is the Porcupine Abysmal Plain, Clam Acres is off the west coast of Mexico, and there’s a site near the Galapagos Islands called Hole-to-Hell.• Donald Duck’s middle name is “Fauntleroy.”

• The game of chess originated in India in about 2,000 B.C. — it was called “chaturanga.” And it didn’t look quite like the modern version that is played all over the world today. Chaturanga had only four kinds of pieces: elephants, chariots, horses and foot soldiers.

• A Rochester, Mich., law states that anyone who is bathing in public must be wearing a bathing suit that has been inspected by a police officer.

Thought for the Day: “You may do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.” — Colette

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.