STRANGE BUT TRUE

It was beloved American comedian and film star Groucho Marx who made the following sage observation: “There’s one way to find out if a man is honest — ask him. If he says ‘Yes,’ you know he is a crook.”

The ancient Egyptians were known to use crocodile dung as a contraceptive.

You may be surprised to learn that when the hit 1950s TV show “I Love Lucy” had its premiere, Lucille Ball was already 40 years old.

Talk about sneaky: In order to get a photo of Bing Crosby in his coffin, The National Enquirer tabloid had a reporter dress as a priest and sneak into the private funeral service. To top it off, on his way out of the service, the disguised journalist told ABC reporter Geraldo Rivera not to pester the family at such a sensitive moment.

Every year, about $500 million is spent on beads for Mardi Gras.

Ever wonder how the statuette taken home by winners of the Academy Awards got its nickname? Evidently, in 1931 a secretary at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences saw the statuette for the first time and exclaimed, “Why, he reminds me of my Uncle Oscar!” The comment struck the fancy of a reporter who was present, and he put it in a story about the awards, and the name stuck.

Are you acersecomic? If your hair has never been cut, you are.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was not himself a slave owner. He reportedly did not believe in the institution of slavery.

If this is an average week, three manmade artifacts hurtling into the atmosphere from space will crash into the Earth.

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Thought for the Day: “The world is round; it has no point.” — Adrienne E. Gusoff

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.