Strange But True: August 29, 2019

* It was Canadian journalist, editor and poet Mark Abley who made the following sage observation: "Modern English is the Walmart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand."

* On any given day, Google conducts approximately 63,000 searches per second.

* The next time you get a chance, you might want to check the pressure of your car's tires; if they're not inflated to the correct pressure, you're contributing to the $9 million in fuel that is wasted due to improper tire pressure, according to the Department of Energy.

* Those who study such things report that the average lifespan of a tree in the metropolis of New York City is only seven years.

* In all likelihood, you've never run across a moirologist -- in fact, they probably don't even exist in the United States today. However, professional mourners -- which is what moirologists are -- have a long history, dating back to ancient Greece. Even as recently as the early 1900s, there was a report of a moirologists' strike in Paris.

* The small Central American country of Costa Rica has more species of mammals and birds than are found in all of the contiguous United States and Canada combined.

* An 18-year-old Austrian named Helmut Mezer got his driver's license and a new BMW with the license plate DEAD1. One week later, with Mezer behind the wheel, the car skidded around a curve at 100 mph, hit an embankment and was thrown 200 feet, landing on its roof in a field and killing Mezer.

***

Thought for the Day: "I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later." -- Mitch Hedberg

(c) 2019 King Features

Synd., Inc.