Strange But True: October 31, 2019

* It was influential American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman who made the following sage observation: "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong."

* Those who study such things say that an eagle's feathers weigh twice as much as its bones.

* You've probably read about the unprecedented casualties suffered on all sides in World War I. You probably didn't know, though, that 60,000 of those casualties were due to avalanches caused by gunfire in the Alps.

* In 1962, a group of oceanographers sailed off to watch an undersea volcano off the coast of Japan whose eruption seemed imminent. It seems that they got the timing right, but not the location; or, rather, they got the location too right. The eruption occurred directly beneath their vessel, destroying it.

* If you ever visit the Alpine village of Saint Veran, take a good look at the construction of the early buildings -- none of the walls meet at a 90-degree angle. Why aren't they square? According to the beliefs of early townsfolk, the devil lurks in square corners.

* Studies show a correlation between tight shoes and larger appetites.

* Do you find it attractive when you see a person with a point of skin attached to the underlying muscle? You might not realize it, but many people have this condition; that's what a dimple is.

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Thought for the Day: "A premarital lovers' quarrel should never last more than three minutes. In the first year of marriage, a four-minute quarrel should be acceptable. After six years, and eight-minute quarrel is allowed. A 10-minute quarrel is permissible after a decade. Those married longer have more to quarrel about." -- E.V. Durling

(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.