Strange But True

* It was American journalist, author and humorist Don Marquis who made the following sage observation: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."

* The first recorded newspaper that published on a daily basis was in Rome -- in 59 B.C.

* A giant carnivorous plant has been discovered on a remote mountaintop in the Philippines. The second largest pitcher plant on record, nepenthes attenboroughii secretes a nectar that lures insects, frogs and even rats into its trap, where enzymes and acids break down the animal and digest it.

* There has been a lot of debate about whether older drivers should be required to pass driving tests in order to renew their licenses, with failing sight and diminished judgment being cited as reasons for the more stringent requirement. However, statistics tend to indicate that, as a group, teenagers are the more dangerous drivers, with their auto-accident death rate roughly triple that of seniors.

* The men's formal attire known as the tuxedo takes its name from the Tuxedo Park Club in New York, where the clothing first became popular. The word itself is derived from the Algonquian word for wolf.

* In some parts of Europe, red roses are considered to be omens of evil. Seeing the petals fall from a red rose is a portent of death.

* The Zagat restaurant rating system recently conducted a survey of Americans' tipping habits. The results? It seems that residents of Philadelphia are the most generous tippers in the nation, leaving an average of 19.6 percent. The average across the country is 19 percent.

* President Benjamin Harrison was 25 years older than his wife, Mary -- and he also was her uncle.

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Thought for the Day: "People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them." -- Anatole France