STRANGE BUT TRUE

* It was English novelist Eric Arthur Blair — better known by his pen name, George Orwell — who made the following sage observation: “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

* While his wife, Abigail, was ill, President John Adams stayed with her for seven months at their home in Boston — that’s the longest any president has been away from the capital.

* Are you a cacographer? You may not be, but if you spend any time at all online you’ve certainly run across a few. A cacographer is someone who can’t quite grasp the rules of spelling.

* This might be a good time for a reminder of an obscure New Orleans law: In that city, it is illegal to curse at a firefighter while he or she is engaged in official duties.

* It was in 1943 that Thomas Watson, who was then the chairman of International Business Machines (better known now as IBM), made the following public statement: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

* The English word “velvet” comes from a Latin term that means “shaggy hair.”

* You might already know that actor Mel Gibson grew up in Australia, but you might not know how he ended up there. He was actually born in New York, where he lived with his parents. The Vietnam War was going on, though, and his parents were afraid Mel would be drafted. After winning on “Jeopardy,” they used the money to move to Australia.

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Thought for the Day: “The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.” — Richard Bach

(c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.