Strange But True

* It was noted 20th-century American novelist, short story writer and journalist Ernest Hemingway who made the following sage observation: “When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead.”

* You might be surprised to learn that the largest irrigated crop in the United States isn’t soybeans, wheat or even corn; it’s grass — mostly in lawns, parks and golf courses.

* The next time you see a shampoo commercial and note how creamy and frothy the lather seems to be, keep this in mind: The model in the advertisement probably has either laundry detergent or frothed egg whites on her hair.

* You may be among those people who think good deeds and selfless acts are on the decline. If so, consider this story: In 2010, an employee at a recycling company came across 23 U.S. savings bonds while sorting through a bin of discarded papers. Instead of trying to cash the $22,000 worth of bonds himself, Mike Rodgers decided to track down the owner. It turned out that the woman who had bought the bonds, Martha Dobbins, had been dead for almost two decades. Rodgers didn’t give up, though; he began a search for Robert Roberts, who was also named on the bonds. Though the name is common and Rodgers hit many dead ends, he eventually located the correct Robert Roberts, the son of Martha Dobbins. Roberts hadn’t even been aware of the bonds’ existence. Rodgers, his good deed finally being done, refused a reward.

* Ever wonder what the opposite of reverse is? It’s obverse — the front or principal part of an object. On a coin, for instance, the obverse is “heads” and the reverse is “tails.”

Thought for the Day:

“The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived.”

--Oscar Wilde

(c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.