Strange But True: August 8, 2019

 

August 8, 2019



STRANGE BUT TRUE

by Samantha Weaver

* It was Nobel Prize-winning 20th-century American author John Steinbeck -- considered by many to be "a giant of American letters" -- who made the following sage observation: "We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it."

* It seems no one can adequately explain why women tend to strike matches away from themselves while men tend to strike them toward themselves.

* It may be hard to believe, but there is an official competition to see who can sit in a sauna the longest. The World Sauna Championships have taken place in Heinola, Finland, annually since 1999. The starting temperature is 110 F, and a liter of water is poured on the stove every 30 seconds. The winner is the last person who is able to leave the sauna without assistance. Competitors participate at their own risk, and they are required to sign a waiver agreeing not to take legal action against the event organizers.

* Other than being celebrities, what do Woody Allen, Farrah Fawcett, Stanley Tucci, Glenn Close, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Spacey have in common? They're all pigs. In the Chinese zodiac, that is -- they were born in the year of the pig.

* 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.

* The ubiquitous summertime flip-flop sandals are known in Australia as pluggers, are called slops in South Africa and slippers in Hawaii, and New Zealanders call them jandals.

* You might be surprised to learn that Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice" was originally titled "First Impressions."

***

Thought for the Day: "Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle." -- Ken Hakuta

(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

 

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