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* In 2013, Belgium created five limited-edition stamps that smelled and tasted like chocolate (but were not, in fact, edible).
* Gambling slips from ancient China that date to between 201 BC and 187 BC are the first recorded instance of a lottery. It’s believed these lotteries likely helped finance large government projects, such as the Great Wall of China.
* There are more tanning salons in major American cities than McDonald’s or Starbucks.
* A parenting tradition in Maharashtra, India, involves tossing babies from the side of a 50-foot temple and catching them in a sheet. The practice is thought to endow newborns with courage and intelligence.
* The person who graduates last in his class from West Point Military Academy is called “the goat” and receives a dollar from each classmate, as well as membership in a club that includes Gen. George Custer.
* The average woman wears six different bra sizes throughout her life.
* While Merriam-Webster defines “hussy” as “a girl or woman who behaves in a disrespectful or inappropriate way or who has many casual sexual relationships,” the word is actually derived from the 13th-century “husewife,” meaning mistress of the household.
* To help combat driver fatigue and boredom on long, straight roads of up to 90 miles in Australia, the government posted signs labeled “Fatigue Zone” featuring trivia questions and answers.
* In 2009, Patricia Demauro brought $100 to a craps table in Atlantic City. Four hours and 18 minutes later, she had rolled 154 times, setting a world record for craps rolls. The odds of her accomplishing such a feat? One in 1.56 trillion!
* Ice cream was invented in 7th-century China and originally consisted of buffalo milk, flour and camphor.
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Thought for the Day: “Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party!'” Ð- Robin Williams
(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.
