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Ten Random Facts

Dinner guests during the medieval times in England were expected to bring their own knives to the table.
History

Sometimes vanilla ice cream looks as if it has bits of chocolate in it, as if only that could make the flavor acceptable. What are those dark specks, anyway? If you thought they might be parts of vanilla beans, you're right. But they're only the flavorless residue of the bean. Companies put them in just for show, to prove that they used real beans and not artificial flavor.
Food and Drink

The first Union shot of the Civil War was fired by General Abner Doubleday in 1861 at Fort Sumter.
History

Lyndon B. Johnson's administration was known as “The Great Society,” despite the anti-war protests going on around the nation. Before becoming a politician, Lyndon taught school in Texas.
People » US Presidents

Seventy percent of house dust is made up of dead skin flakes.
Surveys

At Disneyland Paris, the park's famous Sleeping Beauty Castle is known as Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.
Entertainment » Disney

One March evening in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson escorted his fiancée, Edith Galt, to a theatrical performance; prompting a reporter from The Washington Post to note that rather than watch the play, “The President spent most of his time entertaining Mrs. Galt". Unfortunately, the word "entertaining" was misprinted in the Post as "entering".
People » US Presidents

The sea otter's dark fur is the finest and densest of any animal fur. On an adult animal, there are approximately 650,000 hairs per square inch. A sea otter relies on its fur to keep it warm — it doesn't have blubber as other marine mammals do. Natural oils in a sea otter's fur repel water.
Animals

That small skullcap worn by Roman Catholic clergymen is called a zucchetto.
Words and Numbers

In 1843, a mathematician, Ada Byron, published the first computer programs. She based them on Jacquard's punch-card idea. Her programs were for the first general-purpose mechanical digital computer, that was just invented by Charles Babbage.
People » Inventors

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