To prevent eggshells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.

In the country of Laos, locally created methamphetamine is known as “crazy drug” or “yaba.” In South America, yaba is an LSD-like drug whose real name is “ayahuasha” or “Baanisteria Caapi.”

Although Adolf Hitler was presented a new Volkswagen on his 50th birthday, he never learned how to drive a car.

In Ancient Greece, men used to shag women from behind and men face-to-face (rather improbably), as women were thought to be more animal-like and the act correspondingly less passionate and more arduous.

The word “mafia” is Arabic for “place of refuge.”

This article appears in November 12 • 1999.

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