Hamburgers are called such not because they once contained ham but because of the city of their origin, Hamburg, Germany.
Looking at food labels? Tuscan olive oil can mean the olives were grown in Greece but pressed in Italy.
Small feet were considered desirable among women in 10th-century China. Exotic dancers at the Imperial Court often had their feet bound with bandages from childhood onward, in such a way to make them grow shorter. The most esteemed foot was a “Golden Lotus,” a foot measuring three inches.
Song of the South is the only Disney film not re-released.
The name “Samwise” (Samwise Gamgee, loyal companion to Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings) is from the Anglo-Saxon and means “half-wit.”
This article appears in August 30 • 2002.