The official state soil of Wisconsin is antigo silt loam, and the official state drink is milk (not beer). Several U.S. states have official state insects and state fossils, but surprisingly, none of these are lawmakers.

Some say that if you want to pronounce it correctly, Osama bin Laden’s surname rhymes with “sadden.”

The Nina in the signatures of Al Hirshfeld’s drawings lives in Round Rock, Texas.

In the 15th century, the Roman Catholic Church accidentally canonized the Buddha under the name St. Josaphat. The name Josaphat derives from the word “Bodhisattva” meaning “one capable of Buddhahood.”

The common pill bug, also known as a roly poly, is really a crustacean.

This article appears in June 13 • 2003.

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