Bumbo, an alcoholic drink made with rum, was commonly used to sway voters during election campaigns in colonial British America.

Paul Collins, in a recent Slate article, cited a study showing “a stunning drop in semicolon usage between the 18th and 19th centuries, from 68.1 semicolons per thousand words to just 17.7.”

Like King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, St. George’s lance had a name, too: Ascalon.

In Germany, Spongebob SquarePants is called Spongebob SpongeHead because the German translation of “SquarePants” would be too long.

Dust blocks half of all the starlight from reaching Earth.

This article appears in August 29 • 2008.

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