The first bagellike rolls were invented in ancient Egypt. Unlike bagels of today, they were not boiled before being baked.

The Merry Wives of Windsor was a rush job.

Some credit Theodoric of Freiberg as being the first person in the Western world to conduct a scientific experiment. In 1304, he experimented with water droplets on spherical flasks and glass globes filled with water and was able to explain how light is refracted and rainbows are formed.

Buddhist monks from Thailand’s Sisaket province built the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple out of a million green Heineken and local brown beer bottles.

At the World Toilet Summit, which was held Nov. 4-6 in Macau, sanitation experts called for nonflushable toilets to save water and provide fertilizer for crops.

This article appears in November 28 • 2008.

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