Most species of moles have six fingers, including a thumb and a pseudothumb. Unlike true fingers, the pseudothumb has no joints.
Della Mae Hogan, Marilyn Monroe’s maternal grandmother, worked as an occasional midwife in Mexico.
According to the British Egg Information Service, one in a thousand eggs on average is a double-yolker. What are the chances of finding a half-dozen double-yolk eggs in a single box? One in a billion.
Perkins Tractors were a quack medical device that consisted of a steel rod and a brass rod. Inventor Elisha Perkins claimed they were rare alloys that could draw out “noxious electrical fluid that lay at the root of suffering” by simply passing them over the skin. Reportedly, George Washington bought a pair.
Bicycle Polo, which is recently repopularized, was invented in 1891. At the 1908 Olympics, Ireland beat Germany for the gold medal.
This article appears in January 20 • 2012.