Elvis Presley�s mom, Gladys, gave him his own silverware to use at the school cafeteria.
Archaeologists at the University of Naples believe Marco Polo may have been a con man who never made it farther than the Black Sea. Instead of traveling to faraway places like China, he may have collected stories from other people.
Modern buttermilk evolved in the 1920s. In the 18th century, it was a by-product of making butter, not a sour, yogurty beverage.
In 1975, India had about 600 million people and 2 million phone lines, so having a phone was a luxury. If you wanted to call another city, you had to book a “trunk call” and wait all day to be connected. Or you could pay eight times the going rate for a “lightning call,” which took a half hour.
According to writer Jonathan Gottschall, an average daydream is about 14 seconds long and we have about 2,000 of them a day.
This article appears in May 18 • 2012.