Les Paul invented the neck-worn harmonica holder.

Early English mariners discovered that using crushed African daisy flowers would kill roaches on their ship, which resulted in a body lice epidemic among the men. The roaches were quickly welcomed back.

In 1894, Frederick Weeks Wilcox of Chicago, Ill., patented the paper pail used commonly for Chinese food.

Horoscope is Greek for hora (hour) and skopein (to look at); that is, the hour of birth could foretell one’s future from the position of planets and stars in relation to the time of birth.

You can’t give a friend an umbrella in China because the words for “apart” and “umbrella” sound the same.

This article appears in July 8 • 2016.

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