Denmark produces as many as 12 million Christmas trees a year, and about 10 million of those go to other countries.

“Auld Lang Syne” is an old Scottish poem that translates literally to “old long since,” but its meaning is closer to “times gone by.”

Charles William Post, inventor of Grape-Nuts Cereal, also founded the city of Post, Texas. Post tried to have explosives detonated in the atmosphere to artificially create rain there. The experiments failed.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, in 2019 the agency found an average of 85 firearms a week at airport security checkpoints, for a record of 4,432 guns for the year. As of July 2020, the rate was three times higher than July 2019, despite reduced travel caused by the pandemic.

In 1794, Welsh inventor Philip Vaughan was the first person to receive a patent for the ball bearing.

This article appears in January 8 • 2021.

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