Genghis Khan used carrier pigeons to relay commands across Asia and Eastern Europe.

Ben Burtt, co-winner of a special achievement award at the Oscars for sound effects editing in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, used his own toilet tank cover to produce the sound of the opening of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.

In the Victorian age, a three-tined protospork was used exclusively for eating ice cream on a plate.

Delaware was named after the governor of Virginia, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr. The Indigenous people there called themselves the Lenape.

During a 2018 interview, Alex Trebek expressed his own preference for who should replace him on Jeopardy – the NHL Los Angeles Kings’ TV play-by-play announcer, Alex Faust.

Only humans and some primates react badly to poison ivy, so it’s not a matter of self-protection evolution. Climate change is making the poison stronger.

This article appears in January 28 • 2022.

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