· In one year, hens in America lay enough eggs to encircle the globe a hundred times.

· The Boston Nation, a newspaper published in Ohio during the mid-19th century, had pages 7 1/2 feet long and 5 1/2 feet wide. It required two people to hold the paper in proper reading position.

· The term "freelance" was invented by Sir Walter Scott to refer to itinerant mercenary soldiers who sold their abilities to the highest bidder. At first, such soldiers were known as "free companions." Since they usually traveled with their own weapons, including lances, Scott dubbed them "free lancers."

· The initials BVD, which have come to stand for men's underwear in general, stand for the names of the three men who originally manufactured BVDs- Bradley, Voorhies and Day.

· President Grover Cleveland was a draft-dodger. He hired someone to enter the service in his place, for which he was ridiculed by his political opponent, James G. Blaine. It was soon discovered, however, that Blaine had done the same thing himself.

· Studies in modern China have found that one can predict weather with 80 percent accuracy by monitoring the croaking of frogs. A peasant named Chang Chi-Tsai devised the following formula, which has been adopted by millions of Chinese farmers and peasants: "If frogs croak on a fine day, it will rain in two days. If frogs croak after rain, there will be fine weather. It will continue to rain if frogs do not croak after successive overcast days."

· Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses (1860-1961), the famous American artist, did not start painting full-time until she was in her 70s. Once she began, however, she was nothing if not prolific. She painted steadily until the year she died, and her total output was about 1,600 paintings and 85 ceramic tiles.