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Illustration by Arnie Bermudez
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Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Things you always never wanted to know
Rennet, a common substance used to curdle milk and make cheese, is taken from the inner lining of the fourth stomach of a calf.
The nutritional value of squash and pumpkin seeds improves with age. These seeds are among the few foods that increase in nutritive value as they decompose.
Playing cards in India are round.
The custom of making Christmas wreaths can be traced to the belief that the crown of thorns that Christ was forced to wear when he was crucified was made of holly.
Josephine Clofullia, the most famous bearded lady of all time and a prominent attraction in P.T. Barnum's sideshow in the 19th century, had a beard six inches long when she was only 16. Josephine was an ardent admirer of the French monarch Napoleon III, and she styled her beard after his. This imitation so sincerely flattered the ruler that he sent Madame Clofullia a large diamond, which she wore, appropriately, in her beard.
Most varieties of spiders have eight eyes. These are arranged on top and near the front of the head, usually in two rows of four eyes.
Mother-of-pearl is not always white. It can be pink, blue, purple, gray and even green. It is not produced only by the pearl oyster. The abalone and the pearl mussel both have shells that are lined with fine-quality mother-of-pearl.
A surprising number of English words pertaining to the nose - its function, appearance and social connotations - begin with the letters S and N. For example: snarl, sneeze, snicker, sniff, snipe (a long-billed bird), snivel, snob, snoop, snoot, snore, snooty, snort, snot, snout, snuff and snuffle.
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