· After his death, Alexander the Great's remains were preserved in a huge crock of honey. Ancient Egyptians commonly buried the dead in this manner.

· The population of the American colonies in 1610 was 350.

· In 1865, Virginia grew opium, and a product was distilled from it that yielded 4 percent morphine. In 1867, it was grown in Tennessee; six years later it was cultivated in Kentucky. During these years, opium, marijuana and cocaine could be purchased legally over the counter from any druggist.

· An electric eel can produce a shock of more than 600 volts, five times more powerful than a household outlet. It not only uses this power to kill its prey but to locate it as well ÷ though it is born with eyes, it is blind as an adult and employs its electricity to find food in much the same way as man uses radar.

· The words CHOICE and COD read the same when held in front of a mirror upside-down.

· The language of Taki, spoken in parts of French Guinea, consists of only 340 words.

· The act of snapping one's fingers has a name. It's called a "fillip."

· A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. That is why people are said to "unravel" the clues of a mystery.

· The original name for the butterfly was "flutterby."

· The term "hooker," meaning a prostitute, originated with U.S. Army General Joseph Hooker, whose penchant for war was matched only by his predilection for paid female companionship. In New Orleans during the Civil War, Hooker spent so much time frolicking with ladies of the night that the women came to be called "Hooker's division." Eventually, these specialized "troops" became known simply as "hookers."

· There are earthworms as short as one twenty-fifth of an inch and earthworms as long as 11 feet. The earthworm has no lungs; it breathes through its skin. Some earthworms have as many as ten hearts.