Illustration by Arnie Bermudez

· According to some scholars, "Mother Goose" was an actual person. Her name was Elizabeth Vergoose, and she is believed to have collected and perhaps written some of the most famous English nursery rhymes. Her son-in-law, a printer named Thomas Fleet, is often credited with publishing the first book of her rhymes in Boston in 1719. Unfortunately, no copies of this book exist to prove the case.

· "You sock-dologizing old mantrap" were the last words ever heard by Abraham Lincoln. They were spoken by an actor named Asa Trenchard in the play "Our American Cousin." The roars of laughter that followed these lines drowned out the sound of gunshots fired by John Wilkes Booth.

· Sound travels 15 times more swiftly through steel than through air.

· The longest human life in modern times was that of Javier Pereira, a Zenu Indian from Colombia. Pereira died in 1955 in his hometown of Monteria at the age of 166. His age was attested to by friends, municipal records and Pereira himself, who could remember with great clarity the battle of Cartagena (fought in 1815), various Indian massacres, and a famous famine. Toward the end of his life, a bemused Pereira was brought to New York, where he was examined by a coterie of medical experts. Though they found him remarkably well-preserved, with the blood pressure of a young man, arteries intact, a good heart and a clear mind, they conceded that he was indeed a very, very old man, "more than 150 years old." When quizzed on his formula for longevity, Pereira advised, "Don't worry, drink lots of coffee, and smoke a good cigar.

· Pollen never deteriorates. It is one of the few naturally secreted substances that lasts indefinitely.

· All of the gold in the world would fit into a single block measuring 18 cubic yards.