Fast facts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Things you always never wanted to know
With both sides willing, the Roman Empire and Persia signed "The Endless Peace" treaty in 533 A.D. They were back at war with each other within seven years.
In 1961, Henri Matisse's painting, "Le Bateau" ("The Boat"), hung upside down in New York's Museum of Modern Art. It remained upside down for 47 days until someone noticed. It's estimated nearly 1,216,000 people passed in front of the painting before the error was noted.
The first novel, "The Story of Genji," was written in 1007 by Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese noble woman.
Rodin died of frostbite in 1917 when the French government refused him financial aid for a flat, yet they kept his statues warmly housed in museums.
When Jonathan Swift published Gulliver's Travels in 1926, he intended it as a satire on the ferociousness of human nature. Today, it is enjoyed as a children's story.
In medieval times, church bells were often consecrated to ward off evil spirits. Because thunderstorms were attributed to the work of demons, the bells would be rung in an attempt to stop the storms. Several bell ringers were killed by lightning.
The British, the highest per capita spenders on music, buy 7.2% of the world music market.