Fastfacts

Things you've always never wanted to know

• King John of England issued the Magna Carta in 1215 by placing his seal on it. He needed to use the seal because he didn't know how to write his name.

• When Thomas Edison received a gold medal from Congress in 1928, his inventions were said to be worth $25 billion to humanity.

• Edison, also known as "the Wizard of Menlo Park," had a collection of 5,000 birds.

• Despite their reputation as cowardly scavengers that feed off the remains of carcasses left by lions, hyenas are active and brave hunters whose main prey is healthy, adult wildebeest and zebras rather than sick or helpless animals. They will even take on a half-ton African buffalo.

• In Russia, dogs have been trained to sniff out ore deposits that contain iron sulfides.

• The founding fathers of the United States encouraged making and drinking beer and ale as temperance beverages instead of hard liquor. To aid the establishment and growth of breweries in the U.S., James Madison urged the first Congress to place a heavy duty on imported beer.

• During President Rutherford B. Hayes' term in office (1877 to 1881), he kept all wines and alcohol out of the White House. A steward spiked the Roman punch that was served mid-meal as a palate refresher, which became known as the "Life-Saving Station," and Hayes and his wife (known as Lemonade Lucy) never caught on.

• By the 18th century, apple pie had become so popular in America that Yale served it every night at supper. This continued for more than a century, and nobody needed a CatCard.

• By law, the U.S. Census Bureau may not share information about an individual with any other federal agency. As a result, the bureau refused to turn over to government authorities a list of all the names it had of individuals of Japanese origin when the U.S. was rounding up persons of Japanese descent and herding them into internment camps after Pearl Harbor.