By Samantha Weaver

• It was 18th-century French writer Sebastien Nicolas de Chamfort who made the following sage observation: “Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot prevent from barking.”

• You might be surprised to learn that famed British author Aldous Huxley, best-known for his dystopian novel “Brave New World,” was a consultant on Disney’s 1951 animated film version of “Alice in Wonderland.”

• If you bring to mind an image of John Lennon, more likely than not you’ll see him in your mind’s eye wearing a pair of round spectacles. In July 2007, a single pair of those iconic glasses was sold at auction for a whopping $2 million.

• The tongue of the alligator is fastened to the jaw all the way around. That’s why you’ll never see a gator stick out its tongue.

• You might be surprised to learn that the kilt originated not in Scotland, but in France.

• You probably know that certain species of snakes can grow to enormous size, with the longest specimens reaching upward of 30 feet in length and the heaviest weighing more than 400 pounds. Kind of makes you wonder what these monstrous serpents eat — and you might be surprised. According to reports, a pet python named Houdini swallowed a queensize electric blanket. Even more amazingly, after a two-hour operation, the snake lived!

• Those who track radio statistics say Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” is the most-requested song in the United States — and this despite the fact that it was never released as a single on this side of the Atlantic.

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Thought for the Day: “There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?”