Fancy That!

Facts to make you go“WOW!”

◆ RUDYARD KIPLING WAS NAMED AFTER RUDYARD LAKE, A RESERVOIR NEAR LEEK, WHERE HIS PARENTS COURTED.

◆ Big Daddy’s wrestling costumes were made by his wife Eunice.

◆ THE DEVIL’S ROPE MUSEUM IN TEXAS CELEBRATES BARBED WIRE.

The Chinese invented paper envelopes in the second century BC. THE AVERAGE AGE FOR FIRST MARRIAGES IS 32 FOR MEN AND 30 FOR WOMEN. ◆ The term “to sandwich”, meaning to put something between two other things, only came into use 100 years after bread sandwiches were first named. ◆ THE LEATHER FROM ONE COWHIDE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE 18 FOOTBALLS.

◆ Ducktail Danny, Uncanny Annie, Plaistow Patricia and Billericay Dicky are all characters in Ian Dury songs.

◆ THE ELK CLONER WAS THE FIRST WIDESPREAD COMPUTER VIRUS, WHICH SPREAD THROUGH APPLE COMPUTERS VIA FLOPPY DISCS IN 1981. ◆ An analysis of phone calls by 35 million people across Europe, found most call just four people on a regular basis.

◆ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WALKING AND RUNNING IS THAT AT LEAST ONE FOOT IS ALWAYS ON THE GROUND WHEN YOU WALK. ◆ Not counting potatoes, the average household spends just £4.20 a week on fresh vegetables.

◆ IN UNIVERSITY SLANG A BNOC IS A BIG NAME ON CAMPUS. ◆ Rotherhithe takes its name from the old English word “hythe”, meaning “landing place.”

◆ THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CUP OF TEA WAS 10FT TALL, 8FT ACROSS AND HELD 4000 LITRES.

◆ The surname Madison originally meant son of Maud. ◆ ACCORDING TO RECENT RESEARCH, BOTH RATS AND TOADS FLEE AN AREA BEFORE AN EARTHQUAKE HITS.

Ray Davies of the Kinks didn’t own a pair of jeans until 1989, because he didn’t consider them to be proper trousers Beneath their white coats, polar bear skin is black