Which innocent-looking fruit are grenades named after?

Grenades take their name from the French word for pomegranate, the fist-sized fruit that bursts forth with seeds when you open it. Explosive weapons aside, pomegranates are a traditional symbol of fertility and vitality (what with the bursting seeds and all). That’s why you’ll see pomegranates on the coats of arms of medical associations, such as the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom.

Trivia question: Who’s the firefighter character in the “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” series?

A) Ash

B) Barbecue

C) Ember

D) Flamekiller

The world’s longest train tunnel, the 35-mile Gotthard Base Tunnel, is scheduled to open later this year in Switzerland. It will run directly through the Gotthard Massif in the Alps with a flat track to accommodate high-speed trains. Drilling and blasting for the two-track tunnel started in 1999 and continued until the excavation crews at each end reached a “breakthrough” in October 2010.

St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters. You’ll sometimes see his likeness at fire stations, depicted with the single bucket of water that legend says he used to save an entire city from burning. Today, the four-sided symbol used to designate firefighting services is known as the Florian Cross.

New York has the dubious distinction of being the state where the most presidents have died. James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester Arthur, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon make a total of nine presidents who breathed their last in the Empire State.

Vangelis gave us the “Chariots of Fire” theme in 1981. (Think athletes running on the beach.) Since then, the theme has been used in “Mr. Mom,” “Good Burger,” the live-action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Old School,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Kicking and Screaming,” “Madagascar,” and both “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and its 2015 reboot. Talk about going the distance...

According to the American Kennel Club, the first Akita dog registered in the U.S. belonged to a military officer from Montana. But it was Helen Keller, deafblind political and social activist, who brought Akitas to the attention of the American dog-loving public. She received one as a gift during a visit to Japan in 1937 and named her Kamikaze-Bo. When “Kami” died, Keller acquired another Akita who she named Kenzan-Go, or “Go-Go.”

Trivia answer: Gabriel Kelly, nicknamed Barbecue, is the firefighter character in the “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” toy and video franchise.

Elman