STRANGE BUT TRUE

• It was computer guru Jef Raskin who made the following sage observation: “Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.”

• The Secret Service is wellknown today as the protector of the U.S. president, so you might be surprised to learn that it was originally established to fight counterfeit currency.

• The world record for the most published works by a single author is held by L. Ron Hubbard (who also, incidentally, founded the Church of Scientology). His first work was published in February 1934, and his final work — number 1,084 — was published in March 2006.

• Doubtless you've heard of the Taj Mahal in India, but did you know that there is a tourist attraction in America that is so grand it is popularly known as the Taj Mahal of the West? In 1968, a group of Hare Krishnas founded the New Vrindaban Community near Wheeling, West Virginia. Though they began on 100 acres with no electricity or running water, the community now covers more than 1,200 acres and features Prabhupada's Palace of Gold, an ornate edifice of gold, marble and hand-carved teakwood. The award-winning rose garden alone is said to be worth a trip.

• Those who study such things claim that in the wild, animals don't die of old age.

• The town of Key Largo, Florida, did not exist before the 1948 film of that name starring Humphrey Bogart made it famous.

• Due to a series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812, the Mississippi River ran backward for a time.

Thought for the Day:

“To fall in love is to create a religion that has a fallible god.” — Jorge Luis Borges