Strange BUT TRUE

• It was American poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay — the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, by the way — who made the following sage observation: “A person who publishes a book appears willfully in public with his pants down.”

• It’s often been said that necessity is the mother of invention — and for good reason. Here’s an example: The idea for the original pull-top can originated when the inventor was at a picnic; he had forgotten to bring a can opener, so he had to use a car bumper.

• If you live in Georgia, you need to watch that wagging tongue: In that state it’s illegal to spread a false rumor.

• According to cetologists, an adult right whale requires 400,000 calories a day to survive. These scientists who specialize in whales also note that the mainstay of these mammals’ diet is a flea-sized crustacean called a copepod.

• If you’re right-handed, studies show that you tend to wash your left hand more thoroughly than your right hand. Reverse that if you’re a leftie.

• A study of 28 women found that screaming has a therapeutic effect on the physiology of the body. After bouts of screaming, the test subjects showed slower heart rates, lower blood pressure and lower body temperature.

• Those who study such things — and who, evidently, have way too much time on their hands — claim that there are 108 stitches in a baseball.

• If you take into account all the sales in the world, there are approximately 50 Bibles sold every minute.

Thought for the Day:

“For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.”