Strange BUT TRUE

• Humans are the only primates without pigment in the palms of their hands.

• American alligator blood contains a serum that is so effective at combating bacteria and viruses, even alligators that lose limbs in mucky swamps often avoid infection.

• Irish author James Joyce was a great fan of Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen’s plays. How great? He learned basic Norwegian just to send Ibsen a fan letter.

• There’s a Facebook group called “Best Day of My Life: When I Realized the Old Brewers Logo Was a Ball & Glove AND the Letters M & B.”

• China has the largest population of smokers in the world — 316 million people — accounting for nearly one-third of the world’s smokers and 40% of tobacco consumption worldwide. But just more than 2% of Chinese women smoke, compared with more than half of all Chinese men.

• The term “deadline” dates to the American Civil War. Lines in the dirt would be drawn around prisoners. If they crossed one, they would be executed by their guards. Not surprisingly, both prisoners and guards soon took to calling such a line the “deadline.”

• Philematology is the scientific study of kissing.

• Research has shown that men who kiss their wives goodbye live about five years longer, make up to 30% more money and are involved in fewer car accidents than those who don’t.

• As if that weren’t enough, kissing even helps keep your teeth healthy, by causing an increase in saliva, which helps wash away plaque.

Thought for the Day: “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” — James Arthur Baldwin