Strange BUT TRUE

• Deceased scientists and researchers who have contributed to the study of Mars will, in a sense, live forever on the red planet: Craters larger than 37 miles are named in their honor.

• Hans Steininger, who is said to have had the longest beard in the world, died in 1567 from tripping over that beard while running from a fire.

• The blue whale is earth’s largest living creature, surpassing even most dinosaurs. Not only can it reach over 100 feet in length and weigh more than 100 tons, but its heart can tip the scale at 1,300 pounds and is the size of a small car, while its arteries are big enough for a full-grown human to swim through — not that we recommend you go for a swim and attempt it.

• In 2007, Iran claimed 14 squirrels found near the nation’s borders were actually spies.

• New York City’s Flatiron building used to cause enough downdrafts to lift the skirts of women passing by, giving a then-daring view of their legs and ankles. The phenomenon resulted in groups of young men regularly gathering on 23rd Street to watch.

• People with autism are less likely to catch yawns.

• The record for most times being hit by a baseball pitch — a whopping 287 — belongs to Hughie Jennings, who finally got smart and retired in 1918.

• A bizarre form of Victorian-era entertainment was the “Fasting Girl.” Young women appeared in public exhibits and dazzled spectators with claims that they ate nothing at all. Obviously they munched in secret and most were eventually caught at it, though, tragically, some starved to death in a bid for authenticity.

••• Thought for the Day: “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” — Pericles