STRANGE BUT TRUE

z Charles Darwin once conducted a study to discover whether more people with brown hair existed because they were more dependable and likely to settle down and get married. The results were inconclusive.

z In the 1940s during World War II, interest in continental knitting, or knitting with the yarn in one’s left hand, decreased because of its origins in Germany, while English knitting, or knitting with the yarn in the right hand, gained popularity.

z Many of us will not be surprised to learn that approximately five months of a person’s life is spent waiting in a car at red lights.

z Looking to retire at age 65? You might want to reconsider, as scientists have noted that employees should keep working until they turn 80, but the good news is that for optimal productivity, they should also only work 25 hours a week.

z The Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan denounced the Beatles as atheistic, and Klan members picketed the band’s concerts during their 1966 U.S. tour.

z 7UP was originally called “Biblabel Lithiated Lemon-lime Soda” and, until 1948, contained the mood-stabilising drug lithium citrate. One theory claims its abbreviated moniker originated from its seven ingredients – sugar, carbonated water, essence of lemon and lime oils, citric acid, sodium citrate and lithium citrate, with “UP” referring to the lithium-induced mood lift.

z Speaking of product name changes, L’oreal was founded as the French Harmless Hair Dye Company.

z A 1991 study revealed that female politicians who employed Hollywood makeup artists were 30 per cent more likely to win their elections.