Strange BUT TRUE

• It was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, communist revolutionary and the first leader of the Soviet Union, who made the following sage observation: “One fool can ask more questions in a minute than 12 wise men can answer in an hour.”

• Back in 1893, when the zipper was invented, the device was intended to be used for fastening shoes.

• When the TV sitcom “The Addams Family” was being cast in the early 1960s, actor John Astin came in to audition for the role of Lurch, the cadaverous butler. He was immediately rejected for the part. As he was leaving the room, though, the producer spotted him, pulled him aside, and immediately offered him the role of Gomez — the lead. All he had to do was grow a mustache.

• What do the words “obscene,” “tranquil,” “mediate,” “catastrophe,” “dire,” “critical,” “vast” and “apostrophe” have in common? All of them appeared in print for the first time in the works of William Shakespeare.

• As the Black Plague was sweeping Europe during the Middle Ages, some people, for reasons surpassing understanding, believed that plague victims could cure themselves by smelling human waste.

• The United States isn’t the only country that has an accolade to recognize excellence in the film industry. Here the awards are known as the Oscars, but other nations have their own names for the awards: In Canada they’re known as Genies, in France they’re Cesars, in Russia they’re called Nikas, in Mexico they’re Golden Ariels, in Spain they’re known as Goyas, and in the United Kingdom they’re called Orange British Academy Film Awards.

*** Thought for the Day: “The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.” — Florence Scovel Shin