10 things we learned last year

1 Supermodel Heidi Klum’s legs were

insured for $2.2 million. ‘Actually, one was more expensive than the other,’ the 49-year-old, pictured below, told The Ellen Show, ‘because when I was young, I fell on to some glass, leaving me with a big scar.’ Her scarred left leg was insured for $1million; the right one for $1.2million. 2

The inventor Thomas Edison interviewed potential research assistants over a bowl of soup. He wanted to see if they added salt and pepper before or after tasting food. Premature seasoners failed the test, as it showed they were overly reliant on assumptions and lacked curiosity. 3

Most Britons think the country is more diverse than it actually is. According to YouGov, they believe 20 per cent of the population is black (in fact, it’s three per cent); 15 per cent is Muslim (actually four per cent); five per cent transgender (no more than 0.6 per cent); and 15 per cent gay and lesbian (in truth, 1.8 per cent). 4

Edward VII instituted ‘Sandringham time’ at the Royal estate. It was half an hour ahead of GMT, giving the King more daylight for hunting on winter evenings. 5

China’s navy is growing by the equivalent of the entire French fleet every four years. 6

Jilly Cooper had to rewrite Riders, her first big novel, from scratch. When she was one chapter from finishing, she left her only copy of the manuscript on the bus home after a boozy lunch at Langan’s in Mayfair. 7

TikTok’s biggest stars earn more than US business chiefs. Charli D’Amelio, an 18-year-old with 149.2 million followers, made £12.8 million last year. The median pay for top CEOs was £9.6million. But the big money is to be made on YouTube. Jimmy Donaldson, 24, aka MrBeast, earned £39 million from videos of stunts in 2022.

8

The Queen never ate square sandwiches, according to former royal chef Graham Newbould. He explained that it was believed anyone presenting a monarch with pointyedged food ‘is trying to overthrow the throne’. For afternoon tea, HM was served circular ‘jam penny’ sandwiches.

9

London gets less rain than Rome, Venice and Nice. Also, South East England has lower annual rainfall than Jerusalem and Beirut.

10

To avoid paying for meals, surrealist artist Salvador Dali would doodle on the back of his cheques, realising that restaurant owners would then never cash them.

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