BEN-HUR’S WILD RIDE!

BIZARRE BUT TRUE!

EVERYTHING about the 1959 religious epic Ben-Hur was BIG — starting with the muscles of CHARLTON HESTON, who played a former galley slave who wins a nail-biting chariot race in the year A.D. 26! The movie had the largest sets Hollywood had ever seen, 100 people sewing costumes for 10,000 extras — and director William Wyler shot it in widescreen. Sadly, film historians say as many as 100 of the 2,500 horses used in the picture died during the shoot.

IT’S illegal to catch a fish with a lasso in Tennessee. People are only allowed to use a rod, reel and hook to fish.

GEORGIA cook Gayle Dudley was feted by her bosses for grilling 1 million steaks at the same restaurant in Macon. Gayle has worked 20 years for the LongHorn chain, which gave her a gold chef’s coat and $5,000.

RABBIT teeth never stop growing. They grow three to five inches annually but are worn down by eating so they never get too long.

WILLIAM McKINLEY was the first U.S. president to ride in an automobile called the Stanley Steamer. He didn’t enjoy the ride and worried the car would blow up or the driver would lose control.

ACTOR Richard Gere composed and performed the piano solo featured in the 1990 film Pretty Woman.