Myrrh resin was a valuable product for what civilization?

Myrrh resin was a versatile, valuable commodity in the ancient world. Ancient Egyptians used it for perfume, as insect repellant and for embalming bodies. Throughout history, it’s been recommended for relieving symptoms of everything from gum disease to diarrhea. (Not that we’re recommending this.) Medical researchers continue to investigate its anti-microbial properties for treating wounds and skin inflammations.

Trivia question: According to legend, how did Cleopatra have herself smuggled into Julius Caesar’s palace?

A) Disguised as a soldier

B) In the Trojan Horse

C) Inside a giant cake

D) Rolled in a carpet

Though there’s evidence that ancient boxers wore hand protection when they fought, the boxing gloves we know today originated with a bareknuckle boxing champion named Jack Broughton. After he unintentionally killed a ring opponent in 1741, Broughton devised rules to make boxing safer and more sportsmanlike; prohibiting a boxer from hitting a downed opponent, for example. During workouts and at the training school he ran in London (where most of the students were aristocrats), he recommended wearing what he called “mufflers” to protect hands and cushion blows.

If such a thing as a “best-seller” existed in the 1530s, “De civilitate morum puerilium” (“On Civility in Children”) by the Dutch humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, might qualify as the bestselling book of its time. Written in Latin for the 11-year-old son of a nobleman, the book outlines proper manners and conduct for children to prepare them for adult society. Its lessons — from warnings against fidgeting at the dinner table to recommendations for disguising a fart in polite company — remain relevant today.

The nerpa, or Baikal seal, is the only seal that lives exclusively in fresh water — the water of Russia’s Lake Baikal, to be specific. Smaller than most seals, Baikal seals typically grow to be about 4 to 4 1/2 feet long and weigh 140 to 160 pounds. Archaeological evidence shows they’ve existed in Lake Baikal for hundreds of thousands of years. The question biologists haven’t yet answered is how the seals arrived in the remote, landlocked lake in the first place.

If you believe the TV show: America’s got talent. Know who else does? Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Cambodia, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar ... There have been 70 separate local versions of the “Got Talent” TV franchise, making it, possibly, the most widely viewed reality show format in the world.

Lhasa apso dogs originated in Tibet, where Buddhist monks bred them as companions and watchdogs for monasteries. (Despite their small size, they’re great protectors.) The breed arrived in the United States in the 1930s via explorer/adventurer Charles Suydam Cutting, who visited Tibet and received a pair of Lhasa apsos — a male named Taikoo and a female named Dinkai — as a personal gift from the 13th Dalai Lama.

Trivia answer: Cleopatra was rolled in a carpet and smuggled into the palace for a secret meeting with Julius Caesar.