Strange BUT TRUE

• In 2006, an Athens court ordered the worship of the 12 gods of ancient Greece — including Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and others — to be unbanned.

• Vikings fed their wounded soldiers a strong onion soup to help gauge the depth of a stomach wound. After a few minutes, they would smell the wound and if they could smell the onion soup, they knew the wound was too deep and the soldier could not be saved.

• The “artificial strawberry flavor” in a McDonald’s milkshake is made up of around 45 chemicals.

• “Jeopardy!” contestants stand on adjustable platforms so that they all appear to be the same height on camera.

• On the last Sunday of November in Lopburi, Thailand, an annual Monkey Buffet Festival is held that provides food and drink to more than 2,000 local monkeys, as a thank you for drawing tourists to the town.

• The role of U.S. first lady isn’t reserved solely for the president’s wife. Historically, some first ladies have included nieces, sisters or daughters-in-law of the sitting president.

• The word “and” and the ampersand symbol (&) mean different things in movie credits. Two writers’ names joined with an ampersand means they collaborated, while “and” means they worked on the script at different times.

• Researchers have discovered that the Fritillaria delavayi plant, which has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for 2,000 years, has evolved camouflage in heavily harvested areas.

• In 1355, a dispute between two students from Oxford University and a local tavern owner over the quality of its wine grew so heated that it resulted in a three-day-long riot, which left 63 students and 30 locals dead.

••• Thought for the Day: “Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.”