- Lewis Hamilton is named after US sprinter Carl Lewis.
- Bolivian President Evo Morales sacrifices llamas for good luck.
- Drinking aftershave (among other things) has been blamed for half of all deaths of Russian men of working age.
- Pickpockets watch for those who react to signs warning of their presence, as many people will pat their wallet on reading the notice.
- 18% of all new homes are built on residential land, up from 11% a decade ago.
- As recently as the early 1980s, mortgages were rationed.
- Only two judges have been fired since 1701's Act of Settlement gave the Lord Chancellor alone that power. The first was in in 1830, for stealing court funds; the second was in 1983, for smuggling whiskey and cigarettes into Britain on a private yacht.
- Prince Philip came to be venerated as an island god because villagers in Vanuatu have for centuries believed that a pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit had ventured across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry. The Duke of Edinburgh has been the focus of this legend since the 1960s.
- Jail and prison are not the same thing in the United States - it depends on the size and governing body of the facility. Paris Hilton, for instance, is in jail, not prison.
- Blood can turn a dark greenish-black - like a Vulcan's - if taking a certain type of migraine medication.
(Source: BBC)
