Trivia

Wake Island is the main island. Just plain Wake is the whole group, including Wilkes and Peale.

Among the historical footnotes about France is the claim that King Louis XIV ordered a new perfume to be concocted for him every day.

Sign posted in a loan company office: “Ask about our plans for owning your home.”

Who was the first U.S. president to take office in time of war? You’ve got it: Harry Truman.

Monkeys give birth at night.

Did you throw a party in 1996 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of chop suey? Neither did I. Slipped up. That dish was first concocted in New York City in 1896, and we behave as though we didn’t care.

Q. Was divorce common in ancient Rome?

A. Among the upper classes, it was, indeed. Seneca wrote, “…Distinguished ladies count their years … by the number of their husbands.”

Shopping malls hired about 7,500 Santas this year, according to the estimators.

Rapid reply: No, sir, none of Mexico is due south of Los Angeles.

Spies of fiction always seem to have known letters can’t be steamed open if sealed with egg white. But lengthy research fails to document any instance wherein a real spy so sealed a message.