Trivia

Warrior chiefs in what’s now England once picked out special-duty soldiers by tapping the toughest fighters on their helmets. Each so tapped was designated without a whole lot to say about it.

Iroquois women, not men, worked the soil, so owned it. They grew the food, so owned it. They built the lodges, so owned them. Some historians still depict those women as serf sorts. They weren’t. Game hunts were exceptions. Mostly, though, where Iroquois men slept and what they ate was pretty much up to the women.

Can you refute the claim that a pig always sleeps on its right side?

It was Henry Kissinger who said: “The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.”

IBM is reported to be the company with the most U.S. patents.

“French toast” was invented to use up stale bread.

Q. Pralines were named after the man who invented them, right?

A. No, after the man whose butler invented them. Concocted by a servant of the French diplomat Count Plessis-Praslin, they were first called “Praslin’s,” then “pralines.” The creative butler’s name is not in the record.