Trivia

Spanish explorers along the Gulf Coast saw big reptiles all over the place. You can hear in your ear how their “El Lagarto” - meaning “the lizard” - wound up as our “alligator.”

The cobra may elect not to inject its venom when it bites. About half the people bitten develop no poison symptoms.

Unsurprising report: The president of Iceland eats fish for lunch every day.

Q. Why are the aisle seats in an airplane’s passenger cabin more dangerous than the others?

A. Whatever falls out of the overhead can land there.

Indira Gandhi made the point: “You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.”

Q. Who was the model for the Statue of Liberty?

A. Two models. Sculptor Frederic Bartholdi patterned the facial features after those of his mother, Charlotte, and the body after that of his girlfriend, Jeannie Emilie. Or so the imaginative historical footnote writers aver.

Q. How long have standard golf courses had 18 holes?

A. About 233 years at this writing. Scotland’s St. Andrews set the pattern. Earlier, it had 22 holes with fairways only 40 yards wide. Then in 1764 it remodeled, cutting down to 18 holes with wider fairways.