Trivia

What do you know about the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg? His visions and writings inspired followers to set up the Church of the New Jerusalem after his death. Among U.S. believers was the eccentric John Chapman, more widely known as Johnny Appleseed. He missionaried for more than the blossoms in the spring.

King Henry IV of France observed the order of his own priorities when he said: “There are only two beautiful things in the world: roses and women.”

Look at your shadow just before sunset. It will point precisely toward the place on the eastern horizon where the moon will come up.

Q. Isn’t music banned among Pennsylvania’s traditional Amish?

A. Not music, just musical instruments. So they arrange their vocals to sound like pipe organs. You won’t hear them unless you’re with them, incidentally. They won’t let their music be broadcast.

Indelicacies: However much blood is in 25 cows, that’s how much 100 vampire bats, if lively and lucky, lap up in a year.

Q. What’s the largest member of the deer family that ever lived?

A. The Irish elk. Smallest, the Chilean Pudu, about the size of a rabbit.