Strange but true facts to scratch your head by

•Deborah Tannen, linguist and author of the best-selling book “You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation,” observed, “Saying that men talk about baseball in order to avoid talking about their feelings is the same as saying that women talk about their feelings in order to avoid talking about baseball.”

• Everyone is aware of — and many are annoyed by — the ubiquitous “elevator music,” but not many people are aware of its origins. In early elevators the riders could hear the noises of the mechanics, which made many of them nervous. To ease their tension, soothing music was piped in to cover up the ominous sounds.

• In the early 1700s, Edinburgh, Scotland, was a city of contrasts. Alcoholism was rampant — it was reported that even children drank whiskey every day. Despite all the drinking, though, the religious climate of the city was very strict. Every Sunday groups of religious police called “the Seizers” roamed the streets looking for people who were skipping church. Anyone so caught would be grabbed and taken immediately to Mass.

• Authorities estimate that at any given moment, there are approximately 65,000 people on airplane flights in the skies over the United States.