Little things make big impact

Strange but True

• Historians claim that for all but three of the past 20 centuries, the world’s largest economy has been China.

• Yet another example of an ignominious demise is Marlon Pistol, a children’s entertainer. He was driving on a California freeway on the way to a party at which he was to be the main attraction when a balloon elephant — a 20-foot-long balloon elephant — spontaneously began to inflate in the back of his car, causing the crash that took his life.

• Have you ever been to Lost Springs, Wyo.? How about Ervings, N.H.; Hibberts, Maine; or New Amsterdam, Ind.? Probably not — each of these towns have a recorded population of just one person.

• The first coin ever minted in the United States reportedly had the motto “Mind Your Own Business” imprinted upon it.

• The last words of James M. Barrie, author of the beloved “Peter Pan” stories, were “I can’t sleep.”

• The ancient Inca Empire of South America poses many mysteries to modern students of history. One of the more puzzling of these mysteries is why the rulers were tall and had fair skin while most of their subjects were small and had dark skin.

• It’s been reported that a man named Stephen Bishop once wrote a little-known song called “I’m So Miserable Without You It’s Almost Like Having You Here.”

• Noted industrialist and tycoon John D. Rockefeller once offered a piece of advice on how to acquire wealth in the stock market. He said, “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”

• If a goose wants to look straight ahead, it has to turn its head.