Trivia Galore

A feature writer once asked Bill Toomey, 1960s US athlete, “So how far can you actually throw the decathlon?”

The Malay name for a butterfly is kupu-kupou while moths are rama-rama. However, it is wise not to call a moth a ‘butterfly of the night’ – kupu-kupu malam – since this is the Malay for a hooker.

Bracken is the sole food plant of a mere 11 British insects and yet it covers an area of the UK the size of Yorkshire.

A frond of bracken can produce 30,000,000 spores.

A swan can have over 25,000 feathers.

In 1973, at Cranfield in Bedfordshire, a research station established to study the effects of wind had its roof blown off.

In Spain in 1540 a moth was caught and brought to trial accused of wilfully destroying an expensive tapestry. the moth was eventually found guilty and sentenced to have its ‘throat’ cut. (That Spanish Inquisition was a terrible thing!)

George Washington ate pickled tripe. (Can you get any more trivial than that??)

The word Lady comes from the Old English for bread-kneader.