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The Monkees sold more albums than the Beatles.

The previous Pope’s first job was as an insurance clerk in Warsaw.

It is possible to survive by eating just paper.

The rights to all Robbie Williams records are owned by Hairy Cornflake Dave Lee Travis.

The US was spending $6billion a day during the Gulf War in 1991.

The final bill after the initial conflict came to over $100billion.

The Fort Knox Gold Depository in the US holds over $150 trillion worth of gold bars.

The National Health Service alone uses enough power cable to stretch to Jupiter? and back again.

Tom Cruise is a qualified accountant.

In 1989 the UK?s highest paid television presenter was Les Dennis.

In 1977 Children?s Newscaster, John Craven was arrested for alleged spying activities in St Petersburg. He spent two months in the Lubyanka prison undergoing torture and interrogation until US President Gerald Ford and UK PM James Callaghan demanded his return.

Gangster Al Capone?s body is buried under platform 6 at King?s Cross station.

Coronation Street?s Brian Mosely who played bumbling shopkeeper, Alf Roberts was an accomplished stuntman and has often doubled for Sean Connery in James Bond. He even performed the jump off the car park in Get Carter (1971).

65% of dogs in the UK are male. Nobody knows why there is such an imbalance.

Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair buys his shoes from Edward Green in Jermyn Street, London. They cost over ?1000 per pair.

The queen?s dog handler is officially the highest paid member of the royal court.

Countdown?s Richard Whitley was the second Milky Bar Kid in 1954.

Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen after his death in 1966 with the hope of being rejuvenated when medical science improves. His body lies entombed deep within Cinderella?s castle in Disney World Florida.

Princess Diana?s 1981 Ford Escort was sold last year for ?100,000. Its retail value in normal circumstances is ?350. Naturally, it was sold to an American.

In 1990, the Four Seasons Hotel in NY called the singer and actor Richard Harris to say his Rolls-Royce had been left parked in their garage. Harris replied that he didn?t have a Rolls-Royce and that he was anyway banned from the hotel in 1976. It turned out the actor had parked it there on his last fateful visit. He duly paid an outstanding garage bill of $18,000 for the return of his car.

At any one time, only 3 people know the secret recipe for Coca Cola. Their identities are top secret, but one of them is rumoured to be comedian Bill Cosby, a shareholder in the company since 1972.

Sterling Moss received three penalty points on his driving licence for riding a moped on a motorway in 1991.

The oldest cat on the world is Tigger, the Siamese at 32 years old.He lives with his owner Fred Jones in Chippenham, Wiltshire.

Michael Winner is barred from over one hundred restaurants in London.

Bruno Brooks, former Radio 1 DJ, is a convicted burglar.

The racehorse, Red Rum, was sold to his owner for 30 guineas (?31.50).

Despite earning millions of pounds with his successful TV show, Benny Hill still lived in his mother?s ?40,000 semi up until his death in 1992 aged 67.

Madcap drummer, Keith Moon, died in the same West London flat where singer Mama Cass choked to death on a sandwich a couple of years earlier.

Simon Groom, Blue Peter presenter from 1977 to 1983, is now the UK?s wealthiest self employed farmer. He has a personal wealth of over ?75million (Source: The Sunday Times Rich List - 1998).

The oldest spider in captivity, in the world is Zee Zee the Maraconda Tarantula. It is kept at London?s Regents Park zoo and is 19 years old.

In a survey conducted by Mori, London Taxi Drivers were considered the most narrow-minded professionals in the South East. This demographic was closely followed by female secretaries from Kent.

The pigment in moon rock that makes it glow blue-green at night is the same as the one that gives blue cheese its colour.

Due to massive under budgeting, the Russian nuclear deterrent system still has reel to reel computer data banks based on late 1960?s technology. The system is so outmoded that a flock of birds could be misinterpreted as an incoming ICBM attack. The system used to be set to automatically launch a counter-attack in such a situation. Fortunately, a manual override was enforced in 1989, although alcoholism is rife amongst the administration staff. (Source: Scientific Review 1997)

A staunch feminist, Colonel Gadaffi?s force of personal bodyguards is made up entirely of women.

Charlie Chaplin?s walking stick and hat were sold for $1,030,000 at Sotheby?s New York in 1992.

The first animal in space was a dog called Laika who was sent into orbit on Sputnik in 1957. She was in space for 3 days before her oxygen ran out. She received a posthumous doctorate in physics from Moscow University in 1958.

The first atomic reaction was conducted within a makeshift pile of household bricks on a squash court in Massachusetts University in 1942.

67% of cat deaths in the UK are caused by cars driving over them.

91% of female nurses have had a lesbian experience of some description.

18% of gynaecologists have had a sexual relationship with a patient.

French police must carry a whistle at all times.

The franking machine is so called because of its inventor?s name - Frank Goldstein. The first machines were called Goldies.

The hearing aide is not known as an ?aide? because it performs the task of ?aiding? hearing. It is so called because of the inventor?s name, Aidriolov Gorsky, a Russian refugee dentist.
95% of the Cornflakes are made in the US.

The most successful calculator of all time was the Casio Digitask, produced between 1980 and 1983. It sold over 2 billion units.

The German?s are the worlds biggest consumers of crisps per capita.

The Italians are, per capita, the world?s biggest consumers of matches.

A lobster contains more nicotine than 7 packets of cigarettes. It is also the constituent ingredient of Nicotine patches.

Cats actually have a kind of built in tracking system connected to its whiskers that allows them to hunt, stun and capture their prey. This fact was discovered by Desmond Morris in 1995 during laboratory testing.

Privileges offered to the head boys in the 6th form at Radley College up until 1996 included being able to grow a beard, smoke a pipe and keeping a goat in their rooms.
When the tsars Government attempted to assassinate Gregoire Rasputin, they spiked his bottle of vodka with enough cyanide to kill a horse. He proceeded to drink four bottles with no apparent ill effects (apart from being drunk). They then shot him 8 times. After surviving this, he made his escape but drunkenly fell into the frozen river. He couldn?t swim and drowned.

In 1945, during the first few moments of the atomic bomb detonation in the Los Alamos desert, Scientists were so surprised at the enormous explosion that they feared the upper atmosphere would be ignited, ending all life in the US. President Truman was quickly informed and immediately made preparations to escape to Europe. The fears were unfounded as the explosion subsided soon after.

The appearance of Henry Cooper in the ?Brut? adverts in the 1970?s is not just another celebrity endorsement. Cooper actually owned the company until 1987 when he sold it to BAT for ?45 million.

The longest hose in the world is over 35 miles long. Because of the inaccessibility of Mangsolu, a remote village in China, the hose pipe is attached to the main fire station in Beijing, and has only ever been used once. Smoking is also outlawed in the village.

Sharon Davies, the Olympic swimmer smoked 30 full strength cigarettes a day right up until 1998, when a bout of bronchial pneumonia forced her to stop.

The most expensive shirt ever sold was bought my Mohammed Al Fayed in 1983 from Jermyn Street outfitter Turnbull and Asser. It cost ?73,000 and was made from gold sovereigns and leopard skin.

Great white sharks are allergic to gold.This amazing fact was discovered when naturalist and shark fan Dwight O? Mahoney was eaten alive in the Atlantic Ocean. When the body of the murderous fish was discovered, routine tests showed that Great White sharks carry a blood compound, Dizanochlorystyroid that reacts violently when contact is made with the element Au (gold). Dwights ear stud was more than enough to create this reaction.

The computer mouse was patented in 1967.

Scottish singer Isla St. Clare is married to ex-Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Paul Condon.

The highest selling single in Australia was Two Little Boys, by Rolf Harris, selling over 700,000 copies in three weeks.

Ling Chung of Tokyo became the youngest person to win a place at Oxford University in 1969, at 9 years 4mths. She graduated with an MA in Physics in 1974 aged 13.

The whole world?s population of 7 billion could fit onto the Isle of Wight. Space would, however be restricted to 1sq metre per person.

Singer Stevie Wonder actually holds a valid pilot?s license. He has been blind from birth.
10 men in the UK died last year from thromastosis - thrombosis of the penal gland - caused by masturbating too much. And contrary to popular belief, because of the collection of pressure sensitive blood vessels from the penis leading to the eyes, masturbating does make you go blind although you would have to do it several times a month for over a year to cause any permanent damage.

The late Labour Leader John Smith actually dropped dead from a heart attack whilst being interviewed with Austin Mitchell on BBC North East?s breakfast show in 1993. ?Live? interviews would forever hold a certain degree of irony for the show?s presenter, Duncan McGreevy.

Murray Walker did not pass his driving test until he was 31.

Des Lynam was the UK fly fishing champion in 1961.

The highest paid TV presenter in 1980 was Gordon Burns. At the time he was earning ?67,000 per annum. In real terms, this makes him twice as in demand than Chris Tarrant.

Amazingly, Great Britain has the best record for train punctuality and rail safety in Europe, beating France and its so called ?Flagship of Europe? rail system by a ratio of 2-1 in customer satisfaction and tardiness surveys.

The classical violinist, Nigel Kennedy, is not diamond wide boy geezer that he makes out. In fact his official name is Viscount Nigel Cornston-Kennedy.

Fat man and politician John Prescott once cycled from John o’Groats to Lands End for charity in 1974.

The most expensive new watch ever sold in the UK was sold to Jimmy Saville in 1996 for ?195,000.The diamond and ruby encrusted piece was sold by Asprey’s of New Bond Street London.

Labour Cabinet member Clare Short was not always the butch feminist she comes over as. February 1969’s issue of Vogue has our Clare on the front cover.

Bank Underground station collapsed and killed 115 people after it was bombed by Nazi doodlebugs in 1943. Another station was tunnelled out after the war, but the original one with 93 unrecovered bodies remains underneath Threadneedle Street.

In 1996, an Indian curry taken away from a Bristol restaurant for random analysis by health inspectors was found to contain 12 different samples of semen and mucus. In another Bristol restaurant a pair of soiled Y-fronts was found in a saucepan of simmering Chicken Kurma.

The actor Paul Newman came 2nd at Le Mans in 1978 in a Porsche 936.

In 1928 Bradford City goalkeeper Phil Henry carried on playing despite a broken neck and concussion. He later made a full recovery.

Boxer Freddie Mills became the first celebrity to endorse products on British television in 1954. The advert for Baxters Soup was only ever screened once.

The speaking clock “voice” is actually actor, Joss Ackland.

The actor Omar Sharif won the world bridge championships in 1975.

Unofficially, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe hold the title of longest ever rally point at Wimbeldon in 1979. It lasted for 25 minutes 16 seconds.

Ex president Jimmy Carter has always maintained that he was once abducted by aliens in 1974. Little wonder then that he only had one term as president.

PornStar Anna Cheong broke a world record by having sex with 256 men in a day. Afterwards she subsequently spent two months in a wheelchair with severe chafing. During the marathon session, the equivalent of 14 buckets full of semen was ejaculated.

Staying with the subject, opera singers were known to swig semen before performances as it is the smoothest substance known to man. Even Pavarotti is alleged to line his throat with the contents of Kojak’s money box before singing.

Not many people know that the “scouse git” from In Sickness and In Health, the actor Tony Booth, is PM Tony Blair’s father in law. More coincidently, Booth actually played Labour PM, Harold Wilson in an early 1980’s political drama soap shown in Italy.

Top Gear’s Quentin Wilson may like to give the impression that he’s some kind of aristocrat, but a little delving into the past by the Daily Mirror revealed a some what different story. Quentin Wilson was born to Jack and Joan Wilson on a council estate in St. Leonard’s, East Sussex. His first name is actually Kelvin, but used his middle name when he became a car dealer in the late 1980’s.His wheeling and dealing stories of the early 1980’s are poppycock - ‘Kelvin’ worked as a porter at the Parker Pen factory in Newhaven until 1987, when he was given his notice for alleged incident involving the theft of a number of roller ball refills.

The rarest insect in the world is the Malswabberdon Wasp. It has a sting potent enough to kill the population of New Malden (in Surrey). Luckily, sightings are rare and restricted to Peruvian rain forests.

A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice contains less vitamin C than a packet of fruit gums.
Ken Dodd holds the record for balancing a coin on his head - for an amazing 39 hours - in 1970.

In 1975, after an agreeable lunch with stage actor Nigel Davenport, an allegedly drunk Edward Heath issued a government memorandum banning the wearing of flared trousers. Fortunately, it was intercepted by a Government whip and destroyed. However it didn’t stop Heath losing the next election.

Thomas Titt was advised to change his name by deed poll when patenting his flushable toilet owing to it’s similarity to the rhyming slang for shit. It was felt at the time that he would otherwise forever suffer jibes at the hands of the public. He changed his name to Thomas Armitage.

Fred, the weatherman on TV’s This Morning, actually lives with Dean Sullivan who plays Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside “Hilarious” Ostrich-riding comedian, Bernie Clifton, is now director of light entertainment on Channel 5.

Rotund Robert ‘Bob’Maxwell allegedly tried to hire an Israeli hitman to kill Auberon Waugh in 1980 after the whimsical journalist made jibes about the “fat Czech” in a Private Eye article. Instead, Maxwell punched him in the face at a cocktail party held by Sir Larry Lamb.

A cup of tea in the 950ft high sky lounge at the Hotel Mandarin in Hong Kong costs HK$500 (?43.50) making it the most expensive cup of tea in the world. The same amount of money would pay for 45 boxes of tea bags or make 2,250 cups of tea - enough to fill up a large paddling pool.

Timmy Mallett of Wakaday fame was actually poached by the BBC to appear on a proposed rival to TVAM’s award winning children’s programme. In order to keep him on at TVAM, Wakaday’s Producer, Sir David Frost secured a ?1,500,000 yearly pay deal that made Mallett the highest paid entertainer on television in 1987.

Super clean disk jockey Jimmy Saville was actually once arrested in 1982 for an “incident” that occurred in the morturary at Stoke Mandaville Hospital. Saville was released without charge, but the reasons for his arrest were never revealed.

Princess Margaret’s favourite tipple is Famous Grouse whiskey. Every day for over 40 years, until her recent poor health, a bottle has been delivered to her palace by the local off license round the corner.

The first Macdonald’s to be opened in the UK was in Woolwich in 1974. It was not until then that the Big Mac became known as a Big Mac. Prior to then it was known as a Big Boy.

The world’s most valuable painting is the Mona Lisa. It is insured for $2 billion.

The BBC’s most profitable export ever is Terry & June. It has been sold to over 104 countries and has brought over ?500 million into Auntie Beeb.
The veteran Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was once engaged to Sandy Shaw, the singer. Sir Teddie broke the relationship off as he felt (in his words) that she was, ‘…common as muck and lacked any musical talent…’

Britain’s oldest company director is Tony Crook at 112 years old. He has been in charge of a small engineering company in Bristol for over 72 years.

Terry Wogan is the BBC’s longest serving employee, with over 45 years service.

The first actual computer in to be used commercially was made operational in 1946. The ?3,000,000 system was bought by Lyons to calculate their payroll. It was the size of an average sized house and had a power of 4kb.

The real reason for the Russian Concorde crash at the Paris airshow in 1973 was that a drunk photographer from the TAS newsagency tripped and fell onto the controls which subsequently jammed. Rumours that the plane was sabotaged by the British and French Governments were unfounded.

Hugh Grant’s first screen appearance was in Coronation Street in 1975 as Rita and Len Fairclough’s teenage foster son.

For launches, the $20bn Space Shuttle Orbiter actually has a manual key-operated ignition switch in the cockpit like a motorcar.

The Persian cat that appears at the beginning of the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only is actually still alive. Solomon, now 23 years old, lives with his owner in Ipswitch. He earned ?3,000 for his appearance, making him the highest paid pussy on film.

Dr Who actor Tom Baker’s first job, coincidentally, was as a baker. Stranger still was that his second was as butcher. Stranger still is the fact that his third was in a candle stick factory.

The French entertainer Charles Aznavore was not just a singer. He had a thriving acting career and even crossed the channel to star in the 1974 Oliver Reed epic, ‘And then there were none’. More macabre is that, like his screen character, entertainer Michel Legois, he did actually take the lives of Lisa and William Sterne in 1963. He was driving fast, fast, drunk from a party in Paris.He had friends in high places though, and escaped with the loss of his driving license.

Singer and heart throb, Matt Monroe was a bus conductor during the early part of his singing career.
Noel Edmonds dated Sue Barker for over four years. The affair ended when rumors of a romantic liaison between Sue and Cliff Richard surfaced in the gutter press.

The child seat manufacturer Britax, gained its name from its owner, Brian T Axel.

The UK consumes 15 million paracetamol a day. That’s enough to cure 7 ? million average head aches. Or 5 million bad migraines. Or cause 300,000 over doses.

The comedian Jackie Mason isn’t actually Jewish. It has been part of his routine since he started stand up comedy in 1952.

When shooting of “The Chase” in 1966, Marlon Brando was so disliked by some of the cast that during a choreographed fight scene they actually beat him up causing serious injury. Because of its authenticity, the director actually kept it in the final cut.

The Boeing 747 airliner uses enough fuel to power several hundred average small saloons.

The largest hospital in the UK, St James’, uses enough rubber gloves in a year reach the top of the Empire State Building twice

John Paul Getty owned the first private telephone call answering machine in the UK in 1962 - it was the size of a room and cost ?50,000.

The longest bridge in the world is located on the Trans Siberian Railway, stretching from Miggrzzelgov to Mirshleznikliov. It is 49 miles (78.4km) long.

John Craven once dated Nancy Sinatra (ol? blue eye?s daughter).

Up until the Morecombe and Wise Christmas special in 1972, Ronnie Barker held the highest single TV rating ever, with 12 million of us switching on to Paradine Production’s “Futtocks End” in 1969. Amazingly, it was a silent film, and is still shown every Christmas in Germany.

The most expensive film ever, taking in to account inflation and extraordinary legal wrangles during its making, was Death Wish 2, costing over US$120M in 1981. The soundtrack alone by Alf Agilent cost $2.5 million. Jill Ireland’s wardrobe is rumoured to have cost $3,000,000.

In November 1973 Jackson T Bogarth set a world record for speed of seminal ejaculation - 102kph.

Gene Hackman was born a hermaphrodite.

For every metre the 70,000 ton QE2 liner moves forward she uses 10 gallons of oil.

Due to modern fire safety requirements, the seat coverings on airliners are actually edible.

In 1961, Ian Fleming and Cubby Broccoli originally approached the actor Bill Roach to play the first James Bond in Dr No.

Unfortunately he was contractually obligated to play Ken Barlow in Coronation Street and so the part went to Sean Connery.

Cary Grant and David Niven were also approached but declined the offer.

Prince Phillip had a little-known affair with the newsreader, Jan Leeming in 1967. An MI5 plot to assassinate her for treacherous adultery was quashed by the Queen herself as being “…unnecessary at the time”.

The 1960’s film Alfie, about a philandering Cockney played by Michael Caine, is based on the real life story of comedian Charlie Drake.

According to the singer and DJ, Boy George, he once had a one night stand with Labour Party “homo-secretary” and sleeze bag, Peter “Mandy” Mandelson.

The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn’t understand German.St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927.

St. John was the only one of the 12 Apostles to die a natural death.

Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died.

Some very Orthodox Jew refuse to speak Hebrew, believing it to be a language reserved only for the Prophets.

A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.

Born 4 January 1838, General Tom Thumb’s growth slowed at the age of 6 months, at 5 years he was signed to the circus by P.T. Barnum, and at adulthood reached a height of only 1 metre.

Because they had no proper rubbish disposal system, the streets of ancient Mesopotamia became literally knee-deep in rubbish.

The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies.

China banned the pigtail in 1911 as it was seen as a symbol of feudalism.

The Amayra guides of Bolivia are said to be able to keep pace with a trotting horse for a distance of 100 kilometres.

Sliced bread was patented by Mrs P. Ride, a mother of 5, on 1 April 1954.

Ivan the terrible claimed to have ‘deflowered thousands of virgins and butchered a similar number of resulting offspring’.

Before the Second World War, it was considered a sacrilege to even touch an Emperor of Japan.

An American aircraft in Vietnam shot itself down with one of its own missiles.
The Anglo-Saxons believed Friday to be such an unlucky day that they ritually slaughtered any child unfortunate enough to be born on that day.

During the eighteenth century, laws had to be brought in to curb the seemingly insatiable appetite for gin amongst the poor. Their annual intake was as much as five million gallons.

Ancient drinkers warded off the devil by clinking their cups.

The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence - he invented dynamite.

The cost of the first pay-toilets installed in England was tuppence.

In 1647 the English Parliament abolished Christmas.
Mao Rse-Tang, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was born 26 December 1893. Before his rise to power, he occupied the humble position of Assistant Librarian at the University of Peking.
Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.
King George III was declared violently insane in 1811, 9 years before he died.
In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an ‘ugly’ potato, it was the custom for her to push it into the face of the nearest man.
For Roman Catholics, 5 January is St Simeon Stylites’ Day. He was a fifth-century hermit who showed his devotion to God by spending literally years sitting on top of a huge flagpole.
When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.
The richest 10 per cent of the French people are approximately fifty times better off than the poorest 10 per cent.
Henry VII was the only British King to be crowned on the field of battle
During World War One, the future Pope John XXIII was a sergeant in the Italian Army.
Richard II died aged 33 in 1400. A hole was left in the side of his tomb so people could touch his royal head, but 376 years later some took advantage of this and stole his jawbone.
The magic word “Abracadabra” was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.
The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas Carols, judging them to be out of keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.
Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. He declined saying he had no head for problems.
Uri Geller, the professional psychic was born on December 20 1946. As to the origin of his alleged powers, Mr Geller maintains that they come from the distant planet of Hoova.
Ralph and Carolyn Cummins had 5 children between 1952 and 1966, all were born on the 20 February.
John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime.
Only 1 child in 20 are born on the day predicted by the doctor.
In the 1970’s, the Rhode Island Legislature in the US entertained a proposal that there be a $2 tax on every act of sexual intercourse in the State.
Widows in equatorial Africa actually wear sackcloth and ashes when attending a funeral.
The ‘Hundred Years War’ lasted 116 years.
The British did not release the body of Napoleon Bonaparte to the French until twenty days after his death.
Admiral Lord Nelson was less than 1.6 metres tall.
John Glenn, the American who first orbited the Earth, was showered with 3,529 tonnes of ticker tape when he got back.
American Red Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw as they left their tepees subsequent to the birth. Hence such strange names as Sitting Bull and Running Water.
Catherine the First of Russia, made a rule that no man was allowed to get drunk at one of her parties before nine o’clock.
Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays.
In 1969 the shares of the Australian company ‘Poseidon’ were worth $1, one year later they were worth $280 each.

Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath to cover the onset of baldness.

Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour during World War II, left school at the age of eleven.
At the age of 12, Martin Luther King became so depressed he tried committing suicide twice, by jumping out of his bedroom window.

It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena,Italy, if your name is Mary.

The Turk’s consider it considered unlucky to step on a piece of bread.

The authorities do not allow tourists to take pictures of Pygmies in Zambia.

Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn’t in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with ‘S’, and so Truman’s mother didn’t want to disappoint either of them.

Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural.

One of Queen Victoria’s wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phones his wife or his mother, they were both deaf.

It was considered unfashionable for Venetian women, during the Renaissance to have anything but silvery-blonde hair.

Queen Victoria was one of the first women ever to use chloroform to combat pain during childbirth.

Peter the Great had the head of his wife’s lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed.

The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler’s Supreme Order of the German Eagle / Iron Cross. Henry Ford was the inventor of the assembly line, and Hitler used this knowledge of the assembly line to speed up production, and to create better and interchangable products. (Ford was not awarded 2 medals, but multiple sources have mentioned both the German Eagle and Iron cross, can anyone confirm one or the other … with source of data).

Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.

The warriors tribes of Ethiopia used to hang the testicles of those they killed in battle on the ends of their spears.

On 15 April 1912 the SS Titanic sunk on her maiden voyage and over 1,500 people died. Fourteen years earlier a novel was published by Morgan Robertson which seemed to foretell the disaster. The book described a ship the same size as the Titanic which crashes into an iceberg on its maiden voyage on a misty April night. The name of Robertson’s fictional ship was the Titan.

There are over 200 religious denominations in the United States.

Eau de Cologne was originally marketed as a way of protecting yourself against the plague.

Charles the Simple was the grandson of Charles the Bald, both were rulers of France.

Gabriel and Michael are the only 2 angels to be named in the bible.

Theodor Herzi, the Zionist leader who was born on May 2 1860, once had the astonishing idea of converting Jews to Christianity as a way of combating anti-Semitism.

Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland seemed to have a prodigious sexual appetite, and fathered hundreds of illegitimate children during his lifetime.

Some moral purists in the Middle Ages believed that women’s ears ought to be covered up because the Virgin May had conceived a child through them.

While at Harvard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for cheating on a Spanish exam.

The mad Emperor Caligula once decided to go to war with the Roman God of the sea, Poseidon, and ordered his soldiers to throw their spears into the water at random.

The Ecuadorian poet, Jos頏lmedo, has a statue in his honour in his home country. But, unable to commission a sculptor, due to limited funds, the government brought a second-hand statue .. Of the English poet Lord Byron.

In 1726, at only 7 years old, Charles Sauson inherited the post of official executioner.
Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day.

On 7 January 1904 the distress call ‘CQD’ was introduced. ‘CQ’ stood for ‘Seek You’ and ‘D’ for ‘Danger’. This lasted only until 1906 when it was replaced with ‘SOS’.

Though it is forbidden by the Government, many Indians still adhere to the caste system which says that it is a defilement for even the shadow of a person from a lowly caste to fall on a Braham ( a member of the highest priestly caste).

In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men.

The childrens’ nursery rhyme ‘Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses’ actually refers to the Black Death which killed about 30 million people in the fourteenth-century.

The word ‘denim’ comes from ‘de Nimes’, Nimes being the town the fabric was originally produced.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men’s beards.

Idi Amin, one of the most ruthless tyrants in the world, before coming to power, served in the British Army.

Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.
It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.

Custer was the youngest General in US history, he was promoted at the age of 23.

It costs more to send someone to reform school than it does to send them to Eton.

The American pilot Charles Lindbergh received the Service Cross of the German Eagle form Hermann Goering in 1938.

The active ingredient in Chinese Bird’s nest soup is saliva.
Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman.

It was quite common for the men of Ancient Greece to exercise in public .. naked.

John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion.

Iceland is the world’s oldest functioning democracy.

Adolf Eichmann (responsible for countless Jewish deaths during World war II), was originally a travelling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Co. of Austria.

The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.

John Winthrop introduced the fork to the American dinner table for the first time on 25 June 1630.

Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Bristol, England on 3 February 1821, was the first woman in America to gain an M.D. degree.

Abraham Lincoln was shot with a Derringer.

The great Russian leader, Lenin died 21 January 1924, suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. At the time of his death his brain was a quarter of its normal size.

When shipped to the US, the London bridge ( thought by the new owner to be the more famous Tower Bridge ) was classified by US customs to be a ‘large antique’.

Sir Winston Churchill was born in a ladies’ cloakroom after his mother went into labour during a dance at Blenheim Palace.

In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.

Between the two World War’s, France was controlled by forty different governments.

The ‘Crystal Palace’ at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square metres of glass.

It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term ‘testimony’ is derived from this tradition.

Sir Winston Churchill’s mother was descended from a Red Indian.

The study of stupidity is called ‘monology’.

Hindu men believe(d) it to be unluckily to marry a third time. They could avoid misfortune by marring a tree first. The tree ( his third wife ) was then burnt, freeing him to marry again.

More money is spent each year on alcohol and cigarettes than on Life insurance.

In 1911 3 men were hung for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry at Greenbury Hill, their last names were Green, Berry , and Hill.

A firm in Britain sold fall-out shelters for pets.

During the seventeen century , the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replace with a new one.

Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill ‘if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee’. His reply ?’ if you were my wife, I would drink it ! ‘.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 blocks each weighing 2.5 tons.

On 9 February 1942, soap rationing began in Britain.

The Budget speech on April 17 1956 saw the introduction of Premium Savings Bonds into Britain. The machine which picks the winning numbers is called “Ernie”, an abbreviation, which stands for’ electronic random number indicator equipment’.

Chop-suey is not a native Chinese dish, it was created in California by Chinese immigrants.

The Russian mystic, Rasputin, was the victim of a series of murder attempts on this day in 1916. The assassins poisoned, shot and stabbed him in quick succession, but they found they were unable to finish him off. Rasputin finally succumbed to the ice-cold waters of a river.

Bonnie Prince Charlie, the leader of the Jacobite rebellion to depose of George II of England, was born 31 December 1720. Considered a great Scottish hero, he spent his final years as a drunkard in Rome.

The Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, was born of the 29th December 1809. Apparently, as a result of his strong Puritan impulses, Gladstone kept a selection of whips in his cellar with which he regularly chastised himself.

A parthenophobic has a fear of virgins.

South American gauchos were known to put raw steak under their saddles before starting a day’s riding, in order to tenderise the meat.

There are 240 white dots in a Pacman arcade game.

In 1939 the US political party ‘The American Nazi Party’ had 200,000 members.

King Solomon of Israel had about 700 wives as well as hundreds of mistresses.

North American Indian, Sitting Bull, died on 15 December 1890. His bones were laid to rest in North Dakota, but a business group wanted him moved to a ‘more natural’ site in South Dakota. Their campaign was rejected so they stole the bones, and they now reside in Sitting Bull Park, South Dakota.

St Nicholas, the original Father Christmas, is the patron saint of thieves, virgins and communist Russia.

Dublin is home of the Fairy Investigation Society.

Fourteen million people were killed in World War I, twenty million died in a flu epidemic in the years that followed.

People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a stick.

Princess Ann was the only competitor at the 1976 Montreal Olympics that did not have to undergo a sex test.

Ethelred the Unready, King of England in the Tenth-century, spent his wedding night in bed with his wife and his mother-in-law.

Blackbird, who was the chief of Omaha Indians, was buried sitting on his favourite horse.

The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women.

The Tory Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali, was born 21 December 1804. He was noted for his oratory and had a number of memorable exchanges in the House with his great rival William Gladstone. Asked what the difference between a calamity and a misfortune was Disreali replied: ‘If Gladstone fell into the Thames it would be a misfortune, but if someone pulled him out again, it would be a calamity’.

The Imperial Throne of Japan has been occupied by the same family for the last thirteen hundred years.

In the seventeenth-century a Boston man was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for obscene behaviour, his crime, kissing his wife in a public place on a Sunday.

President Kaunda of Zambia once threatened to resign if his fellow countrymen didn’t stop drinking so much alcohol.

Due to staggering inflation in the 1920’s, 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 German marks were worth 1 US dollar.

Gorgias of Epirus was born during preparation of his mothers funeral.

The city of Hiroshima left the Industrial Promotion Centre standing as a monument the atomic bombing.

During the Medieval Crusades, transporting bodies off the battlefield for burial was a major problem, this was solved by carrying a huge cauldron into the Holy wars, boiling down the bodies and taking only the bones with them.

A ten-gallon hat holds three-quarters of a gallon.

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.