Strange But True: 50 congressmen brawl

By Lucie Winborne

• The movie "The Godfather" does not contain the words "mafia" or "la cosa nostra" because of a deal struck between the producer and the mafia.

• Limping became a fad in Victorian England when young women admired the genuine limp of Alexandra of Denmark, bride of the Prince of Wales, and went around fake limping (the "Alexandra Limp."). Shopkeepers even sold pairs of shoes with one high and one low heel!

• The stick -- as in a small tree branch -- was inducted into the U.S. National Toy Hall of Fame in 2008.

• In 1858, a brawl involving 50 congressmen broke out on the U.S. House floor. It ended when someone knocked off a man's wig, which was then accidentally put on backwards, causing both sides to laugh and stop fighting.

• God and Jesus are the only characters in "The Simpsons" to have five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.

• New Zealand is not part of any of the world's seven recognized continents but is instead situated upon the submerged continent of Zealandia.

• Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle drilled a hole in the front of his safety helmet and installed cigarette lighters in his race cars so that he could smoke while racing. NASCAR permitted it during race caution periods.

• A startup company called Juicero lost $120 million of investor money after customers realized the contents they put in their $700 juicing machine, which squeezed bags of pre-sliced vegetables into juice, could actually be squeezed faster by hand.

• In South Korea, children under 17 are banned from playing online games past midnight, which is monitored by their KSSN (Korean Social Security Number).

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Thought for the Day: "To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself." -- Soren Kierkegaard

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.