Strange But True: Mount Everest

By Lucie Winborne

• There is cellphone reception at the summit of Mount Everest.

• The sport of badminton was originally called "Poona," which was played by British officers stationed in India in the 1860s.

• In the 1500s, when folks associated social class with the height of one's footwear, some shoes were so tall that the wearer required servants to help them walk. In response, many countries passed laws limiting the height of shoes, though the decrees were often ignored.

• Iguanas have two normal eyes and a third eye on their head that only detects brightness.

• First cultivated by the Aztecs, morning glories were used in divination rituals. A concoction was prepared by combining the flowers' ground seeds, which contain an ingredient with effects similar to LSD, with water, which was then drunk to produce visions.

• Auto-brewery syndrome is a rare condition in which pure alcohol (ethanol) is produced in a person's gut after eating carbohydrate-rich foods.

• If you traveled at the speed of light, you could reach Pluto in four hours.

• Part of Manhattan's Ninth Avenue is named Oreo Way in honor of the beloved cookie, which was invented at a Nabisco factory on that street in 1912.

• You can obtain a degree in Viticulture and Enology, or the cultivation of grapes and the science of winemaking, at Cornell University.

• Humans and the galaxy share 97% of the same kind of atoms.

• The world's largest sandcastle, sculpted by a 30-person team led by Wilfred Stijger of Holland, stood 69.4 feet high and utilized 5,000 tons of sand. Stijger created it to represent the power the coronavirus held over the world and included a crown-shaped replica of the virus at its top.

Thought for the Day: "Be patient with yourself. Nothing in nature blooms all year." -- Lisa Kelly

(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.