Cosmopolitan
Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Monmouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Wales, Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Bremen, Calais, Dresden, Frankfort, Hanover, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Sorrento, Stockholm, and Vienna …
… are all towns in Maine.
Trivium
The fastest temperature drop in history occurred in Rapid City, S.D., when the mercury plunged 47°F (26°C) in 5 minutes on Jan. 10, 1911.
Interestingly, the fastest temperature rise in history occurred in the same city 32 years later, when it jumped 49°F (27°C) in 2 minutes on Jan. 22, 1943.
Gesundheit!
Sneezes around the world:
- France: Atchoum!
- Finland: Atsiuh!
- Iceland: Atsjú!
- Sweden: Atjo!
- India: Akchhee!
- Denmark: Atju!
- Netherlands: Hatsjoe!
- Lithuania: Apchi!
- Germany: Hatschie!
- Hungary: Hapci!
- Poland: Apsik!
- Russia: Apchkhi!
- Italy: Etciù!
- Spain: ¡Achís!
- Portugal: Atchim!
- Romania: Hapciu!
- Philippines: Hatsing!
- Japan: Hakushon!
- South Korea: Achee!
- Vietnam: Hát-xì!
See also “Lides to Bary Jade.”
Light Freight
The lowest toll ever charged to cross the Panama Canal was 36 cents — paid by adventurer Richard Halliburton when he swam its length in 1928.
Understandable
Massachusetts’ Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg has the longest place name in the United States.
Locals call it Webster Lake.
Fool Me Twice
Wyoming may be the Cowboy State, but it has an Eastern pedigree: It was named by an Ohio congressman after a valley in Pennsylvania.
Rep. J.M. Ashley named the territory after the Wyoming Valley, whose name means “at the big river flat.”
Still, that’s more authentic than Idaho.
Thirsty?
Twenty percent of the world’s fresh water is in a single lake, Russia’s Lake Baikal.
Its surface is smaller than Lake Superior — but it’s a mile deep.
Person to Person
If you’re an extrovert, you’ll be happiest (in principle) in northeastern Pakistan. That’s the world center of population — from there, the average distance to every human on earth is only 3,200 miles.
Conversely, if you’re an introvert you should visit Easter Island, where you’ll be 9,300 miles from the average fellow man.
See also Point Nemo and Vroom!
Trivium
California and Florida both have an Orange County.
By coincidence, one contains Disneyland, the other Disney World.
Trivium
Amsterdam, Antwerp, Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Dresden, Dublin, Geneva, Lisbon, London, Marseilles, Milan, Moscow, Rome, Seville, Toronto, and Warsaw … are all towns in Ohio.
Trivium
What’s the most remote capital city in the world?
It’s a tie: Canberra, Australia, and Wellington, New Zealand, are 1,448 miles … from each other.
Vroom!
The trouble with rocket-powered roller skates is that you can’t steer.
To remain on land as long as possible, we suggest you start in northern Siberia (99°1’30E 76°13’6N) and point yourself due south. That’ll take you through 4,717 miles of Russia, Mongolia, China, Burma, and Thailand before you splash into the South China Sea.
Or start at 48°24’53N 4°47’44W in northern France and head east. An unswerving course will take you through Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and Russia, covering 6,665 miles before you hit the Sea of Okhotsk. Good luck.
See also Point Nemo.
Trivium
The basilisk lizard of Central America can run on water for up to 15 feet, thanks to flaps between its toes.
It’s known as “the Jesus lizard.”
Trivium
When walking, a 100-pound woman in stiletto heels exerts more pressure per square inch than a 6,000-pound elephant.
“Nor Any Drop to Drink”
Where can you draw potable seawater even when no land is in sight?
Offshore of the mouth of the Amazon, which supplies 20 percent of the fresh water entering the world’s oceans.
