Futility Closet

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.

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.

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.”

294 miles south of Paradise, Michigan … is Hell, Michigan.

In the U.S. Army, men in uniform may not carry umbrellas.

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.

Massachusetts’ Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg has the longest place name in the United States.

Locals call it Webster Lake.

It’s possible to have $1.19 and still be unable to make change for a dollar.

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.

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.