TRIVIA BITS

 

• The compound carotene gives the carrot its colour.
• The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you," is "and the rest of the day to yourself."
• The cost of the first pay-toilets installed in England was tuppence.
• The couch gag in The Simpsons is used to make the show longer or shorter depending on the length of the episode itself.  The average couch gag lasts about 6 seconds while the longest to date lasted 46 seconds.
• The country of Benin changed its name from Dahomey in 1975.
• The 'Crystal Palace' at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square metres of glass.
• The crystalline quartz, Amethyst was once believed to prevent drunkenness.
• The cucumber is a fruit, not a vegetable.
• The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. Found in 1905, the original 3,100 carats were cut to make jewels for the British Crown Jewels and the British Royal family's collection.
• The D.C. in Washington D.C. stands for District of Columbia.
• The daisy got its name from the corruption of the words ' Day's eye'.