Batty

What do Liberace, Art Carney, Bruce Lee, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman and Zsa Zsa Gabor have in common? Batman. They all appeared as guests on this 60s hit TV series. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Birds of a Feather

The Ruby Hummingbird has fewer feathers than any other bird: 940 in all. The Whistling Swan has the most with as many as 25,000 during the winter months.

Twisted Cow

Of all the world’s athletic contests, one of the most interesting might have been the historic Invergarry Highland Games where competitors lifted heavy stones, threw hammers, ran from the island to Invergarry and back (6 miles) and twisted “the four legs from a cow, for which a fat sheep was offered as a prize.” Alas, today’s tamer games offer no such diversion.

Clever Death

Oliver Cromwell was a clever man. He died in 1658 and was executed in 1661. That’s right. King Charles II had Cromwell’s dead body exhumed from its grave so it could be publicly hung, drawn and quartered. Visitors to Westminster Abbey could view Cromwell’s head, attached to the end of a pole, until 1685. Very clever

Bald Is Out

Research on the king of beasts may have human parallels. When given a choice, female lions prefer long, dark manes.

Twine City

“Weird Al” Yancovic memorialized “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” in his song of the same name. But that Darwin, Minn. ball of twine, measuring 12 feet across, is actually the country’s second largest such sphere. The record-holder, with more than 7 million wrapped feet of sisal string, resides a few states away in Cawker City, Kan.

Cod Liver Oil

Louis Pasteur pioneered a process for sanitizing wine, beer and milk, and he developed a cure for rabies. Jonas Salk created a vaccine for polio. But who remembers Peter Moller? In 1854, this Norwegian pharmacist invented a method for producing medicinal cod liver oil, which fast became the best answer to the disease of rickets in malnourished children. And he was showered with awards.