Out of town. Back on June 26.

Flooding in Bangladesh

Flooding covers about one third of Bangladesh each year during the country’s rainy season.

Marbles Create Jobs

The world’s first factory to mass-produce a children’s toy got its start in Akron, Ohio. S.C. Dyke & Co. began pumping out clay marbles in 1887, and at one point, Akron’s marble industry was responsible for creating more than 1,500 jobs in the local economy.

Serious Cash

More than 20 percent of all spending in Western countries is on food and drink.

Custer’s Dubious Record

During the Civil War, Gen. George Armstrong Custer held a dubious record. More soldiers died under his leadership than did so under any of the other Union division commanders.

Heartless Worm

How many hearts does an earthworm have? Several sources claim there are five, but it’s a trick question. The earthworm has no heart. Instead, it has as many as five aortic arches that perform the same basic function but are not the same thing.

Little Strings

Spaghetti means “little strings.”

Good for Spitting?

Cows produce almost 200 times as much saliva as humans do.

Mourning the Loss of a Cat

Members of Ancient Egyptian households often shaved off their eyebrows to express grief over the death of the family cat.

Wyatt Earp, Film Consultant

After retiring from a career in law enforcement, Wyatt Earp refereed boxing matches and gave advice to Western movie producers to help make their films more authentic.

Bathtub Races

Citizens of Shoreham-by-Sea, south of London, know all about bathtubs. They’ve been racing the cast-iron contraptions for more than 30 years. In 1977, one of the local teams rowed their tub across the channel to France in less than 11 hours, a record that still stands.

Selling Jell-O

When Pearl Waite invented Jell-O in the late 1800s, he knew he had a great product. But he couldn’t sell it, so in 1899, Waite convinced businessman Orator Woodward to give him $450 for the name and the recipe. It was a good investment. Woodward’s Jell-O Company was making $1 million in annual sales by 1907.

Popular Pet Names

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals surveyed veterinarians on the most popular names for pets in the United States. Topping the list were Max, Sam, Lady, Bear and Smokey.

Crushing Your Enemies

Ancient Egyptians and Romans both developed a clever system for crushing their enemies. Citizens of the two civilizations are known to have drawn pictures of an enemy’s face on the soles of their sandals.

Moisture Loss and the Foot

Feeling dehydrated? Your feet may be to blame. Each foot has up to 250,000 sweat glands, which excrete about one cup of moisture in a single day.

A Foreign Concept

Etymologists suggest that the mafia, first found in Sicily in the early 19th century, didn’t take its name from the local language. Instead, they suggest that the word comes from the Arabic mu (strength) and afah (to protect).

Nation’s Favorite Rock

With more than 1 million visitors each year, the most popular rock in the United States may be Massachusetts’ Plymouth Rock. But the glacial boulder’s claim to fame as the stepping stone for the state’s first permanent settlement might not stand up to scrutiny. After all, the first mention that such a rock even existed doesn’t appear until 1741, more than 120 years after the pilgrims landed in the New World.