AMERICANS HATE LAWYERS

Americans have long been hostile toward those who practice the legal profession. Colonists at Massachusetts Bay made it illegal in 1641 for a person to earn money, representing others in court. And in 1658, Virginia’s legislators passed a law, expelling all attorneys from the colony.

Elvis Presley announced to friends in 1973 that he was becoming a vegetarian. “I’ll be eating a lot of vegetables now, a lot of salads and raw fruits. I’m telling the maids, and that’s what they’re going to make for me,” he said. But the King was a big eater, and Larry Geller writes in his book “If I Can Dream: Elvis’ Own Story” that the diet lasted only two days.

Although mobile in flight, hummingbirds are virtually helpless on the ground. Their feet and legs are so small that in most cases, they cannot walk or even hop.

A Chinese checker board has 121 holes.

More than 3,000 people have been buried in England’s Westminster Abbey. Among them, Thomas Parr, who was widely held to be the world’s oldest man. But Parr, believed to have reached 152 years of age, may have made a math error. Some historians claim that Parr was confused, claiming his grandfather’s 1483 birthdate as his own.