Sumerian Elvis

A university project to translate all of Elvis's songs into the ancient Sumerian language ran into trouble with the song "Blue Suede Shoes" as the Sumerians had no shoes, let alone any that were blue or suede. The problem was finally solved with the new title "Sandals of Sky Blue Leather."

Deadly Sins

The seven deadly sins set forth by scholastic theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas are anger, covetousness, envy, gluttony, lust, pride and sloth. The seven virtues are faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.

Olive Oil

Although much of the world's olive oil is bottled in Italy, more of it actually comes from Spain than from any other country. Italy ranks second in the world for olive oil production, followed by the country of Greece.

Foreign-born

In the 20th century, two U.S. Supreme Court justices were foreign-born. Justice David J. Brewer (1889-1910) was born in what is now Turkey to missionary parents, and Justice Felix Frankfurter (1939-1962) came to the United States from Vienna, Austria, at the age of 12.

Harvard

Harvard University was named for a young Puritan minister, John Harvard. But Harvard didn't found Harvard. The minister died two years after the school had been started, leaving half his estate and his collection of 400 books to the university. The General Court of Massachusetts renamed the school in honor of Harvard's donation.

U.S. Coins

The phrase "In God We Trust" was first put on U.S. coins by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in 1864. Chase intended for the new motto to serve as a morale-booster for soldiers in the Civil War.

Alcohol

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the following cities spend more per household on alcohol than anywhere else in the country: Miami; Anchorage; San Diego; Seattle; Boston; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Baltimore; Milwaukee; and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy, a condition that causes sufferers to fall asleep at any moment and usually without advance warning, affects two out of every 10,000 people in America. In Japan, however, 16 out of every 10,000 people are narcoleptic.

Kemo Sabe

When Tonto referred to the Lone Ranger as "Kemo Sabe," the title was intended to mean "faithful friend." In the Apache tongue, however, it actually means "white shirt," and the Navajo version translates as "soggy shrub."

Pyrex

By the time that Corning introduced Pyrex glass to the world, the company had already boiled and fried more than nine tons of potatoes in order to make sure the revolutionary new cookware really worked as promised.

Day Care

Weekly day care for children is most expensive in the cities of Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; Anchorage, Alaska; Manchester, N.H.; and Washington, D.C. Day care is least expensive in Ogden, Utah; Mobile, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; Huntington, W. Va.; and Columbia, S.C.

Cinderella

The story of Cinderella has been made into more movies than has any other tale, resulting in at least 60 film productions throughout the world. The first movie about Cinderella was made in 1898.

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, which is seven to eight times saltier than any ocean, isn't actually dead. The inland body of water hosts brine shrimp as well as at least a few salt-tolerant microorganisms.

Jouhikko

A rare instrument known as the jouhikko was revived for the musical version of "The Lord of the Rings" in 2006. The instrument has three horsehair strings over a sound box. It is bowed with one hand like a violin while the performer's other hand lifts the strings rather than pressing them against frets as is the case with other stringed instruments. Musicians who can actually play the jouhikko describe its sound as "very liquid."

Turkey Drop

In Arkansas, the town of Yellville holds an annual Turkey Drop in which live turkeys are dropped out of a low-flying plane in hopes that they will slowly descend into the streets. Unfortunately, many of the birds are killed or injured each year. But the town of Yellville's plans to protect the birds by using frozen turkeys attached to parachutes one year turned into an even larger disaster as one destroyed the roof of a car and another smashed through a front porch.

Sphinx

In Egypt, a sphinx generally has a man's head and a lion's body. But in ancient Greece, the sphinx more commonly had the head and chest of a woman, the body of a lion and wings.

Pompeii

Residents of ancient Pompeii weren't killed by lava when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E. Instead, an estimated 2,000 people were killed by fumes from the volcano and then covered by about 20 feet of ash.

Happy Birthday

Published in 1893 as "Good Morning to All," the tune, written by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill, went on to become the most-sung song in America. Over time, of course, the name and the lyrics changed. Today we know it as "Happy Birthday."

Frisbee

A Frisbee thrown perfectly should spin at a rate of six revolutions per second. Researchers also conclude that successful Frisbee flight depends on the front being 10 degrees higher than the back when the Frisbee is thrown,

Rock 'n' Roll

An American musical giant once declared of rock 'n' roll, "It's phony and false, written and played for the most part by cretinous goons." Who said it? Frank Sinatra, and he was talking about Elvis Presley. Just a few years later, Sinatra paid Presley to sing on a TV special.

Perry Mason

Erle Stanley Gardner, known for his creation of Perry Mason, also worked as a lawyer. Gardner was known for defending poor Chinese and Mexicans as a California lawyer. He also founded the Court of Last Resort in the 1940s in order to help people who had been unjustly imprisoned.

William Harley

William Harley completed his first power-cycle in 1903 with the help of brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson. But the machine couldn't make it up Milwaukee's modest hills without help from its rider, so the boys started work, designing a larger engine. The rest is history.

Candy

Ogden Nash wrote the ditty, "Candy is dandy / But liquor is quicker," in 1931. He updated the piece in 1968: "Candy is dandy / But liquor is quicker. / Pot is not."

Herring

Most fans of herring know that a kipper is a split and smoked herring. A bloater is a whole smoked herring. A buckler is a hot smoked herring with the guts removed.

Barbie

Around three Barbie dolls are sold every second of every day. Barbie has had close to 50 pets, including 21 dogs, 14 horses, 3 ponies, 6 cats, a parrot, a chimp, a panda and a zebra.

Who's on First?

In Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" dialogue, there is no right fielder. Following are the players' names and their positions: Who (first base), What (second base), I Don't Know (third base), Why (left field), Because (center field), Tomorrow (pitcher), Today (catcher) and I Don't Give a Darn (shortstop).

Cigarettes

Around the world, about 15 billion cigarettes are sold every day, which amounts to about 10 million per minute. The World Health Organization estimates that cigarettes contribute to 10 percent of all deaths.

Directory

New Haven, Connecticut, was home to the country's first telephone directory. Published in 1878, the phone book had only about 50 names. The country's second such directory was published in San Francisco the same year with more than 170 listings.

King of Stamps

The most popular stamp ever issued by the U.S. Postal Service was the 1993 portrait of Elvis, which sold more than 124 million. The next bestselling celebrity commemorative is of Marilyn Monroe. It sold 46.3 million stamps, making it the sixth most popular of all U.S. stamps ever made. Bugs Bunny's commemorative stamp sold 45.3 million.

U.S.S. Chesapeake

When the "U.S.S. Chesapeake" was fighting a British ship off Boston Harbor in 1813, the captain's famous last words were, "Don't give up the ship!" The line has gone down in history, but the facts have been conveniently forgotten. That's because the crew did in fact give up the ship. They surrendered, and the "Chesapeake" was towed away.

Sonnets

Of William Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, the first 126 are addressed to a young male friend. Sonnets 127 to 152 are written to a "dark lady." The last two sonnets are adaptations of a Greek epigram and don't fit into either previous category.