Yet more things I learned

A while ago, I wrote about a project that my wife and I started last year. The idea was to think about what we had learned each day, record it and discuss from time to time. I shared some interesting examples of snippets of trivia …

Today I would like to share another selection, having filtered out the personal or anachronistic ones:

• There are no bumble bees in Africa.
• Picpoul is a grape variety from Languedoc.
• There are 2 kinds of memory. Implicit like riding a bike; explicit like what did you have for breakfast?
• Firing a rocket in orbit makes you go slower.
• In 16th century, dark clothes were a sign of wealth; it took more dye to make them.
• The Obama children were the result of in-vitro fertilization.
• Nike was the Greek goddess of victory.
• Cast iron is actually 50% scrap steel.
• Guan Vincenzo Gravina wrote: A bore is a person who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.
• A calliope is a steam-driven keyboard instrument.

We continue to observe that, in these unusual times, we are less receptive to learning new things. I hope that changes in due course …