Peruse this collection of stories, tidbits, and interesting articles from around the globe and become the most interesting person at your next dinner party.

 

Did You Know . . .

• The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used in the first century BCE to criticise writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words.

• Mellifluous is a sound that is pleasingly smooth and musical to hear.

• Venus is the only planet to spin clockwise. It travels around the sun once every 225 Earth days, but it rotates clockwise once every 243 days.

   

Out and About . . .

Explore the universe at https://stars.chromeexperiments.com/

Solve a Rubik’s Cube at https://iamthecu.be/

 

 

Gilded Age Clickbait

Thanks for your comments and curiosity about last week’s Gilded Age Humor article! Although it’s not clickbait in today’s terminology, here are some jokes shared in Choice Dialect and Vaudeville Stage Jokes, a popular jokes book back in the day.

A man fell in a barrel of whiskey, but he died in good spirits.

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Are mosquitoes religious? Yes, they first sing over you and then prey on you.

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A man stole a harness the other day and never left a trace.

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Every time I get on a ferry boat it makes me cross.