Early in his career as an international sensation, Einstein was traveling around by car, lecturing at universities and interested institutions. He had the same driver for much of one trip and on the way to an engagement, the driver said to Einstein, "I've heard this lecture so many times, I bet I could give it." This intrigued Einstein and he suggested that since no one at the lecture toward which they were heading knew what he looked like, they make a switch and have some fun. So some distance from the lecture hall, they pulled over exchanged clothing and seats and Einstein drove his driver to the door. The driver was greeted and lead to the podium. He delivered the lecture flawlessly with the actual Einstein standing at the back of the hall. At the end of the talk, one of the attendees asked a question. The driver took a moment to think and then said "That question is so elementary, I'm going to ask my driver to answer it."

Charles Chaplin once entered a "Charlie Chaplin Look-alike" contest incognito. He came in second.

During the Second World War, the Japanese officer in charge of the diet for captured American airmen was faced with a problem. He knew that these men were used to the high protein, vitamin rich American diet, and that such a diet was almost impossible to provide in impoverished Japan. In order to provide the needed nutrients, he included in the prison food natto (a fermented legume preparation, high in vitamins, minerals and especially protein) and gobo (a root that is rich in minerals and vitamins). Although both of these foods are completely legitimate parts of the Japanese diet even today, this decision was seen as a violation of the Geneva Convention. The Japanese had fed prisoners "rotten beans and sticks."

Glass is actually a liquid with an unusually high level of viscosity.

One of the reasons that coffee is such a great "pick me up" in the morning is that it stimulates a higher percentage of the taste buds on the tongue than any other food.

During the early stages of the western migration of European settlers in North America, there was an initial sense of release when the settlers reached the western edge of the great forests of the east. However after venturing a ways into the plains, they found that they couldn't handle the wide open spaces and scurried back into the security of the forest.

The plains Indians systematically burned brush in order to expand and preserve the plains. This created an excellent environment for the bison and the great herds grew to the size that they did in part because of this terraforming.

Lemmings do not actually jump off cliffs in mass suicides. They do have a suicide mechanism that kicks in when food is scarce, but it is simply that some members of the population stop eating and starve to death. The myth of Lemming cliff jumping comes from film footage shot by a Disney nature film crew who chased the animals off the cliff to get a more dramatic "natural" suicide.

60% of the body's heat is dissipated from the top of the head.

One of the calculations for the amount of fuel needed to get the Apollo lunar module off the ground was seriously off because the calculation was made using earth's gravity.

It has been reported that during production of "The Princess Bride," Andre the Giant told stories about how Samuel Beckett used to pick him up when he would hitchhike. The most credible thing about this story is that Andre apparently reported that they would talk about cricket (Beckett is the only person in history to be both a Nobel Laureate and be enshrined in the equivalent of the cricket hall of fame).

The entire science of acoustics is proprietary. It is owned by some company in Boston.

Shortly after the war, a Japanese man was taken off an occupation force organized committee, because a haiku that he had written contained the words "urui obi" (untightened sash on a kimono). This was taken to be anti-American because it was a reference to "loose belt" or if pronounced with a Japanese accent "Roosu beluto" = Roosevelt.

There are two things I've heard:
1. The baby on the Gerber Baby-food label was originally an image of the infant Marlin Brando.

2. The little girl in the Coppertone ad with the dog pulling on her swimsuit was Jody Foster.