Strange But True: Monkey Catapult

By Lucie Winborne

• In 2010, a group of 15 monkeys escaped from a Japanese research institute by using trees to catapult themselves over a 17-foot-high electrical fence.

• Potato aphids will not mate if they detect a drop in air pressure.

• Casting for Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" was partly done by Jaki Brown, and Lee Daniels' "The Butler" was cast by Leah Daniels-Butler.

• It would only cost you in the neighborhood of $140 per year to eat ramen for every meal.

• France is the most visited country in the world.

• Neurologists claim that every time you resist acting on your anger, you are actually rewiring your brain to be calmer and more loving.

• LEOnardo da Vinci was the first person to observe the curvature of the human spine.

• During WWII, Winston Churchill wore a specially designed onesie that he called his "siren suit."

• Don Gorske earned a spot in the Guinness World Records in 2016 for the gastric feat of consuming his 28,788th Big Mac.

• While most parents do what they can to prevent or stop their babies from crying, in Japan a 400-year-old tradition holds that if a sumo wrestler can make your baby cry, it will live a healthy life. During a special ceremony, parents hand over their infants to wrestlers who bounce the tots and sometimes even roar in their faces to get the tears going.

• In 1923, a jockey suffered a fatal heart attack but his horse finished and won the race, making him the first and only jockey to win a race after death.

• Mike Tyson would KO sparring partners quickly so he could get home in time to watch "Tom & Jerry."

Thought for the Day: "Not all paths offer a vista. But every path offers a lesson." -- Toni Sorenson

(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.