Facts You Probably don’t Need

• Cleopatra was of Macedonian Greek descent, a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, not ethnically Egyptian.

• In botany, “vegetable” isn’t a scientific classification. It is only a culinary term.

• A whip cracks because its tip breaks the sound barrier, creating a small sonic boom.

• The founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, later campaigned to abolish the holiday because she believed it had become too commercialized.

• There is a deep-sea snail, the “scaly-foot snail,” that has iron-plated armor. It’s the only known animal to use iron sulfide in its shell.

• Genetic evidence suggests that Vikings brought a Native American woman to Iceland around the year 1000, and her DNA is still present today.

• In a classic New York City subway experiment, about 56% of seated passengers gave up their seats when politely asked.

• The first person to swim the length of Great Britain grew a beard to help protect his face from jellyfish stings.

          Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.