Facts You Probably don’t Need
- On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia. He believed that since it was painted by an Italian artist, it belonged in an Italian Museum. It was kept in Peruggia’s apartment for two years before he was caught trying to sell the painting to a gallery in Florence. He spent six months in prison.
- Pablo Picasso and French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, were both brought in for questioning as suspects in the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911. Both were acquitted after Peruggia was caught.
- In 1948, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game had to devise a plan to move large numbers of beavers to a nearby protected area. Using WWII parachutes, they dropped boxes of beavers from airplanes. Out of 76 beavers, all except one survived the fall.
- 39% of people have an extra bone in their knee called “fabella’s bone.” One hundred years ago, only 11% of people had this bone.
- Genuphobia is the fear of knees.
- Before Sir Thomas More was beheaded in 1535, he made sure to move his long beard to the side saying it “had never committed any treason.”
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.
