Strange But True

* It was American journalist and political satirist P.J. O’Rourke who made the following sage observation: “No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”

* If you’re like many Americans, you celebrate the Fourth of July by cooking out. In fact, it’s estimated that in the United States, 150 million hot dogs and 700 million pounds of chicken are consumed on that single day.

* Those who study such things say that the milk from a mother hippopotamus is pink.

* The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men from 13 colonies, but only one of them -- John Hancock -- actually signed it on July 4, 1776. Only two signers went on to become president of the United States: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In a striking coincidence, both men died on the same day, July 4, 1826 Ð exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration. Jefferson died first, at 12:50 p.m., at Monticello, his home in Virginia. At 6:20 that evening, at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, John Adams died. Unaware of Jefferson’s death earlier that day, Adams acknowledged his longtime friend and rival with his final words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.”

* It was once believed that people with the bacterial infection cholera were suffering the wrath of God for their sins. In fact, the disease’s name comes from the Spanish word for anger.

* The typical horse walks at a speed of 3 1/2 miles per hour.

***

Thought for the Day: “We all have our time machines. Some take us back; they’re called memories. Some take us forward; they’re called dreams.” -- Jeremy Irons

(c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.