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More “Useless Facts for Inquiring Minds.”

● In 52 BC, a Roman army invaded present-day France and defeated the Parisii, a Celtic tribe living along the River Seine. There, the Romans established the city of Lutetia (Latin for “place near a swamp”). Lutetia remained under Roman rule until 476 AD, when the Franks invaded and kicked out the Romans. Lutetia was renamed Paris for the previous occupants.

● During the first moon landing in 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin were on the surface for 21 hours. During that time, they snacked on peaches, sugar cookies, bacon, coffee, and grapefruit-pineapple juice.

● Xanthophobia is the fear of the color yellow or the word yellow. It’s a genuine phobia that can develop after a traumatic experience involving something yellow. (Being hit by a school bus maybe?) Symptoms can include fear, anxiety, panic, etc.

● Worldwide, some 340 dog breeds are recognized (although the haughty AKC only recognizes 167). About 20 breeds have evolved webbed toes, primarily as an aid when swimming. Among them: the Newfoundland, Portuguese Water Dog, Weimaraner, and Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

Dachsunds are not swimmers, but they also have webbed feet. Originally, they were bred for hunting small game, and the webbing allows them to shovel dirt more efficiently when pursuing, say, a badger in its den.

● The English language is known for giving curious and unexpected names to groups of animals: a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, a prickle of porcupines. FYI, a group of rats (eewwww) is called a mischief.

● An animal described as crepuscular is one that is most active around twilight. Bats, for example.

● Technically, the holiday Cinco de Mayo, commemorates a battle on May 5, 1862, in which 2,000 Mexican irregulars defeated an invading army of 5,000 French troops. It is a minor holiday in Mexico, but the U.S. has made it a day to party, the excuse being to celebrate Mexican heritage.

● The spider with the venom most toxic to humans is the male Sydney Funnel-Web Spider (Atrax robustus), found around Sydney in eastern Australia. The venom of the female is nasty, but less toxic. The spiders are aggressive and will attempt to bite you multiple times.

● When a song or an advertising jingle is stuck in your head, you are said to have an “earworm.”

● A luthier is a craftsman who builds stringed instruments, whether plucked or played with a bow. The word luthier comes from luth, which is French for… lute.

● Wind speeds around the globe are increasing, most likely due to climate change. The increase is so significant that experts say the output of the world’s wind turbines is expected to climb by as much as one-third.

● The wombat is the only animal whose scat is cube-shaped instead of round. The anus of the Australian marsupial is round, but the animal has developed the ability to control its muscles and poop in the form of square pellets.

This ability seems to have evolved because wombats use piles of scat to mark territory, and, whereas round scat rolls away, cubes stay put.