STRANGE BUT TRUE

By Samantha Weaver

• It was British-American poet T.S. Eliot who made the following sage observation: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal."

• Each fingernail on the Statue of Liberty is nearly a foot long.

• Filmmaker George Lucas is arguably best known for his "Star Wars" franchise, but he also directed "American Graffiti." During the making of that earlier film, he designated each reel of film with an R before the reel's number, and each instance of dialog was prefixed with a D. At one point during the sound mixing, the sound designer needed to use Reel 2, Dialog 2, and so asked for "R2D2." Lucas liked the sound of it so much that he used it for the name of a robot character in his later work.

• You can tell a cranberry is ripe when it can be dribbled like a basketball.

• Those who study such things (and seemingly have too much time on their hands) say that a quarter has 119 grooves around the outside edge, while dimes have 118.

• Have you ever heard of a woman named Thelma Pickles? Unless you're a somewhat obsessive fan of the Beatles, probably not. She was John Lennon's first girlfriend.

• Among those who play basketball professionally, the men average 6 feet, 7 inches tall, while the women average an even 6 feet.

• If you're a vegetarian, you're part of the 3 percent of American adults who shun meat. In India, though, you'd be part of a much larger minority; nearly a third of the population of that country is vegetarian.

• You may be surprised to learn that the pound sign is officially known as an octothorpe.

Thought for the day: "A pessimist is a person who has listened to too many optimists." - Don Marquis