10 things I didn't know until last week

1. Henry Ford is the only American mentioned in Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”.
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2. The word ‘baroque’ comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning ‘misshapen pearl’, first used to characterise the architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries. Later, the name came to be applied also to its music and art too.
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3. Rio de Janeiro’s residents are referred to as Cariocas.
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[Update 5th April 2010 - A carioca is someone who’s born in Rio rather than just a resident of the city. More details]

4. Heracles, the Greek hero, is credited with the discovery of purple dye.
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5. The last execution by guillotine in France took place in 1977.
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6. When the sport of car-racing began in Europe, each country was assigned a color. Green was assigned to English cars, blue to French, white to German, yellow to Italian, and red to American cars. Because America failed to make any considerable impact in European racing, red was eventually taken over by the Italians, while yellow became Belgium’s color.
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7. The pope cannot be fired. The Code of Canon Law has no provision that allows a pope’s removal from office — for any reason, even poor health or psychological trauma.
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8. Alongside sporting events, the 1912 Olympics included competitions in architecture, painting, sculpture, music and literature.
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9. John Cleese’s character in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ (1988)  is called Archie Leach, which happens to be Cary Grant’s real name.
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10. Contemporaries of Jesus would have called him Yeshua Bar Yehosef or Yeshua Nasraya. (“Jesus, son of Joseph” or “Jesus of Nazareth.”)
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