100 things we didn't know this time last year

I'm a sucker for this kind of thing - the full list here.

Among my favourites:

The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".

In America it's possible to subpoena a dog.

The British buy the most compact discs in the world - an average of 3.2 per year, compared to 2.8 in the US and 2.1 in France.
                   

The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.

Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army.

Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".

Comments

[Martin McCallion]

'Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".'

And some people think that the IP regime in this country isn't broken. Crazy!