This book , from the QI programme, debunks many accepted 'facts': who said, let them eat cake? when did the last survivor of the Crimean War die? (2004, it was a tortoise); who was born by Immaculate Conception? (Mary); How many sheep were thee on Noah's Ark? (14). It then proceeds to give acres of utterly trivial but wonderfully fascinating information.
My favourite is about 'Here we go gathering nuts in May'. Nuts don't grow in May; it is too early. The song should be 'Here we go gathering Knots of May' referring to the May (hawthorn) tree that blossoms in mid-May but, until the Gregorian calendar change, blossomed on May day. May flowers give off triethylamine which is the same chemical as that first emitted by dead human bodies which is probably why May flowers inside a house are thought to be unlucky. On the other hand triethylamine is also what gives semen its distinctive smell which is probably why the May tree is a fertility symbol (not just the phallic May pole).
See? Wonderful facts. Exactly my sort of book. Brilliant!
Jan 2011; 281 pages
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