The Book of General Ignorance

As far as mountains are concerned, the current convention is that ‘highest’ means measured from sea level to summit; ‘tallest’ means measured from the bottom of the mountain to the top.

According to Genesis 5: 27, Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. It has been suggested that this was a translation error in which lunar cycles were mistaken for the solar ones, and the actual ages are 13.5 times less. This makes Methusaleh a rather ordinary seventy-two. However, other patriarchs such as Mahalalel (Genesis 5: 15) and Enoch (Genesis 5: 21) were said to have become fathers after sixty-five ‘years’. If the lunar cycle theory is accepted this would translate to an age of about four years and ten months.

Despite being called Rudolph and referred to as ‘him’, like all Santa’s reindeer ‘he’ must in fact have been female. Male reindeer lose their antlers at the beginning of the winter. Females keep their antlers until they give birth in the spring

century, when it was held to be unlucky to invite thirteen guests to dinner because of the Last Supper (Judas being the last to sit down).

Balsa.
It’s the strongest wood in the world when measured in three categories of stiffness, bendability and compressibility – stronger than oak or pine

Pistachios are deadly dangerous. They are classified under Class 4.2. of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods code: Flammable Solids (Substances Liable To Spontaneous Combustion). Fresh pistachios, if stacked under pressure, can burst into flames and cause a cargo fire.
Pistachios continue to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide even after harvesting. This can be a serious problem when transporting them by sea. If there is inadequate ventilation, seamen entering the hold of a cargo ship can die from carbon dioxide poisoning or from lack of oxygen

The creatures that have really strong views on red are chickens.
Poultry farmers know only too well the practical problems of a chicken ‘seeing red’. When one of them bleeds, the others peck at it obsessively.
This cannibalistic behaviour, if unchecked, can lead to a killing spree and a rapid reduction in the farmer’s flock

alcoholic drinks with an alcohol content of less than 4 per cent, such as light beer and lager, can be used to stave off dehydration.
Seawater, on the other hand, is an emetic, so, if you drink it, you’ll throw up. If you do manage to keep any of it down, then all the water in your body’s cells will move towards the highly concentrated salty fluid, by osmosis, in an attempt to dilute it.
This will leave your cells dehydrated, and in severe cases can lead to spasms, the breakdown of brain functions, and liver and kidney failure

They don’t drink at all.
Dolphins are like animals in a desert, without any access to fresh water. They get liquid from their food (which is mainly fish and squid) and by burning their body fat, which releases water

The philtrum is the vertical groove on your upper lip that nobody knows the word for. It allows you to drink beer from the bottle by letting the air in.