10 things we didn't know last week

pizzaImage source, Thinkstock

1. Emails sent in the morning receive longer replies.

2. In September 1944 the New York Times explained pizza to its readers and included a rare use of its plural "pizze" - there was an earlier article but it only mentioned pizza in passing.

3. Handgun bullets sometimes bounce off armadillos.

4. The Queen likes to have her pre-lunch gin and Dubonnet in front of BBC Two's the Daily Politics.

5. Alan Rickman got his friends Ruby Wax and playwright Peter Barnes to rewrite the dialogue involving his character the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, resulting in the line: "You. My room. 10.30 tonight. You 10.45. And bring a friend."

6. State senators in Minnesota are not allowed to make eye contact with each other while on the senate floor.

7. South Derbyshire has the lowest social mobility of any parliamentary constituency in England.

8. University Challenge question setters are particularly inclined to ask about Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

9. Men compete to give bigger online charity donations if the page is for an attractive woman.

10. Einstein's pipe is the most popular exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution's modern physics collection.

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