Weird Facts Wednesday

While researching for my books, I come across a lot of weird and interesting facts. I have a file full of these little tidbits, kept forever in the slight chance I might find one useful in a story. I thought I'd share a few of them with you :)

- Lizzie Borden was actually acquitted of killing her parents with an ax (after only an hour of deliberation)

- the black box of an airplane is really bright orange

- ship captains (unless specifically ordained) can't legally perform marriages


- porcupines float in water

- the electric chair was invented by a dentist (like I needed more reasons to be afraid of the dentist!)

- there are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos

- bats always turn left when leaving a cave

- electric eels are really fish, head cheese is actually a meat, Douglas firs are really pine trees, koala bears aren't bears but marsupials, a titmouse is really a bird, english horns aren't horns but are closer to an oboe, catgut is actually made out of sheep, and Welsh rabbit is actually melted cheese on toast (let's hear it for confusing names)

*disclaimer - I did not verify these statements, merely stumbled across them in my various searches, found them interesting, and jotted them down.*