A couple of odd-ball factoids here, or maybe not.
Regarding the number of seeds in a pomegranate: Nature is the cause. The Fibonacci series of numbers is observed in nature in plant leaf patterns, stalk patterns, and... seed patterns. Pomegranate seeds follow Fibonacci numbers. Hence, the number of seeds noted. Try searching for "Fibonacci numbers and nature." You'll be awed at the number of hits.
If you are in Japan and hear someone say "kochu" - do not respond with "bless you." They might be asking for black pepper, which is "kochu" in Japanese.
If you look at the ancient Chinese ideogram for "trouble" you can decipher it by looking at its components. It is "two women under one roof."
Speaking of Japan and one of their many exports: In some countries, notably the USA, you will see stories of that fire-breathing, radioactive dinosaur called Godzilla. However, this name turns out to be due to arrogance and stupidity by an executive at American International Studios who originally imported that Godzilla movie. In Japanese, the monster's name is Gojira (which oddly enough means "monster" if I remember correctly), but this arrogant twit decided that the Japanese people were mispronouncing the name of their own creation and were REALLY trying to say Godzilla. So in the USA, you see that ever-loving proponent of Tokyo urban renewal under a name that really isn't his.
In New Orleans some time in the 1930's (not sure more precisely than this), a man came on a train platform five minutes earlier than the scheduled departure on his ticket, only to see the train already leaving the station. He sued for a business loss. This was in the days when common carriers didn't have the limited liability disclaimers, so he might have made some money. However, the Southern Railway beat the suit by proving that the train this gentleman had seen was actually one leaving 23 hours and 55 minutes LATE.
In 1916, after Cumberland University (of Cumberland, Kentucky, USA) had de-emphasized their athletic program due to heavy budget cuts, they still had a few games to play in fulfillment of some previous contracts. In the USA-style football game between Cumberland U. and Georgia Tech, the final score was 220 to 0.
The reason Georgia Tech refused to let them out of the contract was that during that spring, the Cumberland U. baseball team had beaten Ga. Tech by 22 to 0. So to fulfill the contract and avoid paying a non-performance penalty, the Cumberland coach got a bunch of Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers to "suit up."
As an act of mercy when the halftime score reached 126-0, the officials agreed to shorten the 3rd and 4th quarters from 15 minutes to 12 minutes. Didn't help that much.
Oh, by the way, the Georgia Tech coach that year was named ... Heisman. USA Football afficianados will know the name though our cousins from across the pond might not. Yes, the same coach after whom the Heisman trophy is named. I kid you not:
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100606aab.html
One anecdote, possibly apocryphal, relates to a Cumberland player who got up after a particularly hard tackle and staggered over to the sidelines, where he sat down on the bench. The Georgia Tech bench. Coach Heisman tried to gently explain to the young man that he was on the wrong bench. The young man replied, "No I'm not. If I go back over there, they'll put me back in the game."
) Wasn't Troy the group that created the Trojan Horse? I wonder if that little Greek episode has anything to do with a Troy lb being less than the traditional, or if it is only a matter of regions.
