10 Things We Didn't Know Last Week
1) Women who attended single-sex schools earn more than those who were taught in mixed schools.
2) Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.
3) A Smurf is three apples tall.
4) Mosquitoes have a sweet tooth, a weakness to be exploited by an anti-malaria project.
5) Four of the top 10 people on the Forbes rich list derive their wealth from the Wal-Mart chain.
6) Eating a packet of crisps a day is equivalent to drinking five litres of cooking oil a year.
7) More than one in four pupils have played truant from school in the past year.
8) Pearl and Dean's a-pa-pa pa-pa theme tune, played in cinemas before the ads, is called Asteroid.
9) Plant seeds that have been stored for more than 200 years can be coaxed into new life.
10) There were no numbers in the very first UK phone directory, only names and addresses. Operators would connect callers.
[8. Guardian, 13 September] Thanks to Tony Janes, Herts, for sending the picture.