Cosmopolitan

Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Monmouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Wales, Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Bremen, Calais, Dresden, Frankfort, Hanover, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Sorrento, Stockholm, and Vienna …

… are all towns in Maine.

Trivium

The fastest temperature drop in history occurred in Rapid City, S.D., when the mercury plunged 47°F (26°C) in 5 minutes on Jan. 10, 1911.

Interestingly, the fastest temperature rise in history occurred in the same city 32 years later, when it jumped 49°F (27°C) in 2 minutes on Jan. 22, 1943.

Gesundheit!

Sneezes around the world:

  • France: Atchoum!
  • Finland: Atsiuh!
  • Iceland: Atsjú!
  • Sweden: Atjo!
  • India: Akchhee!
  • Denmark: Atju!
  • Netherlands: Hatsjoe!
  • Lithuania: Apchi!
  • Germany: Hatschie!
  • Hungary: Hapci!
  • Poland: Apsik!
  • Russia: Apchkhi!
  • Italy: Etciù!
  • Spain: ¡Achís!
  • Portugal: Atchim!
  • Romania: Hapciu!
  • Philippines: Hatsing!
  • Japan: Hakushon!
  • South Korea: Achee!
  • Vietnam: Hát-xì!

See also “Lides to Bary Jade.”

Fool Me Twice

Wyoming may be the Cowboy State, but it has an Eastern pedigree: It was named by an Ohio congressman after a valley in Pennsylvania.

Rep. J.M. Ashley named the territory after the Wyoming Valley, whose name means “at the big river flat.”

Still, that’s more authentic than Idaho.