The Second Book of General Ignorance (44 page)

‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ phrase
1

ice, falling from aeroplanes
1

ice cubes, contamination with ‘faecal matter’
1

Ichneumon
wasp
1
,
2

Ikeda, Professor Kikunae
1
,
2

immortality
1

India

religions of
1

Romani in
1
,
2

insects, finding new species of in gardens
1

insomnia
1

International Criminal Court (ICC)
1

International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
1

Inughuit people
1

Iraq war
1

Irish language
1

iron, stiffness of
1

Iron Age
1

Italy
1

railways
1

Iwerks, Ub
1

Jainism
1

Japan
1
,
2

banknotes
1

emoticons used in
1

and football
1

and
inemuri
1

3-star restaurants
1

war with China (1937–45)
1

jellyfish
1

and immortality
1

treatment of stings by
1

Jenkins, Professor David
1

Jesse, Otto
1

Joan of Arc
1

John F. Kennedy Memorial
1

John II, King of Portugal
1

John Paul II, Pope
1
,
2

Johnson, Boris
1

Johnson, Samuel
1

Dictionary
1

Jones, Steve
1

Jonson, Ben
1

judges, British
1

Julia Creek dunnart
1

Jung, Carl
1

Jupiter
1

K1
1

K2
1

Kanakuri, Shizo
1

Karakorum range
1

Karloff, Boris
1

Kekulé, August
1

keratin
1
,
2

Kerr family
1

Keynes, John Maynard
1

Kidd, William
1

Kiesselbach, Wilhelm
1

killer whales
1

kilts
1

Kingsley, Rev. Charles
1

Kittenger, Joseph
1

Kleitman, Dr Nathaniel
1
,
2

Knox, Father Ronald
1
,
2

knuckle cracking
1

Kodak
1

König, Peter
1

Krakatoa, eruption of
1

Kraken Mare lake (Titan)
1

Kwok, Dr Robert Ho Man
1

Lack, David
1

lactose tolerance
1

Ladbrokes
1

lake, largest
1

Lanfray, Jean
1

Lang, Gerhard
1

language

official
1

spoken in ancient Rome
1

Latin
1
,
2

as official language in Vatican
1

latitudinal libration
1

laurel wreath
1

lavatories
1

on aeroplanes
1

and hygiene
1

injuries while on
1

lead, hardness of
1

Leaning Tower of Pisa
1

Lebensprüfer
(’Life-prover’)
1

Lebistina beetle
1

Leeuwenhoek, Anton van
1

Lent
1

Leo XIII, Pope
1

lepers, carrying bells
1
,
2

leprosy
1

letterboxes
1

lexical-gustatory synaesthesia
1

libration
1
,
2

lichens
1

Lilienthal, Otto
1

lingua franca
1
,
2

Linnaean Society
1

liver
1

Llanfair PG
1

London
1

London Fire Brigade
1

longitudinal libration
1

‘loo’
1

see also
lavatories Lorenzini, Stefano
1

lorikeet
1

lost, going round in circles when
1

lottery
1

Louis XIII, King
1

Lovelace, Ada
1

Lusitania
, sinking of (1915)
1

Luxembourg
1

lying
1

give-aways
1

McCay, Professor Clive
1

McClelland Royal Commission
1

Macedonia/Macedonians
1
,
2

Macfarlane, Charles
1

MacMahan, Dr Jamie
1

Mafia
1

Magna Carta (1215)
1
,
2

magnetoception
1

Mahavira
1

mammals

and heartbeats
1

most aggressive
1

smallest
1

mangoes, speeding up ripening process
1

Mansfield, Lord
1

Manx Shearwater
1
,
2

Mao Zedong
1
,
2

Maralinga nuclear tests (Australia)
1

Mariani, Angelo
1

Marie Byrd Land
1
,
2

Marmite
1

marngrook
(‘game ball’)
1

Marryat, Captain Frederick
1

Mars
1
,
2
,
3
,
4

marula tree
1

Marx, Karl
1

Mary I, Queen
1

Mary, Queen of Scots
1

Mather, Graham
1

Matilda, Queen
1
,
2

mating

mayflies
1

octopus
1
,
2

snakes
1

Max Planck Institute for

Biological Cybernetics (Tübingen)
1

mayflies
1

Mediterranean
1

size
1

tides
1

Melton Mowbray
1

Melville, Herman

Moby Dick
1

Omoo
1

menstruation, vicarious
1

Merian, Maria Sibylla
1

Mertz, Xavier
1

mesophere
1

Messalina, Empress
1

Messinian Salinity Crisis
1

meteorites
1

Metronidazole
1

Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator
1

mice, species of British
1

Michelin man
1

Michelin stars
1

Michelin Tyre Company
1

Mickey Mouse
1

micro-frog
1

microwave ovens
1

microwaves
1

military success, and France
1

Milk Marketing Board
1

Milton, John
1
,
2

Milton Keynes
1
,
2

minerals, creation of
1

mink
1

mints
1

mirages
1

mockingbirds
1

Mohs, Friedrich
1

Mohs Hardness scale
1

Molotov (Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skriabin)
1

Molotov cocktails
1

Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (1939)
1

Mongolians
1
,
2

monkey-pump
1

monosodium glutamate
see
MSG

Montgomerie, Lieutenant Thomas
1

Moon
1

view from Earth
1

More, Sir Thomas
1

Morris, Reverend Marcus
1

Morris, Sir Parker
1

Morris, Steve
1

Morton, Charles
1

mosses
1

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
1

Moulin Rouge
1

mountains

estimating height of
1

‘in a high place’ notices
1

world’s second highest peak
1

Mpemba, Erasto
1

MSG (monosodium glutamate)
1
,
2
,
3

Munsters, The
1

Murray, Dr Stewart
1

mushrooms
1

Musk ox
1

Muslims, in India
1

Mussolini, Benito
1

mycology
1