Aubrey holes

The thing I learned today is that Aubrey holes, named after a 17th-century antiquarian, are 56 cremation pits that line the inside ring of Stonehenge. It is possible that their placement was used for astronomic calculations.

Axel Paulsen

The thing I learned today is that ice skating's move the Axel jump is not named for the rotating axle, as I always thought, but a 19th-century Norwegian speed skater, Axel Paulsen, who invented it.  Who knew?  Lots of people, certainly.

Delaware's nickname

The thing I learned today is that Delaware's motto is "Liberty and Independence," but its nickname is "The First State," which is printed on their license plates. (It was the first of the original 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution.)

Delaware
is well aware
it was the first state

John O'Groats

The thing I learned today is that John O'Groats is a village on the northeast coast of Scotland.  It is mentioned in the phrase "from Land's End to John O'Groats," meaning a great distance, as the distance between those two towns (875 miles) is the longest distance between two inhabited points in the UK.  It is named for Jan de Groote, a Dutchman who settled there.

Mashgiach

The thing I learned today is that a mashgiach (from the Hebrew for "supervisor") is a Jew who oversees a food-service establishment to ensure it is keeping with kashrut, or kosher, dietary laws, and that nothing is trayf, or forbidden.

Size of the Sahara Desert

The thing I learned today is that the Sahara Desert is 3.6 million square miles in area, which means it is nearly as large as the United States or China (both around 3.7 million square miles).

The first St. Patrick's Day parade

The thing I learned today is that the first St. Patrick's Day parade in America was held in Boston, 1737. It was organized by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston.

Marfan syndrome

The thing I learned today is that Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder of the connective tissue, which may affect heart, lungs, eyes, spinal cord, and skeleton and cause a number of complications.  People with Marfan syndrome tend to be tall with long, slender fingers; if the fingers fold over the thumb and the thumb extends past the hand that is a sign of Marfan syndrome.  The disease is named after Antoine Marfan, a French pediatrician. 

Cain the farmer

The thing I learned today is that Cain was the brother who offered grains ("fruit of the ground") to God, while Abel, a keeper of sheep offered the lord lamb meat. God, naturally, preferred the carnivorous food. Here is a mnemonic: Cain rhymes with grains, and "Abel" put a bell on the lamb (his name may derive from a Semitic word meaning "herdsman").

The Shard

The thing I learned today is that Europe's tallest building as of June, 2014, is called the Shard, named for its resemblance to a shard of glass. Completed in November, 2012, it is located in London and is commercial real estate. 

Wall socket voltage

The thing I learned today is that a standard wall socket in the US has 110-120 volts of current.  The voltage varies considerably by country.

Tom Cruise's marriages

The thing I learned today is that Tom Cruise has been married three times.  He was married to actress and poker player Mimi Rogers, who introduced him to Scientology, 1987-1990; Nicole Kidman 1990-2001; and Katie Holmes 2006-2012.  He was romantically linked with Penelope Cruz but not married to her.

The Securitate

The thing I learned today is that the Securitate (from Department of State Security, or DSS) was the brutal secret police of Communist Romania from 1948 to 1991.

The Manhattan

The thing I learned today is that the Manhattan, the classic cocktail cocktail made from whiskey, vermouth, and bitters, is traditionally topped with a maraschino cherry!  But it's the drink of the sophisticated man.  Isn't the cherry a bit, you know, girly?  (This one has an orange peel.)

Edward Brooke

The thing I learned today is that Edward Brooke was a Republican politician who served as Senator of Massachusetts from 1967-79.  He was the first African-American senator elected popularly, and the only to serve multiple terms.  Barbara Walters claimed in her memoir Audition that she had an affair with Brooke in the 1970s.

The Meyer lemon

The thing I learned today is that the Meyer lemon, a cross between a true lemon and mandarin, is native to China and was named for the explorer Frank Meyer who brought it to the U.S. in 1908.

The Brenner Pass

The thing I learned today is that the Brenner Pass is one of the principal passes over the Alps, and the lowest such pass. It connects Innsbruck, Austria and Verona, Italy. Today it is one of the most important transit routes between northern and southern Europe.  It is the site of a few battles and in 1940 Hitler famously met Mussolini there.

Conjunctions

The thing I learned today is the classification of conjunctions.

• A coordinating conjunction (which I knew about) joins two main clauses, such as "I saw the bird and she saw the cat."  Examples are: and, but, or, yet, as soon as.
• A subordinating cunjunction (which I'd forgotten) joins a subordinate (or dependent) clause to a main clause, such that one of the clauses is given more importance, as in "Although I saw the bird, she saw the cat." Examples are: after, though, unless, until, while, if.
• A correlative conjunction (new to me!) is a pair of words such as either.. or, neither... not, and not only... but also, which joins two clauses, as in "Neither she nor I saw any animals."

Subluxation

The thing I learned today is the definition of the word subluxation, which means the dislocation of an organ or joint.  A vertebral subluxation is a vertebra out of place; a peroneal subluxation is dislocation of the ankle; etc.

The hoazin

The thing I learned today is the existence of the hoazin, also known as stinkbird, a bird found in swamp regions and forests of South America.  It is interesting because its young possess claws on their wingtips, and because it is primarily a folivore and has a digestive system similar to that of ruminants.  For this reason, some have posited the hoazin as an ancestor of the Archeopteryx.