In the 1610s, King James I attended a philosophical debate at Cambridge University on the question, ‘Whether dogs could make syllogisms’. One side argued that dogs could use logic and the other one that they couldn’t, with the exception of His Majesty’s hounds, of course.

In the 1980s, Samuel Beckett vetoed a U.S.-based version of ‘Waiting for Godot’ starring Jim Carrey: ‘If I intended to have my play set in the California desert under a freeway, I would have written it that way! Absolutely not!’

Mice have the same number of neck vertebrae as giraffes.

The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. T.H. WHITE

The world’s smallest bear, the sun bear, has been observed mimicking facial expressions of fellow bears. This is the first time the behaviour has been seen in a non-primate.

After winning the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Henry VII officially backdated his reign by one day. Anyone who’d fought against him could then be accused of treason.

Quite A Good Sport: Episode 7 - Paralympics Part 1 is out now! Anna and James meet paralympic swimmers, rowers and basketballers then chat with the brilliant Rosie Jones. Available wherever you get your podcasts. podfollow.com/1754520162

The phrase ‘Mad Hatter’ never appears in the Alice in Wonderland books.

During the Renaissance, it was fashionable for artists to include depictions of flies in their paintings. It may have been to show off their artistic skills, or as a reminder of the shortness of life, but no one is completely sure.

In the 1960s, Hoyt Curtin worked as a composer for Hanna-Barbera where he was teased by musicians for his simple tunes. He responded by writing a trombone sequence in the theme for Jonny Quest that is so fast it's technically impossible to play correctly. youtube.com/watch?v=SIhEpj…

In 2015 an injured toucan called Tieta was successfully fitted with a 3D printed prosthetic beak. (📷: Gustavo Barbosa Cleinman)

Dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes. One method of fighting it is to release more mosquitoes carrying Dengue-fighting bacteria.

Before fridges were invented, farmers in Finland and Russia would pop a frog in their milk to keep it from spoiling.

Word of the Day: DINKWAP - a family with Double Income, No Kids, With A Pet.

In the 1920s and ‘30s, competitive American dance marathons could last up to five months.

In order to attract prey, spider-tailed horned vipers have evolved a tail which they can wiggle so that it looks like a crawling spider. (Image: Omid Mozaffari)

The Quite A Good Sport guests who have medalled at the Paralympics SO FAR: 🥇 Grace Harvey in the 100 m Breaststroke SB5 🥇 Erin Kennedy in the PR3 Mixed Cox Four 🥇 Benjamin Pritchard in the PR1 Men's Single Sculls They all feature on our latest ep: podfollow.com/1754520162

Morning people are more likely to tell lies in the afternoon. Night owls tend to lie in the morning.

The British Museum relies on moisture from visitors’ breath to increase humidity and stop their wood and bone artefacts from cracking. During the Covid lockdowns, some items had to be moved to climate-controlled storage.

In U.S. cities with over 1 million people, an average 22% of the city centre is used for parking.