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| LIFE IN SOLERA | JANUARY 2024 | | LIFE IN SOLERA | JANUARY 2024 | 7 This & That Submitted by e Solera Ghostwriter WOW! Can you believe this is the start of This & That's second year? Continuing to blow your mind with such intriguing, unusual and sometimes, worthless information? You're welcome! Ever wonder why a family's heraldic symbol is called a "coat of arms"? In medieval Europe, men serving under a feudal lord in bale needed some way to identi one another. This was particularly true during the Crusades when many nations fought together. To provide this identification, shields were painted with brightly colored symbols called "arms" that identified the feudal lord. Men of lower rank wore badges showing this same symbol. Knights usually had this symbol emblazoned on light cloth tunics or coats that they wore over their armor. This tunic became known as a "coat of arms," and later the term came to mean the heraldic symbol itself. Why do judges wear black robes you ask? Judges' robes were not always black. They were very colorful until the death of Queen Mary II in 1694. At that time, they were changed to black to mourn her death and were just never changed back. THE RULE OF THUMB How did the thumb become a ruler? It's just a thumb, isn't it? The thumb has been used frequently as a means of making approximate measurements. Clothiers and carpenters used it to measure one inch, and cooks and brewers used it to test the temperature of heated liquids. Measurements made this way were said to be made according to the rule of thumb. In general use, the expression has been expanded to include any method or procedure based on practice or experience, rather than on scientific knowledge. Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density. • • • Strawberries and cashews are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside. • • • Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years. • • • The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself. • • • Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. DISCLAIMER…please check with your beautician for confirmation. In 2010, Johnny Depp responded to a letter from a nine-year-old girl named Beatrice Delap by actually showing up at her school in costume as Captain Jack Sparrow. She wrote asking that pirates help her stage a mutiny against the teachers. Ryan Gosling was cast for the role of Noah in the movie The Notebook because the director wanted someone "not handsome." (I know ladies… are you kidding me?).