10 things we didn't know last week

17:27 UK time, Friday, 18 January 2008

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. The Scottish crossbill is the only bird unique to the UK.

2. Barack Obama attended a stag party in Wokingham.

3. Nicolas Sarkozy never had dinner at home in eight years, according to his ex-wife Cecilia.

4. Christopher Columbus introduced syphilis to Europe.
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5. Carrots used to be purple.
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6. Both men and women find long legs in the opposite sex attractive, but not too long.
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7. Rodents used to weigh a tonne and have skulls half a metre long.
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8. MPs can claim up to £250 a month without producing receipts.

9. There is no such thing as pure black.
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10. Brazil has more people of African descent than any country outside of Africa.
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Sources: 1 - Times, 15 January; 2 - Sunday Mirror, 13 January; 3 - Independent on Sunday, 13 January; 8 - Daily Telegraph, 17, January;
Seen 10 things? Send us a picture to use next week. Thanks to Hannah Foster for this week's picture of 10 Smarties - "My ten best things I had this week!").