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10 things we didn't know this time last week

17:16 UK time, Friday, 1 February 2008

10_kitesurfers.jpg
Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Fear of needles is known as belonephobia.
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2. Double-income families are not a modern invention - in prehistoric times, they were the norm.
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3. Cumbria is the safest county in England and Wales.
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4. The D-Day landings were practised on the island of Eigg.
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5. Irish singer Joe Dolan sold his hip for charity in an online auction.
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6. Some 2.9 million rooms have been lost in British homes over the past five years as owners opt for open-plan designs.

7. Almost 4% of Scotland's phone boxes didn't host a single call in 2007.
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8. The age at which we are most vulnerable to depression is 44, while a 70-year-old who is physically fit is, on average, as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old.
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9. Chameleons change colour to stand out and attract mates, rather than hide.
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10. Harry S Truman, former US president, has no middle name - his advisers insisted he insert an initial between his first and last names if he was to have any credibility with US voters.
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Sources, where not linked: 6 - Mirror, 29 Jan.

Seen 10 things? Send us a picture to use next week. Thanks to Kate Shaw for this week's picture of 10 kite surfers - nine in the air and one on the beach.

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