Because grazing land is inaccessible, sheep that live on North Ronaldsay, northernmost of Scotland's Orkney Islands, dine almost exclusively on dabberlocks (Alaria esculenta) and dulse (Palmaria palmata). That's seaweed to you and me. Small, dark and rugged, North Ronaldsay sheep are known to produce superb wool, although some people claim their mutton has a fishy taste.

The first Russian-language edition of Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago" was published by an American publishing company funded by the CIA. Soviet publishers in the mid-1950s refused the book because it was critical of communism. The CIA figured anything the Soviets objected to so strongly was bound to be in the interest of democracy, so it arranged for copies to be printed in Russian and smuggled into the Soviet Union.

The story of Hanukkah centers on a rebellion led by Judah the Maccabee in 166 B.C. to overthrow the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes and reclaim the Temple for the Jewish people. It's one of history's earliest examples of guerrilla warfare. In November 2015, archaeologists unearthed a fortress in Jerusalem where they believe some of the fighting occurred.

Choosing the perfect gift for the president of the United States has resulted in some well-meant but weird selections. Theodore Roosevelt received a Grevy's zebra and a caseload of baboons from King Menelik of Abyssinia. (They were given to the National Zoo.) Richard Nixon received a tapestry portrait of himself from the Shah of Iran. Warren G. Harding received no fewer than 150 cornets. (He blew a mean horn, apparently.) And a thoughtful wigmaker gave John Quincy Adams a toupee.

In 2013, the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden was shut down when a swarm of jellyfish — or, more properly, a "bloom" of jellyfish — clogged its cooling water intake system. Similar jellyfish infiltrations have occurred at power plants in Scotland, Japan, Israel and the United States in recent years. As jellyfish populations increase (thanks to environmental change), expect to see more of them clogging the works at power plants around the world.

When Frank Sinatra died, he was buried with a flask of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey. Jackie Gleason reputedly introduced Frank to the drink, but Sinatra made it his signature, famously sipping it onstage between numbers. In 2014, Jack Daniel's introduced a limited-edition 90-proof whiskey named for Sinatra, and in 2015 it offered an even smaller batch of select whiskey in honor of what would have been Sinatra's 100th birthday, Dec. 12, 2015.

TRIVIA

1. The 2004 film "Beyond the Sea" is a biopic about which singing sensation?

A) Bobby Darin

B) Bobby Rydell

C) Bobby Sherman

D) Bobby Vinton

2. Whose experiments in "classical conditioning" and the "physiology of digestion" earned him the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1904?

A) Anton Chekhov

B) Mikhail Lomonosov

C) Ivan Pavlov

D) Igor Sikorsky

3. Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated for how many nights?

A) 3

B) 8

C) 12

D) 30

4. When Harry Truman received a gift of two chickens from a French farmer, what did he do with them?

A) Cooked them

B) Gave them to an American farmer

C) Kept them as pets

D) Returned them

5. A nearly fatal sting by a box jellyfish stopped what distance swimmer's third attempt at swimming from Florida to Cuba?

A) Janet Evans

B) Missy Franklin

C) Diana Nyad

6. Sinatra's first Academy Award was for a 1946 short film called "The House I Live In," made to oppose what?

A) Anti-Semitism

B) Child abuse

C) Nuclear weapons

D) Slavery

ANSWERS

1) "Beyond the Sea" was based on the life of Bobby Darin.

2) Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for his work in classical conditioning.

3) Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights.

4) Sorry, animal lovers. Harry Truman had those two chickens fried, American-style.

5) Jellyfish thwarted Diana Nyad's third and fourth attempts to swim between Florida and Cuba. She completed her goal on the fifth try, in 2013.

6) Frank Sinatra starred in "The House I Live In," a film that condemned anti-Semitism.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 10

Turning out 381 million wheels a year has earned Lego the title of world's largest tire manufacturer, according to Guinness World Records. Of course, that's nothing compared with the number of Lego bricks manufactured each year — around 40 billion. The company estimates that it's produced more than 80 bricks for every person on earth.

Call them tree-huggers; the Bishnois won't mind. The nature-worshipping vegan religious sect came into being in the 15th century, and it's still very much alive. Based in the Rajasthan region of India, the Bishnois follow a strict vegan lifestyle and are so devoted to the sanctity of nature they've been known to latch on to trees in a fierce embrace to prevent other people from chopping them down.

What is a quince? Yes, it could be the answer to "Foods with Q for $400." (See "White Men Can't Jump.") It's also a tree fruit similar to pears and apples but classified in its own botanical genus. Quince is the basis for dulce de membrillo, a thick jelly that complements both sweet and savory dishes. Dulce de membrillo traditionally is made in the fall, when quinces are harvested, and served in the winter, especially at Christmas.

The main square in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, is dedicated to St. Wenceslas, the man we know as "Good King Wenceslas" from the Christmas carol. In real life, he wasn't a king; he was the Christian duke of Bohemia. In A.D. 935, the pious Wenceslas was on his way to church, when he was murdered by assassins. He was elevated to sainthood soon after his death.

George Washington's only journey outside the United States was a three-month trip to Barbados in 1751-52 with his half brother, Lawrence. Lawrence was gravely ill with tuberculosis, and George contracted smallpox during the visit, but they maintained a busy social schedule nonetheless. Nineteen-year-old George kept a detailed diary of the trip, describing everything from the weather conditions during their voyage to his newly discovered taste for pineapple.

The twinkly sound of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," in "The Nutcracker," comes from a celesta (or celeste), a keyboard instrument named for its heavenly — celestial — bell-like sound. The story goes that composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky first heard the celesta in Paris in 1891 and immediately ordered one for himself, asking the instrument-makers to keep his purchase a secret from rival composers, especially fellow Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Tchaikovsky wanted the celesta's distinctive sound to be linked forever to "The Nutcracker" — and it is!

TRIVIA

1. The name Lego comes from the words "leg godt," which means "play well" in what language?

A) Danish

B) Finnish

C) Japanese

D) Russian

2. One of the oldest living trees on earth is a 4,800-plus-year-old bristlecone pine in Northern California named for what biblical figure?

A) Hagar

B) Methuselah

C) Noah

D) Sarah

3. Speaking of foods with Q: The quahog (or quahaug) clam is the official state shell of which state?

A) Connecticut

B) Massachusetts

C) Rhode Island

D) Vermont

4. Which astronomer is mentioned in Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"?

A) Nicolaus Copernicus

B) Galileo Galilei

C) Johannes Kepler

D) Isaac Newton

5. What does Barbados have in common with Cambodia, Ecuador, Iceland and the state of Hawaii?

A) It's a former British colony

B) It doesn't observe daylight saving time

C) It's in the Tropic of Capricorn

D) They are the world's largest growers and exporters of pineapple

6. "The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads" comes from a poem by whom?

A) Lewis Carroll

B) Emily Dickinson

C) A.A. Milne

D) Clement Clarke Moore

ANSWERS

1) Lego gets its name from the Danish words for "play well."

2) That very old tree is named for the very old biblical figure Methuselah.

3) The quahog is the official state shell of Rhode Island.

4) Galileo is mentioned in Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

5) Barbados — like Cambodia, Ecuador, Iceland and the state of Hawaii (among other places) — does not observe daylight saving time.

6) Visions of sugar-plums danced in the heads of children in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," by Clement Clarke Moore.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 17

The Dublin Zoo in Ireland is known for its success in breeding lions in captivity. Since 1857, more than 700 lion cubs have started life in Dublin. The most recent are the three Asian lion cubs born between May 2014 and June 2015. The most famous Dublin-born lion is Slats, the first MGM lion. (Leo was his stage name!)

The library at the State University of New York at Buffalo has in its collection a copy of Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel, "A Farewell to Arms," that Hemingway gave as a gift to James Joyce. Hemingway personalized the book by penciling in all the swearwords that had been removed by his editor before publication.

Flight delays aren't too much of an ordeal in Munich, where the airport's own brewery offers signature beers with names such as Jetstream and Kumulus. What else would you expect from the city that gave us Oktoberfest? Seasonal brews include Krampus, a dark winter brew named for the German folklore character who's St. Nick's devilish sidekick and punisher of naughty children.

Brasher O. Westerfield, William Genich and Father Gregory Keller all patented machines for mass-producing candy canes. Westerfield also patented a system for packaging candy canes nestled together two to a box. About 2 billion candy canes are made in the United States each year, most of them sold in the months of November and December.

Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City on Christmas Day 1899. As a young man, he enlisted in the Navy and did a tour of duty on the USS Leviathan, where, the story goes, he got into a fight and received a bad cut on the lip. The stitches on the wound left a scar, and that's how Bogie developed his characteristic sneer. (At least that's one version of the story!)

In 1848, Camilla Urso became the first female student ever accepted to the Paris Conservatory to study violin. She was 8 years old at the time. At age 12, she embarked on a concert tour of the United States, where she wowed audiences with her poise and her extraordinary talent. In 1873, a racehorse named Camilla Urso (presumably in her honor) became the first horse to win the California Derby.

TRIVIA

1. Which 1990s teen heartthrob provided the voice of Young Simba in Disney's 1994 smash "The Lion King"?

A) Matthew Lawrence

B) Brad Renfro

C) Devon Sawa

D) Jonathan Taylor Thomas

2. Who was Hemingway talking about when he said, "I never had any respect for him ever, except for his lovely, golden, wasted talent"?

A) F. Scott Fitzgerald

B) Pablo Picasso

C) Ezra Pound

D) Gene Tunney

3. Figures from Airports Council International show that the world's busiest airport by number of passengers serves which U.S. city?

A) Atlanta

B) Chicago

C) Dallas

D) New York

4. Patricia Reichardt, better known as Peppermint Patty, is a character in what long-running comic strip?

A) "Bloom County"

B) "Brenda Starr"

C) "Dick Tracy"

D) "Peanuts"

5. The boat used in the filming of "The African Queen" now resides in what other Bogie-related location?

A) Casablanca

B) Key Largo

C) Malta

D) Sierra Madre, California

6. After carefully reading descriptions in the text, the American Viola Society claims that what literary detective played the viola — and not the violin?

A) Father Brown

B) Sherlock Holmes

C) Miss Marple

D) Hercule Poirot

ANSWERS

1) Jonathan Taylor Thomas provided the voice of Young Simba in "The Lion King."

2) In a letter to a friend, Ernest Hemingway lamented F. Scott Fitzgerald's "lovely, golden, wasted talent."

3) Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest, with nearly 104 million passengers passing through in 2017.

4) Peppermint Patty joined the "Peanuts" gang in 1966.

5) The boat used in "The African Queen" is now docked in Key Largo, Florida.

6) Sherlock Holmes may have played the viola, not the violin.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 24

The Cebrennus rechenbergi, or Moroccan flic-flac spider, doesn't simply run from danger; it cartwheels away like a gymnast doing an Olympic floor exercise routine. Found only in the Erg Chebbi desert in Morocco, it is active at night and spends its days inside a tubelike shelter that it builds from sand and spider silk. Dr. Peter Jager, an arachnologist from Frankfurt, Germany, classified Cebrennus rechenbergi as a distinct species in 2014.

Leonard Nimoy originated the role of Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," after Martin Landau — the producers' first choice to play Spock — declined the role. Instead, Landau joined the original cast of "Mission: Impossible." Three years later, "Star Trek" was canceled, and Landau decided not to renew his contract, so Leonard Nimoy replaced him on "Mission: Impossible."

When he wasn't composing sonnets and odes, Lord Byron, the 19th-century Romantic poet, spent his free time sparring at a gym owned by "Gentleman" John Jackson, a British boxing champion. Byron might have been pudgy and a little slow on his feet, but he loved to mix it up in the ring. He called boxing a "most unpoetical exercise, (yet) very wholesome."

Because roundness symbolizes prosperity, it's customary for people in the Philippines to eat 12 round fruits on New Year's Eve to ensure 12 prosperous months in the coming year. In keeping with the roundness idea, some people also believe it's lucky to wear polka dots on New Year's Eve. (It certainly couldn't hurt!)

You never see ice on a healthy penguin's feathers, because penguins in extremely cold climates have two adaptations to make them frost-free. First, their feathers are dotted with tiny pores that prevent water from clinging to the surface of the feathers. Then there's the specially adapted "preen oil" that penguins secrete from a gland and spread over their bodies. Together they make a natural deicing system.

The ancient city of Pompeii might be the most famous site preserved in volcanic ash, but it's not the only one. In El Salvador, the farming village of Ceren was buried under a 17-foot layer of volcanic ash after an eruption in A.D. 660. It's so perfectly preserved that archaeologists have found footprints in the earth and finger marks on the household objects left behind when the villagers tried to flee the disaster more than 1,400 years ago.

TRIVIA

1. Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in Olympic competition while representing what nation?

A) Bulgaria

B) Hungary

C) Romania

D) Soviet Union

2. In Roman mythology, Vulcan is the god of what?

A) Fire

B) Ice

C) Thunder

D) Wind

3. Tradition says that Boxing Day, observed on Dec. 26, is a time to do what?

A) Challenge your enemies to a fight

B) Fly kites

C) Give gifts to charity

D) Throw out the boxes and wrapping from Christmas gifts

4. Which round fruit from the Caribbean is a hybrid that 18th-century botanists called the "forbidden fruit"?

A) Blood orange

B) Grapefruit

C) Key lime

D) Tangerine

5. Because of its snazzy yellow crest, Eudyptes chrysolophus is known by what common name?

A) Butter penguin

B) Canary penguin

C) Macaroni penguin

D) Marigold penguin

6. In which English city would you find the Ashmolean Museum?

A) Cambridge

B) London

C) Manchester

D) Oxford

ANSWERS

1) Gymnast Nadia Comaneci represented Romania at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

2) Vulcan is the Roman god of fire and volcanoes.

3) Boxing Day is a traditional day for giving gifts to charity.

4) Grapefruit is a hybrid of sweet orange and pomelo that botanists once called "forbidden fruit."

5) Eudyptes chrysolophus is commonly known as the macaroni penguin.

6) The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University opened in 1683 to display the collection of curiosities belonging to Elias Ashmole.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 31

"Millions of years will pass, everything will be destroyed, but the portrait of the President of Russia on sapphire will shine in the rays of the everlasting sun," said Russian artist, scientist and Renaissance man Victor Petrik before unveiling his 3D portrait of Vladimir Putin etched into the surface of a 611-gram synthetic sapphire. Putin is among the dignitaries in Petrik's portrait series, which also includes George H.W. Bush, Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, Queen Rania of Jordan and Angelina Jolie.

The crown of thorns starfish, or COTS, is a predator that attaches to a coral reef and sucks out the coral's inner soft tissue. Every once in a while, the COTS population booms, leading to outbreaks that cause large-scale reef damage, such as the one that struck the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa in the 1970s. In 2015, a massive attack threatened reefs in the Maldives. Disaster was mitigated by volunteer divers who removed 7,396 COTS from the reefs by hand.

Amelia Earhart designed her own clothes for flying, including a one-piece flight suit that was featured in Vogue magazine. That led to a complete line of Amelia Earhart sportswear for women, including shirts made from parachute silk. She said she designed for tall women, like herself, who had trouble finding fashionable clothes to fit them. The earnings from her fashion career went to finance her work in aviation.

Tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones, are the result of food particles that become trapped in the folds of your tonsils, where they calcify into little white hardened masses. They smell awful, and they can cause persistent bad breath. Although tonsil stones are a common affliction, many people aren't aware of them until they dislodge one and cough it up.

As an 18-year-old chemistry student in 1850s England, William Perkin was trying to make synthetic quinine for treating malaria. Instead, his experiments with coal tar yielded a brilliant purple liquid that could be used to dye textiles and paper. Perkin's "mauveine" was the first synthetic dye ever produced. It was such a breakthrough that Queen Victoria herself made a public appearance wearing a gown dyed mauveine purple, and her image on postage stamps was colored with — what else? — mauveine.

When Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti joined the crew of the International Space Station in 2015, she arrived with an espresso maker customized for use in space. But you can't have the true espresso experience if you're sipping coffee through a straw stuck in the astronauts' standard-issue plastic drink bags. So engineers in Oregon designed special coffee cups for the International Space Station that rely on surface tension to replace the effects of gravity. Now the astronauts can sip their coffee and conduct experiments in fluid dynamics at the same time.

TRIVIA

1. What 2009 Oscar-winning film is, according to its full title, "based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"?

A) "Avatar"

B) "Crazy Heart"

C) "The Hurt Locker"

D) "Precious"

2. Starfish are members of the phylum Echinodermata, whose name comes from the Greek words for

A) Beautiful creature

B) Five legs

C) Sea monster

D) Spiny skin

3. In 1935, Amelia Earhart was a visiting professor in aeronautics at what Midwestern university?

A) University of Illinois

B) Iowa State

C) Kansas State

D) Purdue

4. Which stinky element contributes most to the unpleasant odor of bad breath?

A) Argon

B) Iron

C) Potassium

D) Sulfur

5. Deep Purple's classic rock hit "Smoke on the Water" describes events surrounding a rock concert in what country?

A) Belgium

B) France

C) Germany

D) Switzerland

6. One of the world's first coffee trading centers was the Red Sea port of Al-Makha, or Mocha, in what country?

A) Egypt

B) Jordan

C) Saudi Arabia

D) Yemen

ANSWERS

1) "Precious," which won Oscars for best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay, was based on the novel "Push," by Sapphire.

2) The phylum Echinodermata, which includes starfish and sea urchins, takes its name from the Greek words for "spiny skin."

3) Amelia Earhart briefly taught aeronautics at Purdue, which maintains an archive of Earhart documents and artifacts.

4) Bacteria in your mouth produce sulfur compounds that cause bad breath.

5) "Smoke on the Water" describes Montreux "on the Lake Geneva shoreline" in Switzerland.

6) Al-Mokha, or Mocha, is a port on the Red Sea in Yemen.