Commercial airline pilots are not allowed to have beards, and some airlines require pilots to be clean-shaven. It has to do with safety. They need to ensure that crew members’ oxygen masks maintain a good seal in the event of an emergency . . . and facial hair can get in the way of that.
2. Simon Cowell’s first job was for a studio in London where “The Shining” was filmed, and he polished Jack Nicholson’s ax for the “Here’s Johnny” scene.
3. The Pentagon wasn’t supposed to be the permanent home of the Defense Department . . . it was built for World War Two with the plan of turning it into office or warehouse space after.
4. The term for the space underneath a staircase is a “spandrel.”
5. There are more people worldwide who’ve learned English as a second language than there are native speakers.
