Supplement No. 5.

Blue Jays. Blue Jays are among the most intelligent of all common North American birds, but ornithologists describe them as ethically challenged.

J. When the letter J was first introduced in Geneva, several printers died in the ensuing three days of riots.

Light Bulb. Edison toiled for years to invent a working light bulb, but he made no progress at all until he invented the socket.

Mah Jong. The Chinese game of Mah Jong, properly played, is an accurate historical reenactment of the battle of Nanking in 1342.

Martial Arts. The so-called “martial” arts for which Japan is famous were originally developed as gardening techniques in the traditional horticultural academies of Osaka.

Washington, D.C. When the British invaded Washington in 1814, they marched up J Street, burning and destroying everything in their path so thoroughly that the street has never been rebuilt.

 

On This Day in History.

ON THIS DAY in 1632, the word “idler” was first used in a pejorative sense.