StrangeSights

• Britain’s medieval peasants were twice as wealthy as people living in the world’s poorest countries today, according to the findings of new research. A team at the University of Warwick has put the average income in the late Middle Ages, expressed in 1990 dollars, at around $US1,000 compared with only $US249 in Zaire, $US479 in Burundi and $US514 in Niger. The team found that even on the eve of the Black Death, which killed thousands when it first struck in 1348-49, incomes were more than $US800 per capita.

• They’re the words and phrases we love to hate. According to The Marist Poll in the US, “whatever” is the most annoying word or phrase used in conversation today with 39 per cent of the respondents putting it top of their list for the second year in a row. “Like”, as in “like wow”, comes a close second with 28 per cent followed by “you know what I mean” (15 per cent), “to tell you the truth” (10 per cent), and “actually” (five per cent).

• It’s a find worthy of Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, and this time it’s contained in the eyes the Mona Lisa. An Italian researcher has reportedly claimed to have found tiny letters in the famous painting’s eyes which he believes may reveal the identity of the woman whose portrait Leonardo Da Vinci painted. According to Silvano Vinceti the letters are invisible to the naked eye but high resolution imaging shows that the painting’s right pupil contains the letters LV, for Leonardo da Vinci, and the left pupil the letters B or S or the initials CE, possibly letters corresponding the name of the sitter. The find could cast into doubt that commonly held belief that the woman is Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant. Vinceti, meanwhile, plans to announce his theories next month.

• The promises contained in the song the Twelve Days of Christmas cost more than they used to. The annual Christmas Price Index shows that buying all of the items mentioned in the song - everything from a partridge in a pear tree to seven swans-a-swimming and 12 drummers drumming - will set you back $US23,439, up 9.2 per cent or $US1,974 on the previous year. The jump is the second highest in the index’s history and is largely attributed to the rising cost of gold which rose 30 per cent over the year. Created by financial company PNC Wealth Management, the index has been running for 27 years.

• We know how it goes. You see the parking ticket on your window and open it with trepidation to see how much you owe…only to find that “you’ve parked beautifully”. Londoner Will Sandy has launched what he calls the Fine Parking Company which aims to bring a smile to people’s faces - a reversal of the usual emotional response people have when opening a ticket.

• Still in the UK, and a Cornish village soccer team, Madron, had been given the label of ‘worst in the UK’ after losing 11 games in a row including a 55-0 thrashing. Manager Alan Davenport has reportedly said that despite only kicking two goals during their 11 games (and conceding 227), morale in the team remained high.