StrangeSights

• Tommaso, a former stray cat from Rome, became one of the world’s richest animals recently when he inherited more than $13 million in property and cash from his late mistress. Italian Maria Assunta, the childless widow of a property magnate, reportedly drew up a will which specified that Tommaso have her fortune spent on him and gave her lawyers the task of finding an animal welfare body to whom to give the inheritance and the job of looking after the four-year-old cat. The richest animal in the world is believed to be a German Shepherd called Gunther IV, who inherited about $140 million and who apparently now lives in a waterfront property in Miami. Follow this link for more on the world’s richest animals.

• He’s been everywhere, man. Lego Tourist is, you guessed it, a Lego man but what sets him apart from his millions of fellow minifigures is that he’s travelled thousands of kilometres around the world. Purchased by English woman Leanne Buchan last year before she took him to Australia, she now posts him to Lego enthusiasts around the world so they can photograph him in front of international landmarks and then mail him back. He’s already reportedly been snapped in front of so far are Tower Bridge in London, the Sydney Opera House and even in Norway where he attended the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Lego Tourist even has his own Facebook page where you can follow his wanderings.

• But back to animals and Pockets Warhol, a Capuchin monkey who lives at a primate sanctuary in Canada, must be toasting his success after reportedly selling his artworks for prices ranging into the hundreds of dollars. Buyers from as far afield as Europe have been buying the works which he started creating after being given the non-toxic paints to play with. The money raised will help fund a new barn for the sanctuary.

• Excitement is growing ahead of Britain’s upcoming Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton and the range of souvenirs continues to grow - everything from commemorative plates, tea towels, coins and replica rings to name but a few. One commemorative mug produced by a firm in China, however, has been manufactured with what appears to be a slight flaw - it bears a portrait of the wrong prince. Next to a portrait of Kate Middleton is that of Prince Harry, her future brother-in-law, instead of that of her future husband Prince William.

• For the fashionista who likes to stand out from the crowd, look no further than these distinctive boots, designed to resemble a pair of horse’s hooves. The limited edition boots were released by UK betting company Betfair at the Cheltenham Festival to commemorate the horse-racing meet’s centenary. Reportedly priced at £1,300 a pair, they come in either ankle or knee length.

• Forget about calling yourself rich if you’ve only got a million dollars. A survey by US financial firm Fidelity Investments has found that 42 per cent of US millionaires said they did not feel wealthy (compared with 46 per cent in 2009), adding that they didn’t think they would do so unless they had at least $US7.5 million. Tough for some.

• 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.