Strange but True

CONTRIBUTED BY: SAMANTHA WEAVER

• Any novelty seeker planning a trip to Japan ought to include a trip to the town of Susami, home to the world’s deepest underwater postbox. A scuba diver who would like to send a unique message should head to the local dive shop and buy a special water-resistant postcard, then use an oil-based marker to write the message. On a dive off the town’s coast, the diver can head down 30 feet to deposit the mail in a red postbox, which is checked every few days by a dive-shop employee. All the postcards are then taken to the local post office and sent on to the recipients.

• It was President John F. Kennedy who defined happiness as “the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.”

• Considering the ever-increasing cost of postage, you might be surprised to learn that the U.S. Postal Service was free until 1863.

• Milton Hershey, creator of the iconic Hershey Bar and founder of the Pennsylvania company town that bears his name, grew up in a Mennonite family, working on the family farm. He had no formal schooling past the fourth grade. He served as an apprentice to a candy maker, then started his own confectionery. It failed. His second attempt also was a failure. His third attempt in the candy business was such a success that he sold the company for a large profit in 1900. He immediately used the proceeds from that sale to come up with his own formula for milk chocolate and create the Hershey Company.

• Those who study such things say that 20 percent of American men have spent at least one night in jail.

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Thought for the Day: “The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” — Pablo Picasso

(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.