KEY POINTS:
The BBC News annual list of "100 Things We Didn't Know Last Year" includes the "most interesting and unexpected facts". Here are the highlights:
* Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.
* Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double
the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.
* Dishcloths are purged of 99 per cent of their bacteria during two minutes in a microwave.
* Astronauts wear nappies during launch and re-entry because they can't stop what they're doing should they need to urinate.
* Burglar alarms, traffic wardens and crowded buses are good news for home owners, signalling an area is on the up.
* More than half (52 per cent) of smokers haven't told their parents about their habit.
* Female civil servants in India are questioned about their menstrual cycle during their appraisal.
* CO2 emissions from shipping are twice the level of those from aviation.
* The opening bars to the theme tune of Some Mothers Do'Ave 'Em spelled the title of the series in Morse code.
* A 23.8lb (10.8kg) baby was born in the US in 1879, but survived only 11 hours.
(Go to BBC.co.uk and search "100 things we didn't know last year" for links to stories).
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A reader writes: "My 2-year-old old niece from London, over for Christmas, was in the car on a journey, and launched into her version of The Warehouse theme jingle she had no doubt heard on the radio. Her sweet little high-pitch voice rang out as we all listened ... "The Warehouse, The Warehouse, where everyone gets some garbage". A discerning shopper in the making."
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Lesley would like to add "New Year's" to the list of words that should be banned. "The event is New Year as in 'where are you going for New Year?' Not New Year's. What is correct, however, is New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. But all you ever see and hear these days is: What are you doing for New Year's or New Years? It is now so rife I fear it may never be stamped out."
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The Telegraph reports drivers of longer cars will have to pay almost twice as much as their shorter car peers for their annual residents' permits. The system is being introduced next month by the Norwich City Council. People with cars longer than 14.5ft (4.42m), such as the Vauxhall Vectra, the BMW 7 and the Nissan Primera, will find that their annual parking fee will double. The council claims the scheme will help reduce carbon emissions and release more parking space. The proposals do not take into account that owners of "green" cars, such as the Toyota Prius, will have to pay extra because they are more than 14.5ft long.
