Trivia and Amazing Facts 04-02-09

• "E" is the most frequently used letter in the English alphabet, "Q" is the least.

• Women's hearts beat faster than men's.

• WHO INVENTED THE ROSARY? The practice of using a string of knots or beads as a memory aid in prayer, developed long before the time of Christ, was popularized among Catholics in the twelfth century by Saint Dominic of Spain, founder of the Dominican order. The word rosary may come from one of two sources: the early practice of carving rosary beads from rosewood (and calling them "wreaths of roses"); or the French word for bead, rosaire.

• WHAT GAVE TIMES SQUARE ITS NAME? It was named for the 1903 building that was headquarters for the New York Times. The building, located at the intersection of Seventh Avenue, Forty-second Street, and Broadway, trans-mitted news by the band of electric lights that ran across the top of the building. New York Newsday now occupies the spot and still flashes headlines as its predecessor did.

• The state flower of Alaska is a forget-me-not.

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