Things I've learned so far

• The French and the Italians were afraid of [attack from] the Turkish. In an attempt to belittle the Turkish and reduce their fear, they turned the Turkish emblem (a crescent moon) into something they could feel powerful over--and what way to feel more powerful than something than to be able to eat it? And so, we have croissants and coronetos.
• The Colosseum was not always named as such. Originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium), it was re-named when a colossal statue of Nero was moved to a location just outside. So the new name Colosseum was actually after the size of the statue, not the Gladiator stadium.
• The middle of the Colosseum where the fighting took place was covered in sand (for easy clean up of the blood and guts). The Latin word for sand is "arena." Therefore, that area was then and onward called the arena.
• The swoosh logo of the Nike brand is an abstract graphic representation of Nike's (the goddess of victory) wings.
• All of the paintings in St. Peter's Basilica are slowly being replaced by mosaics, but they're so good, it's unlikely that you'd be able to tell.
• Michaelangelo
  • was a sculptor, not a painter, yet he conceded to paint the Sistine Chapel
  • was a criminal--he exhumed and dissected dead bodies (a big no-no) in order to better understand the shape and workings of the human body and incorporate it into his art
  • went blind later in life, likely due to all the paint dripping in his eyes while painting the ceilings