Things I learned lately 15 June

• The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
• "Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters 'und'.
• In 1800, 3 days of travel from New York City got you to Providence RI. By 1830, 3 days got you to Burlington VT. By 1857, you'd get as far as Jacksonville FL. In 1930, you'd make it to Los Angeles (by railroad).
• High heel shoes were once in fashion for men. Louis XIV of France had quite the collection of 4" heel shoes. They were impractical, but for the aristocracy, that was the point.
• You can make an emergency candle that will burn for 4 hours out of a half pound block of butter and a rolled up toilet paper wick stuffed inside.
• In the Tesla Model S sedan, you can tell (using your voice) the car to play any song and it does, via the internet, using Slacker.
• You can rent the Hearst Mansion in California for $600,000 per month.
• Imagine a city forbidding un-related people from sharing a home in a residential neighborhood. That's what happened in Watertown, New York. 
• Every time your heart beats, it creates almost imperceptible (to our eyes) changes in your skin tone as blood moves through your body. As a result, it is possible to get a pulse rate by using the camera and flash of your smart phone on your wrist, and there are apps that do just that.
• There is a chocolate company in the UK that makes chocolates in the shape of a butt-hole. 
• If you want to use the song "Happy Birthday" in your film, TV show or musical act, you have to pay a $1500 license fee to the rights holders (Warner/Chappell Music). A class action lawsuit is being filed to challenge the ownership of the song. The current owner's rights to the song don't expire until at least 2030, assuming the US government doesn't extend copyright terms even longer before then.
• Canadian MPs and Senators are allowed to claim up to $89.95 per day for their meals. That's a tax-free benefit. They get this any time they're in the Ottawa region and while travelling.