11 Things We Didn't Know Last Week

 News, discoveries and ... fun

1. Jackie Kennedy confided personal thoughts in a 14-year correspondence with an Irish priest. (Learn more at  Irish Times)

2. A mother's worth increased $3,123 last year. (Learn more at AARP)

3. There's a square hole in the sun. (Learn more at Space.com)

4. Age discrimination can kill you. (Learn more at AARP)

5. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is collapsing, making a rise in global sea level inevitable. (Learn more at National Geographic)

6. Most Russians are sorry that there's no longer a Soviet Union. (Learn more at  Quartz)

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7. Monica Lewinsky has had a hard time landing a job since the White House scandal and Clinton impeachment in 1998. (Learn more at  AARP)

8. A wreck found 11 years ago may be the Santa Maria, the largest of three ships that brought Columbus to the New World. (Learn more at N.Y. Daily News)

9. Each year, the identities of about 2.5 million deceased Americans are stolen to open fraudulent accounts. (Learn more at AARP)

10. Short men live longer. (Learn more at the Independent)

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11. Having a couple of beers a week can reduce a woman's risk of getting rheumatoid arthritis. (Learn more at AARP)

Bonus video: If you've been wondering about Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, wonder no longer...

Learn something this week? Mail your ideas to  11things@aarp.org, and we'll try to include your story next time.

On Twitter, we're using the hashtag   #11things.

Let us read 11 Things to you:

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Images - Jackie Kennedy:  India, 1962 photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House, JFK Presidential Library and Museum via Flickr/Sacheverelle; Mother and daughter cooking: Subman/iStockphoto; Hole in the sun: NASA; Collapsing ice sheet: NASA; Stereoscopic card of Columbus' ship Santa Maria from 1893, via Wikimedia and N.Y. Public Library; Masked hacker: Selimaksan/iStockphoto; Women with two beers (cropped): Nick Klein/Flickr 

Music - Eurovision/and Alex Beroza: Spinning via ccMixter  

 

Also of Interest

• 3D-Printed Houses and Other Things We Didn't Know Last Week
• Are You a Viagra Wife?
• Fight fraud and ID theft with the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

 

See the  AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more