Among the things I learned this week:
* Shiseido Company, Limited, at 140 years, is the oldest cosmetics company in the world. (Courtesy: Not Couture)

* Learning foreign languages increases the probability of buying books translated from that language to your native language. (Personal Courtesy: The New York Review of Books

* The first English-language film to use the word “homosexual” is Victim, which was released in 1961. (Courtesy: Harper’s)

* The three largest employers in the World are the Department of Defense, People’s Liberation Army, and Wal-mart. (Courtesy: Harper’s)