Summer Learnin': Let the Movies and Television be Your Teachers

Sure, reading may be trendy again, thanks to all those Harry Potter novels. But why waste time with your nose in a book when movies and television can tell you all you need to know in just a few hours? Herewith, some knowledge we gained by sitting on our butts all summer.
— Brian M. Raftery and Allyssa Lee, with additional reporting by Erin Podolsky

Drinking kerosene can help you rid yourself of an intestinal parasite (though medical experts warn that it also may kill you). (CBS' Survivor)

The license plate of Magnum P.I.'s car read ROBIN 1. (Gone in 60 Seconds)

If you have a wet piece of cloth and a stick, you can make a tourniquet that bends open prison bars. (Shanghai Noon)

During the Revolutionary War, American landowners would offer the incentive of freedom to their slaves if they would fight for the colonies. (The Patriot)

In U.K. casinos, dealers are not permitted to accept gratuities. (Croupier)

Despite the urban myth, men cannot change the taste of their sperm by drinking wheatgrass juice. (HBO's Sex and the City)

After catching a swordfish, fishermen saw off the swordlike protrusion. (The Perfect Storm)

In the right hands, a prostate exam can be an intense orgasmic experience. (Road Trip)

Blacks and occasionally even women fought as gladiators in the Colosseum in ancient Rome. (Gladiator)

Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men ages 15 to 35. (MTV's Tom Green's Cancer Special)

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker began their evangelical career by doing Christian puppetry. (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)