Things we learned from Bill Bryson

Biologists strongly disagree with each other about the basic structure of the Linnean classification of plants and animals. (A Short History of Nearly Everything)

Without our moon, the climate of Earth could be too unstable to support life. A Short History of Nearly Everything mentioned this before it became a headline story on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/madeforlife.shtml

The economic output of the US in the 1950´s was more then the rest of the world combined.
The productivity of U.S. industries doubled in the 1950´s. However, people preferred to work longer hours instead of enjoying their increased productivity. (The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid)

William Cavendish-Scott Bentinct had an estate called Welbeck Abbey in North Nottingshamshire. He was reclusive and rather eccentric and had long underground tunnels built around his mansion (Notes from Small Island).

In the east of U.S., there is an etnic group called Melungeons, whose origin is not known (The Lost Continent).

The founding fathers of the U.S. were absolutely not "democratic" in the modern sense of the world, and would abhor the opinion the masses. Moreover, T. Paine did not pay any attention to his personal hygiene, and B. Franklin was very keen on sleeping with as many women as possible (Made in America).

Kinds of minds

Daniel Dennett's Kinds of Minds is most definitely worth reading. It has several ideas of surprising insight, including the connection between mind and pain, and the division of minds to Darwinian, Skinnerian, Popperian and Gregorian, based on their capacity to learn, adapt, and manipulate their environment.

Another notion I have not seen anywhere else: our minds are very much "not in our minds": since we have learned to write, and to create an environment of symbols (traffic signs, manuals, warnings), we "externalise" symbols that we'd otherwise would need to keep in mind.