As many of you know, we have a lot of books in this house. Occasionally, I sort through some of the older ones to make room for newer finds. I do this by perusing several pages and seeing if what's inside still strikes our fancy. Tonight I opened up a questionable book and read two fascinating facts.
One: aspirin is made from coal.
a quick google search yielded this information:

In the recovery method process, the smoky emissions from the coke ovens are distilled and condensed. Aspirin, believe it or not, is made from this process. The Bayer Company (Germany) began making fabric dyes from coal tar and later discovered that they could make aspirin from the same process. Aspirin is the tradename that Bayer registered for acetylsalicylic acid, the actual miracle chemical that cures our aches and pains

Two: The Ten Commandments were supposedly written on Sapphire

Perhaps I should have know this second one. Did you?
And yes, the book is back on the shelf.