The Road to Knowledge Detours Through Jacksonville

--A chapter in “The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know” begins: “Tests have revealed that many Americans are amazingly ignorant of the geography of their nation.” Then, as if to back up that statement, it says Jacksonville is the capital of Florida. The book missed by a mile, or actually 166 miles, since the real capital is Tallahassee. E.D. Hirsch, a University of Virginia professor behind the dictionary, told the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper that a collaborator, Joseph Katt, was responsible for the error. “He won’t live that one down for a long time,” Hirsch said of Katt, a fellow professor. “You tell your readers you called me up and I knew the capital,” he said.

--Things may have gone to the dogs in Buckingham Palace. The Mail newspaper of London reported that an animal psychologist says he has been contacted to try to stop Queen Elizabeth’s pet corgis from nipping at the heels of the royal staff. Zoologist-psychologist Roger Mugford said the short dogs “will chase anything, particularly ankles,” because they originally were bred to herd cattle. Mugford would give no details of his efforts and a palace spokesman declined to comment on the report, which said the six canines had gone for the ankles of footmen, guardsmen, police and the royal clock winder. Most of the corgis were identified as descendants of a dog named Susan that tried to bite the queen in 1959.

--Tokyo police said U.S. Vice Consul John Brennan dove into a river to save a drunken man who fell off a bridge railing he was trying to walk. Brennan, 38, of New Jersey, was in a car headed for work when he saw Masami Kamura, 48, plunge into the river, an officer said. The vice consul, who was not available immediately for comment, began working in Osaka in July, the Asahi Evening News reported.

--There’s no accounting for taste, even in the “Celebrity Choice Cookbook,” a 125-page compilation of recipes from which some proceeds will go to a British Broadcasting Corp. charity, the Children in Need Appeal. On the one hand is Queen Mother Elizabeth’s mayonnaise; on the other is comedian Spike Milligan’s “spaghetti dolce, “ pasta topped with cream and brandy. Actor Jeremy Irons offered “champ,” a mixture of green onions and mashed potatoes; heavyweight boxer Frank Bruno contributed a recipe for red snapper Creole, and rock musician Roger Daltrey sent directions for trout in sweet pepper puree.