The Unbelievable Truth

David Mitchell is joined by Henning Wehn, Zoe Lyons, Sindhu Vee, and Marcus Brigstocke as they talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as windows, ants, rice and Ancient Egyptians.

The Truths

Henning Wehn - Windows

- In 2007, a crocodile fell out of a 12th storey window in Nizhny Novgorod and escaped with only a broken tooth. Found by Sindhu.

- Window panes were invented by the Romans. Most Roman glass was thick with a greenish-blue tint, and not very transparent, but it did allow light to enter. Successfully smuggled.

- According to the King James Bible, Noah's Ark had a single window. Successfully smuggled.

- People who favour the window seat on planes have a more "every man for himself" attitude to life and are more easily irritated. People who prefer aisle seats are more sociable and easy going. Successfully smuggled.

- Windows make planes twice as heavy. Without them, planes would be lighter, use less fuel and flights would be cheaper. Successfully smuggled.

Zoe Lyons - Ants

- It is a myth that there is a single flying ant day once a year. One scientist in 2013 said they had a flying ant month that year. Found by Marcus.

- 20% of ants are lazy. Found by Marcus.

- 69 ant nests in the UK have listed building status. They are home to colonies of the hairy northern wood ant. Successfully smuggled.

- The first thing that an ant does when it wakes up is to stretch. Successfully smuggled.

- The exploding ant of Borneo will explode if threatened. Successfully smuggled.

Sindhu Vee - Rice

- The Great Wall of China, and many other ancient Chinese buildings, are held together by sticky rice mortar. Found by Marcus.

- In Tudor England, instead of rice people threw shoes at newly wedded couples as they drove away in their carriage. You would get good luck if you hit the vehicle. Found by Zoe.

- The fourth member of the Rice Krispies team was called Pow, who flew around on a flying saucer. Successfully smuggled.

- One Tokyo chef spent 13 years perfecting a dish of sushi on a single grain of rice. Successfully smuggled.

- Toyota is Japanese for "bountiful rice field". Successfully smuggled.

Marcus Brigstocke - The Ancient Egyptians

- The Egyptians put mummies at the dinner table during parties as a symbol of death, before being entertained by dancers, jugglers and acrobats. Found by Sindhu.

- At important occasions, slave fleacatchers were covered themselves in milk and honey to attract fleas at parties, away from others. Found by Sindhu.

- The Pyramids have covered a distance of 4km southwards since they were built 5,000 years ago due to the movement of the Earth's crust. Successfully smuggled.

- Tutankhamun was entombed with boxes of boomerangs, including the returning and non-returning kinds. Successfully smuggled.

- The Egyptians used marshmallows to cure sore throats. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Henning Wehn: 2 points
- Marcus Brigstocke: 0 points
- Sindhu Vee: -2 points
- Zoe Lyons: -6 points