Agatha Christie’s characters have done it all — survived attempted murder, traveled to far-off lands, and solved mystery after mystery. But the bestselling author didn’t just write about adventure; she also sought it out, sometimes on a surfboard. Two years after publishing her first novel, Christie embarked on an international trip with her first husband, Archibald. Their 1922 stop in South Africa included an attempt at surfing, where it’s possible she may have become the first Western woman to stand up on a surfboard.

The globetrotting couple quickly fell in love with the sport and went on to catch swelling waves off the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Christie, in letters to her mother, recounted the tricky experience of learning to surf, describing the sport as “occasionally painful” thanks to a “nosedive down into the sand.” But the writer eventually became more skilled, detailing in her 1977 autobiography that nothing could compete with the rush of approaching shore at high speeds. She also wrote about surfing in her novel The Man in the Brown Suit, in which her protagonist, nicknamed “Anna the Adventuress,” goes surfing in Cape Town.

Hercule Poirot, the fictional detective in Agatha Christie’s mysteries, has a real-life obituary.

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By the 1940s, Agatha Christie had tired of her witty protagonist and decided to kill off the character, yet was dissuaded by her publisher. Three decades later, Poirot appeared in his last mystery, “Curtain,” marked by an obituary published in “The New York Times” in August 1975.

Christie’s pursuit of the perfect wave was unusual for an English woman of her time. The Museum of British Surfing suggests she and her husband may have been two of the earliest Brits to attempt the activity. However, they did have regal company: Prince Edward, the British royal who would eventually abdicate the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, was photographed surfing in Hawaii two years before Christie rented her first surfboard.

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It might sound like a trick question: How many gallons of water does a 10-gallon hat hold? Turns out, not even one. The famous piece of Western wear can only contain about 3 quarts of water — that’s a mere three-quarters of a gallon. (Hatmakers advise against double-checking this figure at home, since complete saturation isn’t kind to felt and fur hats.) There’s no clear origin for the misleading 10-gallon name, but some linguists believe the term stems from cross-cultural confusion. One theory holds that American cowboys picked up the name while working alongside Spanish-speaking cattlemen, many of whom wore wide-brimmed hats with decorative galóns (aka braids). The most elaborate of these featured band upon band of detailing — as many as 10 hatbands. Another theory suggests that “10-gallon” was an anglicized version of tan galán, a Spanish phrase meaning “very handsome,” used to describe cowboys as they rode off into the sunset and the like.

An American gallon is smaller than a British gallon.

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Americans and Brits used to calculate gallons the same way, but in 1824 the U.K. adopted the imperial gallon, which equates to 277.42 cubic inches of water. The American gallon is 231 cubic inches of water — which means it’s about 20% smaller.

Western films of the early 20th century primarily outfitted actors in 10-gallon hats, though those depictions weren’t historically accurate when it came to reenacting the Old West. With their large brim and tall crowns, 10-gallon hats can easily catch the wind or attract attention, making them an impractical choice for ranchers and outlaws alike. Derby (aka bowler) hats were actually the most commonly worn men’s hat until the mid-to-late 1800s, after hatmaker John Batterson Stetson released his first cowboy hat, called the “Boss of the Plains.” His version was inspired by the original 10-gallons but could withstand the elements. It became popular on ranches, movie sets, and even at the White House.

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