Curious learning

"Curious learning," writes Bertrand Russell in his article 'Useless Knowledge', from his book In Praise of Idleness, "not only makes unpleasant things less unpleasant, but also makes pleasant things more pleasant. I have enjoyed peaches and apricots more since I have known that they were first cultivated in China in the early days of the Han dynasty; that Chinese hostages held by the great King Kaniska introduced them into India, whence they spread to Persia, reaching the Roman Empire in the first century of our era; that the word 'apricot' is derived from the same Latin source as the word 'precocious,' because the apricot ripens aerly; and that the A at the beginning was added by mistake, owing to a false etymology. All this makes the fruit taste much sweeter."