As usual, not all are true.

• Le Grand K, the cylinder of polished platinum-iridium alloy stored in a Paris vault since 1889, will be retired in May 2019 in favor of a definition of mass based on the Planck constant.

• Magnus Carlsen, winner of the 2018 World Chess Championship, plays bullet chess.

• During the 2006 WCC, a dispute over the bathroom caused Vladimir Kramnik to forfeit Game 5.

• Volcanoes are scored from zero to eight on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The most violent recent eruptions were Samalas in 1257 and Mount Tambora in 1815, both in Indonesia. Each scored 7 (Krakatoa got a 6).

• An artifical intelligence algorithm using deep learning can detect fear of heights, mathematical skill level, and perfect pitch with 90% accuracy by examining images of the retina.

• An anime fan advanced the mathematical field of superpermutations with a post on 4chan.

• Italy's stock exchange, Borsa Italiana S.p.A., is owned by the London Stock Exchange Group.

• The Affaire XYZ led to an undeclared quasi-guerre between between the United States and France, settled with an agreement signed by Napoleon's brother in 1800.

• The world's longest sea bridge, at 55 kilometers, opened connecting Hong Kong and mainland China via Macau.

• Macau exists.

Our Lady of Carmel Church, apt setting for a future Neal Stephenson novel: Street View