You've heard that animals and insects possess neither morality nor religion, yet here's The Butterfly's Gospel (Fredrika Bremer, 1865).

Here's one from the next edition of our dictionary of all-vowel words: Oo, a place name "never pronounced without awe and reverence," named after "a great god who dwelt under the sands of the desert"; "a wonderful place full of gold and jewels where demons dwelt," located several hundred miles down the southerly-flowing Darke River.  It is also known as "the city of unnumbered lights" and is capital of the Orbello kingdom.  Every portion of the city is subterranean except for its fortification and tower.  (The Mysterious City of Oo by Charles Lotin Hildreth, 1889.)

There's a theory of evolution for the supernatural, too.  The Supernatural: Its Origin, Nature and Evolution by John H. King, 1892.

Here's an example of anticipating criticism and beating the reviewers with their own weapons.  From 1810.

Exactly a century before Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, Sir Humphrey Lunatic recounted his own journey.  A Trip to the Moon, 1765.

You know how folks with birthdays near big holidays tend to get combined gifts?  Well, the year 1831 got a book as a combined gift for Christmas, New Year's, and its birthday.

Here's a rare word (only nine Google results) for heraldic symbols -- aristoglyphics.  From 1838.

Today is The Day of Small Things (Isabel Fry, 1901).

Q: Some Wordsworth Finds?

A: "Well, if you don't know, then who the hell does?  Why are you even telling us this now if you're not sure?  And when will you be sure?" —John O'Neill, Baby Girl Lauren, 2012

You've seen those stunt checks for charity, but here's the "largest real check cashed by [a] Los Angeles bank," from Popular Mechanics, 1922.

"Disinfecting shower bath given theater audience."  From Popular Mechanics, 1919. 

"The magic power of a few little lines."  From Popular Mechanics, 1922.

You've seen the unlikely animal tombstones with rhyming epitaphs at Disney's Haunted Mansions, but here's one for a trout that dates back to 1855.  From Popular Mechanics, 1913.

The year in review -- "rowing in a boat that does not move."  From Popular Mechanics, 1908.

In 1970, Joni Mitchell sang that "We are stardust," but here's a precursor from 1896: Stellar Dust, Or The Life Force by P. A. Graves.

You've heard the euphemism "friend of Dorothy," but there's been something queer about Kansas toradoes since at least 1913.  From Popular Mechanics.

"If only I knew how to locate the trouble."  From Popular Mechanics, 1919.

You've heard Paris called the "City of Light," but even after the Enlightenment, its streets were impenetrably dark.  "Paris is a city of darkness."  From Popular Mechanics, 1918.

Here's a precursor to I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich a.k.a William Irish.  It's The Bride of a Ghost by Joseph Jones, 1883.