Short answers, pulled from the story.
The oldest known fossils of Acer date to the late Paleocene of Northeast Asia and northern North America, placing the genus at approximately 60 million years old. The oldest maple fossils found in Europe come from Svalbard and date to the late Eocene, roughly 38-34 million years ago.
There are approximately 132 species in the genus Acer. Most are native to East Asia, with others appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends into the Southern Hemisphere.
Sam Holman, founder of Sam Bat, introduced the maple bat to Major League Baseball in 1998. It has since become the standard bat most used by professional baseball players.
It takes approximately 40 liters of sugar maple sap to produce 1 liter of syrup. Quebec is a major producer of maple syrup, with the industry worth about 500 million Canadian dollars annually.
The maple is Canada's national tree, and a maple leaf appears on both the Canadian flag and the Canadian coat of arms. The flag design is an eleven-point stylization modeled after a sugar maple leaf, which normally bears 23 points. Maple leaf symbols are also used in Canadian Forces military rank insignia for generals.
Momijigari is the Japanese custom of viewing the changing color of maples in autumn. Nikko and Kyoto are particularly favored destinations for the activity. The equivalent Korean tradition is called danpung-nori, with Seoraksan and Naejang-san mountains among the best-known viewing sites.