Words and Numbers
» The plain black dickey worn with a clerical collar by some clergymen is called a rabat.
» The female name Vanessa is Greek for "butterfly."
» Rulership by words is called logocracy.
» In Australian slang, to be “spliced” means to be married.
» The final word given at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in 2000 was "demarche," a noun meaning a course of action or a diplomatic representation or protest; in 1999, the final word was "logorrhea," a noun meaning an excessive use of words.
» Secure, relatively high-yielding stocks came to be called blue chips, a term taken from the game of poker, where blue chips are more valuable than white or red chips.
» In British English, a booger is called a "bogey" or "bogie."
» Senectitude is another word for old age.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
US Presidents trivia
US Presidents
» Thomas Jefferson's father was one of the surveyors who laid out the Virginia/North Carolina border.
» President Ulysses S. Grant was once arrested during his term of office. He was convicted of exceeding the Washington speed limit on his horse and was fined $20.
» John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the same day friend as his political rival and friend Thomas Jefferson. His last words are reported to have been, “Thomas Jefferson still survives.”
» Though his wife Martha had four children by a previous marriage, George Washington left no direct descendant. He never sired a child to continue his family line.
» President William H. Taft was once offered a contract to pitch for the Cincinnati Reds.
» John Adams was central to the Revolution and to the creation of the Declaration of Independence and the government under the Constitution.
» President William Howard Taft was a seventh cousin twice removed of Richard M. Nixon, and was a distant relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
» John Adams was the first president to have a son become president. His wife, Abigail Smith, was very influential and known as an engaging conversationalist and a wonderful writer of letters.
» Thomas Jefferson's father was one of the surveyors who laid out the Virginia/North Carolina border.
» President Ulysses S. Grant was once arrested during his term of office. He was convicted of exceeding the Washington speed limit on his horse and was fined $20.
» John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the same day friend as his political rival and friend Thomas Jefferson. His last words are reported to have been, “Thomas Jefferson still survives.”
» Though his wife Martha had four children by a previous marriage, George Washington left no direct descendant. He never sired a child to continue his family line.
» President William H. Taft was once offered a contract to pitch for the Cincinnati Reds.
» John Adams was central to the Revolution and to the creation of the Declaration of Independence and the government under the Constitution.
» President William Howard Taft was a seventh cousin twice removed of Richard M. Nixon, and was a distant relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
» John Adams was the first president to have a son become president. His wife, Abigail Smith, was very influential and known as an engaging conversationalist and a wonderful writer of letters.
Technology trivia
Technology
» The first flexible, rolled film for still photographs was introduced only about 4 years before the first motion picture was made.
» The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.
» The first manned spacecraft to be launched was the Soviet’s Vostok 1, which left Earth in 1961.
» The first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1935.
» "MIDI" stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a standard means of sending digitally encoded information about music between electronic devices, often between synthesizers and computers.
» Time magazine named the computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982.
» A 1999 survey of 25,500 standard English-language dictionary words found that 93 percent of them have been registered as dot-coms.
» A 2001 study conducted by PC Data and Information Resources Inc. showed that greeting cards, soup, breakfast cereal, and Imodium were among the most popular package goods bought online.
» The first flexible, rolled film for still photographs was introduced only about 4 years before the first motion picture was made.
» The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.
» The first manned spacecraft to be launched was the Soviet’s Vostok 1, which left Earth in 1961.
» The first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1935.
» "MIDI" stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a standard means of sending digitally encoded information about music between electronic devices, often between synthesizers and computers.
» Time magazine named the computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982.
» A 1999 survey of 25,500 standard English-language dictionary words found that 93 percent of them have been registered as dot-coms.
» A 2001 study conducted by PC Data and Information Resources Inc. showed that greeting cards, soup, breakfast cereal, and Imodium were among the most popular package goods bought online.
Structures trivia
Structures
» The seats at Fenway Park in Boston, home of the Boston Red Sox, are made of oak.
» The famed London Bridge spanned the River Thames for almost 140 years. In 1968, the city of London decided to sell its sinking bridge for $2.6 million to Robert P. McCulloch, founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, who needed a bridge to connect the city to an island in the lake. The island was created in order to remove an obstruction that blocked water flow from the Colorado River into Thompson Bay. It took three years to carefully dismantle, pack, ship, and reconstruct the landmark bridge in the desert state. It cost more than $7 million to rebuild it in Lake Havasu City. Finally, on October 10, 1971, London Bridge was officially dedicated in Arizona before a crowd of 100,000 in a lavish ceremony.
» The Serpentine Railway, built in 1885 at Coney Island, was the first gravity roller coaster to tie the track end together and return passengers to their starting point without them needing to disembark while the car was placed on the return track. The train, with its passengers seated sideways on a wooden bench, ran atop an undulating wooden structure. The train was slow and took several minutes to complete its circuit.
» The famed London Bridge which spanned the River Thames for almost 140 years from the 1830s until 1968, now connects Arizona's Lake Havasu City's mainland and island. The bridge survived a terrorist attack in 1884 and the bombing from the Germans in both World Wars. But it could not withstand the forces of nature, as it was sinking into the Thames River's clay bottom.
» The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens.
» The famous Citgo sign near Fenway Park in Boston is maintained not by Citgo, but by Boston's historical society.
» The famous Eden-Roc Hotel, in Cap D’Antibes in the French Riviera, is often described as the most fabulous hotel in the world. The President of the Republic, Arab princes, stars of the stage and screen – all have stayed here in this security-conscious Shangri-La where credit cards are not recognized, and hard cash is the only currency. Sara and Gerald Murphy, a rich American couple with very fashionable friends invented the summer season in the 1920s. They convinced the Eden Roc's owner to keep the place open after April, and filled it with guests like F. Scott Fitzgerald and wife Zelda, Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, and Pablo Picasso.
» The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens. A smaller museum in Sanibel, Florida owns a mere 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks.
» The seats at Fenway Park in Boston, home of the Boston Red Sox, are made of oak.
» The famed London Bridge spanned the River Thames for almost 140 years. In 1968, the city of London decided to sell its sinking bridge for $2.6 million to Robert P. McCulloch, founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, who needed a bridge to connect the city to an island in the lake. The island was created in order to remove an obstruction that blocked water flow from the Colorado River into Thompson Bay. It took three years to carefully dismantle, pack, ship, and reconstruct the landmark bridge in the desert state. It cost more than $7 million to rebuild it in Lake Havasu City. Finally, on October 10, 1971, London Bridge was officially dedicated in Arizona before a crowd of 100,000 in a lavish ceremony.
» The Serpentine Railway, built in 1885 at Coney Island, was the first gravity roller coaster to tie the track end together and return passengers to their starting point without them needing to disembark while the car was placed on the return track. The train, with its passengers seated sideways on a wooden bench, ran atop an undulating wooden structure. The train was slow and took several minutes to complete its circuit.
» The famed London Bridge which spanned the River Thames for almost 140 years from the 1830s until 1968, now connects Arizona's Lake Havasu City's mainland and island. The bridge survived a terrorist attack in 1884 and the bombing from the Germans in both World Wars. But it could not withstand the forces of nature, as it was sinking into the Thames River's clay bottom.
» The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens.
» The famous Citgo sign near Fenway Park in Boston is maintained not by Citgo, but by Boston's historical society.
» The famous Eden-Roc Hotel, in Cap D’Antibes in the French Riviera, is often described as the most fabulous hotel in the world. The President of the Republic, Arab princes, stars of the stage and screen – all have stayed here in this security-conscious Shangri-La where credit cards are not recognized, and hard cash is the only currency. Sara and Gerald Murphy, a rich American couple with very fashionable friends invented the summer season in the 1920s. They convinced the Eden Roc's owner to keep the place open after April, and filled it with guests like F. Scott Fitzgerald and wife Zelda, Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, and Pablo Picasso.
» The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens. A smaller museum in Sanibel, Florida owns a mere 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks.
Statistics trivia
Statistics
» The most common place name in Britain is Newton, which occurs 150 times.
» Sweden is the biggest user of ketchup spending$4 a year on it. Australia comes in second with $2.50 spent on ketchup each year. Third place goes to the United States and Canada who spend $2.20 a year on ketchup. How do other countries stack up: Germany $1.70, United Kingdom $1.60, Poland and Japan $1.40, France $1.20, and Russia $0.90.
» More than 40 percent of the women in the United States were in the Girl Scouts organization. Two-thirds of the women listed in Who's Who of Women were Girl Scouts.
» If population continues to expand at its present rate, Calcutta, India, will have a population of 66 million in the year 2000.
» Tangshan, China, suffered the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century on July 28, 1976. One quarter of the population was killed or seriously injured, with an estimated 242,000 people killed.
» More than 45,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square mile of ocean.
» If we were to up-turn the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, London, it would take 3.8 billion half-liters of beer to fill it up.
» More than 50 percent of adults surveyed said that children should not be paid money for getting good grades in school.
» The most common place name in Britain is Newton, which occurs 150 times.
» Sweden is the biggest user of ketchup spending$4 a year on it. Australia comes in second with $2.50 spent on ketchup each year. Third place goes to the United States and Canada who spend $2.20 a year on ketchup. How do other countries stack up: Germany $1.70, United Kingdom $1.60, Poland and Japan $1.40, France $1.20, and Russia $0.90.
» More than 40 percent of the women in the United States were in the Girl Scouts organization. Two-thirds of the women listed in Who's Who of Women were Girl Scouts.
» If population continues to expand at its present rate, Calcutta, India, will have a population of 66 million in the year 2000.
» Tangshan, China, suffered the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century on July 28, 1976. One quarter of the population was killed or seriously injured, with an estimated 242,000 people killed.
» More than 45,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square mile of ocean.
» If we were to up-turn the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, London, it would take 3.8 billion half-liters of beer to fill it up.
» More than 50 percent of adults surveyed said that children should not be paid money for getting good grades in school.
Sports : Olympics trivia
Sports : Olympics
» At the 1952 Olympic Games, Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya won an overall record seven medals.
» At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Tom Malchow was the youngest member of the U.S. men’s swim team at age 19. Malchow was humorously nicknamed ”Puppy Chow” by his older teammates. Four years later, at the Olympics in Sydney, he was the 200-meter butterfly gold medallist. Malchow's time of 1:55.35 was the third-fastest performance ever. His nickname changed to “Top Dog” and "Big Dog."
» Australian swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals and was the first man to swim the 1,500-metre freestyle in less than 18 minutes. He won national titles in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Australia. At age 17 in 1956, Rose became the youngest Olympian to win three gold medals during one Olympics.
» Because of the outbreak of major world wars, the modern Olympics did not hold competitions in 1916, 1940, and 1944.
» Boston-native figure skater Tenley Albright was the first American woman to win an Olympic figure-skating gold medal. In 1952, Albright placed second in women's figure skating at the Olympic Games. She was the U.S. national championship from 1952 to 1956. In 1953, Albright became the first American woman to win the world championship title. She won the title again in 1955. At the 1956 Olympics, Albright won the gold medal in women's figure skating. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988. After retiring, Albright became a surgeon.
» Canada’s first Olympic gold medal was won by a man competing for the United States. George Orton of Strathroy, Ontario, took first place in the steeplechase at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, but because Canada didn’t have an official team, he entered as part of the American team instead.
» Childhood ice figure-skating partners JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley made skating history when, in 1968, they were the youngest pairs team America had ever sent to the Olympic Games.
» For its Olympic athletes who bring home a gold, silver, or bronze medal, the Philippines pays handsome sums of money. However, none have won in decades.
» At the 1952 Olympic Games, Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya won an overall record seven medals.
» At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Tom Malchow was the youngest member of the U.S. men’s swim team at age 19. Malchow was humorously nicknamed ”Puppy Chow” by his older teammates. Four years later, at the Olympics in Sydney, he was the 200-meter butterfly gold medallist. Malchow's time of 1:55.35 was the third-fastest performance ever. His nickname changed to “Top Dog” and "Big Dog."
» Australian swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals and was the first man to swim the 1,500-metre freestyle in less than 18 minutes. He won national titles in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Australia. At age 17 in 1956, Rose became the youngest Olympian to win three gold medals during one Olympics.
» Because of the outbreak of major world wars, the modern Olympics did not hold competitions in 1916, 1940, and 1944.
» Boston-native figure skater Tenley Albright was the first American woman to win an Olympic figure-skating gold medal. In 1952, Albright placed second in women's figure skating at the Olympic Games. She was the U.S. national championship from 1952 to 1956. In 1953, Albright became the first American woman to win the world championship title. She won the title again in 1955. At the 1956 Olympics, Albright won the gold medal in women's figure skating. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988. After retiring, Albright became a surgeon.
» Canada’s first Olympic gold medal was won by a man competing for the United States. George Orton of Strathroy, Ontario, took first place in the steeplechase at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, but because Canada didn’t have an official team, he entered as part of the American team instead.
» Childhood ice figure-skating partners JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley made skating history when, in 1968, they were the youngest pairs team America had ever sent to the Olympic Games.
» For its Olympic athletes who bring home a gold, silver, or bronze medal, the Philippines pays handsome sums of money. However, none have won in decades.
» At the 1952 Olympic Games, Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya won an overall record seven medals.
» At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Tom Malchow was the youngest member of the U.S. men’s swim team at age 19. Malchow was humorously nicknamed ”Puppy Chow” by his older teammates. Four years later, at the Olympics in Sydney, he was the 200-meter butterfly gold medallist. Malchow's time of 1:55.35 was the third-fastest performance ever. His nickname changed to “Top Dog” and "Big Dog."
» Australian swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals and was the first man to swim the 1,500-metre freestyle in less than 18 minutes. He won national titles in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Australia. At age 17 in 1956, Rose became the youngest Olympian to win three gold medals during one Olympics.
» Because of the outbreak of major world wars, the modern Olympics did not hold competitions in 1916, 1940, and 1944.
» Boston-native figure skater Tenley Albright was the first American woman to win an Olympic figure-skating gold medal. In 1952, Albright placed second in women's figure skating at the Olympic Games. She was the U.S. national championship from 1952 to 1956. In 1953, Albright became the first American woman to win the world championship title. She won the title again in 1955. At the 1956 Olympics, Albright won the gold medal in women's figure skating. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988. After retiring, Albright became a surgeon.
» Canada’s first Olympic gold medal was won by a man competing for the United States. George Orton of Strathroy, Ontario, took first place in the steeplechase at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, but because Canada didn’t have an official team, he entered as part of the American team instead.
» Childhood ice figure-skating partners JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley made skating history when, in 1968, they were the youngest pairs team America had ever sent to the Olympic Games.
» For its Olympic athletes who bring home a gold, silver, or bronze medal, the Philippines pays handsome sums of money. However, none have won in decades.
» At the 1952 Olympic Games, Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya won an overall record seven medals.
» At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Tom Malchow was the youngest member of the U.S. men’s swim team at age 19. Malchow was humorously nicknamed ”Puppy Chow” by his older teammates. Four years later, at the Olympics in Sydney, he was the 200-meter butterfly gold medallist. Malchow's time of 1:55.35 was the third-fastest performance ever. His nickname changed to “Top Dog” and "Big Dog."
» Australian swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals and was the first man to swim the 1,500-metre freestyle in less than 18 minutes. He won national titles in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Australia. At age 17 in 1956, Rose became the youngest Olympian to win three gold medals during one Olympics.
» Because of the outbreak of major world wars, the modern Olympics did not hold competitions in 1916, 1940, and 1944.
» Boston-native figure skater Tenley Albright was the first American woman to win an Olympic figure-skating gold medal. In 1952, Albright placed second in women's figure skating at the Olympic Games. She was the U.S. national championship from 1952 to 1956. In 1953, Albright became the first American woman to win the world championship title. She won the title again in 1955. At the 1956 Olympics, Albright won the gold medal in women's figure skating. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988. After retiring, Albright became a surgeon.
» Canada’s first Olympic gold medal was won by a man competing for the United States. George Orton of Strathroy, Ontario, took first place in the steeplechase at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, but because Canada didn’t have an official team, he entered as part of the American team instead.
» Childhood ice figure-skating partners JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley made skating history when, in 1968, they were the youngest pairs team America had ever sent to the Olympic Games.
» For its Olympic athletes who bring home a gold, silver, or bronze medal, the Philippines pays handsome sums of money. However, none have won in decades.
Sports : Football trivia
Sports : Football
» ABC-TV's Monday Night Football premiered in September 1970. Its three original commentators were Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell.
» According to the rules of Gaelic football, players may punch the ball, but the punching motion must be clearly visible to the referee. Players may not pick up the ball off the ground unless they first get their toe under the ball.
» At greatest risk of injury to a professional football player's anatomy is the knee, which is involved in 58 percent of all major football injuries.
» Because of a football's resemblance to an olive, albeit a very large one, the Chinese often call the American game of football "olive ball."
» Because of fears that the Japanese, who had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier, might attach California, the Rose Bowl game of 1942 between Oregon State and Duke University was moved east to Duke's hometown in Durham, North Carolina. It didn't, however, help the home team. Oregon won, 20-16.
» During the football season of 1905, at least 19 players died in college and high school contests.
» For the 2000 Super Bowl, about a third of the TV commercial spots were purchased by dot-com companies. The following year, the numbers dropped to just 10 percent bought by 'Net companies.
» For the first time, the play-by-play of Super Bowl XXX in 1996 was broadcast in the Navajo language and NBC-TV offered a secondary, foreign-language audio feed to its affiliates.
» ABC-TV's Monday Night Football premiered in September 1970. Its three original commentators were Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell.
» According to the rules of Gaelic football, players may punch the ball, but the punching motion must be clearly visible to the referee. Players may not pick up the ball off the ground unless they first get their toe under the ball.
» At greatest risk of injury to a professional football player's anatomy is the knee, which is involved in 58 percent of all major football injuries.
» Because of a football's resemblance to an olive, albeit a very large one, the Chinese often call the American game of football "olive ball."
» Because of fears that the Japanese, who had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier, might attach California, the Rose Bowl game of 1942 between Oregon State and Duke University was moved east to Duke's hometown in Durham, North Carolina. It didn't, however, help the home team. Oregon won, 20-16.
» During the football season of 1905, at least 19 players died in college and high school contests.
» For the 2000 Super Bowl, about a third of the TV commercial spots were purchased by dot-com companies. The following year, the numbers dropped to just 10 percent bought by 'Net companies.
» For the first time, the play-by-play of Super Bowl XXX in 1996 was broadcast in the Navajo language and NBC-TV offered a secondary, foreign-language audio feed to its affiliates.
Sports : Basketball trivia
Sports : Basketball
» Athletic Greatness: Michael Jordan was the Chicago Bulls' all-time leading scorer with 29,277 points; his career scoring average of 31.5 is the highest of any player in NBA/ABA history. Jordan was selected in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history; he was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as NBA Most Valuable Player in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1998.
» About 30 percent of NBA players sport tattoos, compared with about 4 percent of the nation's population.
» According to manufacturer Spalding, the average lifespan of an NBA basketball is 10,000 bounces.
» Basketball got its name from the half-bushel peach baskets used as targets by the originator, James A. Naismith, in 1891.
» Basketball is the most popular sport among college women, followed by volleyball and tennis.
» Basketball's Nate Archibald, Larry Bird, Tony Kukoc, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Nick Van Exel, Bill Walton, and Lenny Wilkens are left-handed.
» Basketball's three-point field goal distance, established by the NBA, is 22 feet. Internationally, it's set at 20 feet, 6.1 inches.
» During the 1992-93 season, former Phoenix Suns coach Paul Westphal won more basketball games (62) than any rookie coach in NBA history.
» Athletic Greatness: Michael Jordan was the Chicago Bulls' all-time leading scorer with 29,277 points; his career scoring average of 31.5 is the highest of any player in NBA/ABA history. Jordan was selected in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history; he was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as NBA Most Valuable Player in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1998.
» About 30 percent of NBA players sport tattoos, compared with about 4 percent of the nation's population.
» According to manufacturer Spalding, the average lifespan of an NBA basketball is 10,000 bounces.
» Basketball got its name from the half-bushel peach baskets used as targets by the originator, James A. Naismith, in 1891.
» Basketball is the most popular sport among college women, followed by volleyball and tennis.
» Basketball's Nate Archibald, Larry Bird, Tony Kukoc, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Nick Van Exel, Bill Walton, and Lenny Wilkens are left-handed.
» Basketball's three-point field goal distance, established by the NBA, is 22 feet. Internationally, it's set at 20 feet, 6.1 inches.
» During the 1992-93 season, former Phoenix Suns coach Paul Westphal won more basketball games (62) than any rookie coach in NBA history.
Sports : Baseball trivia
Sports : Baseball
» Giants baseball catcher Roger Bresnahan introduced shin guards in 1907.
» Hank Aaron's first major league home run was hit off Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954.
» In 1882, Richard Higham of Troy, New York, former manager and National League baseball player, was banished from the league for advising gamblers how to bet on baseball games he umpired, thus earning the infamous distinction of being the only umpire ever judged guilty of dishonesty on the field.
» In 1897, the Washington Senators became the first baseball team ever to introduce "Ladies' Day."
» In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry said: "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." Only a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, Perry hit the first and only home run of his career.
» In 1965, the minimum annual salary for a baseball player was $6,000, just a thousand dollars more than it had been in 1947.
» In 1977, Mike Schmidt earned the first $500,000 salary in baseball.
» In 1994, the National League and American League Baseball M.V.P.s were Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas, respectively. Jeff and Frank were both born on the exact same day: May 27, 1968.
» Giants baseball catcher Roger Bresnahan introduced shin guards in 1907.
» Hank Aaron's first major league home run was hit off Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954.
» In 1882, Richard Higham of Troy, New York, former manager and National League baseball player, was banished from the league for advising gamblers how to bet on baseball games he umpired, thus earning the infamous distinction of being the only umpire ever judged guilty of dishonesty on the field.
» In 1897, the Washington Senators became the first baseball team ever to introduce "Ladies' Day."
» In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry said: "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." Only a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, Perry hit the first and only home run of his career.
» In 1965, the minimum annual salary for a baseball player was $6,000, just a thousand dollars more than it had been in 1947.
» In 1977, Mike Schmidt earned the first $500,000 salary in baseball.
» In 1994, the National League and American League Baseball M.V.P.s were Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas, respectively. Jeff and Frank were both born on the exact same day: May 27, 1968.
Sports trivia
Sports
trivia Baseball Trivia
trivia Basketball Trivia
trivia Football Trivia
trivia Olympics Trivia
» Until 1937, the refereee in basketball had to throw a jump ball after every basket.
» Until recently, a hockey goaltender never wore a mask. By 1959, Jacques Plante, an NHL All-Star goalie, had accumulated a hairline fracture and 200 stitches. Flying pucks had broken his jaw, both cheekbones, and his nose. Fibreglass Canada worked with Plante to develop the first-ever hockey goalie mask. While he was wearing the mask, his team, the Montreal Canadiens, won the Stanley cup for the third time.
» Up to 20,000 pounds of pressure per square inch may be absorbed by a pole vaulter on the joints of his tubular thigh bones when he lands.
» Using a graphite tennis racket reportedly helps prevent the onset of "tennis elbow."
» Hockey word play: The letters in the name Jaromir (as in Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins), when rearranged, spells Mario, Jr. (as in Mario Lemieux).
» P.O.T.U.S Sports: U.S. President George Washington's favorite sport was fox hunting; Abraham Lincoln's was wrestling; Franklin D. Roosevelt's was swimming; John F. Kennedy's athletic passion was sailing; Richard M. Nixon's was football; and Ronald Reagan's favorite sport was horseback riding.
» A "tirailleur" is a sharpshooter.
» A 27-inch-high silver America's Cup holds no liquid – it is bottomless.
trivia Baseball Trivia
trivia Basketball Trivia
trivia Football Trivia
trivia Olympics Trivia
» Until 1937, the refereee in basketball had to throw a jump ball after every basket.
» Until recently, a hockey goaltender never wore a mask. By 1959, Jacques Plante, an NHL All-Star goalie, had accumulated a hairline fracture and 200 stitches. Flying pucks had broken his jaw, both cheekbones, and his nose. Fibreglass Canada worked with Plante to develop the first-ever hockey goalie mask. While he was wearing the mask, his team, the Montreal Canadiens, won the Stanley cup for the third time.
» Up to 20,000 pounds of pressure per square inch may be absorbed by a pole vaulter on the joints of his tubular thigh bones when he lands.
» Using a graphite tennis racket reportedly helps prevent the onset of "tennis elbow."
» Hockey word play: The letters in the name Jaromir (as in Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins), when rearranged, spells Mario, Jr. (as in Mario Lemieux).
» P.O.T.U.S Sports: U.S. President George Washington's favorite sport was fox hunting; Abraham Lincoln's was wrestling; Franklin D. Roosevelt's was swimming; John F. Kennedy's athletic passion was sailing; Richard M. Nixon's was football; and Ronald Reagan's favorite sport was horseback riding.
» A "tirailleur" is a sharpshooter.
» A 27-inch-high silver America's Cup holds no liquid – it is bottomless.
Space trivia
Space
» Without using precision instruments, Eratosthenes measured the radius of Earth in the third century B.C., and came within 1 percent of the value determined by today's technology.
» The planet Venus does not tilt as it goes around the Sun, so consequently, it has no seasons. On Mars, however, the seasons are more exaggerated and last much longer than on Earth.
» Scientists believe that hydrogen comprises approximately 90 to 99 percent of all matter in the universe.
» The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love.
» Scientists have determined that most rocks on the surface of the Moon are between 3 and 4.6 billion years old.
» The point in a lunar orbit that is farthest from the moon is called an "apolune."
» Selenologists study the Moon, as geologists study Earth.
» Since Neptune's discovery in 1846, it has made about three-quarters of one revolution of the Sun.
» Without using precision instruments, Eratosthenes measured the radius of Earth in the third century B.C., and came within 1 percent of the value determined by today's technology.
» The planet Venus does not tilt as it goes around the Sun, so consequently, it has no seasons. On Mars, however, the seasons are more exaggerated and last much longer than on Earth.
» Scientists believe that hydrogen comprises approximately 90 to 99 percent of all matter in the universe.
» The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love.
» Scientists have determined that most rocks on the surface of the Moon are between 3 and 4.6 billion years old.
» The point in a lunar orbit that is farthest from the moon is called an "apolune."
» Selenologists study the Moon, as geologists study Earth.
» Since Neptune's discovery in 1846, it has made about three-quarters of one revolution of the Sun.
People trivia
People
» In parts of Greece and Italy, people say “no” by tossing their heads back and clucking their tongues.
» Helen Keller (1880-1968), blind and deaf from an early age, developed her sense of smell so finely that she could identify friends by their personal odors.
» Emerson Moser, who was Crayola's senior crayon maker, revealed upon his retirement that he was blue-green colorblind and couldn't see all the colors. He molded more than 1.4 billion crayons in his 37-year career.
» Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish genius who devised the naming system of living things, was a fervent believer in sea monsters, citing numerous reports of fishermen.
» Helen of Troy was queen of Sparta.
» Emily Dickinson wrote more than nine hundred poems, of which only four were published during her lifetime.
» Carrie Donovan, former fashion editor who has written for "The New York Times," "Vogue," and "Harper's Bazaar," was featured for the first time in April 1997 in Old Navy ads in "The New York Times." She is the older blondish woman with the big round glasses, known in the New York fashion industry, but apparently not as well known elsewhere.
» Emmett Kelly's classic tramp clown character "Weary Willie" provided comic relief in the Circus through the end of 1956. When Kelly left his circus career, he became the mascot for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
» In parts of Greece and Italy, people say “no” by tossing their heads back and clucking their tongues.
» Helen Keller (1880-1968), blind and deaf from an early age, developed her sense of smell so finely that she could identify friends by their personal odors.
» Emerson Moser, who was Crayola's senior crayon maker, revealed upon his retirement that he was blue-green colorblind and couldn't see all the colors. He molded more than 1.4 billion crayons in his 37-year career.
» Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish genius who devised the naming system of living things, was a fervent believer in sea monsters, citing numerous reports of fishermen.
» Helen of Troy was queen of Sparta.
» Emily Dickinson wrote more than nine hundred poems, of which only four were published during her lifetime.
» Carrie Donovan, former fashion editor who has written for "The New York Times," "Vogue," and "Harper's Bazaar," was featured for the first time in April 1997 in Old Navy ads in "The New York Times." She is the older blondish woman with the big round glasses, known in the New York fashion industry, but apparently not as well known elsewhere.
» Emmett Kelly's classic tramp clown character "Weary Willie" provided comic relief in the Circus through the end of 1956. When Kelly left his circus career, he became the mascot for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Laws and Customs trivia
Laws and Customs
» The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that the prosecution must throw its files wide open to the defense if the accused is suffering from amnesia.
» Jaguar images and costumes were outlawed by the Catholic church in the seventeenth century because of their association with Indian religion, militia, and politics.
» The minimum age for marriage of Italian girls was raised by law to 12 years in 1892.
» Japanese bowing carries different meanings at different angles.
- A bow at an angle of five degrees means "Good day" (simple greeting).
- A bow at an angle of fifteen degrees is also a common salutation, a bit more formal it means "Good morning."
- A bow at an angle of thirty degrees is a respectful bow to indicate appreciation for a kind gesture.
- A bow at a forty-five-degree angle is used to convey deep respect or an apology.
» The New York Board of Education barred the whipping of children in its schools on March 4, 1908.
» Japanese rules for the proper use of chopsticks are many. Improper use includes wandering the chopsticks over several foods without decision, and is called mayoibashi. The unforgivable act of licking the ends of chopsticks is called neburibashi. Lack of chopstick etiquette is strictly taboo.
» King James VI and the Privy Council issued an edict in 1603 banning the use of the surname MacGregor.
» The penalty for conviction of smuggling in Bangladesh is the death penalty.
» The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that the prosecution must throw its files wide open to the defense if the accused is suffering from amnesia.
» Jaguar images and costumes were outlawed by the Catholic church in the seventeenth century because of their association with Indian religion, militia, and politics.
» The minimum age for marriage of Italian girls was raised by law to 12 years in 1892.
» Japanese bowing carries different meanings at different angles.
- A bow at an angle of five degrees means "Good day" (simple greeting).
- A bow at an angle of fifteen degrees is also a common salutation, a bit more formal it means "Good morning."
- A bow at an angle of thirty degrees is a respectful bow to indicate appreciation for a kind gesture.
- A bow at a forty-five-degree angle is used to convey deep respect or an apology.
» The New York Board of Education barred the whipping of children in its schools on March 4, 1908.
» Japanese rules for the proper use of chopsticks are many. Improper use includes wandering the chopsticks over several foods without decision, and is called mayoibashi. The unforgivable act of licking the ends of chopsticks is called neburibashi. Lack of chopstick etiquette is strictly taboo.
» King James VI and the Privy Council issued an edict in 1603 banning the use of the surname MacGregor.
» The penalty for conviction of smuggling in Bangladesh is the death penalty.
Inventions trivia
Inventions
» There were 15,700,003 Model T Ford's manufactured, all in black.
» The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
» Thomas Edison held more than 1,300 U.S. and foreign patents.
» The father of the pink flamingo (the plastic lawn ornament) was Don Featherstone of Massachusetts. Featherstone graduated from art school and went to work as a designer for Union Products, a Leominster, Massachusetts company that manufactured flat plastic lawn ornaments. He designed the pink flamingo in 1957 as a follow-up project to his plastic duck. Today, Featherstone is president and part owner of the company that sells an average of 250,000 to 500,000 plastic pink flamingos a year.
» Thomas Edison, "the Wizard of Menlo Park," established an "invention factory," the first industrial research laboratory, with the hope of producing a new invention every ten days. In one 4-year period, he obtained 300 patents, or one every five days.
» The film for the first Kodak camera was 2¾ inches wide, or 70 millimeters. Kodak has been manufacturing 70-millimeter film continuously since 1888.
» The first "braces" were constructed by Pierre Fauchard in 1728. Fauchard's "braces" consisted of a flat strip of metal, which was connected to teeth by pieces of thread.
» Thomas Edison’s first major invention was the quadruplex telegraph. Unlike other telegraphs at the time, it could send four messages at the same time over one wire.
» There were 15,700,003 Model T Ford's manufactured, all in black.
» The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
» Thomas Edison held more than 1,300 U.S. and foreign patents.
» The father of the pink flamingo (the plastic lawn ornament) was Don Featherstone of Massachusetts. Featherstone graduated from art school and went to work as a designer for Union Products, a Leominster, Massachusetts company that manufactured flat plastic lawn ornaments. He designed the pink flamingo in 1957 as a follow-up project to his plastic duck. Today, Featherstone is president and part owner of the company that sells an average of 250,000 to 500,000 plastic pink flamingos a year.
» Thomas Edison, "the Wizard of Menlo Park," established an "invention factory," the first industrial research laboratory, with the hope of producing a new invention every ten days. In one 4-year period, he obtained 300 patents, or one every five days.
» The film for the first Kodak camera was 2¾ inches wide, or 70 millimeters. Kodak has been manufacturing 70-millimeter film continuously since 1888.
» The first "braces" were constructed by Pierre Fauchard in 1728. Fauchard's "braces" consisted of a flat strip of metal, which was connected to teeth by pieces of thread.
» Thomas Edison’s first major invention was the quadruplex telegraph. Unlike other telegraphs at the time, it could send four messages at the same time over one wire.
Insects trivia
Insects
» The animal responsible for the most human deaths worldwide is the mosquito.
» The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant.
» The ant has the largest brain in the animal kingdom, in proportion to its size.
» The are more different kinds of insects on existence today than the total of all kinds of other animals put together.
» "Formication" is a hallucination that bugs or snakes are crawling on or under the skin, and is common to amphetamine and cocaine users. This hallucination is also referred to as "crank bugs."
» Bombyx mori, a silkworm moth, has been cultivated for so long that it can no longer exist without human care. Because it has been domesticated, it has lost the ability to fly.
» Drosophila, the small fruit fly, has been warmly received by the scientific community, mainly owing to the giant-sized chromosomes possessed by the cells of its salivary glands. These chromosomes, which can stretch to more than a mile long when unraveled, allow scientists to study DNA using only a sheet of white paper and a bright table lamp.
» A bee could travel 4 million miles (6.5 million km) at 7 mph (11 km/h) on the energy it would obtain from 1 gallon (3.785 liters) of nectar.
» The animal responsible for the most human deaths worldwide is the mosquito.
» The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant.
» The ant has the largest brain in the animal kingdom, in proportion to its size.
» The are more different kinds of insects on existence today than the total of all kinds of other animals put together.
» "Formication" is a hallucination that bugs or snakes are crawling on or under the skin, and is common to amphetamine and cocaine users. This hallucination is also referred to as "crank bugs."
» Bombyx mori, a silkworm moth, has been cultivated for so long that it can no longer exist without human care. Because it has been domesticated, it has lost the ability to fly.
» Drosophila, the small fruit fly, has been warmly received by the scientific community, mainly owing to the giant-sized chromosomes possessed by the cells of its salivary glands. These chromosomes, which can stretch to more than a mile long when unraveled, allow scientists to study DNA using only a sheet of white paper and a bright table lamp.
» A bee could travel 4 million miles (6.5 million km) at 7 mph (11 km/h) on the energy it would obtain from 1 gallon (3.785 liters) of nectar.
Humans trivia
Humans
» The “spring up, fall out” phenomenon says children grow twice as fast in the spring as they do in the fall, while they gain more weight in the fall.
» In all of history, the most destructive disease is malaria. More than 1.5 million people die from malaria every year.
» The ability to firmly grip with your hand comes from the muscles in the forearm. The muscles pull on tendons in the hand, bending the fingers.
» In ancient Rome, gold salves were used for the treatment of skin ulcers. Today, gold leaf plays an important role in the treatment of chronic ulcers.
» In dentistry, a “mulberry molar” is a tooth with more than the usual four cusps.
» In medieval Europe, alchemists mixed powdered gold into drinks to "comfort sore limbs," one of the earliest references to arthritis.
» The skeleton of an average 160 pound body weighs about 29 pounds.
» The skin is only about as deep as the tip of a ball-point pen. First-degree burns affect only the very top layers of the skin; second-degree burns, midway through the skin's thickness. Third-degree burns penetrate and damage the entire thickness of the skin.
» The “spring up, fall out” phenomenon says children grow twice as fast in the spring as they do in the fall, while they gain more weight in the fall.
» In all of history, the most destructive disease is malaria. More than 1.5 million people die from malaria every year.
» The ability to firmly grip with your hand comes from the muscles in the forearm. The muscles pull on tendons in the hand, bending the fingers.
» In ancient Rome, gold salves were used for the treatment of skin ulcers. Today, gold leaf plays an important role in the treatment of chronic ulcers.
» In dentistry, a “mulberry molar” is a tooth with more than the usual four cusps.
» In medieval Europe, alchemists mixed powdered gold into drinks to "comfort sore limbs," one of the earliest references to arthritis.
» The skeleton of an average 160 pound body weighs about 29 pounds.
» The skin is only about as deep as the tip of a ball-point pen. First-degree burns affect only the very top layers of the skin; second-degree burns, midway through the skin's thickness. Third-degree burns penetrate and damage the entire thickness of the skin.
Christmas trivia
Holidays : Christmas
» "Hot cockles" was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. "Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era.
» "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was conceived by author Robert May in 1939. Two other names he considered before deciding on Rudolph were Reginald and Rollo.
» “The Nutcracker” is the name for the ballet performed around Christmas time each year. “The Nutcracker Suite” is the title of the music Tchaikovsky wrote.
» Holiday Headaches: Nearly one in four people said they have more headaches during the Christmas season than any other time of the year. Of those surveyed, 75 percent said that not having enough time caused them to have headaches; 73 percent said crowds and traffic created their headaches; and 51 percent said skipping meals gave them headaches.
» A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy. The story claims that a university student saved himself from a charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. He then cut off the boar's head and brought it back to his college.
» A Christmas club, a savings account in which a person deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came about around 1905.
» A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
» According to a 1995 survey, 7 out of 10 British dogs get Christmas gifts from their doting owners.
» "Hot cockles" was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. "Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era.
» "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was conceived by author Robert May in 1939. Two other names he considered before deciding on Rudolph were Reginald and Rollo.
» “The Nutcracker” is the name for the ballet performed around Christmas time each year. “The Nutcracker Suite” is the title of the music Tchaikovsky wrote.
» Holiday Headaches: Nearly one in four people said they have more headaches during the Christmas season than any other time of the year. Of those surveyed, 75 percent said that not having enough time caused them to have headaches; 73 percent said crowds and traffic created their headaches; and 51 percent said skipping meals gave them headaches.
» A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy. The story claims that a university student saved himself from a charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. He then cut off the boar's head and brought it back to his college.
» A Christmas club, a savings account in which a person deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came about around 1905.
» A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
» According to a 1995 survey, 7 out of 10 British dogs get Christmas gifts from their doting owners.
Holidays trivia
Holidays
trivia Christmas Trivia
» “Within the Walls Rodeo Day” is when prisoners wear black and white striped outfits and take part in volunteer rodeos within the walls of the prison.
» Mother's Day Symbolism: The pink carnation is a gesture to honor a living mother, while a white carnation is worn to symbolize remembrance.
» Pashka is a Russian Easter cake decorated with molded reliefs depicting the Passion. It traditionally has candied fruits that form the initials X and B (for Khristos voskress, meaning “Christ is risen”) in the Cyrillic alphabet.
» Pooch Passion: According to a pet owner survey, 79 percent of Americans give their dogs holiday and/or birthday presents.
» St. Swithin's Day, July 15: During the 900s, a man named Swithin (spelling also recorded as "Swithun") was the Bishop of Winchester in England. Some years after his death, and for reasons not documented, Bishop Swithin's remains were transferred to Winchester Cathedral on July 15, 971. That same day, there was a tremendous rainstorm. Legend has it that Bishop Swithin was so angry about the move from his final resting place that he caused the storm. According to old English folklore, if it should now rain on July 15th, St. Swithin will make it rain for 40 days thereafter.
» A “distich” is composed of two poetic lines matching both sound and sense. It is used during the Chinese New Year to express the people’s wish for a peaceful and happy new year.
» A baked ham has graced traditional Easter tables in America for centuries. The tradition of ham served at Easter dates back to the 1600s. The colonists got the idea from their Native American neighbors. Every year the Native Americans welcomed spring with a planting festival that included the practice of smoking meats, especially venison. The colonists were fascinated with the process and decided to try it on the hogs they had raised. They salted, smoked, and stored the meat through the winter until it was perfectly cured and ready for the table in the spring, just in time for Easter.
» A shofar is a ram’s horn used in ancient times as a signaling trumpet, and is still blown in synagogues on Rosh Hashana and at the end of Yom Kippur.
trivia Christmas Trivia
» “Within the Walls Rodeo Day” is when prisoners wear black and white striped outfits and take part in volunteer rodeos within the walls of the prison.
» Mother's Day Symbolism: The pink carnation is a gesture to honor a living mother, while a white carnation is worn to symbolize remembrance.
» Pashka is a Russian Easter cake decorated with molded reliefs depicting the Passion. It traditionally has candied fruits that form the initials X and B (for Khristos voskress, meaning “Christ is risen”) in the Cyrillic alphabet.
» Pooch Passion: According to a pet owner survey, 79 percent of Americans give their dogs holiday and/or birthday presents.
» St. Swithin's Day, July 15: During the 900s, a man named Swithin (spelling also recorded as "Swithun") was the Bishop of Winchester in England. Some years after his death, and for reasons not documented, Bishop Swithin's remains were transferred to Winchester Cathedral on July 15, 971. That same day, there was a tremendous rainstorm. Legend has it that Bishop Swithin was so angry about the move from his final resting place that he caused the storm. According to old English folklore, if it should now rain on July 15th, St. Swithin will make it rain for 40 days thereafter.
» A “distich” is composed of two poetic lines matching both sound and sense. It is used during the Chinese New Year to express the people’s wish for a peaceful and happy new year.
» A baked ham has graced traditional Easter tables in America for centuries. The tradition of ham served at Easter dates back to the 1600s. The colonists got the idea from their Native American neighbors. Every year the Native Americans welcomed spring with a planting festival that included the practice of smoking meats, especially venison. The colonists were fascinated with the process and decided to try it on the hogs they had raised. They salted, smoked, and stored the meat through the winter until it was perfectly cured and ready for the table in the spring, just in time for Easter.
» A shofar is a ram’s horn used in ancient times as a signaling trumpet, and is still blown in synagogues on Rosh Hashana and at the end of Yom Kippur.
History trivia
History
» Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from the Manhattoe tribe for trinkets and cloth valued at 60 guilders. The price worked out to about $24.
» In 1942, because of World War II, the United States government forced all Japanese Americans on the West Coast into camps.
» Pharaohs ruled Egypt from 3110 B.C. until 332 B.C., when Egypt came under foreign rule.
» In 1950, Scottish Nationalists stole the "Stone of Destiny" from Westminster Abbey. This was Scotland's Coronation Stone, taken by the English in 1296. By tradition, all British monarchs have to be crowned while sitting on it. It was eventually recovered from Arbroath Abbey, although some claimed this was a copy, and the original remained in Scotland. In 1996, the "Stone of Destiny" was returned from London to Edinburgh Castle, exactly 700 years after being stolen by Edward I.
» In 1961, a year after the death of novelist Boris Pasternak, his friend and collaborator Olga Ivinskaya was arrested for allegedly receiving foreign royalties for Pasternak's published works. She was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and hard labor in Siberia, and her daughter received three years for alleged complicity.
» In 1964, Ray Bellisario became the first British paparazzo, and was dubbed "The Peeping Tom" by the press. He sold photographs of Princess Margaret in a swimsuit to the Sunday Express, which published them. The British monarchy instructed editors not to buy Bellisario's photos, and they agreed.
» The right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty crossed the Atlantic Ocean three times. It first crossed for display at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and in New York, where money was raised for the foundation and pedestal. It was returned to Paris in 1882 to be reunited with the rest of the statue, which was then shipped back to the United States.
» The Roman emperor Commodus had all of the dwarfs, cripples, and freaks collected in the city of Rome and had them brought to the Colosseum, where they were ordered to fight each other to the death with meat cleavers.
» Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from the Manhattoe tribe for trinkets and cloth valued at 60 guilders. The price worked out to about $24.
» In 1942, because of World War II, the United States government forced all Japanese Americans on the West Coast into camps.
» Pharaohs ruled Egypt from 3110 B.C. until 332 B.C., when Egypt came under foreign rule.
» In 1950, Scottish Nationalists stole the "Stone of Destiny" from Westminster Abbey. This was Scotland's Coronation Stone, taken by the English in 1296. By tradition, all British monarchs have to be crowned while sitting on it. It was eventually recovered from Arbroath Abbey, although some claimed this was a copy, and the original remained in Scotland. In 1996, the "Stone of Destiny" was returned from London to Edinburgh Castle, exactly 700 years after being stolen by Edward I.
» In 1961, a year after the death of novelist Boris Pasternak, his friend and collaborator Olga Ivinskaya was arrested for allegedly receiving foreign royalties for Pasternak's published works. She was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and hard labor in Siberia, and her daughter received three years for alleged complicity.
» In 1964, Ray Bellisario became the first British paparazzo, and was dubbed "The Peeping Tom" by the press. He sold photographs of Princess Margaret in a swimsuit to the Sunday Express, which published them. The British monarchy instructed editors not to buy Bellisario's photos, and they agreed.
» The right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty crossed the Atlantic Ocean three times. It first crossed for display at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and in New York, where money was raised for the foundation and pedestal. It was returned to Paris in 1882 to be reunited with the rest of the statue, which was then shipped back to the United States.
» The Roman emperor Commodus had all of the dwarfs, cripples, and freaks collected in the city of Rome and had them brought to the Colosseum, where they were ordered to fight each other to the death with meat cleavers.
Geography : US trivia
Geography : US
» The muskellunge, a fierce fighting fish that can weigh in at around 70 pounds, is the official state fish of Wisconsin.
» The names of some cities in the United States are the names of other U.S. states. These include Nevada in Missouri, California Maryland, Louisiana in Missouri, Oregon in Wisconsin, Kansas in Oklahoma, Wyoming in Ohio, Michigan in North Dakota, Delaware in Arkansas, and Indiana in Pennsylvania.
» The northernmost U.S. state capital is Juneau, Alaska.
» The odd zigzag in the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, just south of Charlotte, resulted when boundary commissioners altered the line in 1772 to avoid splitting the Catawba Indians between the two British colonies.
» "Honolulu" means "sheltered harbor."
» “Q” is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any state of the United States.
» “Utah” is from the Navajo word meaning “upper.”
»
Some Chicago firsts...
Ferris Wheel:George W.G. Ferris created a 264-foot "bridge on an axle" for the Columbian Exposition.
Skyscraper:William Le Baron Jenney designed the Home Assurance Building on LaSalle and Adams Streets around an iron-and-steel frame in 1884.
Lie Detector:Leonarde Keeler, an employee of the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory at Northwestern University, devised the Keeler Polygraph.
Zipper:Called the "hookless fastener" when exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the device would be dubbed "zipper" by the B.F. Goodrich Company, who used it on overshoes.
» The muskellunge, a fierce fighting fish that can weigh in at around 70 pounds, is the official state fish of Wisconsin.
» The names of some cities in the United States are the names of other U.S. states. These include Nevada in Missouri, California Maryland, Louisiana in Missouri, Oregon in Wisconsin, Kansas in Oklahoma, Wyoming in Ohio, Michigan in North Dakota, Delaware in Arkansas, and Indiana in Pennsylvania.
» The northernmost U.S. state capital is Juneau, Alaska.
» The odd zigzag in the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, just south of Charlotte, resulted when boundary commissioners altered the line in 1772 to avoid splitting the Catawba Indians between the two British colonies.
» "Honolulu" means "sheltered harbor."
» “Q” is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any state of the United States.
» “Utah” is from the Navajo word meaning “upper.”
»
Some Chicago firsts...
Ferris Wheel:George W.G. Ferris created a 264-foot "bridge on an axle" for the Columbian Exposition.
Skyscraper:William Le Baron Jenney designed the Home Assurance Building on LaSalle and Adams Streets around an iron-and-steel frame in 1884.
Lie Detector:Leonarde Keeler, an employee of the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory at Northwestern University, devised the Keeler Polygraph.
Zipper:Called the "hookless fastener" when exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the device would be dubbed "zipper" by the B.F. Goodrich Company, who used it on overshoes.
Geography : Europe trivia
Geography : Europe
» Among the fifty-two London churches Sir Christopher Wren created from 1670 to 1711, the greatest was St. Paul's Cathedral.
» Antibes, on the eastern French Riviera, was founded by the Greeks in the fourth century B.C. After World War II, Pablo Picasso left Paris to live near the Mediterranean. He worked for six months in the Grimaldi castle where he painted La Joi De Vivre. It is now a museum that holds many of Picasso's paintings and pottery. Antibes also hosts one of the largest antique shows in Europe each spring.
» Before 1918, Slovenia belonged to Austria-Hungary; from 1918 to 1991, it was part of Yugoslavia. It declared its independence on June 25, 1991.
» Built during the fourteenth century, Amsterdam's red-light district is an attractive part of the city with charming architecture. The area originally was filled with houses of ill repute and myriad distilleries. The distilleries are gone, but the oldest of professions flourishes. Prostitutes display themselves in windows under red neon lights.
» Bulgaria’s national anthem was written by Tzvetan Radoslavov (1863-1931). The original words and music were composed by Radoslavov while he was still a student in 1885 and on his way to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. The song quickly became popular. It was arranged as the National Anthem, replacing the previous Republican Anthem in 1964. Both words and music have been revised many times since 1885. At present, the anthem has no title.
» Dining while rolling down the elegant shopping street of the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland, by streetcar is a common pleasure in the city. The Gastrotram is a favorite of locals.
» Finland has the greatest number of islands in the world: 179,584.
» Finland is smaller than the state of California.
» Among the fifty-two London churches Sir Christopher Wren created from 1670 to 1711, the greatest was St. Paul's Cathedral.
» Antibes, on the eastern French Riviera, was founded by the Greeks in the fourth century B.C. After World War II, Pablo Picasso left Paris to live near the Mediterranean. He worked for six months in the Grimaldi castle where he painted La Joi De Vivre. It is now a museum that holds many of Picasso's paintings and pottery. Antibes also hosts one of the largest antique shows in Europe each spring.
» Before 1918, Slovenia belonged to Austria-Hungary; from 1918 to 1991, it was part of Yugoslavia. It declared its independence on June 25, 1991.
» Built during the fourteenth century, Amsterdam's red-light district is an attractive part of the city with charming architecture. The area originally was filled with houses of ill repute and myriad distilleries. The distilleries are gone, but the oldest of professions flourishes. Prostitutes display themselves in windows under red neon lights.
» Bulgaria’s national anthem was written by Tzvetan Radoslavov (1863-1931). The original words and music were composed by Radoslavov while he was still a student in 1885 and on his way to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. The song quickly became popular. It was arranged as the National Anthem, replacing the previous Republican Anthem in 1964. Both words and music have been revised many times since 1885. At present, the anthem has no title.
» Dining while rolling down the elegant shopping street of the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland, by streetcar is a common pleasure in the city. The Gastrotram is a favorite of locals.
» Finland has the greatest number of islands in the world: 179,584.
» Finland is smaller than the state of California.
Geography : Australia trivia
Geography : Australia
» “Wet” means “simpleton” in Australian slang. The Wet is the rainy season in Northern Australia.
» About one fifth of Australia is covered by its eleven deserts.
» Arguably the largest state in the world, Western Australia covers one-third of the Australian continent. It spans over 2.5 million square kilometers (1 million square miles).
» Australia is divided into two territories and six states.
» Australia is the smallest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent in the World. It is the only country which is also a whole continent — 18.6 million people live here.
» Australia’s Ayers Rock is the largest rock in the world. It rises out of the middle of the country with a diameter of 5½ miles around its base and a height of 1,000 feet.
» Australia’s Great Barrier Reef stretches for 1,242 miles along the coast of Queensland. It is a chain of small islands and more than 2,500 reefs.
» Australia's city of Sydney began as a penal colony in 1788; for the next 60 years, it received the criminal and persecuted people of British society.
» “Wet” means “simpleton” in Australian slang. The Wet is the rainy season in Northern Australia.
» About one fifth of Australia is covered by its eleven deserts.
» Arguably the largest state in the world, Western Australia covers one-third of the Australian continent. It spans over 2.5 million square kilometers (1 million square miles).
» Australia is divided into two territories and six states.
» Australia is the smallest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent in the World. It is the only country which is also a whole continent — 18.6 million people live here.
» Australia’s Ayers Rock is the largest rock in the world. It rises out of the middle of the country with a diameter of 5½ miles around its base and a height of 1,000 feet.
» Australia’s Great Barrier Reef stretches for 1,242 miles along the coast of Queensland. It is a chain of small islands and more than 2,500 reefs.
» Australia's city of Sydney began as a penal colony in 1788; for the next 60 years, it received the criminal and persecuted people of British society.
Geography : Asia trivia
Geography : Asia
» A virtual underwater playground with its breathtaking coral, the Philippines draws thousands of divers from Japan, China, and Taiwan each year.
» Bangladesh is the most densely populated non-island region in the world, with more than 1,970 humans per square mile.
» Bhutan is derived from the Indian word Bhotanta, meaning "the edge of Tibet." It is located in Asia near the southern fringes of the eastern Himalayas.
» Ceylon became a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka.
» China produces about 70 percent of the world's silk supply.
» In Siberia, it can get so cold that the moisture in a person’s breath freezes instead of forming vapor. It can actually be heard when it falls to earth as ice crystals.
» In the southern part of Japan, it rarely snows to any great amount except for the mountains, but the northern part usually has plenty of snow in the winter. Autumn is by far the best time to visit Japan, as far as the weather goes.
» Israel is one-quarter the size of the state of Maine.
» A virtual underwater playground with its breathtaking coral, the Philippines draws thousands of divers from Japan, China, and Taiwan each year.
» Bangladesh is the most densely populated non-island region in the world, with more than 1,970 humans per square mile.
» Bhutan is derived from the Indian word Bhotanta, meaning "the edge of Tibet." It is located in Asia near the southern fringes of the eastern Himalayas.
» Ceylon became a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka.
» China produces about 70 percent of the world's silk supply.
» In Siberia, it can get so cold that the moisture in a person’s breath freezes instead of forming vapor. It can actually be heard when it falls to earth as ice crystals.
» In the southern part of Japan, it rarely snows to any great amount except for the mountains, but the northern part usually has plenty of snow in the winter. Autumn is by far the best time to visit Japan, as far as the weather goes.
» Israel is one-quarter the size of the state of Maine.
Geography trivia
Geography
trivia Asia Trivia
trivia Australia Trivia
trivia Europe Trivia
trivia US Trivia
» "Exurbia" is the mostly rural residential area beyond the suburbs of a city.
» "Oceania" is a name for the thousands of islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. It is sometimes referred to as the South Seas.
» A bar of sand or other sediment linking an island to the mainland or another island is called a tombolo.
» Acapulco got its start as a major tourist destination during the early days of World War II. German U-boats threats off the eastern United States compelled the wealthy to find new places to vacation. At one time, one had to be a millionaire to enjoy Acapulco, but that hasn't been the case for years.
» According to research presented in National Geographic, Toronto’s name was derived from a Mohawk word meaning “poles in the water,” a reference to an old fish weir in the area.
» According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the first populated land where the Sun will rise on a new day is at Kahuitara Point (44° 16' S 176° 9' W) on Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands, a dependency of New Zealand.
» Afghanistan has been known by different names. It was called Ariana or Bactria in ancient times and Khorasan during the Middle Ages.
» Although "Holland" is a popular name for the Netherlands, North Holland and South Holland are actually two provinces in the Netherlands.
trivia Asia Trivia
trivia Australia Trivia
trivia Europe Trivia
trivia US Trivia
» "Exurbia" is the mostly rural residential area beyond the suburbs of a city.
» "Oceania" is a name for the thousands of islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. It is sometimes referred to as the South Seas.
» A bar of sand or other sediment linking an island to the mainland or another island is called a tombolo.
» Acapulco got its start as a major tourist destination during the early days of World War II. German U-boats threats off the eastern United States compelled the wealthy to find new places to vacation. At one time, one had to be a millionaire to enjoy Acapulco, but that hasn't been the case for years.
» According to research presented in National Geographic, Toronto’s name was derived from a Mohawk word meaning “poles in the water,” a reference to an old fish weir in the area.
» According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the first populated land where the Sun will rise on a new day is at Kahuitara Point (44° 16' S 176° 9' W) on Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands, a dependency of New Zealand.
» Afghanistan has been known by different names. It was called Ariana or Bactria in ancient times and Khorasan during the Middle Ages.
» Although "Holland" is a popular name for the Netherlands, North Holland and South Holland are actually two provinces in the Netherlands.
Food and Drink trivia
Food and Drink
» In 1765, the sandwich was invented by John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who gave the food its name. The Earl used to order roast beef between pieces of toast for a snack while he was at the gaming tables, it allowed him to keep one hand free to play while he ate.
» Caviar, or fish eggs, contain the same healthful omega-3 fatty acids as salmon.
» In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.
» Celery has negative calories — it takes more calories to eat and digest a piece of celery than the celery has in it initially.
» Cellophane noodles must typically be soaked before using, as must dried porcini mushrooms and most dried beans.
» Centuries ago, men were told that the evil effects of coffee would make them sterile; women were cautioned to avoid caffeine unless they wanted to be barren.
» Nutella is a hazelnut spread made with skim milk and cocoa. It is virtually unknown in America, but European children have happily smeared it on breakfast croissants for decades.
» Of about 350 million cans of chicken noodle soup of all commercial brands sold annually in the United States, 60 percent is purchased during the cold and flu season. January is the top-selling month of the year.
» In 1765, the sandwich was invented by John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who gave the food its name. The Earl used to order roast beef between pieces of toast for a snack while he was at the gaming tables, it allowed him to keep one hand free to play while he ate.
» Caviar, or fish eggs, contain the same healthful omega-3 fatty acids as salmon.
» In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.
» Celery has negative calories — it takes more calories to eat and digest a piece of celery than the celery has in it initially.
» Cellophane noodles must typically be soaked before using, as must dried porcini mushrooms and most dried beans.
» Centuries ago, men were told that the evil effects of coffee would make them sterile; women were cautioned to avoid caffeine unless they wanted to be barren.
» Nutella is a hazelnut spread made with skim milk and cocoa. It is virtually unknown in America, but European children have happily smeared it on breakfast croissants for decades.
» Of about 350 million cans of chicken noodle soup of all commercial brands sold annually in the United States, 60 percent is purchased during the cold and flu season. January is the top-selling month of the year.
Environment trivia
Environment
» The "French" marigold arrived in Europe with the Spanish conquistadors during the sixteenth century, who brought the delicate flower with them from its land of origin. It was from Mexico, not France.
» In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it has never rained.
» The African boabab tree can have a circumference as large as 100 feet. One such tree in Zimbabwe is so wide that the hollowed-out trunk serves as a shelter at a bus stop, with a capacity to hold as many as 40 people.
» In England, vraic is a seaweed used for fuel and fertilizer. It is found in the Channel Islands.
» In living memory, it was not until February 18, 1979 that snow fell on the Sahara. A half-hour storm in southern Algeria stopped traffic. But within a few hours, all the snow had melted.
» In Los Angeles, discarded garments are being recycled as industrial rags and carpet underlay. Such recycling keeps clothing out of landfills, where it makes up 4 percent of the trash dumped each year.
» There are more than 700 species of plants that grow in the United States that have been identified as dangerous if eaten. Among them are some that are commonly favored by gardeners: buttercups, daffodils, lily of the valley, sweet peas, oleander, azalea, bleeding heart, delphinium, and rhododendron.
» There are only about fifty geyser fields known to exist on Earth and approximately two-thirds of those fifty are home to five or fewer active geysers. Yellowstone National Park in the state of Wyoming has more geysers than any other field known in the world. The park has been the site of extensive study of the properties and characteristics of geysers.
» The "French" marigold arrived in Europe with the Spanish conquistadors during the sixteenth century, who brought the delicate flower with them from its land of origin. It was from Mexico, not France.
» In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it has never rained.
» The African boabab tree can have a circumference as large as 100 feet. One such tree in Zimbabwe is so wide that the hollowed-out trunk serves as a shelter at a bus stop, with a capacity to hold as many as 40 people.
» In England, vraic is a seaweed used for fuel and fertilizer. It is found in the Channel Islands.
» In living memory, it was not until February 18, 1979 that snow fell on the Sahara. A half-hour storm in southern Algeria stopped traffic. But within a few hours, all the snow had melted.
» In Los Angeles, discarded garments are being recycled as industrial rags and carpet underlay. Such recycling keeps clothing out of landfills, where it makes up 4 percent of the trash dumped each year.
» There are more than 700 species of plants that grow in the United States that have been identified as dangerous if eaten. Among them are some that are commonly favored by gardeners: buttercups, daffodils, lily of the valley, sweet peas, oleander, azalea, bleeding heart, delphinium, and rhododendron.
» There are only about fifty geyser fields known to exist on Earth and approximately two-thirds of those fifty are home to five or fewer active geysers. Yellowstone National Park in the state of Wyoming has more geysers than any other field known in the world. The park has been the site of extensive study of the properties and characteristics of geysers.
Disney trivia
Disney
» According to one source, Americans buy about 5 million things that are shaped like Mickey Mouse, or have a picture of Mickey Mouse on them, in the course of one day.
» According to the folks at Disney there were 6,469,952 spots painted on the dogs in the original 101 Dalmatians.
» Actor Jeremy Irons provides the voice of the narrator for Spaceship Earth at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.
» Animation artists love inside jokes. In the Disney film Beauty and the Beast (1991), the road signs that Belle’s father encounters in the forest show the names of two California cities: one points to Anaheim, while the other points down a dark, sinister-looking path to Valencia. In truth, Anaheim is the site of Disneyland, while the rival Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement theme park is in the city of Valencia.
» As of December 30, 1997, Disney held eight of the top ten spots on the All Time Movie Video Sales Chart: The Lion King (1); Aladdin (2); Cinderella (3); Beauty and The Beast (4); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (5); Toy Story (7); 101 Dalmatians (8); and Pocahontas (10). The two non-Disney flicks to make the list were Forrest Gump (6) and Jurassic Park (9).
» At Disneyland in California, José the Macaw, the mechanical star of the Enchanted Tiki Room, originally sat near the entrance to Adventureland. He was so popular with visitors that he created a traffic jam and had to relocated to inside the attraction.
» At Disneyland Paris, the park’s famous Sleeping Beauty Castle is known as Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.
» At the rate of about 40 painting hours per horse on the King Arthur's Carrousel at Disneyland, it takes several years to refurbish all of the horses. Then the cycle starts again.
» According to one source, Americans buy about 5 million things that are shaped like Mickey Mouse, or have a picture of Mickey Mouse on them, in the course of one day.
» According to the folks at Disney there were 6,469,952 spots painted on the dogs in the original 101 Dalmatians.
» Actor Jeremy Irons provides the voice of the narrator for Spaceship Earth at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.
» Animation artists love inside jokes. In the Disney film Beauty and the Beast (1991), the road signs that Belle’s father encounters in the forest show the names of two California cities: one points to Anaheim, while the other points down a dark, sinister-looking path to Valencia. In truth, Anaheim is the site of Disneyland, while the rival Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement theme park is in the city of Valencia.
» As of December 30, 1997, Disney held eight of the top ten spots on the All Time Movie Video Sales Chart: The Lion King (1); Aladdin (2); Cinderella (3); Beauty and The Beast (4); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (5); Toy Story (7); 101 Dalmatians (8); and Pocahontas (10). The two non-Disney flicks to make the list were Forrest Gump (6) and Jurassic Park (9).
» At Disneyland in California, José the Macaw, the mechanical star of the Enchanted Tiki Room, originally sat near the entrance to Adventureland. He was so popular with visitors that he created a traffic jam and had to relocated to inside the attraction.
» At Disneyland Paris, the park’s famous Sleeping Beauty Castle is known as Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.
» At the rate of about 40 painting hours per horse on the King Arthur's Carrousel at Disneyland, it takes several years to refurbish all of the horses. Then the cycle starts again.
Entertainment : Television triivia
Entertainment : Television
» The television show Seinfeld was set in New York City; however, the exterior that was used for Jerry Seinfeld's apartment house is actually in Los Angeles, California.
» The TV sitcom Seinfeld was originally titled The Seinfeld Chronicles. The pilot, which was broadcast in 1989, also featured a kooky neighbor named Kessler. This character later became known as Kramer.
» The U.S. television drama Law and Order is titled New York District in France.
» The working title of the TV series Dallas was Houston.
» "Man – woman – birth – death – infinity" were the opening words of the Ben Casey television series in the 1960s.
» CBS Evening News with anchor Walter Cronkite was network TV’s first 30-minute evening newscast. It was expanded from its previous 15-minute format beginning with the September 3, 1963 telecast. At the end of that inaugural 30-minute show, Cronkite first uttered his famous tagline, “And that’s the way it is.”
» Frasier's radio station, KACL 780 AM, is named after the hit TV show’s three executive producers: David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee.
» Seinfeld creator Larry David modeled the show's character George Costanza after himself.
» The television show Seinfeld was set in New York City; however, the exterior that was used for Jerry Seinfeld's apartment house is actually in Los Angeles, California.
» The TV sitcom Seinfeld was originally titled The Seinfeld Chronicles. The pilot, which was broadcast in 1989, also featured a kooky neighbor named Kessler. This character later became known as Kramer.
» The U.S. television drama Law and Order is titled New York District in France.
» The working title of the TV series Dallas was Houston.
» "Man – woman – birth – death – infinity" were the opening words of the Ben Casey television series in the 1960s.
» CBS Evening News with anchor Walter Cronkite was network TV’s first 30-minute evening newscast. It was expanded from its previous 15-minute format beginning with the September 3, 1963 telecast. At the end of that inaugural 30-minute show, Cronkite first uttered his famous tagline, “And that’s the way it is.”
» Frasier's radio station, KACL 780 AM, is named after the hit TV show’s three executive producers: David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee.
» Seinfeld creator Larry David modeled the show's character George Costanza after himself.
Entertainment : Music trivia
Entertainment : Music
» "Hang On Sloopy" is the official rock song of the state of Ohio.
» "Happy Birthday" was the first song to be performed in outer space, sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969.
» "No Strings Attached," the pop album released by the band ’N Sync in March 2000, sold a whopping 2.41 million copies its first week, breaking a record many in the industry believed would stand for years. Less than a year earlier in May 1999, the former record had been set by the Backstreet Boys’ "Millennium," when 1.13 million copies were sold in the initial week of release.
» "Please Mr. Postman" has been a Number 1 hit on Billboard's record charts twice: the chart-topping versions were recorded by The Marvelettes in 1961 and The Carpenters in 1974.
» The Coffee Cantata was written by Johann Sebastian Bach.
» A concert promoter in Hawaii sold a thousand tickets to a Spice Girls concert. Unfortunately the concert was never scheduled. The man was arrested and told police he needed the money for a nose job and a sex change.
» A fantasia is a piece of music in which the composition follows the fancy, rather than any conventional form, of an improvisational character.
» A zarzuela is an operetta of a traditional type, with spoken dialogue and lyrical music. The word is derived from the Spanish after La Zarzuela, the royal palace near Madrid where the operetta was first performed in 1629. A zarzuela is also the name of a seafood stew.
» "Hang On Sloopy" is the official rock song of the state of Ohio.
» "Happy Birthday" was the first song to be performed in outer space, sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969.
» "No Strings Attached," the pop album released by the band ’N Sync in March 2000, sold a whopping 2.41 million copies its first week, breaking a record many in the industry believed would stand for years. Less than a year earlier in May 1999, the former record had been set by the Backstreet Boys’ "Millennium," when 1.13 million copies were sold in the initial week of release.
» "Please Mr. Postman" has been a Number 1 hit on Billboard's record charts twice: the chart-topping versions were recorded by The Marvelettes in 1961 and The Carpenters in 1974.
» The Coffee Cantata was written by Johann Sebastian Bach.
» A concert promoter in Hawaii sold a thousand tickets to a Spice Girls concert. Unfortunately the concert was never scheduled. The man was arrested and told police he needed the money for a nose job and a sex change.
» A fantasia is a piece of music in which the composition follows the fancy, rather than any conventional form, of an improvisational character.
» A zarzuela is an operetta of a traditional type, with spoken dialogue and lyrical music. The word is derived from the Spanish after La Zarzuela, the royal palace near Madrid where the operetta was first performed in 1629. A zarzuela is also the name of a seafood stew.
Entertainment : Movies trivia
Entertainment : Movies
» When Cecil B. De Mille released his silent film The Squaw Man in 1914, it became one of the movie industry's first nationwide box-office successes. It cost only $15,000 to make and earned more than $225,000. It was also the first film that De Mille wrote and directed; prior to The Squaw Man, De Mille worked solely as a screenwriter.
» Ronald Reagan's last acting role before entering politics was in the film "The Killers" (1964).
» In the 1995 film "Boys on the Side," Matthew McConaughey played a character named Abe Lincoln.
» When directing films, Clint Eastwood dislikes overlighting, which he associates with television. He prefers a film noir effect, especially in his thrillers. During a 1993 interview, Eastwood related a story about his suspenseful 1982 film Firefox. There was a shot that was so dark only Eastwood's elbow was visible. The cameraman wanted to do another take. Eastwood asked, "Am I in the frame?" "Yeah." "Can you hear my voice?" "Yeah." "They know who I am. Let's print it and move on."
» Sandra Bullock's role in the romantic comedy hit "While You Were Sleeping" (1995) was originally offered to Demi Moore, but Moore's salary demands were out of reach.
» In the 72 years of the Academy Awards existence, only three films have swept all five categories in Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor and Actress, and Best Writing. They are 1934’s "It Happened One Night," 1975’s "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," and 1991’s "The Silence of the Lambs."
» Seattle has served as the backdrop or main locality for many films, including "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982), "McQ" (1974), "The Parallax View" (1974), "My Own Private Idaho" (1991), "Say Anything…" (1989), "WarGames" (1983), "Little Buddha" (1993), "It Happened at the World’s Fair" (1963), "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992), "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987), "Give ‘em Hell, Harry!" (1975), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989), "Disclosure" (1994), "Cinderella Liberty" (1973), "Black Widow" (1986), "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "The Vanishing" (1993), "Twice in a Lifetime" (1985), and the ultimate Seattle romance film, "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993).
» In the beach scene near the end of the Beatles' film "Help!" (1965), John Lennon had an appointment and could not be present. Another actor stood in for him.
» When Cecil B. De Mille released his silent film The Squaw Man in 1914, it became one of the movie industry's first nationwide box-office successes. It cost only $15,000 to make and earned more than $225,000. It was also the first film that De Mille wrote and directed; prior to The Squaw Man, De Mille worked solely as a screenwriter.
» Ronald Reagan's last acting role before entering politics was in the film "The Killers" (1964).
» In the 1995 film "Boys on the Side," Matthew McConaughey played a character named Abe Lincoln.
» When directing films, Clint Eastwood dislikes overlighting, which he associates with television. He prefers a film noir effect, especially in his thrillers. During a 1993 interview, Eastwood related a story about his suspenseful 1982 film Firefox. There was a shot that was so dark only Eastwood's elbow was visible. The cameraman wanted to do another take. Eastwood asked, "Am I in the frame?" "Yeah." "Can you hear my voice?" "Yeah." "They know who I am. Let's print it and move on."
» Sandra Bullock's role in the romantic comedy hit "While You Were Sleeping" (1995) was originally offered to Demi Moore, but Moore's salary demands were out of reach.
» In the 72 years of the Academy Awards existence, only three films have swept all five categories in Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor and Actress, and Best Writing. They are 1934’s "It Happened One Night," 1975’s "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," and 1991’s "The Silence of the Lambs."
» Seattle has served as the backdrop or main locality for many films, including "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982), "McQ" (1974), "The Parallax View" (1974), "My Own Private Idaho" (1991), "Say Anything…" (1989), "WarGames" (1983), "Little Buddha" (1993), "It Happened at the World’s Fair" (1963), "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992), "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987), "Give ‘em Hell, Harry!" (1975), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989), "Disclosure" (1994), "Cinderella Liberty" (1973), "Black Widow" (1986), "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "The Vanishing" (1993), "Twice in a Lifetime" (1985), and the ultimate Seattle romance film, "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993).
» In the beach scene near the end of the Beatles' film "Help!" (1965), John Lennon had an appointment and could not be present. Another actor stood in for him.
Entertainment trivia
Entertainment
trivia Movies Trivia
trivia Music Trivia
trivia Television Trivia
» John Lennon joined Elton John onstage at Madison Square Garden in 1974 to perform the song they co-wrote, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." This was to be Lennon's final live performance.
» Frank Sinatra was offered the male lead in the film Funny Girl (1968), but Barbra Streisand, who had performed the role successfully on Broadway, refused to take second billing, as did Sinatra. Even though this was her film debut, Streisand would not back down, and Sinatra, in a frustrated huff, dropped out. A film deal with David Janssen to take the role fell apart. The part was ultimately given to the exotic Omar Shariff, on the heels of his success in Doctor Zhivago.
» John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, at Oxford Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, England, during an air raid.
» Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were not permitted to dance together in public, according to their movie contracts.
» Fred Astaire's favorite dance partner was Gene Kelly.
» French leading man Gérard Dépardieu was so wild as a youth that he was encouraged to enter dramatics as therapy. Dépardieu made his film debut in a bit part in Le Beatnik et le minet (1965) at age 17.
» Singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper won an Emmy for her guest performance on NBC's Mad About You.
» Singer and TV personality Andy Williams's full name at birth was Howard Andrew Williams.
trivia Movies Trivia
trivia Music Trivia
trivia Television Trivia
» John Lennon joined Elton John onstage at Madison Square Garden in 1974 to perform the song they co-wrote, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." This was to be Lennon's final live performance.
» Frank Sinatra was offered the male lead in the film Funny Girl (1968), but Barbra Streisand, who had performed the role successfully on Broadway, refused to take second billing, as did Sinatra. Even though this was her film debut, Streisand would not back down, and Sinatra, in a frustrated huff, dropped out. A film deal with David Janssen to take the role fell apart. The part was ultimately given to the exotic Omar Shariff, on the heels of his success in Doctor Zhivago.
» John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, at Oxford Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, England, during an air raid.
» Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were not permitted to dance together in public, according to their movie contracts.
» Fred Astaire's favorite dance partner was Gene Kelly.
» French leading man Gérard Dépardieu was so wild as a youth that he was encouraged to enter dramatics as therapy. Dépardieu made his film debut in a bit part in Le Beatnik et le minet (1965) at age 17.
» Singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper won an Emmy for her guest performance on NBC's Mad About You.
» Singer and TV personality Andy Williams's full name at birth was Howard Andrew Williams.
Animals trivia
Animals
» Despite its great strength, the octopus tires easily. The oxygen-carrying component of its blood, hemocyanin, is copper-based and is less efficient than the iron-based hemoglobin of humans. Therefore, a struggling octopus will quickly go into oxygen deprivation, and becomes lethargic.
» Americans consume more than 353 million pounds of turkey during National Turkey Lovers' Month in June. By comparison, more than 675 million pounds of turkey will be consumed at Thanksgiving.
» Despite its hump, a camel has a straight spine.
» Among other well-known names, a group of fish can also be called a draught.
» Amphibians see no color; they perceive only black and white.
» Amphibians’ eyes come in a variety shapes and sizes. Some even have square- or heart-shaped pupils.
» Insectivores are animals that eat insects. They include shrews, moles and hedgehogs.
» Invertebrates are animals that don’t have a backbone. Most animals are invertebrates, 98 of every 100 animal species falls into this category.
» Despite its great strength, the octopus tires easily. The oxygen-carrying component of its blood, hemocyanin, is copper-based and is less efficient than the iron-based hemoglobin of humans. Therefore, a struggling octopus will quickly go into oxygen deprivation, and becomes lethargic.
» Americans consume more than 353 million pounds of turkey during National Turkey Lovers' Month in June. By comparison, more than 675 million pounds of turkey will be consumed at Thanksgiving.
» Despite its hump, a camel has a straight spine.
» Among other well-known names, a group of fish can also be called a draught.
» Amphibians see no color; they perceive only black and white.
» Amphibians’ eyes come in a variety shapes and sizes. Some even have square- or heart-shaped pupils.
» Insectivores are animals that eat insects. They include shrews, moles and hedgehogs.
» Invertebrates are animals that don’t have a backbone. Most animals are invertebrates, 98 of every 100 animal species falls into this category.
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