... Trivia Page 1 ...

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Disclaimer ... I did not discover these facts. Some I found here and there on the net, and a few were sent to me by different people who probably did not discover them either. But, even so, cheers to whoever did research these facts.

Anyone wanting to add to this list ... ... send the trivia (trivium?) to me. And if you want your name mentioned for credit ... let me know that too. If you want your name, address, and phone number listed; I guess that's all right. But if you want your picture posted ... hey now, this is not a dating service.

1. "$" symbol used for what else (dollars) was created by a New Orleans businessman, Oliver Pollock, in 1778.

2. "A" ... this letter is modified from the Hebrew (aleph = an ox), which was meant to indicate the outline of an ox's head.

3. "E" is the most commonly used letter in the English language. Author Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a book, "Gadsby" that did not use the letter at all (and it had 50,000 words in this novel).

4. "Go," is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

5. "I am." and "I do." ... are the two shortest complete sentences in the English language ... both seem to confirm existence ... someone in California (no name, address, phone number), pointed out that "I do." is the longest sentence in the English language ... took me awhile to get the joke ... I'm kinda slow that way.

6. "Jaws" is the most common name for a goldfish.

7. "Naked" means to be unprotected. "Nude" means unclothed.

8. ”A” … until you reach a thousand, when writing out the numbers (in English), not one number has the letter ‘a’ in it.

9. 2,500 lefties die each year using products designed for rightists.

10. A 3.5-inch floppy diskette holds 1.44 megabytes of information, which is about 1.5 million text characters, or 700 pages of straight text. When using compression software, the floppy's storage can increase five-fold. Using uncompressed files, one disk can hold six seconds of low-quality video. A CD-ROM stores 650 megabytes, which is equal to 450 floppy diskettes, or roughly one hour of low-quality video. A DVD-ROM holds 4.7 gigabytes of information, or 2 hours and 13 minutes of full-screen digital video. Final tally: 1 DVD-ROM = 7 CD-ROMs = 3,157 floppy diskettes.

11. A Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.

12. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

13. A cat's jaw cannot move sideways.

14. A cat's urine glows under a black light.

15. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.

16. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

17. A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

18. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

19. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.

20. A giraffe can kill a lion with one swift kick.

21. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

22. A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

23. A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.

24. A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away.

25. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen.

26. A morgue a is a place for storing the dead until burial can be provided, and is generally associated with mors (death) ... but this wasn't always the case, as the word means visage, and was first applied to prison vestibules, where new criminals were placed to be scrutinized, that the prison officials might become familiar with their faces and general appearance.

27. A new book is published every 13 minutes in America.

28. A newborn expels its own body weight in waste every 60 hours.

29. A person afflicted with hexadectylism has six fingers or six toes on one or both hands and feet.

30. A person cannot taste any food unless it is mixed with saliva ... for example, if strong-tasting substance like salt is placed on a dry tongue ... the taste buds will not be able to taste it ... but as soon as a drop of water is added and the salt is dissolved, and a definite taste sensation results.

31. A pig in a poke is a blind bargain ... the reference is to a common trick in days gone by of substituting a cat for a small pig, and then trying to palm it off on greenhorns ... if anyone bought the article without examination, he'd be buying a "cat" for a "pig" ... then if he opened the sack, he'd be "letting the cat out of the bag" ... and the trick was disclosed ... oh yeah, "poke" means pocket.

32. A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.

33. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

34. A pyrrhic victory is a ruinous victory ... Pyrrhus, after his victory over the Romans, near the river Siris, said to those sent to congratulate him, "One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone."

35. A quarter has 119 grooves around the edge.
36. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top.

37. A sandwich ... was originally a piece of meat between two slices of bread; so called from our friend, the Earl of Sandwich in the reign of George III ... who passed whole days in gambling, bidding the waiter bring him for refreshment a piece of meat between two pieces of bread, which he ate without stopping his gambling ... It seems the Romans were also very fond of "sandwiches," which they called "offula" ... but our English earl gave it the present name.

38. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

39. A shoe too large trips one up ... is a proverb meaning ... an empire too large falls to pieces ... a business too large comes to grief ... an ambition too large fails altogether.

40. A shrimp's heart is in its head.

41. A snail can sleep for three years.

42. A spider has transparent blood.

43. A termite can live 30 years. Better go see the Orkin Man soon.

44. A whale's penis is called a dork.

45. A.C. Gilbert was a United States pole-vaulter in the 1908 Olympics. A year later he invented the Erector Set.

46. Abecedarian ... used to describe one who teaches or is learning his A-B-C's.

47. Abeyance ... really means something gaped after (French,bayer,to gape). The allusion is to men standing with their mouths open, in expectation of some sight about to appear.

48. About 8 million blood cells die in the human body every second, and the same number are born each second.

49. Above par ... a commercial term meaning that the article referred to is more than its nominal value ... Let's say if you must give more than $100, for a $100 share in a bank company, a railway share, or other stock, we say the stock is "above par." See my -Basics of Economics- before running out to buy stocks.

50. Abridge ... it is not formed from the word bridge; but comes from the Latinabbreviare,to shorten, frombrevis(short), through the Frenchabréger(to shorten).

51. Abrogate ... when the Roman senate wanted a law to be passed, they asked the people to give their votes in its favour. The Latin for this isrogare legem(to solicit or propose a law). If they wanted a law repealed, they asked the people to vote against it; this wasabrogare legem(to solicit against the law).

52. Abscond ... means properly tohide;but we generally use the word in the sense of stealing off secretly from an employer. (Latin,abscondo.)

53. Absquatulate ... to run away or abscond ... A comic American word, fromabandsquat(to go away from your squatting) ... Squatting in a tenement means taking some unclaimed part, without purchase or permission. The persons who take up their squatting are termedsquatters.

54. Abstract numbers ... are numbers considered abstractly, like: 1, 2, 3; but if we say 1 year, 2 feet, 3 men, etc ... the numbers are no longer abstract, but concrete. Somewhat related, things are said to be taken in the abstract when they are considered absolutely, that is, without reference to other matters or persons. Thus, in the abstract we can say, one man is as good as another, but not so socially and politically.

55. According to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, it is possible to go slower than light and faster than light ... but it is impossible to go at the same speed of light. Also, there is a particle called tackyon which is supposed to go faster than light. This means if you fire a tackyon beam, it travels before you fire it.

56. According to Polonius (To thine own self be true, etc etc), the highest loyalty is to oneself, but it help to remember that Polonius was an idiot. Are we really capable of being true to ourselves? And should we? Think of the fellow lying drunk at the curb ... wouldn't he be better off being someone else? Ask him.

57. Achilles' Tendon … a strong sinew running along the heel to the calf of the leg. The tale is that Thetis took her son Achilles by the heel, and dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable ... The water washed every part, except the heel covered with his mother's hand ... It was on this vulnerable point the hero was slain; and the sinew of the heel is now called,tendo Achillis.

58. Acritochromacy ... color blindness; from the Greek akritos (undistinguishing) + chroma (color). Note that it is a 14 letter word with a 14 letter definition.

59. Acrobat ... means one whogoes on his extremities,or uses only the tips of his fingers and toes in moving about. It is from the two Greek words,akros baino,to go on the extremities of one's limbs.

60. Adam ... the Talmudists say that Adam lived in the garden of Eden only twelve hours, and account for the time thus:
    • The first hour, G-d collected the dust and animated it.
    • The second hour, Adam stood on his feet.
    • The fourth hour, he named the animals.
    • The sixth hour, he slept and Eve was created.
    • The seventh hour, he married the woman.
    • The tenth hour, he fell ... blaming the woman, "the woman you gave me."
    • The twelfth hour, he was thrust out and into the world.

    I suppose the third and fifth hour they were getting to know the place, the eleventh hour they must have been packing their leaves, but I do wonder what they were up to during the eighth and ninth hour.

61. Adam's profession must have been gardening, agriculture. He was appointed by G-d to dress the garden of Eden, and to keep it (Gen. ii. 15); and after the fall he was sent out of the garden "to till the ground" (Gen. iii. 23).

62. Aibohphobia ... the irrational fear of palindromes (words that read the same forwards and backwards). Note, aibohphobia is itself a palindrome.
63. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

64. Al Capp ... born 1909 "Alfred Gerald Caplin" in New Haven CT, was a cartoonist (Li'l Abner). From 1934 until 1977, Capp wrote and drew the cartoon, "Li'l Abner", with its cast of wonderful characters, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, their son Abner, the lovely Daisy Mae, Fearless Fosdick and the lovable Schmoos. Al Capp even invented a holiday, Sadie Hawkins Day.

65. Alaska coastline … the coastline of Alaska is longer than the entire coastline of the lower-forty-eight states of the United States.

66. Alaska could hold the 21 smallest States.

67. Albert Einstein's last words were spoken in German. As the nurse attending him didn't speak the language, we'll never know what he said.

68. Alfred Hitchcock had no belly button for it was eliminated during surgery.

69. All fifty states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

70. All of our numerals and ordinals up to a million ... (with only one exception) are Anglo-Saxon, the one exception is the word "second," which is French ... There are some other odd exceptions in the language, for example: spring, summer, and winter are Anglo-Saxon words, but autumn is Latin ... the days of the week are Anglo-Saxon, but the names of the months are Latin.

71. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.

72. All porcupines float in water.

73. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn't like being seen wearing them in public.

74. Almonds are a member of the peach family.

75. Aluminum ... the first known item made from aluminum was a rattle, which was made for Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon also provided his most honored guests with knives and forks made of pure aluminum.

76. America once issued a 5-cent bill.

77. America the Beautiful … was written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates after an inspiring climb to the top of Pike’s Peak in Colorado, and published as a poem on July 4th 1895. It was originally sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne (try it, you’ll see that it fits).

78. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.

79. American women won the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution took effect. This happened more than 50 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and more than 100 years after the US Constitution was adopted.

80. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

81. America's best selling ice cream flavor is vanilla.

82. Ampersand (&) ... was once a letter of the English alphabet. I suspect it was related to the "A" in that it (&) looks like the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph).

83. An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

84. An argument "a posteriori" is one from effects to cause. Thus, to prove the existence of G-d "a posteriori," we take the works of creation and show how they manifest power, wisdom, goodness, etc. and so on; and then we claim the inference that the maker of these things is powerful, wise, and good. Robinson Crusoe found the footprints of a man on the sand, and inferred that there had to be a man on the island besides himself.

85. An argument "a priori" is one from cause to effect. To prove the existence of G-d "a priori," you must show that every other hypothesis is more unlikely, and therefore this hypothesis is the most likely. All mathematical proofs are of this kind.

86. An electric eel will short-circuit itself if put into salt water.

87. An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain.

88. Antidisestablishmentarianism ... means opposition to separation of the church and state. [From Latin anti- (against) + dis- (apart, away) + English establish, from Latin stabilire, from stare (to stand) + -arian (one who supports) + Greek -ism (practice or state).] At 28 letters, this is the best-known example of a long word. Here's how you can parse the word ... One of the meanings of the word establishment is making a church an institution of the state: "establish". In the late 19th century England, there was a movement for the separation of the church and state: "disestablishment". Those opposed to the idea of separation were "antidisestablishmentarians." You can see where it's going. Why not a "contra-antidisestablishmentarianism" (being against those against those against the establishment...)?

89. Apples are more effective at keeping people awake in the morning than caffeine.

90. Assassin ... during the time of the Crusades the members of a certain secret Muslim sect engaged people to terrorize their Christian enemies by performing murders as a religious duty. These acts were carried out under the influence of hashish, and so the killers became known as hashshashin, meaning eaters or smokers of hashish. Hashshashin evolved into the word assassin.

91. At 40 degrees Centigrade a person loses about 14.4 calories per hour by breathing.

92. At any one time, there are 100 million phone conversations going on in the United States.

93. Auld Lang Syne ... " literally means "old long since" and less literally means "days gone by" or as more appropriate for the song, just "gone by" ... "We'll take a cup of kindness yet for days that have gone by."

94. Average life span of a major league baseball is 7 pitches.

95. Average number of days a German goes without washing his underwear is seven.

96. Average people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.

97. Avocado (Avocado Pear) ... originally the Aztecs called this fruit ahucatl after their word for testicle. This is may be partly due to the fruit's resemblance to a testicle, but also because it was supposedly believed to be an aphrodisiac. To the Spaniards ahucatl sounded like avocado (=advocate, Spanish), and so the fruit came to Europe, via Spain, under that name.

98. Baboons cannot throw overhand.

99. Baker's dozen ... a group of 13, also known as a long dozen (from the fact that bakers often gave an extra item when selling a dozen of something to safeguard against being penalized for light weight).

100. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

101. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

102. Barney Flaherty, in 1833, answered an ad in "The New York Sun" and became the first newsboy, what we now call a paperboy ... he was 10 years old at the time. Are there any 10 year olds that read the paper today?

103. Basketball ... in 1891, the teaching staff of Springfield College in Massachusetts presented Canadian James E. Naismith, a physical education instructor, with a challenge: devise a game able to keep a group of incorrigible students busy during the winter. A year later, the first formal basketball game was played. Did you know that the maximum weight of a basketball is 22.9 ounces? Now that you know, do you feel any big change in your life?

104. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made out of wood.

105. Because of Animal Crackers, many kids until they reach the age of ten, believe a bear is as tall as a giraffe.

106. Because radio waves travel at 186,000 miles per second and sound waves saunter at 700 miles per hour, a broadcast voice can be heard sooner 13,000 miles away than it can be heard at the back of the room in which it originated

107. Before 1850 golf balls were made of leather and stuffed with feathers.

108. Before Prohibition, Schlitz Brewery owned more property in Chicago than anyone else, except the Catholic church.

109. Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life".

110. Bikini swimsuit ... was inspired by news-making U.S. nuclear tests off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Designed by Louis Reard, it made its debut at the Paris fashion show on July 5, 1946

111. Bill Gates' House Facts ... Bill Gates' house lies on the east shore of Lake Washington. The address is 1835 73rd Ave NE, Medina, WA 98039. The cost was $97 million and the entire house covers approximately 66,000 square feet, much of it underground. It took seven years to build. The house was designed by James Cutler.

112. Blinking ... on the average, a person will blink 17,000 times in one day, or once every five seconds (over 10,000,000 times a year).. The rate of blinking can vary from person to person, and by occupation.

113. Blood ... it takes about 45 seconds for blood to circulate from the heart, all around the body, and back to the heart again. An average adult's heart beats more than 100,000 times a day.

114. Blue and white are the most common school colors.

115. Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

116. Bones ... one quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet.

117. Boolean logic ... named after the nineteenth-century mathematician George Boole, Boolean logic is a form of algebra in which all values are reduced to either true or false. Boolean logic is especially important for computer science because it fits nicely with the binary numbering system, in which each bit has a value of either 1 or 0. Another way of looking at it is that each bit has a value of either true or false.

118. Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth ... means born to luck and wealth. Here the allusion is to silver spoons given as prizes and at christenings. So the lucky man is born with it in his mouth, and needs not stop to earn it ... I take issue.

119. Brobdingnagian ... of gigantic size; from Brobdingnag, the fictional region where everything was enormous, in Jonathan Swift's satire Gulliver's Travels. Note that it is a 14 letter word with a 14 letter definition.

120. Butterflies taste with their feet.

121. Buttons on Clothing ... Why are buttons on men's and women's clothing on opposide sides? Answer: Since most people are right-handed, the holes on men's clothes have buttons on the right--to make it easier for men to push them through the holes. When buttons were first used, they were expensive, so only wealthy women could afford them. The buttons on women's clothing are on the OPPOSITE side so their maids could dress them. Since a maid faces the woman she is dressing, having the buttons on the left of the dress places them on the maid's right.

122. By law, employees do not have to wash hands after sneezing.

123. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.