Dang! Today was a day when I was all caught up in trivial pursuits. Now, I don’t know if it’s a National Holiday, but according to Holiday Insights it is indeed “Trivia Day.” That website proclaims:
It is an opportunity for us to share those many little trinkets of knowledge. It doesn’t matter how big or how trivial. Dazzle your friends and family with generous portions of trivia today!
Who makes this stuff up? I could have gone to town with that. Mr. Tucker, you see, is The Grand Poobah of Trivia. I spend my days trying to stump Mr. Tucker. His brain is a vast repository of trivia of all descriptions. He can remember anything
…as long as it’s not important.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you to celebrate the day:
1. The very first Ronald McDonald was shown on television in 1963. He was portrayed by Willard Scott, who for years was the weatherman on the Today Show. Willard’s gig before that one was as Bozo the Clown on a program called “Bozo’s Circus.”
Did you think that any Bozo can forecast the weather?
2. Scientists say that the brain has roughly 100 billion brain cells, and has the storage capacity to record 10 million books. I’m not sure if they specify how long the books are. Signals from one brain neuron to another travel at about 200 mph. Growing older does NOT mean that you will lose your memory, as long as you keep your brain active. Also, there is no scientific basis for the idea that older people can’t learn new things.
Guess that just shot all my excuses out of the water.
3. Speaking of water, did you know that a typical drinking straw will hold about one and a half teaspoons of water? If you were to fill a 34 gallon bathtub by using a drinking straw, you would need to fill that sucker 17,000 times.
If you want to drain the tub with a drinking straw, more power to you.
According to Wikipedia, “The modern drinking straw was patented in 1888 by Marvin C. Stone.” That’s just in case you ever need to know.
4. Garrison Keillor said: “They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days. ”
They may say nice things about you at your funeral, but sometimes the obituaries are the pits! Alfred Nobel found that out the hard way. On April 13th, 1888, Nobel (a Swede who invented dynamite, smokeless gunpowder and other related instruments of destruction) opened his morning paper to find his own obituary! Actually, his brother was the fellow who had died, but some zealous reporter got the story wrong. Alfred Nobel was appalled to find how he would be remembered. The newspaper called him a “bellicose monster” and a Merchant of Death.
Alfred came up with a brilliant plan to give himself some good publicity. He used his fortune made from advancing the art of killing to create prizes in several areas; you might be familiar with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maybe Bill Clinton should sponsor a prize for marital fidelity?
5. Anagrams are fun, too. Here are a few of my favorites:
I bet y’all have some trivia! You can share it in a comment. It doesn’t even have to be Trivia Day. We can play Stump Mr. Tucker. Help me out, won’t you?
6. And, so you will know it, February 7th is Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor Day. Note, this says ALL. The intent of the day is to promote friendliness and good relations. So drive down your street and wave at everybody.
If you are a Texan, it is acceptable to wave with the forefinger from the top of the steering wheel.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
To add, maybe, to the trivia about Willard Scott -if memory serves me correctly, I believe he and another disc jockey were co-hosts of a morning radio program back in the late 60’s, early 70’s in the D.C. area – “The Joy Boys of Radio” -I think that was the name of it. If you’ve got any other “mature” (translated, that is nice for “OLDER than dirt) readers who are or where from the D.C. area about that time, maybe they can verify this. My memory is frequently shot ya know and what I do remember at least half-way, is generally trite, trivia stuff like this. Go figure, huh?
Absolutely true. I probably have some “mature” readers out there. They might not admit to it, though.:lol:
Wow. I love this one about Alfred Nobel — that’s one of these serendipity ones I just can’t get enough of.
Hmmm. I’m thinking… Shelly’s you’re just too smart for me, but when I think of one, I’m coming back.
I thought the Alfred Nobel one was pretty cool, too. Just shows what a little “spin” will do for your reputation. Especially if you have a lot of moolah!
Hm, I’m horrible at trivia. I’m one of those people who let trivia just filter on out of my brain. I’m lucky to remember the big stuff!!
Me, too, Kacey. But, luckily I have Mr. Tucker to remember all the trivia for me.:lol:
How about oreo trivia.
How much cream filling does Oreo utilize?
The creme filling used in Oreo cookies one year could ice all the wedding cakes served in the United States for two years! That’s 4,724,000 three-tier wedding cakes.
If every Oreo cookie ever made were stacked on top of each other (more than 345 billion…), the pile would reach to the moon and back more than five times. Then again, if placed side-by-side, they would encircle the earth 381 times at the
# The Oreo cookie has been America’s most popular cookie since it was introduced in 1912. More than 345 billion Oreo cookies have been consumed to date. More than 7.5 billion Oreo cookies are consumed each year, which comes out to 625 million per month and 20.5 million per day.
Oreo trivia is almost as cool as bacon trivia! I’d eat a wedding cake that was iced with Oreo creme! Good going! Now, did you already know any of that, or were you just eating Oreos and decided to look them up?
Ummmm…not good with trivia….I’m good if I remember what I had for lunch! Interesting post though!!
You don’t have to be good with trivia. The beauty of the internet is that you can find it whenever you feel the need. IF you ever feel the need