Knowledge can be dangerous

I love trivia.

Sports trivia (even though I’m not real knowledgeable on most things outside of my lifetime), Trivial Pursuit, all things pop culture, etc. I’ve been to several trivia nights and have had an absolute blast every time. Not real sure why, it’s just fun. I have to admit, I’m still bitter about one trivia night several years back where my team got hosed over the answer to a particular question about Illinois, but that’s neither here nor there. All money that night went to benefit someone’s medical expenses, and besides, it’s in the past. I’ve moved on.

It’s “The Prairie State”, not “Land of Lincoln”!! COME ON- we live in Illinois, for Pete’s sake! “The Prairie State” is the state nickname; “Land of Lincoln” is nothing more than a license plate slogan.

Ahem… um, like I said, I’ve moved on. Anyway, perhaps my favorite trivia is “useless knowledge”. Factoids that people pick up along the way that mean absolutely nothing to anyone, yet you can’t get them out of your head. Things like the average camel heart weights 30 pounds (thanks to Mrs. Johann for that one)… right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people… no U.S. president was an only child… things like that that make you appear both intelligent and not all there at the same time for possessing such knowledge.

Therefore, I’ve decided I shall semi-regularly impart some useless knowledge to all of you; feel free to file any factoids you choose into that little file folder in your brain that just sits dormant until somebody mentions carrots, for example, then you can “impress” them by knowing that Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots. I can guarantee that at least with some of these facts, it will render people speechless that you know this information; you’ll have to decide for yourself whether or not that’s a good thing. Enjoy. (Oh, and forgive any side comments I may make along the way.)

• Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.
• “Skepticisms” is the longest word that alternates hands when typed. (Go ahead and check your keyboard; I’ll wait.)
• Over 2500 left-handed people are killed each year from using products made for right-handed people. (I guess that explains why righties live nine years longer.)
• Quarters have 119 grooves on their edges; dimes have 118.
• You are born with 300 bones, but when you get to be an adult, you only have 206. (There’s somewhere to go with that, but I ain’t goin’ there.)
• Thomas Edison- the inventor of the light bulb- was afraid of the dark.
• More Monopoly money is printed in a year than real money throughout the entire world. (And it’s probably worth more, too.)
• A giraffe can clean its own ears with its 21-inch tongue. (Feel free to write your own punchline here.)
• Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. This is known as propinquity.
• 3.9% of women surveyed say they never wear underwear. (Before you get too excited by that, remember that your mother and your grandmother may have taken that survey.)
• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and nobody knows why.
• The airplane in which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died was called “American Pie”, thus the title of the Don McLean song.
• A pig’s orgasm lasts for 30 minutes. (Good thing that doesn’t translate to humans- women would never get anything accomplished, and men would die.)
• Raindrops are not tear-shaped. They are rounded on top and flat on the bottom. (Know anyone shaped like a raindrop?)
• The wingspan of a Boeing 747 is longer than was the Wright Brothers’ first flight.