12 Pieces of Trivia That Would Make A Beautiful Centerpiece
Both decoration and conversation for your next dinner party!
Alexander the Great Went Undefeated
A good way to be remembered as one of history’s greatest military leaders? Simple: never lose a single battle.
Who the Brass Instrument From Peter and the Wolf Belongs To
You might know the basic arrangement behind Peter and the Wolf, where each character is represented by a different instrument. Most range across woodwind and strings, but there’s only a single member of the brass family included: the wolf, played by the French Horns.
Before Baseball Caps Were Wool or Cotton
Before we got the wool or cotton caps that have been blocking the sun on baseball fields and bald men’s heads, early baseball players played wearing wide-brimmed straw hats. They didn’t last long, being about exactly as unwieldy as they sound.
Daffy Duck's Big Debut
Daffy Duck first reared his billed head not as a star in his own right, but as an antagonist of Porky Pig in the cartoon, Porky's Duck Hunt.
Cincinatti's Surprisingly Roman Origins
Cincinnati, at least in my head, doesn’t have strong connections to Italian history. Yet, that’s exactly where it got its name from: the Roman soldier Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus.
Hershey Didn’t Start With Chocolate
Hershey is synonymous these days with chocolate, but it wasn’t his first confectionary love. Before chocolate, Milton Hershey was the head of the Lancaster Caramel Company.
No Sense of Smell, Scientifically
The scientific term for the partial or total loss of smell, more relevant than ever these days, is “anosmia."
The Only State That Ignored Prohibition
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution brought about prohibition, the federal ban on alcohol. To which Maryland said, “fuck all that,” and became the only state to refuse to enforce it.
What Heroin and Kleenex Have in Common
They’re both brand names. “Heroin” was a morphine substitute marketed by Bayer, which probably doesn’t want much credit for it anymore.
Toilet Paper Inventor Did His Duty
The next time you’re ending a trip to the toilet, rip off an extra square of toilet paper to honor its inventor, Joseph Gayetty, who introduced modern toilet paper in 1857.
The Longest Road Tunnel in the U.S.
If you’d like an extended break from the sun on a road trip, try driving through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel in Alaska. The 2.5-mile tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in North America.
St. Valentine’s Side Hustle
If you had to guess what disease St. Valentine was the patron saint of, you’d probably go the STD route. In fact, he’s the patron saint of epilepsy.