12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Thursday, October 3, 2024
Forty years of Book It!, and I still haven’t finished every Goosebump.
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What Do the World’s Happiest Cities Have in Common?
The Happy City Index has released its list of happiest cities in the world, with mainly European cities making their gold tier. They tend to have four elements in common: prioritizing people over cars, access to nature, plenty of museums and a diverse food scene.
Book It! Turns 40
Pizza Hut is giving away 1,000,000 free pizzas to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its popular literature/gluten indoctrination program.
Drinking Water May Not Help a Hangover
A study found that “water consumption during or directly after alcohol consumption had only a modest effect in preventing a next-day hangover,” and “the amount of water consumed during a hangover wasn’t related to changes of hangover severity and thirst.” The study didn’t suggest any alternatives, which means a couple of leftover Miller Lites might still count as medicinal.
A Junk Dealer Had Unwittingly Been Holding Onto a Picasso for Decades
A guy living in Pompeii who makes his living salvaging and selling odd junk found that the painting he’d had in his living room for 50 years was actually Picasso’s Portrait of Dora Maar.
How Much Water Fell on the American Southeast?
Over the course of one week, 40 trillion gallons of water were dumped on the Southeastern United States. That’s the equivalent of all of Lake Tahoe, 51,000 Dallas Cowboys stadiums or 619 days of water flow over Niagara Falls.
Banksy Is Getting Into the Apparel Game
Banksy designed a bulletproof vest for artist Stormzy to wear on stage during his Glastonbury set, and it’s now selling for just under $400,000.
The Tiny Appalachian Town at the Center of the Global Semiconductor Market
Spruce Pine, North Carolina is home to the world’s only natural high-quality quartz mine, a substance that’s vital to making A.I., smartphone and GPU chips. Experts are still assessing Hurricane Helene’s damage to the town and the mine, but it ain’t lookin’ good.
The 81-Year-Old Miss Universe Contestant
After the Miss Universe pageant retracted a rule barring anyone over 28 to compete, 81-year-old Choi Soon-hwa has been competing to represent South Korea. She said she’s trying to redefine herself in a new chapter of life: “After raising children and going through hardships, it’s just two people left, and that’s when you need to find what you want to do.”
Steak Is Statistically Republican-Coded
Republican organizations spent $762,000 schmoozing and bribing politicians at Washington, D.C.’s Capital Grille steakhouse this election season, compared to just $59,000 spent by Democrats.
What Was the Weather Like on the Day You Were Born?
Bdayweather.com is a website that will either tell you what was going on meteorologically at the time and place you were born, or maybe just store your data so it can guess your password security questions. Maybe a little of both.
How Walkable Is Your City?
This website lets you look up your city, and will give you a rundown of how long the average walk (or bike ride) is to get to amenities like food, shopping, exercise, healthcare and cultural activities.
The U.S. Navy Can’t Stop Losing This One Ship
The USS Stewart was captured by the Japanese during World War II, and those aboard sabotaged and abandoned it. But Japan was able to dredge it up and get it back in working order, and used it against us for the rest of the war. The U.S. then re-recaptured it, but just used it as target practice for a while. When it sank in 1946, they completely lost track of it. It was known as the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific” for almost 80 years before being re-re-discovered.