15 Trivia Tidbits for Saturday, January 4, 2025
In 1979, Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education, giving education its own cabinet-level department separate from the existing Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The issue was that, during the 1970s, people showed insufficient knowledge of fun trivia facts, and Carter believed that a shift in personnel and funding could help Americans become more competitive at Trivial Pursuit.
Is the above claim true? Not exactly. But the following ones are.
But Why?
The Village People didn’t originally plan on spelling anything out with their “YMCA dance.” They just raised their hands to clap and keep time. Then the audience assumed they were doing a “Y” pose, and the group decided to roll with that.
Rocket Man
Authorities were baffled at first about what killed Wang Diange, a man found dead in his home under a broken roof. They first thought it was lightning. It was actually a weather rocket, which fell through the roof and struck him, entering his body.
Just Plumb Stumbled on It
Lead poisoning wasn’t originally discovered because anyone was deliberately looking to protect health or the environment. Instead, geochemist Clair Patterson discovered it because he was measuring lead to try to calculate the age of the Earth.
The Price of Fame
A postal worker filed a workers’ comp claim, saying she was unable to raise her arms. She then appeared on The Price Is Right, lifting her arms on TV and reaching to spin the wheel, and so the government charged her, and she pleaded guilty to fraud.
Vestigial Syrup
Maple syrup bottles often have a little handle on top, which serves no purpose, as it’s easier to hold the bottle at any other spot. It used to serve a purpose, though. Syrup used to come in five-pound bottles, and the handle was scaled proportionately, so you could actually use it before.
We’ll Be Going Strong
After Bill Haley’s death, Bill Haley & His Comets went on. Seven different groups all claimed to be the surviving Comets. Multiple ones even called themselves Bill Haley’s Comets. The issue was that the band had a rotating selection of members back when Haley was alive.
Shiny Metal Ass
To test how car seats react to being sat on, car companies employ robotic butts. And since purely metal butts can’t properly simulate everything butts do, some of these robots are programmed to sweat.
Write What You Know
The famous opening of Carrie involves kids in a high school locker room pelting one girl with tampons. Inspiration for this hit Stephen King during his time as a high school janitor, when he entered the girls’ room and had to ask to find out what the tampon receptacles were.
Natural Aptitude
When he retired after 35 years, the top crayon molder at Crayola, Emerson Moser, revealed that he was color blind. He was unable to distinguish between blues and greens and had been dodging that task for decades.
Ultimate Fantasy
In 2015, a miner in South Africa slipped and impaled himself on a 5-foot pole, which entered his groin and ripped out near his shoulder. He recovered in just three weeks, and he also didn’t find the experience painful.
Gonna Need an Ocean
Poison ivy isn’t poisonous (or venomous). Instead, when you get a rash, you’re having an allergic reaction to a substance in the oil called urushiol. It’s a very common allergy, but it’s not universal, which is why some people aren’t affected by poison ivy at all.
Hot Merchandise
When a Paraguayan supermarket caught fire in 2004, the owner ordered the doors locked, to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to loot the place. This succeeded, but it did lead to 450 people inside dying.
Swine Before Pearls
Many centuries passed between the invention of paint and the inventions of little tubes you could squeeze paint out of. Until then, the best place to keep your paint was in a pig’s bladder, held shut with string.
Gee Whiz
American cheese is a type of processed cheese that’s great for creating slices for hamburgers but might not seem particularly gourmet. However, that doesn’t mean all American cheeses are like that. One American cheese won Best Cheese in the World at the 2019 World Cheese Awards.
Disaster Averted
Rumor says that Yellowstone is overdue for an eruption, and this one’s going to be apocalyptic. That’s not true. Yellowstone simply does not have much molten material under the surface. It might be unable to erupt at all in the current era.
