12 Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, July 2, 2024
In order to sustain the triviosystem, it’s vital that for every fact you read, you yell a fresh new fact out loud.
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The Most Lucrative Middle Finger in History
Vermont state trooper Jay Riggen thought he saw a guy give him the finger, and pulled him over. The guy denied the gesture, but then absolutely did flip him off after he let him go. Riggen pulled him over again, arrested him and jailed him for disorderly conduct, and had his car towed. A court has ruled that flipping off a cop is free speech, and awarded the guy $175,000.
Gloucester’s Greasy Pole
St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts is home to the annual Greasy Pole contest, in which competitors try to sprint to the end of a 40-foot horizontal telephone pole covered in biodegradable grease, banana peels and fish guts.
Elton John Is Single-Handedly Building a Thrifter’s Valhalla
The singer/songwriter is selling his wardrobe on eBay, with the proceeds being donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The Race to a Billion
Inside Out 2 is the fastest animated film in history to make $1 billion, hitting the mark in just 19 days.
A ‘Possible Renaissance Bronze of a Youth’ Turned Out to Be One of Only Eight Busts of Caligula
British writer Horace Walpole owned a bust of Caligula that had been excavated from the Mount Vesuvius-ruined city of Herculaneum, but his estate misplaced it in 1842. It turns out it had been mistakenly catalogued as a “possible Renaissance bronze of a youth” for the last 180 years. A curator of Walpole’s estate just went in for a closer look, and immediately recognized exactly who that busty youth was.
Theodore Roosevelt’s Stolen Watch Has Resurfaced, Too
Roosevelt kept his trusty pocket watch on him all throughout his presidency, but in 1987, it was stolen while on loan to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. It just showed up at a Florida auction house, and feds pounced on it. It’s now back at Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s Long Island home turned national historic site.
Quit Sneeze-Shaming
Sneeze volume is related to lots of uncontrollable physical factors, like lung size and “floppiness” of soft tissues in your throat (i.e., “vocal cords”). Trying to plug up a sneeze can injure your eardrum or fracture your sinus.
The Most Clutch Shoey in History
Australian partiers have been known to chuck a “shoey,” or chug a beer out of their shoe. Meanwhile, a hiker who was lost in the Santa Cruz Mountains for 10 days survived by eating berries and collecting rainwater in his boot.
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day
Legendary third baseman Bobby Bonilla made one of the best contract negotiations of all time back in 2000. He was owed $5.9 million by the Mets, but somehow managed to get them to agree to yearly payments of $1.19 million until 2035. His payment goes through on July 1st every year.
An 83-Year Delayed Master’s Degree
105-year-old Virginia Hislop just received the Stanford University master's degree she nearly completed over eight decades ago. She had finished the course work, but had to leave school before she was able to finish her thesis because her husband was drafted into World War II.
The Oklahoma Department of Education Has Been Locked Out of Its Own Website for Two Years
OKDOE board members were forced to very publicly admit that they’ve lost access to certain web pages because the employees who created them no longer work there.
Albert Einstein’s $4 Million Letter
The letter that Einstein wrote to FDR warning him of Germany’s impending mastery of nuclear technology is expected to be sold for $4 million.
