Trivia Time: “Good Night, Sleep Tight”

by Kevin Burton

   I don’t think trivia is trivial, do you?

   Trivial means of little value or importance. Not all of what can be called trivia fits that description. Some is news I can use.

   Anyway, my friend Tracy sent me the following trivia months ago and I am just now getting around to sharing it. I will jump in from time to time. Ready?

   “The first couple to be shown in bed together on primetime TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.”

    Yabba dabba Do!

   “Coca-Cola was originally green.”

    “Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury.”

   Does anybody still play Monopoly? When is the last time you played?

   “Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.”

   “The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28 percent. The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38 percent.”

   “Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.”

   So remember, be sure to get a hair sample on your first date and have it analyzed later.

    “The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.”

   “The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.”

   “Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades – King David,
Hearts – Charlemagne,
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds – Julius Caesar”

   “111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321.”

   “If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.”

   “I am.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.”

   But “not me” is the most common sentence in households with children.

   “Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception.

    Yabba dabba do!

   Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you
would find the letter ‘A’?A. One thousand.”

   You can tell Alexa to count to a certain number but if the number is too high she won’t do it. If you tell her to count to six billion for example, she will instead tell you how long it would take her to do so if she counted one number every second. 

    “Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women.”

   “Q. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? A. Honey”

    “Q. There are more collect calls on which day than any other day of the year? A. Father’s Day.”

   That one made me curious, and yes, collect calls still exist. They are made mostly by prison inmates, according to nowiknow.com. I haven’t heard anyone talk about a collect call in ages.

   “Q. What trivia fact about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is the most ironic? A. He was allergic to carrots.”

   “Q. What is an activity performed by 40 percent of all people at a party? A. Snoop in your medicine cabinet.”

   Someone want to explain to me how that data was gathered and verified?

    “In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase ‘goodnight, sleep tight.’””

    “It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon.”

    “In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the landlord would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It’s where we get the phrase ‘mind your P’s and Q’s’”

   “Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. ‘Wet your whistle’ is the phrase inspired by this practice.”

    “In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden…. and thus, the word GOLF entered into the English language.”

   Thus deprived of this entertainment, the women went away to invent bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers.

   And they lived happily ever after.