Commissioner Wretched’s Trivia

The Commish is now recovering at home- our happy thought of the day- and wanted y’all to know he hadn’t forgotten his weekly post. So without further ado, did you know…

DID YOU KNOW…?
The column is nine years old this week!
In October of 2016, I had a problem – I was laying out a newspaper and had a “hole” in a page with nothing to fill it. Frantically thinking (the only way I know how), I finally remembered that I?had a collection of odd facts which I’d used during my career as a teacher to entertain students, and figured, “What the heck. I’ll try putting some of that here.”
The result got a lot of notice, and it led directly (the next week, in fact)?to the birth of “Did You?Know…?” And this week, we celebrate nine years of bringing this silliness to you!
I can not thank you all enough for being with me these past nine years. You are the reason?I do this. It means the entire world to me that you read this stuff each week, that you seem to like it, and that you want more.
Nine years. ?Shall we shoot for ten?
Did you know …
… about half of the world’s pigs live on farms in China? (But can they oink in?Chinese? Hmmm?)
… the word “quiz” is wrongly thought to have not existed before 1800? Its origins are somewhat murky, but the best story about the creation of the word comes from Dublin, Ireland. In 1791, the manager of the Theatre Royal, Richard Daly (1758-1813), bet his friends that within 48 hours he could
make a nonsense word be spoken all through the city. Seeing some easy money, his friends took Daly up on the bet, and that evening Daly sent his employees out to write the word “quiz” in chalk on doors,
windows, and walls throughout the city. The appearance of the word caused people to be talking about it all through Dublin, thus winning the bet for Daly. Serious linguists doubt the story for a lot of reasons, not the least of which that the tale was first written down 44 years after it supposedly happened. Also, if you look hard enough, you will find examples of the word “quiz” in print prior to 1791. So, while Daly’s employees may indeed have written “quiz” all over the city, the stunt had nothing to do with the word’s origin. (I hope you took notes. ?There will be a quiz later.)
… a house in Poland is incredibly narrow? The Keret House, in Warsaw, is exactly four feet wide at its widest point. Despite this, the Keret House contains a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen in its three-
story confines. What it lacks in width, it apparently makes up for in height. (And claustrophobia.)
… a Swedish warship sank less than a mile into its maiden voyage because of faulty measurements? The Vasa was built and launched in 1628. Less than a mile from its dock – in full view of the King of Sweden and his court – the Vasa rolled over and sank. Archaeologists studying the raised hulk of the
ship discovered four rulers that had been used by workers who built the ship. Two of the rulers were based on the Swedish foot, which is 12 inches long; the other two were scaled to the Dutch or Amsterdam foot, which is 11 inches long. The ship was thus built asymmetrically, which caused it to
capsize quickly and sink. (See why the metric system is such a good one?)
… a fad called “red out” took place among high school students in 1948? It had to be one of the silliest ever. Participants would kneel, breathe deeply ten times, close their lips around their thumbs, then blow – without actually exhaling. They would then turn red and pass out. Regaining consciousness, many reported they believed they had been chased by monsters while unconscious. (The value of a high school education, folks.)
… a lawyer gambled on inheriting an elderly woman’s house – and lost? In 1965, French lawyer Andre-François Raffray (1900-1977) agreed to pay the elderly woman a “rent” of $500 a month on her home in Arles, France, on the condition that he would inherit the house when she died. When Raffray
died in 1977, however, the woman was still alive – and she would be for a while. The woman was Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), who was 122 years old at the time of her death and documented as the oldest person who ever lived. Raffray’s family kept up the payments and eventually did get the house,
but in the end they paid more than twice what it was worth for it. (Subtle. ?Very subtle.)
… the life’s work of a mathematician turned out to be meaningless? It happens to a lot of us, I know, but in the case of English mathematician William Shanks (1812-1882), it’s extra egregious. In the days
of yore, before calculators and computers were invented, Shanks computed the value of ? to 707 places. But a review of his work in 1944 showed that Shanks had made an error at the 528th place, and the rest of the calculation was wrong. (Thanks to Mason for the tip!)
… the German parliament is literally walked over by its people? Inside the Reichstag building in Berlin, the chamber in which the assembly meets has a domed ceiling, above which is a glass dome and a walkway open to the public. The setup reminds politicians that government should be transparent, and that the people are always above them. (Not a bad idea, at that.
… placing the national motto on U.S. coins was objected to by a president? “In God We Trust,” the national motto of the country, has been placed on U.S. money in one way or another since 1864, but President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) objected to its use. T.R. felt using the motto on money was sacrilegious.
… about 10,000 new species of insects are discovered each year? (Usually when they bite or sting you.)
… the Bible may be biased against left-handed people? The right hand is mentioned 100 times in the Bible, all positively … yet the left hand only gets 25 mentions, and all of them are negative. (Make of
that what you will.)
Now … you know!

DID YOU KNOW…?
Was one of the most beloved Christmas-season films a flop when it was first released?
With the ninth birthday of the column now in our rear-view mirror, it’s time to look ahead to Halloween. I’m always on the lookout for any kind of funny costumes for trick-or-treating, so if you hear of any, send the information my way. Meanwhile, as you prepare for the annual extortion of candy by kids dressed as any manner of ghosts and hobgoblins, amuse yourselves with the trivia that follows. I think you’ll enjoy it. I?hope you do, anyway.
Did you know …
… anti-German sentiment was high in the United States during World War I? Let me give you an example: several foods with German-sounding names were renamed during the war. Sauerkraut, for instance, became “liberty cabbage.” Hamburgers became “salisbury steaks” or “liberty steaks.” Even
the disease German measles was renamed as “liberty measles.” (Considering the sentiment, I?probably wouldn’t have renamed the disease.)
… Chicken McNuggets™ come in four shapes? According to McDonald’s, the popular food item has the shapes of a boot, a ball, a bow tie, and a bell. (From the list of things you were dying to know about.)
… one of the most-loved Christmas-season movies was a flop when it was first released? The classic film It’s a Wonderful Life was released in 1946, but at first it wasn’t such a wonderful film. In fact, it
did so poorly at the box office that director Frank Capra (1897-1991) found himself more than half a million dollars in the hole. That left him to scramble to find the financing for his next film, State of the Union. It’s a Wonderful Life did not earn enough money to break even until several years after its release, even though it did receive five Academy Award™ nominations, including Best Picture. Additional trivia note: The copyright on the film expired in 1974 and It’s a Wonderful Life is now in the public domain, which is primarily why it has become a Christmas classic – it can be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees. (And every time it’s shown, an angel gets its wings.)
… a child’s challenge caused a town to revise its laws? The town of Severance, Colorado, about 60 miles north of Denver, had an ordinance on the books that made snowball fights illegal. The law was a part of a larger ordinance that make it illegal to “throw or shoot any stone or any other missile upon or at any person, animal, building, tree or other public or private property.” But Dane Best (born 2009), at the time a nine-year-old kid who liked throwing snowballs, said the law was silly and took it upon himself to challenge it. He and his classmates visited the town hall on a field trip in 2018 and challenged the mayor on it … and won. (Way to go,?Dane!)
… the world’s first known earthquake detector was in China? Invented by astronomer Zhang Heng (78 AD-139 AD), the device – which looked like four dragons holding marbles in their mouths – was able to detect earthquakes up to 370 miles away. If a dragon dropped a marble, it meant an earthquake had
happened; the direction in which the dragon was facing told which way the earthquake had taken place. (While the gizmos have improved, the original is a real piece of art.)
… there are no female characters in Treasure Island? Written in 1881 by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), the classic book about pirates and treasure was initially written for his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne (1868-1947). Osbourne said he wanted a story from his stepfather about “a map, a treasure, a mutiny and a derelict ship,” and specifically instructed that there be no women in the story, Additional trivia note: The original title of the book was The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys. (Shiver me timbers!)
… the toothbrush as we know it was invented in 1498? It was created in China and was made from animal bone and bamboo, and had pig hair for bristles. The bristles were very stiff and it was probably not comfortable to use. The “modern” toothbrush was invented in 1780 by William Addis (1734-1808), who crafted a brush that could be mass-produced. (And didn’t require giving pigs a haircut.)
… Dr. Seuss enjoyed challenges from his publishers? We all know how Theodor Geisel (1904-1991), known to us all as “Dr. Seuss,” wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a dare from publisher Bennett Cerf (1898-1971) to use 50 different words or less. Another challenge led to Dr. Seuss’ best-known work,
The Cat in the Hat. His publisher challenged him to write a book using only words on a first-grade vocabulary list. The list provided had 348 words on it; Dr. Seuss wrote his classic using only 236 of them.
… horses like music? Not very surprising, I know, but this part is: they are very selective in their musical taste. Rock music tends to make them agitated, while calm or cheerful instrumental music is far more preferred. (Funny, that’s how it works for me, too.)
… two popular Disney movies were re-titled before their release? The 2010 film Tangled was originally titled Rapunzel, and 2013’s Frozen was first called Snow Queen. The movies were renamed because Disney executives said films with feminine titles under-performed at the box office. (The revised titles did make more sense, though.)
… bottlenose dolphins have an incredible memory? Researchers say that a bottlenose dolphin can recognize the whistle of one of its friends even after the two had been separated for more than 20 years. (Well, what else does a dolphin have to remember?)
… a definition exists for what constitutes a “boulder”? The term is only used to apply to a stone with a diameter of more than ten inches. (Your tax dollars at work, folks.)
Now … you know!

DID YOU KNOW…?
Was an additional U.S. rocket test the reason the Soviet Union was able to put the first man into space?
Another week or so and we’ll have the annual parade of kids dressed in wild, weird outfits, extorting candy from households behind the seemingly-innocent statement, “Trick or treat!” Since everyone gets the treat, what exactly would the “trick” be if one did not comply?
The mind boggles.
What follows is not a trick of any kind, it’s a treat – and you don’t even have to dress up in a strange costume or ask for it. ?It’s just … here. Enjoy!
Did you know …
… a popular candy was originally manufactured with war machines? Smarties™, the cute little sweet- and-sour pill-like candy that comes in wrapped rolls, were created in 1949 by Edward Dee (1924-2019)
at his Ce De Candy Company in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Dee purchased surplus pellet machines, which were used to create gunpowder pellets for the Army in World War II, and repurposed them to make a pill-like tablet candy. Additional trivia note: Smarties are peanut-free, gluten-free, fat-free and
dairy-free, and are vegan. In Canada they are called Rockets™, to avoid confusion with a British chocolate candy sold there called already Smarties (which are more like M&Ms™). (Thanks to Ed forthe tip!)
… great white sharks fear one creature in the water? The only thing that strikes terror into a great white shark’s heart is a killer whale, or orca. In a 2019 study published in Nature, scientists said the great white is so afraid of the orca that the sharks will avoid an entire area of the ocean for up to a year if the shark encounters an orca, even just passing by. (Good to know even sharks have enemies.)
… only one European nation is larger than the state of Texas? The Lone Star State is bigger than every European nation except Russia. (Well, everything’s big in Texas.)
… only one ATM in the world conducts its transactions in Latin? The Automatic Teller Machine at the Vatican Bank in Vatican City uses Latin for its transactions. (So Latin isn’t dead after all!)
… had it not been for an additional rocket test, an American would have been the first man in space? On January 31, 1961, NASA sent a chimpanzee named Ham (1957-1983) up atop a Redstone rocket in a suborbital test of the Mercury spacecraft. The rocket did not perform optimally, as they say in the space agency, and the capsule splashed down off target and too hard. Ham survived, but wasn’t too happy about the flight, and neither were NASA brass. Director Dr. Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) insisted on another test flight of the Redstone. The test, called MRBD (Mercury-Redstone Booster
Development), was conducted March 24, 1961, and was flawless – so much so that Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the astronaut selected to be first in space for the U.S., was very upset, as he felt that should have been his flight. It would take about a month to put his Redstone rocket onto the launch
pad, and during that time the Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) into orbit and achieved the first human spaceflight. Shepard’s suborbital Mercury flight took place a month after Gagarin’s. (You can’t blame Shepard for feeling that way. And thanks to Amy at The Vintage Space for providing the tip!)
… a popular character on a television series was never referred to by his name? During the run of That ‘70s Show on Fox, from 1998 to 2006, the popular character of Fes was played by actor Wilmer Valderrama (born 1980). But “Fes” was not the character’s name. The other characters called him that from his status – Foreign Exchange Student. The character’s real name was never used and was said to be unpronounceable. One of the show’s longest-running gags was Fes’ country of origin – it was never explained, always handled in funny roundabout ways. (I?always wondered about that.)
… the Explorers Club still meets in New York? Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club was created by some of the world’s most distinguished polar explorers such as Roald Amundsen (1872-1928), the first man to reach the South Pole; Robert E. Peary (1856-1920), first man to reach the North Pole; and Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), one of the pre-eminent Antarctic explorers of the day. The Club meets in a Jacobean mansion known as the Lowell Thomas Building, and it contains many artifacts from various expeditions. The mansion is also open to the public. (Gotta visit that one day.)
… one of India’s most popular tourist attractions was supposed to have been torn down? The Taj Mahal, built between 1632 and 1653 in Agra, India, was constructed as a tomb for Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631), the young wife of Shah Jahan (1592-1666), ruler of the Mughal Empire. Today people come from all over the world to view the beautiful building and its grounds, but in the late 1800s, after decades of neglect, some officials voiced support for tearing down the structure. It was saved by a decision of the British Viceroy in India, Lord Curzon (1859-1925), who ordered a sweeping restoration of the entire area. The restoration was not completed until 1908. (Thank goodness!)
… music tempo in a shopping mall affects how you shop? Check it out for yourself: if the background music in a store or mall is bright and peppy, people tend to shop faster. Slower-tempo music, however, causes people to walk through more slowly and take their time purchasing.
… Scandinavian nations publish everyone’s tax returns? In Sweden, Finland, and Norway, the tax returns of all citizens are published each year, meaning you can find out what anybody earns and pays in taxes. The tradition is called jantelag, which roughly translates as, “nobody is better than anybody else.” (Well, they aren’t.)
Now … you know!

Category: Guest Post