Sometimes knowing trivia can feel like being a human computer. Just coming up with a little-known fact can feel wonderful.
Today we have Alexa or Google, but as a child in elementary school we had a component of English class called “The Look It Up Club.” It was to prepare us for the world of researching material for school papers and possibly some later jobs.
Our dad was my next step. I would ask him a question. He would automatically reply, “Look it up.” To assist his directive, we had many different sets of encyclopedias throughout the house.
As if this wasn’t enough, I went into Social Science (history, geography, civics/government, economics, sociology, anthropology and psychology) as my college major. So, research became my life.
My brother, John, just enjoys knowing things and reads voraciously in addition to all his college days. So, John loves these little trivia columns. I hope you do, also.
Questions:
1. What is Cookie Monster’s first name?
2. What is the most common street name in the U.S.?
3. How tall is Big Bird?
4. Which continent (not country) bans dogs?
5. What does “can of corn” mean in baseball?
6. Carbon dating is an acknowledged way to find the age of ancient things. What is dendrochronology?
7. What is the oldest building in New York City?
8. What is Howdy Doody’s special facial feature? (This should be a gimme.)
9. The equator (latitude) and the prime meridian (longitude) meet and pass through which continent?
10. We know that Queen Elizabeth II has corgi dogs, but as Queen of England what animals does she own on the Thames River?
11. During sleep, which of our five senses is usually inactive?
12. What does “blither” mean?
13. What was the Morris worm?
14. Which cat variety has no tail?
Some of those may have been easier than others – especially dependent upon your age and exposure to days of yesteryear.
Answers:
1. His name is Sid.
2. Second Street is the most common because cities have Main, First, Central or Park, etc. followed by Second.
3. The largest Muppet is 8’2”.
4. Huskies were once used to pull sleds, but in 1991, Antarctica passed the Protocol Environmental Protection law banning all non-natural species (excpet humans) in order to prevent infection or disease from outside entrance to the continent.
5. Used to describe an easy fly ball catch, its origin is not clear. Some believe it became legend because (1) old time grocers would tip a can of vegetables off a high shelf into their apron; or (2) that catching an easy fly ball was like catching corn from a can. But this dates back to 1896.
6. This term is the study of tree rings to date wood. It is also said to be used to indicate climate changes.
7. Over the years, most of the original buildings of New Amsterdam (NYC) have been lost, changed, razed, etc. Fortunately, some original structures remain such as the Fraunces Tavern of 1719. But the oldest is Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, a simple house from 1652!
8. Certainly most of you remember the darling freckles on Howdy Doody (right).
9. The continent of Africa is the spot of 0 degrees Latitude and 0 degrees Longitude.
10. Because swans were once a favorite gourmet meal, the Queen owns all the swans on the Thames and all unmarked swans of England in order to protect the species. There are some other owned swans, but the official Queen’s Swan Marker keeps track of those under her charge.
11. Though we awaken to the smell of coffee or cooking food, smell is mostly inactive during REM and our deep sleep. Keep your smoke and radon alarms in service!
12. It means to “talk foolishly” – to blither on and on.
13. This was the first computer worm online and led to the first felony conviction under the Computer Fraud Act. Today, the worm is on the floppy disk (!) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
14. This feature is a result of mutations that have developed into a species – the Manx.
Now go forth and impress your friends!
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