Page 10 - The 'X' Zone Book of Triviology

o If you are standing on a mountaintop and the conditions are just right you can see a lit match from 50 miles away. o There are 72,000 miles of phone lines in the Pentagon. o First baseball team to pay its players: Cincinnati Redstockings. o When introduced in 1848, the modern golf ball was called a “gutta-percha” ball. o Rowing is the oldest American college sport. o The average car in Japan is driven 4,400 miles a year. In the U.S., it’s 9,500 miles. o The Pentagon spent $50 million on Viagra for American troops and retirees in 1999. o Odds of getting hit by a meteor this year is 1 in 5 billion. o General Dwight Eisenhower owned a pair of pajamas with 5 stars on the lapels. o A gnomon is the thing that casts a shadow on a sundial. o The giraffe has the highest blood pressure of any animal. o The oldest person ever to be issued a driver’s license in the U.S. was 109. o Ratio of people to YV’s in the world 5 to 1. o Drunken ants always fall over on their right side. o The islands of Antigua and Barbados issued Elle Macpherson postage stamps in 1999. o Each year Americans use enough foam peanuts to fill ten 85’story skyscrapers. o The Tour de France bicycle race is 2,300 miles long. o 58% of school kids say pizza is their favorite cafeteria food. o 32% of singles polled said they think they’ll meet their future mate online. o When it was invented in India, badminton was known as poona. o On average, the Statue of Liberty’s fingernails weigh 100 pounds each. o A rouleau is another name for a roll of coins wrapped in paper. o Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been adapted into film 50 times; Romeo & Juliet, 28. o Estimated value of a pair of Elvis’ underpants: $1,300. o Until 1937, the referee tossed a jump ball after every basked in basketball. o In 1948, 2.3% of American households had a television; today 99% do. th o In the 13 century, Europeans baptized children with beer. o Mugging someone on a subway in Britain can get you life in prison. o Grape juice and the blesbok antelope are the same color. o Female cigar store Indians once outnumbered males ones by four to one. o “Venereal disease” gets its name from Venus the Roman goddess of love. o The common name for the animal anobium pertinax is Bookworm. o In an Italian deck of cards there are no queens. o Theodore Roosevelt’s boyhood friends called him Teedie, not Teddy. o The typewriter was invented before the fountain pen. o Before Prohibition, the most common method of drinking beer at home was drinking it out of a bucket filled at a local pub or brewery. o Both people and lobster like to eat lobster. o The Platinum American Eagle has the highest denomination of any U.S. coin at a value of $100. o The top 3 products for coupon redemption are cold cereal, soap and deodorant. o One in three dog owners say they’ve talked to their pets on the phone. o Experts say: 46% of all violence on TV occurs in cartoons. o Honeybees can fly as fast as 30 m.p.h.