Page 105 - The 'X' Zone Book of Triviology

o It took 1,700 years to complete the Great Wall of China. o Ringo Starr once claimed he wanted to get rich in order to open a chain of hairdressing salons. o 1,000 basic words make up 90% of all writing. o Sleepwalking is hereditary. o On average, the French take twice as long on their business lunches as North Americans. o Most dinosaurs were no bigger than chickens. o Every year, Americans buy 5 million copies of Cliffs Notes for The Scarlet Letter. o According to experts, whale songs rhyme. o According to a Yale study, you think better in the winter than in summer. o Scientists say that sex can relieve arthritis pain for up to 6 hours. o An ice cream sundae will warm you more than hot chocolate. The reason: more calories. o In a single year, over 200,000 pounds of barnacles collect on the bottom of a steamship. o Marco Polo introduced fireworks to the Western World. o There has only been one armed robbery in Iceland’s history. o 40% of the pure water you use in your house is flushed down the toilet. o The Gulf Oil Company was the first U.S. petroleum firm to distribute free road maps, in 1913. o The first U.S. driver’s license was issued in Denver, Colorado, in 1906. Cost: $1.00 o Monaco’s principal source of income is from gambling. o Shakespeare originated such familiar phrases as fair play, a foregone conclusion, and catch cold. o Indy 500 cars do not run on gasoline. Since 1964, they’ve used a methanol, a wood-based alcohol. o At 200 m.p.h. an Indy driver can cover the length of a football field in less than 1 second. o Charles I wore two shirts to his execution because it was a cold day and he didn’t want to shiver, lest it be mistaken for fear. o Maya Angelou was the first black U.S. Poet Laureate. o The world’s most widely spoken language is Mandarin Chinese. o The cover for the 1971 Rolling Stone’s album Sticky Fingers was designed by Andy Warhol. th o Robert F. Kennedy’s 11 child, Rory Elizabeth, was born six months after his death. o The United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria, was proclaimed on February 1, 1958. o Roquefort was the favorite cheese of the emperor Charlemagne. o “Lala” is Swahili for “sleep.” o In England checkers is called draughts. o The first U.S. Supreme Court decision was West v. Barnes, tried in the August 1791 term. o The first smoking ban on U.S. airline flights went into effect on April 23, 1988. o The first cafeteria in the U.S. was opened in 1895 in Chicago by Ernest Kimball. o The first Chinese laundry in the U.S. opened in 1951 in San Francisco. o The first revolving restaurant was The Top of the Needle, in Seattle on May 22, 1961. o The first blue jeans, invented in 1853 by Levis Strauss, were called, “bibles overalls.” o The sports bra was invented in 1978 by Lisa Zobian-Lindahl and Hilda Miller, of Vermont. Their product was called the Jogbra. o Colonial Americans considered it unnecessary to bathe more than once every two to three months. o The Globe Theatre was built in London in 1599. o The first posthumous #1 record in history was Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay.” o The winner of the first Kentucky Derby was Aristides, ridden by Oliver Lewis, on May 17, 1875. o John DeLorean was the chief designer of the 1965 Pontiac GTO. o New College (now Harvard University) started out in 1636 with nine students and one instructor.