Page 110 - The 'X' Zone Book of Triviology

o Public executions in colonial America were attended by thousands, including women and children. o In 1790 Thomas Halford, found guilty of stealing 3 lbs. of potatoes was arrested and sentenced to 2,000 lashes. o The philosopher and author Eric Hoffer (The True Believer) was entirely self-educated. He lived for some years as a tramp, and then worked as a dishwasher and longshoreman. o John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, was Boston’s wealthiest merchant. o Georges Simeon wrote 193 novels under his own name and 200 under pseudonyms. o Daniel Defore (Robinson Crusoe) was the most pseudonymous writer in history. He used 198 pen names. o Seventy percent of San Francisco is less than 12 feet deep. o The twin towers of the Golden Gate Bridge were once taller than any building in San Francisco. o “Sold down the river” entered the American idiom around 1850. It referred to sale of slaves along the Mississippi. o In the 1850s, Americans set their watches in as many as a 100 local times. o Standard Time was decided in 1883 by William F. Allen of South Orange, New Jersey. o In old Rome, women were expected to cover their heads when walking outdoors. o Kamikaze, the name adopted by World War II Japanese suicide pilots, means “Divine Wind.” o The first person portrayed on the cover of Rolling Stone was John Lennon. o Nearly 1,400 towns have been found of the mysterious ancient Indus civilization (2700-1750 B.C.) It’s mysterious because scientists have yet to decipher their pictographic scripts. o Got indigestion? Crush a hog’s tooth and put it inside four sugar cakes. Fast for four days. That’s how they did it in ancient Egypt, anyway, according to a medical text from 1552 B.C. o France was the first country to adopt the 35-hour work week. o Pop-Tarts are the most popular product made by Kellogg’s. rd o The Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest known poem and dates to the 3 millennium B.C. o Sitting Bull’s Teton Sioux Indian group was known as the Hunkpapa band. o Rhode Island was the birthplace of the American poultry industry. o Rhode Island is the most heavily industrialized state in proportion to its size. o Pennsylvania had the first circulating library and first medical college in the United States. o Because of its shape on a map, Oklahoma has been called “the nation’s largest meat cleaver.” o The world’s first 4-lane highway was constructed in New Jersey, between Elizabeth and Newark. o Wyoming boasts the nation’s first elected woman official - Estelle Reel, in 1894. o Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, became the nation’s first national monument in 1906. o The first commercial oil well in the United States was in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. o The first state to abolish capital punishment was Michigan, in 1847. o The first sorority in the U.S. was Alpha Delta Pi, at Wesleyan Female College, in 1851. o The first gold nuggets found in the U.S. were in the Reed Gold Mine in North Carolina in 1799. o Maine is the largest producer of blueberries with 99% of the country’s production. o Nearly 90 percent of the nation’s lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine. o Vermont’s constitution was the first such document to outlaw slavery. o The frying pan built in 1950 for use at the Delmarva Chicken Festival is 10 feet in diameter. It holds 180 gallons of oil and 800 chicken quarters. o Peter Pan author James M. Barrie was the ninth of 10 children, most of them girls. o The real name of Minnesota Fats, the billiards master, was Rudolf Wanderone. o The first ruler of Haiti, Toussaint L’Overture, took power after freeing the island from France.