Curiosity of the Week – November 11, 2024:
(D. None of the above) The number of possible ways of playing just the first four moves on each side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000
VARIOUS SOURCES USED: The Book of Useless Information (Publications International, Ltd); Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts (Wings Books); More Fascinating Facts (David Louis, Crown Publishers); Evan Swensen’s Publications Consultant newsletter; Explaining Space website; American Shrimp Processors Association; others from the web in some form.
Previous Curiosities:
Oct 28, 2024 – A shrimp’s heart is in its head.
Oct 14, 2024 – Venus is the only planet in our solar system that rotates in an essentially clockwise direction (as we think of it). [Side note: Its rotation cycle is roughly 8 months! (243 Earth days) ]
Sep 30, 2024 –One of the most astonishing details about the book Les Misérables is that it contains a single sentence describing the Battle of Waterloo that spans a jaw-dropping 823 words!
Sep 2, 2024 – During the Revolutionary War, Philadelphia was the second largest English-speaking city in the world, after London.
Aug 19, 2024: In Alabama,it’s illegal to play Dominoes on a Sunday. In Florida, people who own establishments where liquor is sold may be fined up to $1,000 if they participate in or permit any contest of Dwarf tossing. (!) In Kentucky if you’re a public officer, legislator, or lawyer, you must take an an oath stating that they have never fought a duel with a deadly weapon.
July 22, 2024: The world’s oldest dog (an Australian cattle dog) lived to 29.5 years old.
July 8, 2024: Another inaccuracy. 🙁 The source used claimed Antarctica is the only continent without a land mass below sea level. The fuzzy wording is somewhat puzzling, but our fact checker Liz Tidwell, once again provided enough evidence to conclude this is not true. Thanks, Liz! My embarrassment yields to the relentless search for truth.
June 10, 2024: In July 1950, a patent was issued for an automatic spaghetti-spinning fork.
May 27, 2024: The only manmade structure visible from space is The Great Wall of China. Turns out this is NOT true. See this article in Scientific American.
May 13, 2024: The Salto Alto (Angel Falls) in Venezuela is the highest (tallest) waterfall known. It is 3212 ft tall and is over 20 times higher than Niagra Falls.
April 29, 2024: Both of these statements are true: A) Reno, Nv is further west than Los Angeles. B) Bristol, TN is closer to Canada than to Memphis, TN.
April 15, 2024: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world. Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.
April 1, 2024: Kissing “Crimes” Around the Country: * In Hartford Connecticut, it’s a crime for a man to kiss his wife on a Sunday. *In Indiana, a man with a moustache is forbidden to “habitually kiss human beings” * In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it’s illegal to kiss a stranger.
Mar 18, 2024: Former Day Jobs: Before they became famous . . .Rod Stewart was a grave digger and Greta Garbo was a latherer in a men’s barbershop!
Mar 4, 2024: The shortest war in history (the Anglo-Zanzibar War) lasted from 9:02 – 9:40 A.M. on August 27, 1896. The British liked it when the Sultan of Zanzibar (an island off modern Tanzania) engaged in battles. When new sultan named Khalid bin Barghash refused to do so, the Royal Navy gave Zanabar a taste of British anger. Bin Barghash yielded after just 38 minutes of shelling in what is the shortest recorded war.
Feb 19, 2024: The only letter not used in the spelling of a US state is Q. Every other letter of our alphabet shows up at least once. If you guessed J, X or Z, though, you were close—and probably don’t live in New Jersey, New Mexico or Arizona, since those are the only states that contain J, X, or Z, respectively.
January 22, 2024: Maine is the only state in the Union that borders on exactly one state. (Alaska and Hawaii, of course border on none, and all the rest border on at least two, but Maine is the only one with exactly ONE common border.)
