Halloween Trivia

Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, was first made a feast by Pope Gregory IV in 835 and later instituted as a Christian celebration in connection with All Saints Day (NOV 1) by Pope Boniface IV, All Hallows Eve was intended to observe the Christian conquest of evil.

It was believe that the veil between the spirit world and the natural world became so thin at this time that evil spirits could come forth and steal the souls of good people. To confuse the spirits, people were to dress up as demons and witches. By suggesting that they do otherwise, misguided religious leaders are leading souls to the devil.

Trivia of the Day for Thursday

Only male crickets chirp.

The combination “ough” can be pronounced in nine different ways.  The following sentence contains them all: “A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough man strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”

“The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

The British once went to war over a sailor’s ear. It happened in 1739, when Britain launched hostilities against Spain because a Spanish officer had supposedly sliced off the ear of a ship’s captain named Robert Jenkins.

Picasso’s full name was: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisma Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.

Trivia of the Day for Wednesday

The customs house in Mexico City, now the federal treasury, was started in 1730. Work was halted immediately when the builders estimated it would require ten years to complete the project. A beautiful Mexican girl, Sara de Acuna, promised to marry Juan Guitierrez if he would finish the building in six months. He accomplished the task just three days short of the deadline.

The world record for a photographic memory feat is held by a man in Burma who recited 16,000 pages of Buddhist canonical texts from memory.

According to the US Government people have tried nearly 28,000 different ways to lose weight.

During the reign of Catherine I of Russia, the rules for parties stipulated that no man was to get drunk before 9 o’clock and ladies weren’t to get drunk at any hour.

Scientists have found chocolate has a chemical that helps counteract depression.

Trivia of the Day for Tuesday

Parthenophobia is the fear of virgins.

Betsy Ross was born with a fully formed set of teeth.

The average life span of an umbrella is 1 1/2 years.

Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to have been born in a hospital.

Normally there are born 94 females to 100 males. But among quadruplets there are 156 females for every 100 males.

Trivia of the Day for Monday

On average, a woman will speak 7,000 words over the course of a day while a man will only speak 2,000 words in the same period of time.

A certain musical note can sexually excite cats — the same note when played for kittens makes them want to go to the bathroom.

If disconnected, the sex organs of an armadillo are still active.

37% of all women prefer shoe shopping to sex.

A vast majority of married men sleep on the right hand side of the bed (facing from the headboard), regardless of race, creed or age. Divorced men often switch to the left side.

Bonus Trivia

How do crickets and grasshoppers make so much noise?

The grasshopper vibrates its wing membranes by means of a row of fine projections on the inner surface of its hind legs which it rubs together. Crickets have scrapers and files on the basal part of their wings; when they rub these together the entire membrane vibrates.

Trivia of the Day for Sunday

The ‘spot’ on 7UP comes from its inventor who had a red eye. He was albino.

315 entries in Webster’s 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

During the chariot scene in ‘Ben Hur’ a small red car can be seen in the distance.

Most chemical drain openers open blocked drains by eating and boiling their way through the clog. Obviously, chemicals strong enough to dissolve grease, hair, paper, and other items can do great damage to your eyes, lungs, and skin. Accidentally swallowing even a small amount of drain opener can result in grave injuries or death.

There are eight time zones in North America.

Trivia of the Day for Saturday

The mudskipper is a fish that can actually walk on land.

The historic Ford 1,100-acre facility near the Rouge River was once the world’s largest auto plant. Henry Ford built the plant in 1918 because he dreamed of building a car from start to finish in one location.

The first subway was built in London (1860-63) by the cut and cover method. Other notable subways: Paris (the Metro 1898), New York (1900)

Which ancient city was buried by a volcanic eruption? The answer: Pompeii

The sari has been used continuously and relatively unchanged for thousands of years.

Trivia of the Day for Friday

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.

Back in the mid to late 80’s, an IBM compatible computer wasn’t considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

Money isn’t made out of paper, it’s made out of cotton.

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

Trivia of the Day for Thursday

The numbers ‘172’ can be found on the back of the U.S. $5 dollar bill in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

There are four cars and eleven light posts on the back of a $10 dollar bill.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors.  It also took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.

Sharon Stone was the first Star Search spokesmodel.