Futility Closet » Trivia

Misc

Greg Ross — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:08:42 +0000

SCINTILLESCENT contains 7 pairs of letters.
Rub two pennies together and you’ll see a third between them.
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day.
1285 = (1 + 2⁸) × 5
Squeeze an orange peel into a candle flame and you’ll produce a burst of fire.

Trivium

Greg Ross — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:31:15 +0000

Twenty-one U.S. states have names that end in A.

Free Parking

Greg Ross — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:48:53 +0000

Longest game of Monopoly:

played upside down: 36 hours
played in a bathtub: 99 hours
played underground: 100 hours
played in a treehouse: 286 hours
ever played: 1,680 hours

Parker Brothers rejected the game in 1933, citing “52 fundamental playing flaws.”

No Man’s Land

Greg Ross — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:01:26 +0000

On the border between Egypt and Sudan is a small trapezoid of landlocked desert, about 2,000 square kilometers.

Egypt says it belongs to Sudan. Sudan says it belongs to Egypt.

That makes Bir Tawil the only land area in the world (outside of Antarctica) that’s not claimed by any state.

Trivium

Greg Ross — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:01:21 +0000

Men are struck by lightning four times as often as women.

Pieces of Pi

Greg Ross — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:01:15 +0000

In the decimal expansion of π:

the digits 27182818 — the first eight digits of e — appear at position 1,526,800.
the digits 14142135 — the first eight digits of the square root of 2 — appear at position 52,638.
the first eight digits of π itself — 31415926 — reappear at position 50,366,472.
16470 appears at position 16470.
there are seven 7s at position 3,346,228, eight 8s at position 46,663,520, and six 9s at position 762.
The White House switchboard number (456-1414) is at position 3,193,808, the population of France (65,073,482) is at position 98,709,092, and Disneyland’s zip code (92802) is at position 41,112.

Write out the alphabet starting with J:

JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHI

Erase all letters that have left-right symmetry (such as A) and count the letters in each of the five groups that remain. (Martin Gardner)

Left and Right

Greg Ross — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:01:40 +0000

Three of our last four presidents have been left-handed:

Bush I: Left-handed
Clinton: Left-handed
Bush II: Right-handed
Obama: Left-handed

The same would be true if John McCain had won the last election — he’s a leftie too. Indeed, fully half of American presidents since Truman have been southpaws, though only 10 percent of the general population is left-handed.

What accounts for this? Who knows? But UCLA geneticist Daniel Geschwind says, “Six out of the past 12 presidents is statistically significant, and probably means something.”

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Cosmopolitan

Greg Ross — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:31:55 +0000

Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Monmouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Wales, Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Bremen, Calais, Dresden, Frankfort, Hanover, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Sorrento, Stockholm, and Vienna …

… are all towns in Maine.

Trivium

Greg Ross — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:28:30 +0000

The fastest temperature drop in history occurred in Rapid City, S.D., when the mercury plunged 47°F (26°C) in 5 minutes on Jan. 10, 1911.

Interestingly, the fastest temperature rise in history occurred in … Rapid City, S.D, 32 years later, when it jumped 49°F (27°C) in 2 minutes on Jan. 22, 1943.

Gesundheit!

Greg Ross — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:02:02 +0000

Sneezes around the world:

France: Atchoum!
Finland: Atsiuh!
Iceland: Atsjú!
Sweden: Atjo!
India: Akchhee!
Denmark: Atju!
Netherlands: Hatsjoe!
Lithuania: Apchi!
Germany: Hatschie!
Hungary: Hapci!
Poland: Apsik!
Russia: Apchkhi!
Italy: Etciù!
Spain: ¡Achís!
Portugal: Atchim!
Romania: Hapciu!
Philippines: Hatsing!
Japan: Hakushon!
South Korea: Achee!
Vietnam: Hát-xì!