Three Bits o Trivia

Gems, Voices and Salaries

At 3,106 carats, the Cullinan Diamond was the largest gem-quality diamond ever found; after its 1905 discovery in South Africa, it was cut into 105 separate faceted stones, four of which are now part of the English crown jewels.

U2 lead singer Paul Hewson's nickname "Bono" is actually short for "Bono Vox", which means good voice.

The average CEO of a company on the S&P 500 is paid less than a third of the highest paid baseball player, less than a tenth of the highest paid golfer, and less than 3% of what the best-paid entertainer makes.

Deodorant, Skin and Taffy

The title of Nirvana's classic record "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was inspired by a deodorant.

In Malaysia, all television and stage entertainers must cover every bit of skin from the knee to the chest.

Saltwater taffy is made with salted fresh water, not sea water.

Quindecennials, Crystals and Oaths

A 15 year anniversary is called a quindecennial.

In a mine in Naica, Mexico, grow crystals of selenite as wide as 4 feet and as long as 36 feet.

Thurgood Marshall, the first African American sworn into office as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, was administered his oath by Justice Black.

Pups, Favre and Uranus

The platypus female nurses pups through the skin covering its abdomen.

Only one quarterback - Brett Favre - has beaten every team in the NFL.

When Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, he called it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George III of England. But how would that have been funny?

Quarterbacks, Quads and Queens

In the NFL, if the third-string quarterback plays before the fourth quarter, the team's first two quarterbacks cannot be used in the game again at any position.

There are fewer than four dozen identical quadruplets in recorded history. quadruplets in recorded history.

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was crowned at nine months old.

Olympics, Anthems and Cities

Africa is the only populated continent never chosen to host an Olympiad.

The national anthem of the Netherlands (Het Wilhelmus) is the oldest national anthem in the world. The music appeared in 1572, the lyrics in 1590.

Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, proclaims itself to be the oldest city in the New World.

Champagne, Cockfighting and Lightning

The longer the champagne ages in the bottle, the tinier the bubbles.

Louisiana was the last state to ban cockfighting.

A lightning bolt heats the air around it to temperatures greater than those at the sun's surface.

Abercrombie, Vermont and Seinfeld

Abercrombie & Fitch began as a sporting goods shop and outfitter. An early customer: Charles Lindbergh.

The name Vermont is derived from a combination of the French words vert ("green") and mont ("mountain").

"Seinfeld" the series wasn't aired until a year after the pilot aired.

Grace, Down Under, Fire

The October 1991 "Perfect Storm" that sunk the fishing vessel Andrea Gail off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts was a reincarnation of Hurricane Grace, rejuvenated by the joining of a storm from the Great Lakes and a cold front in New England area.

The Australian town of Eucla uses its own unique time zone: the Central Western Time Zone of UTC+8:45.

La Paz, Bolivia is the world's most fireproof city. At 12,000 feet about sea level, the amount of oxygen in the air barely supports a flame.

Tsunamis, Borderless States and Tsunamis

Tsunami is a Japanese word that means "harbor wave."

Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that border no others.

They are also the two states most frequently affected by damaging tsunamis.