Sunday Trivia

As my life is just about as boring as it can get, I don't have anything to write about. So, with that in mind, I hope you enjoy some trivia. Thanks to the January/February issue of mental_floss magazine for all of these facts.

--Both Neil Diamond and Giorgio Armani trained to be doctors but never finished med school.

--The actual name of the character in the board game 'Operation' is Cavity Sam.

--In India, starting 4000+ years ago and continuing as recently as the early years of British colonization, execution by elephant was done. This consisted of the (trained) elephant crushing the person's skull with its foot.

--The Iditarod dog sled race commemorates a 1925 emergency trip to get medical supplies from Nenana to Nome during a deadly diphtheria outbreak.

--A composer by the name of John Cage wrote a piece called "4'33"," which consists of 4 minutes and 33 minutes of silence. This is the most famous work of music to feature no music at all. (Personally, I don't understand this one!)

--In 1996, Betty Rubble replaced the stone-age car as one of the Flintstone vitamin shapes.

--In New Jersey and Oregon it is illegal to have self-service gas stations.

--Because Harper Lee never published anything after 'To Kill A Mockingbird,' some people think that Truman Capote (her close friend) actually wrote it.

--The Ken doll was re-released in February 2006--this, after he was 'dumped' by Barbie in 2004.

--Thalidomide is being used to treat cachexia (the severe weight loss often seen in AIDS and cancer patients) and skin conditions associated with leprosy.

--'The Scream' by Edvard Munch was stolen in 2004 from the Munch Museum in Norway. It was found two years later. To protect it from being stolen again, visitors and their belongings have to pass through a baggage scanner and metal detector before being allowed to see the painting. Also, two inches of bullet-proof glass protects the painting and it is bolted to the wall.

--Not only are there extreme security measures in place to protect the 45.5-carat Hope Diamond from being stolen, nobody knows for sure whether the one on display at the Smithsonian is the original.

--To gain entry into the vault at Fort Knox where the US gold reserve is, several staff members are required to enter their part of the combination. No single person knows the entire code.

--All of the Beatles were born in Liverpool, England.

--Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, had six fingers on her left hand.

--Bibendum is the actual name of the Michelin Man.

--A 'liger' is the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. A 'tigon' is the cub of a male tiger and female lion. The males of each of these creations are believed to be sterile.