GregR
Footballguy
A collection of mostly useless but sometimes interesting things I've come across.
Links to previous Useless Trivia:
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1) True or False: Footballs are called pigskins because at one point most were covered with hide from a pig.
2) The Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s order proclaiming the freedom of slaves in rebel territories, had festered in a desk drawer for two months awaiting good news from the battlefield, lest it be seen as a desperate ploy. Union victory in which battle resulted in Lincoln finally issuing it?
3) Military adoption of this piece of equipment reportedly caused the number of head wounds treated by wartime doctors to increase.
4) What is the last name of Queen Elizabeth II, the current monarch of England?
5) Posthumous releases by this musical artist are on the order of 12 studio albums, 26 live albums, 22 compilations, 27 singles and 24 official bootlegs. Which according to some radio DJ I was listening to is the most posthumous releases of all time. Who is it?
6) The "normal" means of shuffling cards is the riffle shuffle, where the cards from two halves of the decks are interweaved. Another method is the overhand shuffle, which amounts to a series of cuts of the deck. According to mathematicians, how many times must the cards be riffle shuffled to reach the point that all combinations of the cards are almost equally random and further shuffles will not significantly improve the randomness?
7) Amongst birds, what unique distinction is shared by males of the Eurasian great bustard and the African kori bustard species?
8) In 2006, a komodo dragon living in London's Chester Zoo was found to be capable of parthenogenesis, the first time it had been noted in the species. What is parthenogenesis?
9) What material in the US has the highest percent of it recycled after its use is done?
10) Which US Presidential election is the only one to result in a President and Vice President from different political parties?
11) Which US Presidential election(s) resulted in a tie in the electoral vote?
12) About how many Lego bricks have been made since the current form was launched in 1958?
1) 300 million
2) 800 million
3) 15 billion
4) 220 billion
5) 600 billion
6) 1.3 trillion
Links to previous Useless Trivia:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
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1) True or False: Footballs are called pigskins because at one point most were covered with hide from a pig.
False. The name is more likely due to balls having once been inflated or stuffed animal bladders, and the bladders may have come from pigs. When they later began to be covered it was cow hide or rubber that was commonly used.
2) The Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s order proclaiming the freedom of slaves in rebel territories, had festered in a desk drawer for two months awaiting good news from the battlefield, lest it be seen as a desperate ploy. Union victory in which battle resulted in Lincoln finally issuing it?
Antietam, where the Union destroyed a quarter of Lee's Confederate forces and threw back the South's first invasion of the North.
3) Military adoption of this piece of equipment reportedly caused the number of head wounds treated by wartime doctors to increase.
The steel helmet. While that may seem odd at first glance, it does make sense. The number of head shots did not necessarily change, but more of them were survived to receive treatment.[/spoilers]
4) What is the last name of Queen Elizabeth II, the current monarch of England?
Windsor. British royalty have chosen surnames and if they will use one, and often used that of where they live. Elizabeth's father, King George V, gave up some familial German titles as part of distancing the family from Germany during the first world war, and chose the name of the castle, Windsor, for the family surname.
5) Posthumous releases by this musical artist are on the order of 12 studio albums, 26 live albums, 22 compilations, 27 singles and 24 official bootlegs. Which according to some radio DJ I was listening to is the most posthumous releases of all time. Who is it?
Jimi Hendrix. He had a lot of recorded work that was never released during his lifetime but was later released by his family.
6) The "normal" means of shuffling cards is the riffle shuffle, where the cards from two halves of the decks are interweaved. Another method is the overhand shuffle, which amounts to a series of cuts of the deck. According to mathematicians, how many times must the cards be riffle shuffled to reach the point that all combinations of the cards are almost equally random and further shuffles will not significantly improve the randomness?
7 shuffles are necessary with the riffle shuffle. Much better than the overhand shuffle, which takes about 2500 shuffles to randomize the deck.
7) Amongst birds, what unique distinction is shared by males of the Eurasian great bustard and the African kori bustard species?
Averaging up to 35lbs, they are the heaviest birds capable of flight.
8) In 2006, a komodo dragon living in London's Chester Zoo was found to be capable of parthenogenesis, the first time it had been noted in the species. What is parthenogenesis?
Parthenogenesis is when an egg develops to maturity without fertilization by a male. An asexual reproduction where the mother is both mother and father to the offspring. It has been found in 70 species of vertebrates, including captive snakes and a monitor lizard species, but this was the first time it had been seen in komodo dragons.
The lizard in question, Flora, had been kept separate from other komodo dragons, and the paternity of her eggs was later confirmed by a test.
The lizard in question, Flora, had been kept separate from other komodo dragons, and the paternity of her eggs was later confirmed by a test.
9) What material in the US has the highest percent of it recycled after its use is done?
According to sustainablebusiness.com, it is asphalt. 99% of all asphalt is recycled, used to fix and build roads over and over again.
10) Which US Presidential election is the only one to result in a President and Vice President from different political parties?
The 3rd presidential election, in 1796, resulted in Federalist John Adams being elected President. Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson received the second highest number of electoral votes and was elected Vice President.
11) Which US Presidential election(s) resulted in a tie in the electoral vote?
Only the 4th presidential election, in 1800.
While the 1824 election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson required tie-breaking procedures from the 12th Amendment, Jackson had more electoral votes than Adams but was short of the majority required to win. And the House of Representatives ultimately chose Adams over Jackson despite Jackson having had more electoral votes.
But in 1800 it was a true tie. Fellow Democratic-Republicans Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both received equal numbers of electoral votes. Members of the Electoral College were authorized by the original Constitution to vote for two names for President, in order to try to maximize the possibility that one candidate received votes from a majority of the electors nationwide. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the second most would become Vice President. The drafters of the Constitution had not anticipated the rise of political parties.
The Democratic-Republicans had planned for one of the electors to abstain from casting his second vote for Aaron Burr, which would have led to Jefferson receiving one electoral vote more than Burr, making Jefferson President and Burr Vice President. The plan, however, was mishandled. Each elector who voted for Jefferson also voted for Burr It then took 36 rounds of tie-breaking voting in the House of Representatives until Jefferson obtained the majority necessary.
To rectify the flaw in the original presidential election mechanism, the Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, was added to the United States Constitution. It called for electors to make a distinct choice between their selections for president and vice president.
While the 1824 election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson required tie-breaking procedures from the 12th Amendment, Jackson had more electoral votes than Adams but was short of the majority required to win. And the House of Representatives ultimately chose Adams over Jackson despite Jackson having had more electoral votes.
But in 1800 it was a true tie. Fellow Democratic-Republicans Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both received equal numbers of electoral votes. Members of the Electoral College were authorized by the original Constitution to vote for two names for President, in order to try to maximize the possibility that one candidate received votes from a majority of the electors nationwide. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the second most would become Vice President. The drafters of the Constitution had not anticipated the rise of political parties.
The Democratic-Republicans had planned for one of the electors to abstain from casting his second vote for Aaron Burr, which would have led to Jefferson receiving one electoral vote more than Burr, making Jefferson President and Burr Vice President. The plan, however, was mishandled. Each elector who voted for Jefferson also voted for Burr It then took 36 rounds of tie-breaking voting in the House of Representatives until Jefferson obtained the majority necessary.
To rectify the flaw in the original presidential election mechanism, the Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, was added to the United States Constitution. It called for electors to make a distinct choice between their selections for president and vice president.
12) About how many Lego bricks have been made since the current form was launched in 1958?
1) 300 million
2) 800 million
3) 15 billion
4) 220 billion
5) 600 billion
6) 1.3 trillion
As of July, 2015, over 600 billion had been produced. (http://www.brickrecycler.com/lego-fun-facts/) The FFA Lego thread mentioned 400 billion, but that number was appearing in articles back in 2008.
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