Interesting Facts
81. Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, and Cathy Rigby are among the women who have played the character Peter Pan on Broadway.
82. The Super Bowl’s MVP Award is named for Pete Rozelle who served as the
NFL’s Commissioner from 1960 to 1989.
83. The Rosetta Stone which allowed for the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs
is actually a tax document written in three languages.
84. Sears, Roebuck and Company sold more than 70,000 catalog kit homes be-
tween 1908 and 1940.
85. The First Reich of Germany was the Holy Roman Empire which existed in
various forms from 962 to 1806.
86. Corona Extra is the top-selling imported beer in the United States with more
than $1.44 billion in annual sales.
87. The three AKC-recognized dog breeds that have miniature in their name are
the miniature pinscher, miniature bull terrier, and miniature schnauzer.
88. Patsy Cline’s recording career lasted just eight years starting in 1955.
89. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the first African American to be Time Magazine’s
Man of the Year (1963)
90. The first stagecoach line was established in 1732 between Burlington and
Amboy in New Jersey.
91. The name of the band Stone Temple Pilots was partly inspired by an STP mo-
tor oil logo.
92. Rich Man, Poor Man, a 1976 adaptation of a bestselling Irwin Shaw novel,
was one of the first TV miniseries.
93. Seven different species of Hawaiian bee have been declared endangered, the
first time the designation has ever been given to a bee.
94. The Alabama nickname “The Yellowhammer State” comes from the Civil
War when a company of soldiers wore uniforms trimmed with yellow and
were nicknamed Yellowhammers after a type of woodpecker.
95. Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) served as the capital of British-occupied India
until 1911.
96. Four-hundred-million years ago there were about 22 hours in a day on Earth.
97. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H. W. Bush are the four vice presidents who have been elected to the presidency while a
sitting vice president.
98. Science fiction author H.G. Wells coined the phrase “the war that will end
war” in 1914.
99. The Mongol Empire was the second largest in history controlling more than 9
¼ million square miles of territory.
100. In bullfighting a Veronica is a motion in which the matador slowly twirls his
cape away from a charging bull.
101. While writing Invisible Man, author Ralph Ellison worked as a waiter, pho-
tographer, and jazz trumpeter.
102. A legend is a table accompanying a map that explains what the colors and
symbols used represent.
103. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole became known as
the Five Civilized Tribes in early America because of their willingness to
adopt aspects of western culture and government.
104. Algeria has been the largest country in Africa since South Sudan gained its
independence from Sudan in 2011.
105. A 9,000-year-old skeleton was discovered in Cheddar, England, and genetic
testing found a 300 generation later relative of his teaching school half a mile
away.
106. Skylab, which orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, was the first U.S. space
station.
107. Donnie Osmond has his first solo hit as a teen idol in 1970 with a cover of
Roy Orbison’s “Sweet and Innocent.”
108. In a single mouthful a blue whale can consume as many calories as the aver-
age human takes in in 180 days.
109. About 22 million gallons of water are trapped inside plastic bottles in U.S.
landfills.
110. The Larry O’Brien Trophy features a regulation size sterling silver basketball.
111. Ivan the Terrible was the first Russian ruler to hold the title of czar when he
was proclaimed Crown Prince of Moscow in 1533.
112. The use of the word “flak” for anti-aircraft guns comes from WWII and the
German word Flugabwehrkanone meaning “aircraft defense cannon.”
113. Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973.
114. Delivering the ball to the batsman in cricket is called bowling.
115. The first youth hostel in the U.S. opened in 1934 in Massachusetts.
116. In addition to its technological fame, Hoover Dam is known as a masterpiece
of the art deco style of design.
117. Actor Harrison Ford once put his carpentry skills to use as a stagehand for
The Doors.
118. “Home on the Range” is the official state song of Kansas.
119. Englishman Thomas Cook founded one of the world’s oldest and most endur-
ing travel agencies when he started giving rail tours by getting bulk discounts
for train travel.
120. Motorola engineer Martin Cooper placed history’s first cell phone call April 3,
1973 to a rival to brag about his achievement.
