This is just basically a compilation of most of the completely irrelevant information I have amassed over the years. **Includes spiffular words! yay!**

The largest known single-celled organism is called the acetabularia. It is 2 cm in diameter, aquatic, light green in color and called the Mermaid's Glass. If a paramecium (another single celled organism) was a foot long, an acetabularia would be the size of the Chrysler building.

In the US, 3% of the population produces enough food for the other 97%

Most cats sleep 16 hours each day

antediluvian -pre flood, or ancient


Sailing Trivia:
The first President of US SAILING (then called North American Yacht Racing Union) was Oliver E. Cromwell, who served from 1897-1898.

The youngest member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team is 24 years old.



In 1948, US sailors Hilary and Paul Smart were the first father and son in the same sport to win Olympic gold (they won gold in the Star class).

The oldest US SAILING National Championship is the U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup. The event was first held in 1921 when it was won by sailors from Pleon Yacht Club: Richard Thayer, K. Kpener, and A. Wood, Jr.


Laws (US) **this info was gotten off of dumblaws.com
1. LAW: It is illegal to transport a skunk across state lines.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Tennessee
CITATION: 70-4-208. Unlawful importation of skunks - Penalty.
ACTUAL: (a) It is unlawful for any person to import, possess, or cause to be imported into this state any type of live skunk, or to sell, barter, exchange or otherwise transfer any live skunk, except that the prohibitions of this section shall not apply to bona fide zoological parks and research institutions.

2. LAW: It is illegal to taunt someone for refusing to participate in a duel.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: West Virginia
CITATION: §61-2-24. Taunting for nonparticipation in duel; penalty.
ACTUAL: If any person post another, or in writing or in print use any reproachful or contemptuous language to or concerning another, for not fighting a duel, or for not sending or accepting a challenge, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than six months, or fined not exceeding one hundred dollars.
3. LAW: There is a one-dollar fine for every instance of public drunkenness and/or swearing.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: West Virginia
CITATION: §61-8-15. Profane swearing and drunkenness; penalty. ACTUAL: If any person arrived at the age of discretion profanely curse or swear or get drunk in public, he shall be fined by a justice one dollar for each offense.

4. LAW: It is illegal to require someone to purchase a horror comic book.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: California
CITATION: Cal Bus & Prof Code §16603 Requiring purchase of horror comic book as condition to sale or consignment of magazine or other publication.
ACTUAL: Every person who, as a condition to a sale or consignment of any magazine, book, or other publication requires that the purchaser or consignee purchase or receive for sale any horror comic book, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($ 1,000), or by both. .. blah blah ..

5. LAW: It is required by law that you make a loud noise when passing a car on the left.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Rhode Island
CITATION: §31-15-4 Overtaking on left.
ACTUAL: The following rules shall govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction, subject to those limitations, exceptions, and special rules stated in this section: (1) The driver of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall give a timely, audible signal and shall pass to the left at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle. (2) Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of the front vehicle on the audible signal of the overtaking vehicle shall give way to the right, and shall not increase speed until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.

6. LAW: It is illegal for a bingo game to last longer than five hours, unless the bingo is being played at a fair.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: North Carolina
CITATION: §14-309.8. Limit on sessions.
ACTUAL: The number of sessions of bingo conducted or sponsored by an exempt organization shall be limited to two sessions per week and such sessions must not exceed a period of five hours each per session. No two sessions of bingo shall be held within a 48-hour period of time. No more than two sessions of bingo shall be operated or conducted in any one building, hall or structure during any one calendar week and if two sessions are held, they must be held by the same exempt organization. This section shall not apply to bingo games conducted at a fair or other exhibition conducted pursuant to Article 45 of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes.

7. LAW: A man may not seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Mississippi
CITATION: 97-29-55 Seduction of female over age of eighteen by promised or pretended marriage.
ACTUAL: If any person shall obtain carnal knowledge of any woman, or female child, over the age of eighteen years, of previous chaste character, by virtue of any feigned or pretended marriage or any false or feigned promise of marriage, he shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than five years; but the testimony of the female seduced, alone, shall not be sufficient to warrant a conviction.

8. LAW: One must not collect seaweed.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: New Hampshire
CITATION: TITLE XVIII
FISH AND GAME CHAPTER 207 GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FISH AND GAME Collecting Seaweed Section 207:48 ACTUAL: In Night: If any person shall carry away or collect for the purpose of carrying away any seaweed or rockweed from the seashore below high-water mark, between daylight in the evening and daylight in the morning, he shall be guilty of a violation.

9. LAW: It is illegal to wear a bulletproof vest while committing a murder.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: New Jersey
CITATION: 2C:39-13 Unlawful use of body vests.
ACTUAL: A person is guilty of a crime if he uses or wears a body vest while engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit murder, manslaughter, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, kidnapping, criminal escape or assault under N.J.S.2C:12-1b. Use or wearing a body vest while engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit a crime of the first degree is a crime of the second degree. Otherwise it is a crime of the third degree.

10. LAW: Unless a customer orders it specifically, it's against the law to serve margarine instead of butter at a restaurant.
COUNTRY: USA / STATE: Wisconsin
CITATION: 97.18(4)
ACTUAL: (4) The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer.


American car horns beep in the tone of F.

The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.

The first owner of the Marlboro company died of lung cancer.

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Betsy Ross is the only real person to ever have been the head on a Pez dispenser.

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.

No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times. ( I haven't tried.. dunno)

1 in every 4 Americans has appeared on television. (me! yay..)

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.

A Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.

The albatross drinks sea water. It has a special desalinization apparatus that strains out and excretes all excess salt.

In Clarendon, Texas, there is reportedly a law on the books that lawyers must accept eggs, chickens, or other produce, as well as money, as payment of legal fees.

Cats purr at 26 cycles per second, the same as an idling diesel engine.

A dragonfly flaps its wings 20 to 40 times a second, bees and houseflies 200 times, some mosquitoes 600 times, and a tiny gnat 1,000 times.

Marilyn Monroe had six toes.

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways.
The following sentence contains them all:
"A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious( meaning "containing arsenic.")

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

All porcupines float in water.

Cat's urine glows under a black light. (greaat..)

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

When opossums are playing 'possum', they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink."
A group of frogs is called an army.
A group of rhinos is called a crash.
A group of kangaroos is called a mob
A group of whales is called a pod.
A group of ravens is called a murder.
A group of officers is called a mess.
A group of larks is called an exaltation.
A group of owls is called a parliament.

Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been overmixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since. [It floats in gasoline, too.]

If you could count the number of times a cricket chirps in one minute, divide by 2, add 9 and divide by 2 again, you would have the correct temperature in Celsius degrees.

During the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Union Army before he accepted his post with the Confederacy.

Margaret Higgins Sanger, the birth-control pioneer, was one of eleven children.

There are more than 15,000 different varieties of rice.

When a man died in ancient Egypt, the females in his family would smear their heads and faces with mud and wander through the city beating themselves and tearing off their clothes. (hmm.. sounds.. iffy)

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself. joy.


uxorial -of, relating to or characteristic of a wife, from the latin

nostrum -a medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness *2: a usually questionable remedy or scheme : panacea

mnemonic -assisting or designed to assist memory , from the greek goddess of memory

importune -1: to press or urge with troublesome persistence 2: to annoy, trouble *3: to beg, urge, or solicit persistently or troublesomely

paladin -1: a trusted military leader (of the medieval era) 2:a leading champion of the cause

bon vivant n : a person having cultivated, refined, and sociable tastes especially in respect to food and drink

pedantic :adj : narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned; also : unimaginative, pedestrian also : middle-school teachers and parents. ahem.

callow (dates back to 1000 AD) lacking adult sophistication; immature; sarah

voracious (from the Latin Vorare) having a huge appetite: ravenous ;excessively eager: insatiable (you can replace “voracious” with “gluttonous,” “ravenous,” or “rapacious.” )

dreadnought >n 1: a warm garment of thick cloth; also : the cloth 2: a battleship *3: one that is among the largest or most powerful of its kind

luftmensch: an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or outcome. (from the Yiddish luftmentsh, air-ness-like-ful, etc)

utile: pratical; useful (from the latin utilus, meaning useful)

bloviate : to speak or write verbosely and windily (yadayadayada...) might have originated from slang

probity: adherence to the highest principles and ideas; uprightness

minuscule 1: written in or in the size or style of lowercase letters 2: very small

verbose: containing more words than necessary; wordy; impaired by wordiness 2) given to wordiness (apparently that's a word. -inessly)

cacography: bad spelling; bad handwriting

gibe: to utter taunting words; 2) to deride or tease with taunting words

paragon: a model of excellence or perfection (derives from paragone, which was latin for touchstone, a stone used to judge the quality of gold or silver)

non sequitur: 1: an inference that does not follow from the premises 2: a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from anything previously said 3: sarah moo alishous

alacrity: promptness in response; cheerful readiness; characteristic of scary optimistic preppy people (alacrity has been in use since the 15th century. presumably, before then people were all nice, solid pessimists. )

stymie: to present an obstacle; stand in the way of (as in golf)

homage: a feudal ceremony in which a man pledged allegiance to a lord; 2: an act of duty or respect for one’s lord 3: honor, tribute; bribing one's parents to acess the candy

trepidation: timorous uncertain agitation : apprehension

enigmatic: of, relating to, or resembling an enigma : mysterious

utopia: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place 2 often capitalized; a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions 3: an impractical scheme for social improvement; candyland (invented by English humanist Sir Thomas More in 1516 for the title of his book)

“Footless” has undergone an evolution in meaning, from “having no feet” to “lacking foundation” to “lacking a basis in intelligent thinking.” In 19th-century Britain, the word was roughly synonymous with “footloose,” meaning “having no ties, free to move about.” To further confuse matters, the superficially similar “bootless” (from Old English bot, “remedy”) means “useless, unprofitable, or unavailing.”

"useful" only came into the english language in the late 16th century in Shakespeare's play, "King John"