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Who, What, Where and When, but not How

Aug 2, 2011 | 10:14 AM

for paNOW

I love trivia and I came across some good stuff recently. You may know some of these facts but a lot of them will surprise you!

For example, did you know Galileo was offered a position at Harvard University? He couldn’t accept it because, at the time, he was under house arrest for heresy. He was arrested for saying the Earth moved around the Sun instead of the Sun around the Earth, which was the stand of the Roman Catholic Church at the time.

Even more surprising is that Hitler was on the short list for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1938. Would that have been embarrassing in 1939?

Who do you know who reads Harlequin romances? Do you consider them trash? Mills and Boon Publishers in England publish historical romances as part of the Harlequin enterprises. What interested me is that even if they can’t keep the hero and heroine from separating, they keep the tarmac on the M6, a highway in England, from separating. Two and a half million of the books have been pulped and mixed into the surfacing for the highway. “Hold me Darling” is more truth than fiction.
Who makes more feature films than Hollywood or Nollywood? Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry is the second largest employer in the country.

If you are tired of Las Vegas and want to try some other casinos, look to Moscow. It is the third largest gambling city in the world after Las Vegas and Miami Florida.

What four words of an ancient Aztec language do you often use? Tomato, avocado, coyote and chocolate are the words. Hopefully, you don’t go for human sacrifice as well. The ancient word there is “Lemmeoudahere”.

The four most popular books in the world are: The Bible, The Koran, Mao’s Little Red book, and the fourth is – Lord Baden-Powell’s book, “Scouting for Boys”. Interestingly, the six countries former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice identified as ‘outposts of tyranny, and several others that fit the description, have not had a Boy Scouts movement in their countries. Cuba, Burma, North Korea, Laos, Andorra, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Iran. China has never had a boy scout movement, but it is at the moment supporting the US economy so they don’t make the list.

It would seem scouting and freedom in a country relate.

And one last fact you will believe easily enough: the British Prime Minister has a staff of 100. The Canadian prime minister’s office employs 1,000.

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