Curiosity Corner: Trivia Time

Curiosity Corner

By

Dr. Jerry D. Wilson,

Emeritus Professor of Physics

Lander University

Trivia Time (Again)! I’m on a roll:

• All U.S. coins have a “coin turn.” That is, if you look at “heads” right side up, the image on the “tails” side is inverted (upside down). (Why do we say “heads” or “tails” when we flip a single coin?)
• The four-leaf clover is a genetic mutation that occurs for about one in every 10,000 clovers.
• The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is “uncopyrightable.”
• The Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off his left ear. His “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” shows the right ear bandaged because he painted his mirror image.
• Tennis pro Andy Roddick (a.k.a. Rocket Man) has the record for the fastest serve, at 155 miles per hour.
• First-class envelopes weighing one ounce or less require an additional 15-cent nonmechanical surcharge if it is a square letter because the address isn’t read by the sorting machine.
• Africa has the shortest coastline of all the continents; and, of the various cultures, has the shortest (Pygmy) and tallest (Watusi) people in the world.
• Geronimo’s Apache name was Goyathlay, which means “one who yawns.”
• Mark Twain purchased a Remington typewriter in 1874 and became the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript to a publisher. It was the manuscript for a novel, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
• The national song of Australia is “Waltzing Matilda.” Matilda is not a woman, but a blanket (swag) worn over the shoulder. A “swagman” was an itinerant sheep shearer. When “waltzing Matilda,” the swagman was dancing with his blanket.
• When you snap your fingers, the loudest sound is caused by the air being forced out between the middle finger and the palm, and the finger striking the palm. Hold a piece of tissue or soft cloth on the palm and snap. The sound will be muffled.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. It goes quicker when you get toward the end.” –Anonymous

Curious about something? Send your questions to Dr. Jerry D. Wilson, College of Science and Mathematics, Lander University, Greenwood, SC 29649, or email jerry@curiosity-corner.net. Selected questions will appear in the Curiosity Corner. For Curiosity Corner background, go to www.curiosity-corner.net.