Fun and Useless Facts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Neil Simon

Marvin Neil Simon, born in New York City on July 4, 1927, is regarded as one of the all-time most popular playwrights, and the most popular in the history of American theatre. He began writing scripts for radio shows in 1948, and was turned to plays in 1961. Among his achievements are four Tony Awards, two Emmys, a Screen Writers Guild Award, and a Pulitzer Prize.

His hit plays include "Barefoot in the Park" (1963), "The Odd Couple" (1965), "Plaza Suite" (1968), and "Brighton Beach Memoirs" (1983).

In 1971 he was named "Entertainer of the Year" by "Cue" magazine and made a Kennedy Center honoree in 1995.

Answer: nuts

While many people are allergic to all of these foods, statistics show that nuts are the most likely culprit of food allergies. According to American doctors, peanut and/or tree nut (such as walnut, almond and cashew) allergies affect about 3 million Americans, or 1.1 percent of the population. It was also discovered that nut allergy is the leading cause of severe or fatal food-allergic reactions.

Answer: eggplant

Ironically, the eggplant, an oblong, purplish vegetable, comes from China. However, the Chinese refused to eat them, believing them to cause insanity (they grew them only for garnish). It wasn't until eggplant reached the Mediterranean that people began to eat and enjoy them (without going insane).

Answer: Listerine

This saying was written by Milton Feasley in a print advertisement for Listerine mouthwash that first appeared in 1925. The ad proved to be so popular that it ran for over ten years.

Answer: Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover, the 31st US President, was the recipient of this honor in 1920, when Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa discovered the asteroid and named it Hooveria. But wait - Hoover didn't become President until 1929! It was his humanitarian work as chairman of the Interallied Food Council, an organization that fed people in post-World War I Europe, that earned him the honor of namesake for an asteroid.

Answer: ancient Greeks

The ancient Greeks used the candles as a symbol of Artemis, goddess of the moon. We can thank the ancient Persians for the birthday cake.

Answer: Janis Joplin

That's right, ugliest MAN. What an insult! The college at which the folk singer received this title was the University of Texas, in her home state.

Answer: Julius Caesar

The phrase, which means that something is foreign or incomprehensible, was first used by the Bard in "Julius Caesar": "Those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me" (Act I, Scene II). Actually, he was borrowing a phrase that was already around- it supposedly comes from a Medieval Latin proverb "Graecum est; non potest legi", meaning "it is Greek; it cannot be read".

Answer: smell

While all of our senses tend to wane with age, it has been found that the sense of smell often does so first. By age 80, 80 percent of people have some major smell dysfunction and half are anosmic, meaning they can't smell (or taste). This loss of smell is worse in Alzheimer's patients and those with other neurodegenerative diseases. By the way, women of all ages have a more accurate sense of smell than men; that's why mostly women are employed as "noses", or people who smell perfumes.

Answer: sloths

They do it while hanging by their arms from tree branches. Enough said.

Answer: K

Yuck. It's also found in yogurt, egg yolks, and fish liver oils - again, yuck. Vitamin K, among other things, allows your body to produce the proteins needed for blood clotting.

Answer: it was stolen by a cat

Answer: soybeans

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the most gas-producing beans are, in order: soybeans, pink beans, black beans, pinto beans, California small white beans, great northern beans, lima beans, garbanzos, blackeyes. Wonder how they determined this?

Answer: Quito, Ecuador

Quito, capital of the South American nation of Ecuador, is said to have the most pleasant climate in the world. This city situated high in the Andes is known as the "Land of Eternal Spring". The temperature seldom drops below 46 degrees (Fahrenheit) during the night, or exceeds 72 degrees during the day. However, the city is plagued by smog, which is held in place by the mountain air.

Answer: first person born in Antarctica

The first person to be born on the frozen continent, he was born in 1978 on an Argentine base. Since he was an Argentine citizen, the government of Argentina said that it would have to investigate whether the continent was "suitable for family life". I wouldn't want to live there...