Archives: Useless Facts

Grape skin, the outer layer of a grape, is either green, red, or purplish-black in color. What is important about the skin of a grape no matter what color it is?

Moonraker is the third novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service 007 agent James Bond. First published in the UK in April of 1955, the US hardcover edition was published in the US in September of that year. In December, the paperback edition was published in the US under the title “Too Hot to Handle” having been re-written to ‘Americanize’ many of the British language idioms, including footnotes from Fleming to explain some of the text for an American audience. In 1979, the motion picture Moonraker was released – the 11th film in the James Bond series, starring Roger Moore in his fourth outing as the fictional 007.

Which of Ian Fleming’s 007 novels was sold in the United States with the title of “Too Hot To Handle”?

Although lovers of sailfish may debate this, with average recorded speeds of 82 miles per hour, the black marlin is the fastest fish in the sea. Found primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is not only the fastest, but also one of the largest among the species of marlins. For you sailfish lovers, they have only been clocked by researchers at 68 miles per hour – not to shabby either, but not as fast as the black marlin!

On land, the cheetah is considered to be the fastest animal in the world, reliably clocked at 60 miles per hour, but reportedly capable of reaching bursts of speed from 80 to almost 120 miles per hour. In the air, the peregrine falcon is the winner, routinely cruising at 68 miles per hour in level flight, but capable of achieving speeds of 200 to 240 miles per hour in a high-speed dive, making it capable of preying on fast-moving birds, even in mid-air.

Can you identify the fastest fish in the sea?

In 1539, a Franciscan friar (Marcos de Niza) described a location of untold wealth to Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, then the governor of New Galicia (today part of Mexico). Backed by his wife’s wealthy family, Coronado took de Niza as his guide and in February of 1540 set out to find these Seven Cities of Gold.  Needless to say, he didn’t find them, but at the Tiguex pueblos (which is near Santa Fe, New Mexico today) Coronado met a slave referred to as “the Turk,” who told Coronado of a land known as Quivira replete with gold.

Leaving a trail of blood and violence in his wake, by mid-1541 Coronado found himself no closer to any gold, but out of patience and confronted the Turk, who admitted he had lied. Although he told Coronado that he was hoping to gain his freedom by helping lead the expedition, Coronado was told by others that secretly the Turk simply hoped Coronado would become lost in the wilderness and die. Unfortunately for the Turk, Coronado believe those others and had the Turk strangled.

Coronado returned to his post as governor of New Galicia, disgraced and bankrupt.

 

 

 

The Seven Cities of Gold, also known as the Seven Cities of Cibola was a popular myth in the 16th century.  The legend told of seven cities of gold that were believed to be in the then Territory of New Mexico.  Seeking to discover them, a Spanish conquistador set out in 1540 to discover them.  Name the Spanish explorer!

A pen grip is used to hold a sandwich bat (paddle), in table tennis (ping pong)!

In what sport would you use a pen grip to hold your sandwich bat?

The Yugoslavian dictator known as Marshal Tito, was born Josip Broz (Јосип Броз in Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic).   Without boring you with all the details, his fairly checkered past included some time in prison and upon his release in 1934, he was required to live in Kumrovec (where he was born) and report to the police each day.  Needless to say, he didn’t do so and often travelled using false passports to avoid detection.

Since he was wanted by the police for failing to report to them in Kumrovec, Broz adopted various false names, including “Rudi” and “Tito” and he used the name “Tito” to write articles for Communist party journals. That said, within the Comintern network his nickname was “Walter.”  Although he never explained why he chose to keep the name “Tito” (it was a fairly common nickname in Kumrovec) it stuck!

In 1892, when Tito was born, Kumrovec was a village in the northern Croatian region of Hrvatsko Zagorje, which was then part of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.