Archives: Useless Facts

How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”?

666 is sometimes referred to as the “Number of the Beast,” which arose from the cryptic reference in the Book of Revelation (13:17–18) (the Textus Receptus manuscripts of the New Testament) that this number is “man’s number” or “the number of a man.”  Today, the number is often used and widely recognized as a symbol for the devil (the Antichrist).  That said, in China, the number is often considered lucky.

For those betting folks in the audience, 666 is the sum of all the numbers (0 through 36) on a roulette wheel and for you linguists reading this, the fear of 666 or the digits 6-6-6 is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

What is symbolic about the numbers 666?

Carbon dioxide (dry ice) sublimes directly from a solid into a gas, as does crystalline Iodine.  In fact, if the temperature never rises above the freezing point, water in the form of ice, will also sublime and eventually an ice cube, left alone in a freezer will ‘disappear’.  The opposite of sublimation is ‘deposition’ which refers to the transformation of a gas directly into a solid without becoming a liquid.  It’s pretty rare in nature, but when ice crystals form on your window, even when it isn’t raining or snowing, that’s deposition (or when a lawyer takes your testimony – that’s truly cold!!).

What is the term for the transformation of a solid, directly into a gaseous state?

Bonus, name one or more substances (elements or compounds) that does this naturally.

In 1991, in real life, Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, married Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse.

Who were the voices of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and what was their non-comic connection?

Hawaiian Punch was originally developed in 1934 as a tropical flavored ice cream topping.

Hawaiian Punch wasn’t originally developed as a drink.

What was it’s originally intended use?

Editor Bennett Cerf challenged Dr. Seuss to write a book using no more than 50 different words. The result:  “I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you. Thank you, Sam-I-am.”  Green Eggs and Ham!, the children’s book by Dr. Seuss, published in August of 1960, had sold over 8 million copies around the world by 2016.