Archives: Useless Facts

Taco Bell presumably used the slogan “Think outside the bun” to promote the idea that people should stop eating the typical burger, chicken or fish sandwiches (usually served on a bun) from the usual fast food burger places.

What food chain once used the slogan “Think outside the bun”?

Pictured in our July 17th post, the very first Batman story, “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” was published in Detective Comics #27, which hit newsstands on March 30, 1939, with a cover date of May 1939. This issue is widely considered one of the most valuable comic books in existence and on its 84th birthday, March 30, 2023, a copy of sold for $1.74 million. The historic comic was graded Fine (6.0) by Certified Guaranty Company. There are only 75 copies known to exist, with just 14 graded higher than the one sold this past March. This particular copy is particularly coveted by collectors since Batman’s co-creator Bob Kane left an ink written message on the first page.

Not to be outdone, a near mint copy of Batman #1 published by DC Comics (shown above) on April 24, 1940, with a cover date of March 1940, sold at auction on January 14, 2021 for $2.22m including buyer’s premium of 18%, bringing the total to $2.61 million. Batman #1 tells the origin of Batman and his sidekick Robin and includes the initial appearances of some of Batman’s most famous villians – Joker and Cat (later known as Catwoman). This particular copy is the only copy to ever receive a 9.4 grade from the Certified Guaranty Company.

In what year was the very first “Batman” comic book published?

(Yes, I’ve blurred the date so you have to look it up!)

Romeo and Juliet takes place in the Italian town of Verona, a city in the Veneto region of Italy and one of seven provincial capitals of the region.  The play, written early in Shakespeare’s career (somewhere between 1591 and 1595), is a tale of romantic love between two Italian youths from feuding families. It, along with Hamlet, was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and remains one of his most frequently performed plays.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona which also takes place in Verona, is a comedy and considered as likely to be Shakespeare’s first play, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593.

Which Italian town is the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

The blues singer known as the “Empress of the Blues” was Bessie Smith, an African-American blues singer born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1894.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and not only was she arguably the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s, but many regard her as one of the greatest singers of her era. She is credited with being a major influence on jazz vocalists as well as other blues singers. Sadly, her career was cut short when she died in an automobile accident at the age of 43.

The singer in the photo was known as the “Empress of the Blues.” Can you identify her?

There are 28 properties on a Monopoly board. With 40 total spaces on the classic Monopoly board, there are also 22 color-coded avenues and streets (named primarily after avenues and streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey), 4 railroad spaces and spaces for 2 utilities. The board also has 3 spaces labeled Chance, 3 labeled Community Chest, 1 Luxury Tax space, and, of course, an Income Tax space.
For you real trivia buffs, the board game Monopoly originated in the early 20th century – The Landlord’s Game, designed by Elizabeth Magie who was issued a patent for the board game in 1904. Although Charles Darrow has been widely credited for its creation, apparently there are records that show he was introduced to the game by Magie who gave him a set of the rules which he used to create and distribute the game himself under the name “Monopoly.” By the 1930s through a variety of modifications and refinements by a number of others, the board game we know today as Monopoly and being sold by Parker Brothers took shape.
The original board game had 10 metal game pieces that could be selected by the players: an iron, a purse, a lantern, racecar, thimble, shoe, top hat, battleship, cannon and a rocking horse.
Today, the board game Monopoly has been published in 47 languages and sold in over one hundred countries around the world.

The board game “Monopoly” has its origins in a game first developed over a century ago. How many properties are on a traditional Monopoly board?