Some of the best trivia you wish to share with others

At the time what is now Danvers was called Salem Village (Salem itself
was Salem Town). In 1752, Salem Village organized as a separate town
and named itself Danvers, partly to shake its notoriety.

Salem, where the final trials were held, went on to make a kitchy tourist
industry for itself as "the Witch City." Soon it will be graced by a statue
of Elizbeth Mongomery on a broomstick.

And the numbers of witches on trial in America were totally insignificant compared to the numbers in Europe - I learnt recently.

I'm not sure whether I heard the story of witches in Salem or New Orleans (maybe both), but what I remember is that witches came from the Caribbean Islands. Anybody have information on their origination?

You may be thinking of voodoo, like the famous New Orleans voodoo queen Marie Leveau (sp?). I don't believe they are called properly called witches. Voodoo came to US via Haiti and the Caribbean and ultimately from West Africa.

There are only 48 states in the Union.

the number of rows in corn on the cob is always even.

Charlie Chaplin was in Paris and heard about a nightclub having a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest. He entered the contest himself but only came in third place!

Hunh?

DrewDad also told me that Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island.

There is a Rhode Island that is an island and is part of Rhode Island,
but it is more commonly called Aquidneck Island to distinguish it from the
state.

...both of which should be distinguished from the Isle of Rhodes...

Did you know you can get the population of the world in Wales?

Wales = 8000 sq miles = 24780800000 sq yds

World = 6000000000 people so each person gets about 4 sq yds.

So why are we worried about a population explosion?

Two are "Commonweaths."

I thought there were four.
(Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania)

Mere trivia....

Donald Duck appears in more Disney cartoons than Mickey Mouse.

"Men in Black", the title of the recent Will Smith movie; was also the title of the only Three Stooges short to win an Oscar. It was a parody of a popular hospital movie at the time called "Men in White". This "Men in Black" short is the one famous for the line "Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard...."

Canned food was invented several decades before the can opener.

Actress Hedy Lamarr was co-inventor of a wireless communications system that is still used in cell phones today

Only 91 chemical elements were discovered in nature. Although Uranium, #92, WAS discovered in nature, #43 Technetium WAS NOT. Technetium was the first man-made element and was thought until recently not to exist on Earth naturally.

Besides the 12 Zodiac constellations, the ecliptic passes through a 13th constellation, Ophiuchus (the serpent handler), who apparently had a poor PR manager.

What personality traits are Ophiuchus' besides a poor PR manager?

Here's an article on the 13th zodiac sign, from griffith observatory. It notes that about 1 person in 20 was born under the sign of Ophiuchus. I don't think, due to O's poor PR, that any zodiac traits are attributed to him. The article also points out that zodiac dates for other constellations are not truly when they should be.

http://www.griffithobs.org/SkyOphiuchus.html


Another trivial tidbit that comes to mind about Ophiuchus: the serpent he is carrying is the constellation "Serpens", which is the only constellation in two noncontiguous pieces. He is holding Serpens in each arm and around his back, so there is a Serpens Caput (head of the serpent) on one side and Serpens Cauda (tail of the serpent), but no middle-of-the-serpent.

[Sorry, I'm a trivia nerd]

"Trivia nerd" is good.