Trivia and Strange but true - Jan. 6, 2011

TRIVIA TEST

1. ANATOMY: Where in the human body is the mandible?

2. MYTHOLOGY: According to Greek mythology, who ferries the souls of the dead across the rivers Styx and Acheron?

3. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: By what common name is the pirate's flag of skull and crossbones known?

4. ENTERTAINERS: Which actress was born with the name Betty Joan Perske?

5. MEASUREMENTS: What does a tachometer measure?

6. HISTORY: What was the first year of the winter Olympic Games?

7. GEOGRAPHY: Where is Valley Forge, site of George Washington's encampment during the Revolutionary War?

8. ASTRONOMY: Europa is a moon of which planet?

9. LITERATURE: Who wrote "The Tropic of Cancer"?

10. LANGUAGE: In poetic terms, what is a "tarn"?

Answers

1. Lower jaw

2. Charon

3. Jolly Roger

4. Lauren Bacall

5. Speed in rotations per minute

6. 1924

7. Pennsylvania

8. Jupiter

9. Henry Miller

10. Mountain lake

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

By Samantha Weaver

It was American radio and TV writer and commentator Andy Rooney who made the following sage observation: "Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."

The iconic 1980s video games Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man had 256 levels, though it's been reported that on both of them, the 256th level has bugs that make it unplayable.

The earliest known examples of drinking straws were created out of gold and lapis lazuli by the ancient Sumerians. It seems they were used by royalty to drink beer, thereby avoiding the yeast residue left over from the fermentation process.

It takes 450 skilled workers to create a Steinway grand piano -- and the piano is made up of about 12,000 individual parts.

If you are like 83 percent of adult Americans, you received a gift you didn't want during the recent holiday season.

If you're a heavy coffee drinker, you might want to consider the following: A study conducted in the United Kingdom found that those who reported the highest consumption of caffeine also were more likely to report hallucinations and other extrasensory experiences.

The Campbell's Soup portraits created by Andy Warhol have become icons of the Pop Art movement, and today they sell at auction for upward of $10 million. They weren't always so well-regarded, however; in 1962, actor Dennis Hopper (a visionary art collector, it seems) purchased one of the first examples for a mere $75.

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.