Author: Erin McHugh

Publisher: Union Square + ORM

Published: 2011-07-22

Total Pages: 881

ISBN-13: 1402797656

This massive trivia tome features all five entries in the 5 W’s series, each brimming with unusual facts that amuse as they expand your mind. Five classic questions . . . five classic collections . . . Who? – From the genealogy of the Bach family to a complete listing of team mascots, here are some of the most surprising and quirky facts about people ever. Find out who topped the music charts most, which U.S. president liked to swim nude, and who the world’s greatest philosophers are. What? – Musical instruments in an orchestra, Pulitzer Prize categories, and events in an Olympic decathlon: this is an entertaining and enlightening diverse anthology of facts. From the longest word currently listed in any Oxford dictionary to inventions, fashions, and ketchup ice cream, all the sundries of life appear on these vivid pages. Where? – From Arsenic Tubs, Mexico to Big Ugly, West Virginia, here’s where you’ll find plenty of fun facts. Discover the ins and outs of places almost unknown, locales that have captured your imagination, and spots worth finding out about—including the world’s best and most beautiful beaches. When? – When . . . Did a bank put out first ATM? Were the three major attacks of the Bubonic Plague? Were the amendments of the Bill of Rights enacted? Travel through different eras for a glimpse of what each period has brought us and get a fun and all-inclusive overview of landmark events that’s irresistibly intriguing. Why? – Why do mosquitos love to bite us so much? Why does baseball have a seven-inning stretch? And why do some countries drive on the left of the road? Get the details and data needed to answer an incredible range of questions, from everyday queries to philosophical conundrums.

Author: Erin McHugh

Publisher: Union Square + ORM

Published: 2011-06-14

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1402792115

A collection of quirky and unusual facts about a variety of topics, including car names, mascots, pregnancy, and oxymorons. Musical instruments in an orchestra, Pulitzer Prize categories, and events in an Olympic decathlon: this is an entertaining and enlightening diverse anthology of facts. From the longest word currently listed in any Oxford dictionary to inventions, fashions, and ketchup ice cream, all the sundries of life appear on these vivid pages . . . What is . . . . . . Dr. Bunting’s Sunburn Remedy? The product we know today as Noxema; when it “knocked out” a customer’s eczema, its new name was born. . . . a Scoville unit? A measure of how hot a pepper is. By this reckoning, a habanero is ten to fifty times as hot as a chipotle pepper. . . . fictive kinship? A relationship, like being a godparent, that has nothing to do with one’s birth or marriage, but is modeled on family relationships. . . . Powder of Sympathy? A seventeenth-century concoction that was said to cause pain to recur if it was sprinkled on the knife that had stabbed someone.