Which king ordered everyone to bed at 8pm? - How many Pot Noodles are sold every second in Great Britain? - How much does the hammer of Big Ben's bell weigh? If you want to know the answers to these and a whole host of other questions about Blighty, then this is the book for you!
Continuing the sensational success of the Useless Information Series, the Official Useless Information Society brings you another essential compendium of everything you never needed but always wanted to know. A celebration of the Queens Diamond Jubilee this amazing volume contains all things royal such as: The popular misconception that the royal family cannot vote in political elections. It is only the Queen, herself, who is not allowed to vote. Other members of the family merely choose not to; • The Queen learned to drive in 1945 when she joined the wartime army but has never held a driving license; On the occasion of the Duke of Edinburgh's birthday, a Royal gun salute is fired, and the Union Jack is flown on government buildings from 8am until sunset; Lord Mountbatten, Prince Charles's uncle, tried to arrange a betrothal between his own grand-daughter, Amanda Knatchbull and Charles. Amanda's father and Prince Philip did not approve and put a stop to it; Harry has two secretaries to handle his fan-mail, which invariably comes from teenage girls asking him for a date. Hopefuls should be made aware that no royal contender may be adopted, divorced, Catholic or born of unmarried parents. In Tudor times Catholics were forbidden from living within 10 miles of the throne.
Did you know that . . . John Wayne once won the dog Lassie from its owner in a poker game? Hijinks is the only word in the English language with three dotted letters in a row? The shortest war in history, between England and Zanzibar in 1896, lasted only thirty-eight minutes? Want to learn which U.S. president was a descendant of King Edward III? Or which famous people lived to read their own obituaries? Then That Book is the book for you! From history to science to pop culture, here is an irresistible, enlightening, and absolutely addictive treasure trove of fascinating and fun little-known facts that no one needs to know—an indispensable boon to every true lover of trivia and marvelous minutia!
Did you know that snails can sleep for three years without eating? Or that the average four-year-old asks over 400 questions a day? The Useless Information Society was formed by some of Britain's best-loved journalists, who meet regularly to swap new nuggets of trivia. This is the third collection of their incredible, fascinating, and utterly trivial findings. Each page is packed with off-the-wall, mind boggling facts guaranteed to amuse and delight in equal measure.
A short, provocative book about why "useless" science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughs A forty-year tightening of funding for scientific research has meant that resources are increasingly directed toward applied or practical outcomes, with the intent of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it makes sense to focus on the most identifiable and urgent problems, right? Actually, it doesn't. In his classic essay "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge," Abraham Flexner, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the man who helped bring Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short, no quantum mechanics, no computer chips. This brief book includes Flexner's timeless 1939 essay alongside a new companion essay by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Institute's current director, in which he shows that Flexner's defense of the value of "the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge" may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change. He makes the case that society can achieve deeper understanding and practical progress today and tomorrow only by truly valuing and substantially funding the curiosity-driven "pursuit of useless knowledge" in both the sciences and the humanities.
Provides answers to such questions as "Was there ever a real Aunt Jemima?" "What is the difference between bourbon and Scotch?" "Why do trains have a caboose?" and "Why do we give names to hurricanes?"
The Book of Useless Information addresses virtually every imaginable topic, from the most unusual tourist attractions in the United States to the legend of Dracula. This 704-page padded hardcover book contains 250 articles, statistics, facts, trivia, and lists that range from absurd to useless to hilarious. Readers learn about the deadliest diseases of the 20th century, the craziest entertainment acts of all time, the world's most unusual museums, the most outlandish laws on the books, the biggest Hollywood blunders, the most dangerous jobs, and much more. Quirky illustrations enhance the stories. Sample chapters include: The Unexplained, Science and Technology, The Arts, History, Around the World, and Death and the Macabre The Book of Useless Information provides hours upon hours of fascinating reading for anyone with a curious mind. Makes a wonderful gift for trivia buffs.
From the creators of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Useless Information-a collection of even greater insignificance. More useless than ever before! Impress know-it-all friends with this all-new hodgepodge of frivolous facts and silly statistics that no one really needs to know. But honestly, how cool is it to find out that... ? There is a place in Maryland called Monkey's Eyebrow ? Giving yellow flowers is a sign of bad luck in Russia ? One brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 frowns ? Paper can be made from asparagus This is the book that will also tell you... ? The meaning of 'mageirocophobia' ? Where it is illegal to kill a butterfly ? Huckleberry Finn's remedy for warts ? What bodily fluid the Romans used as a hair treatment And much, much more!
"Rachel B. Herrmann's No Useless Mouth is truly a breath of fresh air in the way it aligns food and hunger as the focal point of a new lens to reexamine the American Revolution. Her careful scrutiny, inclusive approach, and broad synthesis―all based on extensive archival research―produced a monograph simultaneously rich, audacious, insightful, lively, and provocative."―The Journal of American History In the era of the American Revolution, the rituals of diplomacy between the British, Patriots, and Native Americans featured gifts of food, ceremonial feasts, and a shared experience of hunger. When diplomacy failed, Native Americans could destroy food stores and cut off supply chains in order to assert authority. Black colonists also stole and destroyed food to ward off hunger and carve out tenuous spaces of freedom. Hunger was a means of power and a weapon of war. In No Useless Mouth, Rachel B. Herrmann argues that Native Americans and formerly enslaved black colonists ultimately lost the battle against hunger and the larger struggle for power because white British and United States officials curtailed the abilities of men and women to fight hunger on their own terms. By describing three interrelated behaviors—food diplomacy, victual imperialism, and victual warfare—the book shows that, during this tumultuous period, hunger prevention efforts offered strategies to claim power, maintain communities, and keep rival societies at bay. Herrmann shows how Native Americans, free blacks, and enslaved peoples were "useful mouths"—not mere supplicants for food, without rights or power—who used hunger for cooperation and violence, and took steps to circumvent starvation. Her wide-ranging research on black Loyalists, Iroquois, Cherokee, Creek, and Western Confederacy Indians demonstrates that hunger creation and prevention were tools of diplomacy and warfare available to all people involved in the American Revolution. Placing hunger at the center of these struggles foregrounds the contingency and plurality of power in the British Atlantic during the Revolutionary Era. Thanks to generous funding from Cardiff University, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.