DID YOU KNOW? | Need a trivia night cheat sheet?
By Tara Yilmaz
There's a little bit of this and a little bit of that in this collection of random facts from “Did You Know?” Facts about geography, history, culinary cuisine, culture to obscure Pennsylvania laws, some of these interesting tidbits will have you scratching your head in disbelief. Bone up for trivia night with some of these random facts.
Did you know the African country of Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt? Sudan has 255 discovered pyramids compared to Egypt’s 138. That is more than any country in the world. These lasting legacies were built by the members of the Kingdom of Kush, an ancient civilization which ruled areas along the Nile River from B.C. 1070 to A.D. 350.
→ Did you know the history behind the western tradition of wearing wedding bands on the left finger? Ancient Romans believed that a vein ran directly from the fourth finger on the left hand to the heart. The vein was called Vena Amoris translated to “vein of love” because the heart is the center of emotions.
→ Did you know German chocolate cake is named after a man, not the country? American born chocolatier Sam German created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company in 1852. Years later in 1957, The Dallas Morning News published German’s recipe and for over 65 years this gooey confection of decadent chocolate, coconut and pecan cake has been gracing dinner tables all across the globe.
→ Did you know Montelier, Vermont is the only United State capital that doesn’t have a McDonalds? No hard feelings against the mega chain, it just seems the good people of Montpelier prefer local of chain restaurants.
→ Did you know the Big Mac got its start in the Pittsburgh area? In 1967, McDonald’s franchisee Jim Delligatti developed the two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun in the back of his store in the suburb of Ross Township.
→ Did you know pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest word in the English language dictionary? Dictionary.com lists the 45-letter word meaning as “an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust.”
→ Did you know in Pennsylvania a child’s bedroom may not be more than 200 feet from a bathtub or shower and a toilet? The origin of this law is unknown. But if you should take a guess at the reason. I’m sure it’s a law to prevent little one’s from having accidents at night. But further research into the law gives more insight on why it was developed. The law can be found in chapter 3800 Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities section 257.