15 Trivia Tidbits for Saturday, April 26, 2025
In 2005, a 46-year-old man pretended to be 22 online to court a much younger woman. In a twist, it would later turn out that this supposed younger woman was also 46. It would be a hilarious story, except for the small fact that she also flirted with one of the guy’s coworkers, leading the catfished catfisher to shoot him dead.
We have some facts about a couple other murderers for you, both real and fictional, as well as several facts that aren’t about murder at all.
The Madness Begins
The title of Kanye West’s first song, “Through the Wire,” refers to the actual wire holding his jaw shut at the time. He’d fallen asleep behind the wheel, resulting in a car crash that almost killed him.
Money Supply
An urban legend says that Japan had a national shortage of 100-yen coins when Space Invaders was a hit in arcades. It’s unclear how this myth began. It could be from a newspaper article that reported on one single hotel claiming they were short on coins.
Very Serious Movie
Trailers for the worldwide smash Morbius feature the character saying, “I am Venom. Just kidding! It’s Dr. Michael Morbius, at your service.” The final movie omits the part where he says he’s kidding and actually Morbius. The character just claims that he’s Venom, for no reason, and the story moves on from there.
Your Name in the Goblet
In 2003, a Russian man changed his name to Harry Potter in hopes that this would help him win an election as provincial governor. However, the law forced him to retain a middle name derived from his original name, so he went on the ballot as Harry Ivanovich Potter.
McBain’s Legacy
When someone misses a joke and responds by essentially repeating it, we point out the intentions they overlooked by saying, “That’s the joke,” quoting The Simpsons. But we forget that in The Simpsons, that line wasn’t explaining anything to people who needed it. Instead, the guy saying the line was the one who didn’t understand comedy.
Fox
Pumpkin Spice Movie
The 1998 book Rocket Boys is about boys interested in rockets. The studio adapting the story to a movie thought the title would turn off older women, so they called the movie October Sky instead, an anagram of the original title. This worked.
Petty Grievances
The classic 1960s song “Dirty Water,” about Boston, contains this odd line: “Frustrated women have to be in by 12 o’clock.” This specifically referenced the guest policy at Boston University, which penalized students for not returning to their dorms before curfew.
Don’t Wear Out Your Welcome
JamesOn Curry played in the NBA, after a few years playing in other leagues and in college. His NBA career didn’t last very long. He played a total of 3.9 seconds, and then his time with the NBA was done.
Running of the Bulls
The Hamar people of Ethiopia have a coming-of-age ceremony called Ukuli Bula, in which a boy must run along the backs of 15 lined-up bulls. He needs to be completely naked for this, though none of the onlookers are.
Theory of Publicity
The estate of Albert Einstein doesn’t profit much from any scientific discoveries he made. They do profit enormously from licensing out his photo and name, including millions every year just from licensing it to Baby Einstein videos for infants.
It Wasn’t Him
From his singing voice, you might think Shaggy speaks in a Jamaican accent. He doesn’t. He created that voice to mock drill instructors. He used it for one song and then found he was stuck with it for the rest of his career.
March of Progress
Fifty years ago, Delta advertised special 50 percent off fares for military personnel, with such flights as Miami to New York for $39. Today, you can fly that same route for that same price even without a 50 percent discount — not adjusting for inflation. If you do adjust for inflation, prices have dropped by 87 percent.
It’s a Malt World
Last November, at the Brussels Beer Challenge, American companies won gold and silver in the German-Style Märzen category. However, Italian companies won gold and silver in the American-Style Pilsner category.
Carbon Footprint
A man in Indiana was found dead in his garage in 1977, having accidentally killed himself through inhaling carbon monoxide. But don’t feel too sorry for him. He was a serial killer and had actually been in the process of using that carbon monoxide to kill three victims.
The Incredibles
Brazil’s premiere film awards, the Prêmio Grande Otelo, has announced that the movie I’m Still Here will be ineligible for the top award this year. The judges declared that it’s so much better than any other movies submitted for consideration that it would be unfair to have them compete against it.
