Know it all

In 1999, Muhammad Ali (born 1942) became the first boxer to appear on a box of Wheaties cereal.

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While Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was president he was arrested for driving his horse and buggy too fast in Washington, D.C. He had to pay a $20 fine and walk back to the White House.

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One month after the book was published in 1936, film producer David O. Selznick (1902-1965) purchased the movie rights to “Gone With the Wind” from author Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949). He paid her $50,000, which was the largest amount of money ever paid to an author for their first novel.

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Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney, from the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” (1976-1983), worked as bottle cappers at Shotz Brewery.

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Chester Greenwood (1858-1937) invented Greenwood’s Champion Ear Protectors in 1873. Do you know what they were? See answer at end.

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In 1965 ads ran in American newspapers that said “Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running parts for four insane boys, age 17 to 21.” They were casting for the sitcom “The Monkees” (1966-1968).

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There are 118 single men in their 20s for every 100 single women in their 20s.

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A 4-year-old child laughs about once every four minutes. The average adult laughs about 25 times per day.

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The national spice of Hungary is paprika.

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John Ritter (1948-2003), Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947) and Tom Selleck (born 1945) were all contestants on “The Dating Game” (1965-1973).

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The town of Yuma, Arizona, is the sunniest place in the United States. It has an average of 332 sunny days per year.

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Paparazzi, the word for aggressive celebrity photographers, comes from the 1960 movie “La Dolce Vita” by Federico Fellini (1920-1993). In the movie, there is a photographer named Paparazzo that determinedly tries to photograph movie stars.

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A person who has bromidrosis has extremely pungent perspiration.

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Beatles singer John Lennon (1940-1980) wore glasses since he was a teenager. His “granny glasses” became his trademark.

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Canada has more doughnut shops per capita than any other country.

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The word tittle is Latin and means something very small. The dot on the letter i is called a tittle.

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In the Archie comics, Midge’s lunkhead boyfriend is named Big Moose.

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The orca is known as a killer whale, but it is actually a type of dolphin.

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Winston Churchill (1874-1965) suffered from bouts of depression. He called his depression his “black dog.”

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One million people had visited Disneyland by its seventh week of operation.

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Answer: Earmuffs. Greenwood was tired of having cold ears, so he invented earmuffs when he was 15 years old. He patented them and made a fortune supplying earmuffs for soldiers during World War I.

Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? Email knowitall(at)smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 ext. 114.