Did you know … a radio broadcast marathon tied to a baseball team’s losing streak?

Sometimes I just want to do the following:

On “write the column” day, sit down at my keyboard, clear my throat, crack my knuckles, and type “This Space for Rent.”

It gets really hard sometimes to come up with an introduction to the column.  When the world doesn’t give me much to work with, I have to be creative – and we all know where that leads.

So the introduction this week is no introduction at all, and we’ll just move along to the trivia.

By the way, if you feel the urge to write to me, do so at didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com and I always answer quickly.  Thanks!

Did you know …

… non-dairy coffee creamer is flammable?  (Which makes you really wonder about some of the stuff we put into our bodies.)

… a part of the United States once belonged to Russia?  What is now the state of Alaska was purchased by the United States from the Russian government in 1867 at the bargain-basement price of 2¢ an acre, or $7.2 million.  Why did Russia want to sell its sole North American claim?  They thought the land was simply useless tundra, and the government of Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881) needed money.  Within twenty years, however, huge gold deposits were discovered in Alaska, and in the 20th Century another very valuable mineral – petroleum – was found.  (So, if the Russians were to think they were robbed, you may just understand that.)

… one of the longest broadcasting marathons was tied to a baseball team’s losing streak?  In 1988, the Baltimore Orioles opened their season by dropping 21 consecutive games.  Ten games into the streak, a disc jockey at radio station WIYY in Baltimore, Bob Rivers (1956-2025) made an on-air promise to his listeners:  he would stay on the air until the Orioles won a game.  Great idea, right?  I mean, they had to win some time, didn’t they?  Eventually, they did … twelve games later.  Rivers kept his word, though, staying on the air 24 hours a day, sleeping only during long song sets.  During his marathon, Rivers began to develop health issues from lack of rest.  After 258 straight hours on the air, the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-0, and Rivers could finally sign off.  His last choice of a song was appropriate, too – The Who’s “I’m Free.”  (That gives “think before you speak” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?)

… the largest Christian church in the world is in Africa?  Located in the city of Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast) on Africa’s northwest bulge, the Our Lady of Peace Yamoussoukro Basilica was built between 1986 and 1989 and is roughly based on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  It rises to a height of 489 feet at the top of its dome and can hold up to 18,000 worshipers.  The esplanade, or promenade area, can accommodate up to 300,000 more.  The church was built by order of the country’s then-President, Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905-1993).

… the founder of the Smithsonian Institute is entombed in his museum?  James Smithson (1765-1829), a British chemist and mineralogist, was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.  When he died in Genoa, Italy, he was buried in a cemetery there, and in his will he bequeathed his entire estate to found a museum in Washington.  After the cemetery was planned to be moved in 1905, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), one of the museum’s regents, asked that Smithson’s body be moved to the Institution building.  Smithson is still there, entombed in the “Castle,” where his remains have been since 1905.  (I’ve heard of monuments, but this…!)

… a popular comedian never passed on an offer of work?  Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005), who was known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery of unconnected one-liners, never turned down an opportunity to perform.  Hedberg said he had been told “no” so often at the start of his career that he feared never working again if he refused a gig.  (A funny man who left us far, far too soon.)

… a popular movie franchise was created because of rejection?  Steven Spielberg (born 1946) had always wanted to direct a movie in the James Bond franchise.  He was turned down, however, and shared his disappointment with his friend George Lucas (born 1944).  Lucas advised Speilberg that he had an idea of how to make a James Bond movie – but even better.  That’s how the Indiana Jones movie franchise was born.  (He raided the lost ark.)

… the last two letters added to the English alphabet were J and W?  The letter “J” came into existence around 1650.  Previously, an alternate form and pronunciation of “I” was used.  But even more recently, 1700 to be exact, we added “W.”  Originally it was two “U”s side by side, separated by a space.  The space was, over time, eliminated, and the new letter took hold.  Additional trivia note:  There was once a 27th letter, after “Z.”  It was “&” which we call the ampersand.  Its original name was “et,” the Latin for “and.”  Its current name, ampersand, is a corruption of “and per se and,” which means “and, by itself, and.”  (Letters, we get letters…)

… there is a strange reason that many windows in buildings in Britain and France are bricked over?  In the 1700s, the governments of Scotland, England and France enacted “window taxes” in a discreet effort to tax rich people more.  The tax was based on the number of window panes a residence had.  To combat the tax, rich people bricked over many of the windows in their residences, and those brick patterns can still be seen today.  (A transparent way to raise some money, wouldn’t you say?)

Now … you know!