Monday, Dec. 2

It's possible that the world's oldest coin-operated machine was a holy water dispenser devised by the ancient Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria. When a coin was inserted, the machine released a stream of water that allowed a worshipper to cleanse himself before entering a temple to pray. Heron also invented mechanical toys, a syringe and a steam-powered engine.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World included what type of structure in Alexandria, Egypt?

A) Lighthouse

B) Mausoleum

C) Palace

D) Pyramid

Previous answer: All acids contain the element hydrogen.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Christmas movies capture hearts, but they don't grab many Academy Awards. Even "It's a Wonderful Life," that ultimate Christmas classic, had five Oscar nominations but no wins. One film on the short list of Christmas films that won Oscars is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000), which brought Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan an Oscar for best makeup. Edmund Gwenn won best supporting actor for portraying Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). And a best original song Oscar went to Irving Berlin for "White Christmas" from "Holiday Inn" (1942).

According to the classic film, where did the "Miracle on 34th Street" take place?

A) Central Park

B) Empire State Building

C) Grand Central Terminal

D) Macy's department store

Previous answer: The lighthouse, or pharos, of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, Dec. 4

On the morning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, the repair ship USS Vestal was moored beside the battleship USS Arizona. Two direct bomb hits combined with explosions from the attack on the Arizona blew the Vestal's captain and hundreds of crewmen overboard. Seven crew members were killed, and the ship was severely damaged, but the Vestal wasn't finished. After repairs, it continued in service through the end of World War II.

Pearl Harbor is located on which Hawaiian island?

A) Hawaii (the "Big Island")

B) Lanai

C) Molokai

D) Oahu

Previous answer: "Miracle on 34th Street" centers on Macy's department store.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, Dec. 5

Winter isn't typical ice cream season, so Bill and Dorothy Harmsen, owners of the Jolly Rancher ice cream shop in Golden, Colorado, began selling candy to keep sales up during the cold weather. That's how the Jolly Rancher candy company was born. It started with Fire Stix, a flat bar of cinnamon hard taffy. Watermelon, green apple and other flavor "stix" followed. At one point, the Harmsens estimated they were making a million pounds of candy a week in the Jolly Rancher candy kitchen.

Which American painter lived at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico?

A) Louise Nevelson

B) Georgia O'Keeffe

C) Jackson Pollock

D) Gilbert Stuart

Previous answer: Pearl Harbor is on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, Dec. 6

The standard playing card suits of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds originated in France in the 15th century. Earlier German playing card suits were acorns, leaves, hearts and bells. In Switzerland, the suits were (and sometimes still are) acorns, flowers, shields and bells. The oldest suits on playing cards from Italy and Spain are coins, cups, swords and caveman-style clubs, all derived from the Middle East and North Africa, where playing cards originated. Back then, each suit consisted of 10 numbered cards and three face cards: a king, a cavalier and a knave, but no queen.

According to legend, what hand was Wild Bill Hickok holding when he was shot during a poker game in 1876?

A) Full house: aces over tens

B) Royal flush in diamonds

C) Straight: king-high

D) Two pair: black aces and eights

Previous answer: Georgia O'Keeffe had a house at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, Dec. 7

We tend to think of all conifer trees, like the spruce, the fir and the pine, as being evergreen, but Mother Nature reliably provides an exception to every rule. Larch, bald cypress and dawn redwood are part of a small group known as deciduous conifers. They produce cones and have needle-like leaves that turn red or gold, drop off in the fall and then regrow fresh and green in spring.

From 1992 to 1995, the Cones Hotline in the U.K. fielded phone calls from citizens about what subject?

A) Healthcare

B) Ice cream trucks

C) Recycling

D) Road construction

Previous answer: According to legend, Wild Bill Hickok's "Dead Man's Hand" was two pair: black aces and eights.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF DEC. 9

Monday, Dec. 9

Polar bear paws can measure 12 inches across, with sharp claws nearly 4 inches long. The paws' natural nonskid surface helps the bears run on ice and snow. Despite the fact that polar bears typically weigh about half a ton, they are remarkably speedy. They've been known to clock 25 miles per hour.

"Southpaw" describes a boxer who has what distinction?

A) Fighting his or her first bout

B) From the southern United States

C) Left-handed

D) Undefeated

Previous answer: The U.K.'s Cones Hotline (as in traffic cones) fielded citizens' questions about road construction.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, Dec. 10

Thanks to Shakespeare, we'll never forget that Julius Caesar was warned to "beware the Ides of March." That would be March 15, the day Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. In the ancient Roman calendar, every month had a day designated as the Ides. Originally, it was pegged to the appearance of a full moon. Later it simply marked the midpoint of the month. In March, May, July and October, the Ides fell on the 15th of the month. In the remaining months, the Ides fell on the 13th.

Julius Caesar's successor was his great-nephew Octavian, who's better known by what name?

A) Augustus

B) Claudius

C) Nero

D) Tiberius

Previous answer: Southpaw refers to a left-handed athlete, particularly boxers and baseball pitchers.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, Dec. 11

Starting as early as 1898, Canada, Austria and Brazil issued postage stamps with designs that could be considered Christmas themes. By most collectors' estimations, however, the world's first official Christmas postage stamps — depicting the Message to the Shepherds, the Nativity and Adoration of the Magi — were issued in Hungary in 1943. In 1962, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 4-cent stamp with the image of a wreath and candles. The first run of 350 million sold out in a flash and started an American Christmas stamp tradition that continues to this day.

What was pictured on the postage stamp that traveled more than 3 billion miles into space aboard the New Horizons spacecraft?

A) Neil Armstrong

B) Dwarf planet Pluto

C) Elvis Presley

D) Space Shuttle Challenger

Previous answer: Julius Caesar's great-nephew Octavian is better known as Augustus.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, Dec. 12

Playing way out of type, Bette Davis starred in a Broadway musical revue called "Two's Company" that had her singing and dancing onstage. The show opened Dec. 15, 1952, and ran for 90 performances. Davis was sick for much of the run, and she'd never be mistaken for a singer, but audiences did enjoy seeing the silver-screen queen on the Great White Way.

On "Three's Company," Jack was a chef. Janet worked in a flower shop. And what was Chrissy's job?

A) Accountant

B) Hairdresser

C) Romance novelist

D) Typist

Previous answer: A 29-cent stamp with a picture of dwarf planet Pluto traveled more than 3 billion miles into space aboard the New Horizons spacecraft.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, Dec. 13

It's estimated that as many as 20 percent of Americans have dyslexia, which causes difficulty reading, spelling or even recognizing words. The condition has nothing to do with a person's intelligence; it's simply a variation in the way one's brain processes language. Less-widely known but no less prevalent are dyslexia's "siblings": dyscalculia, which affects a person's ability to perceive and process numbers; and dysgraphia, which affects one's ability to write by hand.

"Zap," "hiccup" and "meow" are examples of what category of words that imitate the sounds they describe?

A) Acronym

B) Homonym

C) Onomatopoeia

D) Portmanteau

Previous answer: On "Three's Company," Chrissy Snow, played by Suzanne Somers, was a typist.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, Dec. 14

New York City saloon owner Jerry Thomas was the first person in the United States to compile a recipe guide for mixing cocktails. His "Bar-Tenders Guide," also known as "How to Mix All Kinds of Fancy Drinks," was published in 1862 and updated numerous times. It promised "clear and reliable directions for mixing all the beverages used in the United States. Embracing Punches, Juleps, Cobblers, Cocktails, etc. etc. in endless variety."

What old-style winter cocktail is made with rum and brandy stirred into a mix of eggs, sugar and hot milk?

A) Glogg

B) Hot Toddy

C) Tom and Jerry

D) Wassail

Previous answer: "Zap," "hiccup" and "meow" are examples of onomatopoeia, words that imitate the sounds they describe.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF DEC. 16

Monday, Dec. 16

Every fire department in Chile is staffed by volunteer firefighters, from the smallest towns to major cities such as Santiago and Valparaiso. It's been that way since the first corps of "bomberos" was organized in Valparaiso in 1851, making Chile possibly the only nation in the world with an entirely volunteer fire service. By comparison, 65% of the 1.056 million firefighters in the United States are volunteers. In Germany, 95% of the country's 995,000 million firefighters are volunteers.

Red Adair (1915-2004) was famous for fighting fires in what type of location?

A) Battleships

B) Forests

C) Oil fields

D) Skyscrapers

Previous answer: A Tom and Jerry is a classic winter cocktail made with rum, brandy, eggs, sugar and hot milk.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, Dec. 17

The world's oldest known rose tree might be the "dog rose" (Rosa canina) that grows beside the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. Legend says the tree was there when the diocese was founded in 815, which means it's been blooming for more than 1,200 years. Whether that's true or not, the tree certainly is hardy. On March 22, 1945, the cathedral was destroyed by Allied bombs, and the rose tree was burned. Yet, despite the damage, it sent up new shoots and continues to thrive today.

During World War II, rose hips from Rosa canina, aka dog rose, were used as a source of ascorbic acid, better known as what?

A) Calcium

B) Iron

C) Vitamin A

D) Vitamin C

Previous answer: Firefighter Red Adair specialized in fighting oil field fires.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, Dec. 18

Rovaniemi is the capital of Finnish Lapland, literally walking distance to the Arctic Circle. Local lore says it's also where Santa Claus lives. So in 1993, when two of the city's soccer teams, Rovaniemen Reipas and Rovaniemen Lappi , decided to merge, they gave the new franchise a name with local significance. Now the squad from Rovaniemi, Finland, is known as FC Santa Claus.

The annual Toys for Tots drive is most closely associated with what branch of military service?

A) U.S. Air Force

B) U.S. Army

C) U.S. Coast Guard

D) U.S. Marine Corps

Previous answer: Ascorbic acid is vitamin C.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, Dec. 19

Six people who have served as U.S. secretary of state have gone on to win election as president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson was the country's first secretary of state and later its third president. James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan also served as secretary of state before becoming president. Jefferson and Van Buren are the only two people who have served as secretary of state, vice president and president.

Which first lady inspired the Highway Beautification Act with the motto "Where flowers bloom so does hope"?

A) Laura Bush

B) Mamie Eisenhower

C) Lady Bird Johnson

D) Pat Nixon

Previous answer: Toys for Tots is an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, Dec. 20

Founding a company that specialized in beauty and hair care products for black women made "Madam" C.J. Walker America's first female self-made millionaire. Born in 1867, she dedicated herself to fostering the success of other African Americans. By the time of her death in 1919, her company had trained some 23,000 saleswomen and beauty technicians in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. (Thank you to www.madamcjwalker.com by A'Lelia Bundles for background information.)

Which corporation was founded in 1886 as the California Perfume Company?

A) Avon Products

B) Coca-Cola

C) Maybelline

D) Tupperware

Previous answer: Lady Bird Johnson was the inspiration for the Highway Beautification Act, signed into law in 1965.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, Dec. 21

Reindeer and caribou are the only members of the deer family whose males and females both grow antlers. The two animals are closely related, but they are not identical and are classified as separate subspecies. While neither have been known to fly (except in Christmas stories), they're both excellent swimmers.

What name is given to the protective skin that covers deer antlers while they grow?

A) Chamois

B) Moss

C) Parchment

D) Velvet

Previous answer: The California Perfume Company (which was headquartered in New York) was renamed Avon in 1939.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF DEC. 23

Monday, Dec. 23

Thomas Edison tested his motion picture cameras by staging and filming boxing matches at his studio in West Orange, New Jersey. In June 1894, he filmed Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing going six rounds "full of hard fighting, clever hits ... body blows and some slugging." In September 1894, champ "Gentleman Jim" Corbett squared off against hopeful Peter Courtney. (Corbett claimed all rights to the film. When Edison sold and profited from it, Corbett sued him.) Other boxers in Edison's early films included Bessie and Minnie, "the boxing Gordon Sisters," and the boxing cats of "Professor" Harry Welton's Cat Circus.

Which legendary fighter is considered the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champions?

A) "Gentleman Jim" Corbett

B) John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry

C) Jack Johnson

D) John L. Sullivan

Previous answer: Velvet is the name for the protective skin that covers deer antlers as they grow.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, Dec. 24

The Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" begins on the second morning after Christmas and contains an uncharacteristic error on the part of author Arthur Conan Doyle. A goose's crop figures into the mystery — the crop being an internal sac that's part of a bird's digestive system. Many birds have crops: pigeons, quail, vultures, chickens and turkeys among them. Unfortunately for this story, domestic geese do not.

Which enzyme produced in the stomach helps digest protein?

A) Bile

B) Chyme

C) Pepsin

D) Ptyalin

Previous answer: John L. Sullivan is considered the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champs.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, Dec. 25

The Nordic Ware cookware company of Minnesota introduced its fluted, ring-shaped Bundt cake pan in 1950 in response to a request from the local chapter of the women's philanthropic group Hadassah. The ladies wanted an updated version of the baking pan traditionally used for the ring-shaped cake called kugelhopf — or gugelhopf or kugelhupf, which originated in Germany — or Austria or Alsace — respectively. (Spelling and origin are up for debate.) Sales really took off when a Bundt cake recipe took second place in the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off. Bundt cake has been a winner ever since.

Yellowcake is an oxide produced during the processing of what ore?

A) Gold

B) Iron

C) Tungsten

D) Uranium

Previous answer: Pepsin produced by the stomach helps digest protein.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, Dec. 26

The Bogd Khan Uul Strictly Protected Area in Mongolia became a protected area in 1778 — about 100 years before Yellowstone National Park. It was a nature preserve as long ago as the 16th century, possibly even the 12th century. Situated south of Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, the park encompasses the sacred Bogd Khan Mountain, a former monastery from the 18th century and the Khurel Togoot Astronomical Observatory.

Which country is landlocked between Spain and France?

A) Andorra

B) Liechtenstein

C) Swaziland

D) Switzerland

Previous answer: Yellowcake is produced during the processing of uranium ore.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, Dec. 27

Every country has its own way of ringing in the new year. In Spain, the place to be is the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, where the clock tower's 12 chimes till midnight are the official New Year's Eve countdown. (For those who can't make it to the capital, the chimes are broadcast on national TV.) Around the turn of the last century, it became customary to eat one grape with every chime of the clock. "Las doce uvas de la suerte," or the 12 grapes of luck, ensure good fortune for the 12 months of the new year.

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" is the opening line of what 20th century novel?

A) "Brave New World"

B) "Fahrenheit 451"

C) "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

D) "Nineteen Eighty-four"

Previous answer: Andorra is an independent principality landlocked in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, Dec. 28

One of the last places on Earth to welcome in 2020 will be Baker Island, an uninhabited atoll in the Pacific about 2,000 miles from Honolulu. Now a U.S. national wildlife refuge, Baker Island was once the property of the American Guano Company, which mined it for guano (better known as seabird poop) that was used for fertilizer. It's still a home for seabirds, reptiles and the occasional scientific research team. Because it's so close to the international date line on the Western Hemisphere side, Baker Island will mark the start of 2020 just about 24 hours after Tarawa, Kiribati, one of the first places on Earth to see the new year.

The NCAA Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented to the year's outstanding male player in which collegiate sport?

A) Basketball

B) Ice hockey

C) Volleyball

D) Water polo

Previous answer: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" is the opening line of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-four."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF DEC. 30

Monday, Dec. 30

The word "gas" comes from the Greek word "chaos," meaning disorder. Around 1630, Flemish scientist Jean Baptiste van Helmont first referred to gas in a scientific context to describe a vaporous state of matter that wasn't solid and wasn't liquid but existed nonetheless. The first "gas" he described was within the smoke produced by burning wood. He called it "gas sylvestre," meaning wild gas or wood gas. Today we call it carbon dioxide.

John Sylvester White played high school principal Mr. Woodman on which TV series?

A) "Glee"

B) "Head of the Class"

C) "Saved by the Bell"

D) "Welcome Back, Kotter"

Previous answer: Named for a graduate of the Princeton University class of 1914, the NCAA's Hobey Baker Memorial Award goes to an outstanding collegiate men's ice hockey player.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, Dec. 31

Nellie Bly is most famous for her 72-day solo trip around the world in 1889, recreating the journey and beating the pace described in Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days." But she made a greater contribution to investigative journalism with her 1887 expose "Ten Days in a Mad-House." Faking mental illness, she had herself committed to a women's mental hospital "with a view to writing a plain and unvarnished narrative of the treatment of the patients," as she later said. Her description of the deplorable conditions faced by patients led to significant reforms in mental health care.

The word "hysteria" comes from the ancient Greek for what body part?

A) Arm

B) Brain

C) Mouth

D) Uterus

Previous answer: John Sylvester White played high school principal Mr. Woodman on "Welcome Back, Kotter."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, Jan. 1

Just about every square mile of land on Earth has been claimed by one nation or another, but not Marie Byrd Land. Its 620,000 square miles of Western Antarctica belong to no one and everyone — the largest unclaimed space on Earth. Although some parts of Antarctica have been claimed, in the interest of world peace and scientific progress, the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 decreed that Antarctica would remain a demilitarized space reserved for cooperative scientific research. Today there are 53 signatories to the treaty, which also bans dumping nuclear waste in Antarctica.

Which of these cities lies closest to Antarctica?

A) Cape Town, South Africa

B) Sydney, Australia

C) Nuuk, Greenland

D) Ushuaia, Argentina

Previous answer: Hysteria comes from the ancient Greek word "hystera," meaning uterus.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, Jan. 2

While Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer was incarcerated as a political prisoner from 1965 to 1979, he wasn't permitted writing implements. So, he composed the novels "This Earth of Mankind," "Child of All Nations," "Footsteps" and "House of Glass" in his mind and recited them to his fellow inmates to help him remember the stories. The four books, published after his release from prison, center on Indonesia's uneasy political history. They're known as the "Buru Quartet" because they were written while he was imprisoned on Buru Island.

Nelson Mandela spent 18 years incarcerated as a political prisoner at what location, now a UNESCO World Heritage site?

A) Alcatraz Island

B) Buru Island

C) Devil's Island

D) Robben Island

Previous answer: Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina, is about 625 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, Jan. 3

The naturally blue blood of the horseshoe crab (genus Limulus) contains an extremely sensitive bacteria-detection compound. In the 1950s, hematologists Frederick Bang and Jack Levin realized it could be used to test for harmful bacteria in substances that enter the human body for medical treatment. That led to the development of the Limulus amoebocyte lysate test, still widely used to determine whether vaccines, intravenous treatments and implantable medical devices are free of harmful bacteria.

Which chemical element contributes to making human blood red?

A) Aluminum

B) Copper

C) Iron

D) Selenium

Previous answer: Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 prison years on Robben Island.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, Jan. 4

When you give a thumbs-up sign, does the tip of your thumb naturally bend backward? The fancy name for that type of double-jointedness is distal hyperextensibility of the thumb, but most people know it as hitchhiker's thumb. It's a recessive trait you inherit from your parents, and the amount of curvature can range from slightly tilted to a full 90-degree bend.

Who wrote the tale "Thumbelina"?

A) Hans Christian Andersen

B) Carlo Collodi

C) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

D) Beatrix Potter

Previous answer: Iron contributes to the red color of human blood.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].