Facts You Probably don’t Need
- In 2022, it was estimated that tourists threw approximately 1.4 million euros into the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
- Tom Hanks turned down the role of Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” because he chose to star in “Forrest Gump” instead. Less fortunately, Kevin Costner turned down the role to star in “Waterworld.
- In the 1960s, France and Brazil had a fishing rights dispute over lobsters. The French argued that lobsters swim and can be caught by any fishing vessel. The Brazilians countered that lobsters crawl and therefore were off limits.
- Al Capone’s brother was a distinguished prohibition agent and once even acted as bodyguard to Calvin Coolidge and his family on a visit to South Dakota.
- The same font, Highway Gothic, is used on highway signs in Argentina, Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and the Philippines among others.
- Blank spaces in the crossword puzzles are called “lights.”
- “The Drew Carey Show” used to do April Fool’s Day episodes filled with intentional mistakes and fans would win prizes for mailing in all the ones they caught.
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.