Facts You Probably don’t Need
- President James Buchanan was near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other.
- Although “The Dark Side of the Moon” was the #1 album for only one week, it remained on the Billboard top 200 for 741 weeks straight from 1973 to 1988.
- The fear of an empty glass is known as cenosillicaphobia.
- Prior to the 1927-1928 season, forward passes were not allowed in hockey.
- In 1979, the NHL passed a rule that the incoming draft class had to wear protective helmets during games. Anyone drafted prior to that signed liability waivers. Craig MacTavish was the last player to skate without a helmet upon his retirement in 1997.
- The sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel is 666, giving roulette the nickname “The Devil’s Game.”
- Nevada, Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii and Utah have banned the sale of lottery tickets.
- Pilots and co-pilots eat different meals to avoid food poisoning.
- The Chicago River flows backward due to series of manmade canal locks built between 1887 and 1900.
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.
