We’re all hopelessly addicted to this fast-paced game that challenges our capacity to pull out a factoid in a manner of seconds.  Many of us become die-hard trivia junkies through watching jeopardy, playing trivial pursuit or discovered it at some “hole in the wall” Irish Pub.  We all have a story about how we got pulled into a weekly trivia night at our favorite bar or perhaps a 15-minute brush with fame on Jeopardy’s “college edition”.  Face it, we’re obsessed with trivia and it encourages us to keep filling our brains with more random facts. In tribute to our love of trivia, how about we take a trip down historical lane and reveal the roots and evolution of our favorite game.

To start at the very beginning, you can actually attribute the origins of the word “trivia” to the ancient Romans; “tri” as we know refers to “three” and “via” is another term for “road.”  Therefore, trivia technically means “A meeting place of three roads.”  During Roman times, this meeting would often occur in a tavern of sorts or would be a place of “ill repute”, as well the word tavern also denoted a meaning of unimportance; thus, eventually giving way to the term, “trivium” which is clearly the origin of the modern term, “trivial”. Continue reading →

Many people dream of being a famous athlete and having their name listed among the record books. Unfortunately, the Olympics occur only once every four years and only one person or team receives the gold medal. There are well over six billion people on the planet, and of these, only about 10,000 will attend the next Olympics. Therefore the chances of obtaining a gold medal are about… 22 million to one! However, for those of you who are truly determined to get your name in the record books there are other ways. Below are a few examples of some of the stranger records which you might want to try to break!

What about growing your nails? Sound easy? According to the Guinness Book, the world record for the longest fingernails is 28 feet 4.5 inches. Lee Redmond set this record in 2008. According to Lee, she started to grow her nails in 1979. Sadly for Lee, her nails were lost in a car accident in 2009.

What about your hair? There are a number of strange records when it comes to hair growing. The record for the longest hair is held by Xie Quipping. She has let her hair grow since the age of thirteen, and when her long tresses were measured in 2008, they measured an astounding length of 18 feet 5.54 inches. Another related record is the title for the world’s largest afro held by Aevin Dugas. The circumference of her huge hair-do measures 4 feet 4 inches. Continue reading →