It’s Trivia Day! What Does Spain Mean?

All those facts you picked up through daytime game shows can finally be put to good use when you astound your friends with your general knowledge! Trivia day is the perfect day to share all of those silly little facts that almost nobody knows, making this day a fun and interesting one to spend with friends or family.

The History of Trivia Day

The World famous trivia game, Trivial Pursuit, is thought to have sparked people’s fascination with trivia and competing to see who knows more odd facts about geography, history, art, science, sports and entertainment. Trivial Pursuit was first created in in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1979 by two men named Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, who had become frustrated to find pieces of their Scrabble game had gone missing, thus inspiring them to create their own game. Trivial Pursuit became an almost instant hit and worldwide phenomenon, and the trivia craze began.

The word trivia is plural for the word trivium.  In ancient times, the term “trivia” was appropriated to mean something very new. Over time, the word “trivia” has come to refer to obscure and arcane bits of dry knowledge as well as nostalgic remembrances of pop culture.

How to Celebrate Trivia Day

If you don’t own any home trivia games, Trivia Day can be a great time to crack open the encyclopedia and spend some family time around the dinner table quizzing each other and discussing little known interesting facts. You could also share this day with friends, though perhaps you should steer clear of the competitive types! Arguments over whether the answers to trivia questions are 100% correct can get extremely fierce, especially near the end of the game when the most is at stake!

So what are you waiting for? Order a pizza or two and let the knowledge competition begin! Here are some unusual facts to get you started:

• In the Victorian era, special teacups were produced to protect the mustache from being inadvertently dipped in tea.
• Hallmark now produces cards for those whom have been made redundant.
• On Venus, it snows metal.
• Dr Dre has made more money from the “Beats” headphones franchise than he made over his entire musical career.
• Cuba is the only Caribbean Island with a railway
• 19 of the 25 of the highest peak in the world are in the Himalayas
• 99% of Glaciers are in the Arctic and Antarctic
• The 7 largest country in the world take up half of the world’s surface
• There are 17 active volcanoes in Japan
• Several building in New York have their own zip code
• There are no rivers in Saudi Arabia
• Ethiopia has never been a European colony
• In 2006, over 2 billion people lived on less than $2 a day
• The country Brazil was named after the Brazil nut, and not the other way around
• Spain means “the land of rabbits”
• Rome was the first city to reach a million people
• The entire population of the Earth would fit in Texas
• Fredric Baur invented the Pringles can, and when he died in 2008, his ashes were buried in one
• Only female mosquitoes bite
• Captain Morgan rum was named after a Welsh pirate who later became the lieutenant governor of Jamaica
• The Vatican Bank is the world’s only bank that allows ATM users to perform their transactions in Latin
• Jacuzzi is a brand name, and the company also produces toilets and mattresses
• Failed PEZ flavors include coffee, eucalyptus, menthol, and flower

Now that you’re in the mood for some trivia fun, why not spend the day researching some more facts of your own?