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Bestselling author of "A Treasury of Royal Scandals", Michael Farquhar uncovers an instance of bad luck, epic misfortune, and unadulterated mayhem tied to every day of the year in this engrossing compendium of history's worst moments. From Caligula's blood-soaked end to hotelier Steve Wynn's unfortunate run-in with a priceless Picasso, "Bad Days in History" delves into the past to present 365 delightfully told tales of historically bad days. Michael...
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Trivia meets its match. Did you know that Napoleon was once attacked by rabbits? Or that the Mars Rover sang itself "Happy Birthday"? How about the odd ingredient Civil War soldiers used to make coffee? From Jupiter's diamond showers to why pirates wore eye patches to the delightful link between dancing goats and the discovery of coffee, this collection of obscure and fascinating facts is brought to you by Mike Lowery, an illustrator and connoisseur...
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Like it or not, our lives are dominated by mathematics. Our daily diet of news regales us with statistical forecasts, opinion polls, risk assessments, inflation figures, weather and climate predictions and all sorts of political decisions and advice backed up by supposedly accurate numbers. Most of us do not even pause and question such figures even to ask what they really mean and whether they raise more questions than they answer. We let the figures...
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Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In...
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It is human nature to be curious about things that scare us--that's why we love scary movies and true crime podcasts. But what about our deepest, most specific phobias? Spiders, Clowns and Great Mole Rats presents a friendly and even funny look at over 160 fears, from the irrational to the truly terrifying. This book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about fears and phobias like blennophobia (fear of slime), globophobia (fear of balloons),...
7) Hey Gary
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A collection of dumb things the writer texted to his friend, Gary. Gary did not listen to any of these suggestions. You probably did not even read them. That's Gary for you. It is a dust devil of absurdist ideas and configurations. This could be the kind of book you need to read if you are waiting for the volcano to erupt. Author Jeffrey Campbell read some of this book and gave this blurb that's good enough to be on the cover, "Yeah. I think this...
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How can your tongue get you arrested?
What dessert is as smart as the average adult?
What's louder: A jet plane at take-off or a hippo having sex?
In the form of a lively and eccentric course catalog, Useless Knowledge, the brainchild of the creator of the wildly successful Useless Knowledge website offers up loads of facts of little consequence for the hardcore trivia buff or the casual enthusiast. Inside, you'll find topics and entries like these:
The...
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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Pulp Fiction. Friends. Need I say more? The 90's were hands-down the best years to be alive.
You'd come home from school, grab a packet of gushers or dunkaroos as your afternoon snack, and relax on the sofa as you watched your favorite television show reruns.
Whatever it is that stands out from your childhood, it's definitely something that puts a smile on your face whenever you think about it.
Let's jump back to the...
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You Don't Say!
Discover the mother lode of trivia with this quirky collection of crap! Trivia for the Toilet: Double Duty offers up more than 250 odd-but-true facts and strange happenings, including:
• The Green Bay Packers' season ticket waiting list is so long that if you joined today, it would take you 955 years to make it to the top.
• Polar bears' hair is not actually white; it's transparent.
• One in every five people has dropped...
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Discover how you can guard a priceless painting in the Louvre, pilot a space shuttle back to Earth, and survive other ridiculous-yet-possible scenarios using the all-encompassing power of mathematical equations. Whether you paid much attention in math class or not, the inescapable truth is that real life is full of equations. You use differentiation when driving from point A to B and apply basic geometry when you're crossing the road between traffic,...
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Peter Maxwell is the History teacher you wish you'd had. If you meet anyone (and you will) who says 'I hate History. It's boring,' they weren't taught by Mad Max. Many of you will know him as the crime-solving sleuth (along with his police-person wife, Jacquie) in the Maxwell series by M.J. Trow (along with his non-policeperson wife, Carol, aka Maryanne Coleman – uncredited!) but what he is paid to do is teach History. And to that end has brought...
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From the author of The Portable Curmudgeon, a delicious, witty, irreverent A to Z guide to the tics, twitches and safety-valves that characterize our twisted, neurotic modern world.
We live in an Age of Anxiety. The events of modern life have overwhelmed the average homo sapiens until getting from Point A to Point B without being overcome by neuroses is a practical impossibility. Enter, the comic safety valve. Jon Winokur's Encyclopedia Neurotica...
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2015
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If coffee is the foundation of your food pyramid, then this colorful compendium of fun facts and infographics is for you . . .
Ryoko Iwata collects the best pieces from her popular web site, I Love Coffee, and adds a generous shot of brand-new material in this tribute for true-brew fans of the beloved beverage. Overflowing with infographics and fun, interesting (and occasionally useful) facts, the book explores such topics as:Your ...
Ryoko Iwata collects the best pieces from her popular web site, I Love Coffee, and adds a generous shot of brand-new material in this tribute for true-brew fans of the beloved beverage. Overflowing with infographics and fun, interesting (and occasionally useful) facts, the book explores such topics as:
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* Stage a coup * Swim with sharks * Beat a breathalyzer *
The Forbidden Knowledge series has taken readers over the edge before, but never like this. The Most Forbidden Knowledge jam-packs the best and baddest how-tos into one car-stealing, keg-kicking, base-jumping-off-a-skyscraper collection. You'll find everything you ever wanted to learn (though probably never should) in this ultimate self-destruction manual.
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Here you sit, brokenhearted ...with nothing to read but the writing on the wallpaper?
Don't get flushed with despair! W. C. Privy's Original Bathroom Companion is a book that's good for your heart — the more you read, the better you'll feel. Designed to make a porcelain throne into a seat of higher learning, it's guaranteed to make a big splash with you, your friends, and your family.
You want trivia, brain-teasers, facts, stories, or instructions...
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Number 2 in the W.C. Privy series, this bathroom companion is chock full of jokes, stories, historical factoids, quizzes, trivia, and pop culture fun. An ecletic reading array, the book includes:
*Rules and Histories of Laughably Obscure Sports
*The Night They Invented Champagne--the Accidental History of Bubbly Wine
*I Was There! Eyewitness Accounts of Pompeii, the Chicago Fire, the Defeat of Custer, the San Francisco Earthquake
*How to Escape...
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With this all-new 21st edition, Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader, Uncle John and his crack staff of writers prove that after more than two decades in the business, they're still at the top of their game. Who else but Uncle John could tell you about the tapeworm diet, 44 things to do with a coconut, and the history of the Comstock Lode? Uncle John rules the world of information and humor, so get ready to be thoroughly entertained. Read all about…...
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