Here it is. The end of November. And I almost missed it. November is “Interesting Facts Month.” Actually, all 12 months are chock full of interesting facts. I just made that part up about November being the interesting facts month. But let’s pretend.
So, for today and tomorrow, I will give you some good trivia to think about.
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Hitler Museum Bomb Plot
A German officer, Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff, once tried to assassinate Hitler by hiding two time bombs inside his coat. This was during a museum tour. But Hitler moved too quickly through the exhibit and left early. Gersdorff had to sprint to the restroom and defuse the bombs just in time. Darn it. Just think how many lives would have been saved if he had succeeded.
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The Math Genius on the Field
NFL player John Urschel told his team, the Baltimore Ravens, that he was “taking classes” at MIT. What he didn’t mention was that he was actually a full-time PhD student in mathematics. Between Sunday games and Tuesday practices, he was studying advanced equations. That was back in 2014. He is one smart guy. He quit football. And now? Urschel joined the faculty of MIT as an assistant professor in the MIT Math department in 2023.
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Babysitter: Alice Cooper
When Keanu Reeves was a kid, his babysitter for a while was none other than rock legend Alice Cooper. Yep. That might explain a whole big lot.
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McGwire’s Million-Dollar Baseball
When Mark McGwire hit his 70th home run. It set a record. The guy who caught the ball was fan Phil Ozersky. The Cardinals offered him signed memorabilia in exchange for that home run ball. But what this guy really wanted was to meet Mark McGwire. They said no. So Ozersky kept that home run ball. Later, he sold it for over $3 million.
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Dr. Seuss, Late Bloomer
Dr. Seuss didn’t hit it big until he was 53 years old. That came when he wrote The Cat in the Hat. He refused to write a memoir and gave only two interviews. Both of those interviews happened near the end of his life while he battled cancer.
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Football Royalty Sisters
Hut, hut, hike. Actresses Kate and Rooney Mara come from serious football lineage. Their mom’s side (the Rooneys) owns the Pittsburgh Steelers. That would be my favorite team. And. Their dad’s family (the Maras) owns the New York Giants. I wonder what their household was like on Sundays.
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And November.
Its name comes from the Latin novem, meaning “nine,” because in the ancient Roman calendar, it was originally the ninth month.
When the months January and February were added to the start of the year, November shifted from being month 9 to month 11. And yet? Its name stayed the same.
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And more on the way tomorrow.
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“There are no facts, only interpretations.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
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“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.” — Samuel Johnson
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“The more I see, the less I know for sure.” — John Lennon
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“It is not the facts that shape us, but the stories we tell about them.” — Rachel Naomi Remen
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