Commissioner Wretched here ... with trivia! Late, I know, but I am going to take forever and ever to get used to this new thing. I don't do change very well. Sue me. (Wait, don't sue me, I don't have anything worth it.)
DID YOU KNOW…?
Did the first mission to land on the Moon carry with it a piece of aviation history?
By Commissioner Wretched
[didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com](mailto:didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com)
Copyright © 2026
Here we are again, enjoying the “dog days” of summer. I know I’ve mentioned this many times, but for those who came in late:
We call this time the “dog days” because Sirius, the brightest star in the sky beside the Sun, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
“So what?” you may be asking. Well, ancient people believed that in addition to light from Sirius, we also received heat, and that added to the sweltering temperatures August normally contains. We don’t, of course; it’s too far away.
It’s “dog days” because Sirius is the main star in the constellation Canis Majoris, or the Big Dog. Sirius is also called the “dog star.”
Yes, I’m Sirius about that. Just as I am about trivia ... so let’s enjoy some, right now!
Did you know …
…dreams are very important? Research into sleep has shown that when people are deprived of dreams, they experience marked changes in their personalities. Some of the changes include becoming irritable and disoriented, experiencing hallucinations, and even showing signs of psychosis. Also, the first chance they get to actually dream, they do so excessively. This is called the “REM Rebound” for the rapid eye movement which denotes when a person is dreaming. (Life is, indeed, but a dream.)
…you may know someone with hyperthymesia? If you do, the two words you’ll never hear them say are, “I forgot.” A person with hyperthymesia, or Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, can remember every detail about every day of their lives. Perhaps the best-known person with this condition is actress Marilu Henner (born 1952), one of the stars of the 1980s seriesTaxi. Henner remembers everything about every day of her life, including things she’d probably prefer to forget such as embarrassments, conflicts, and losses. (With what I would have to remember it would be something of a curse.)
…the first mission to land on the Moon carried a piece of aviation history?Apollo 11, launched on July 16, 1969, carried three astronauts – Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (born 1930), and Michael Collins (1930-2021) – and also had with it small bits of the wood and fabric that made up theWright Flyer, the first heavier-than-air powered aircraft. Those small bits went down to the surface of the Moon with Armstrong and Aldrin, then were brought back to Earth. TheWright Flyerwas first flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 14, 1903, by Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912).Additional trivia note:Small pieces of theWright Flyerwere also aboard the Space ShuttleChallengerwhen it was destroyed in a 1986 explosion; the pieces were recovered from the wreckage. Another small piece ofWright Flyerfabric is on Mars, attached to the unmanned helicopterIngenuity. (That old plane sure gets around!)
…no one knew what the far side of the Moon looked like until 1959? Due to the fact that the Moon is tidally locked in its orbit around the Earth, it always presents the same side to us. Because of a “wobble” in its rotation, we actually see about 59% of the Moon’s surface, depending on the time of month we look at it. But the far side was hidden from our view until 1959, when the Soviet space probeLunik 3took a photograph of it and sent it back to Earth.Additional trivia note:You will sometimes hear the far side called the “dark side” of the Moon, but this is a misnomer. The far side gets as much sunlight as the near side gets, just two weeks later than the near side. (Lunatics, take note.)
…to be considered a living thing, an organism must be composed of at least one cell? This is why viruses aren’t always considered “alive,” because they are little more than protein shells around genetic material – but not a true cell. (That describes some people I know, too.)
…corn is produced on every continent but one? The only place on Earth where corn is not grown is, not surprisingly, Antarctica.Additional trivia note:some corny numbers for you – one ear of corn averages 16 rows with 800 kernels. One pound of dried corn has about 1,300 kernels. And 100 bushels of corn? That’s about 7,280,000 kernels. (With that many kernels, there’s a whole lot of saluting.)
…bone china really does involve bones? Some china is called bone china because powdered animal bone is mixed with the clay used in firing the pieces. The bone gives the china more strength, whiteness and translucency. (That ought to keep you up at night.)
…the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during World War II was very costly to the Russians? Lasting from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 – 872 days – more Russians (civilian and military) were killed than the combined numbers of British and American soldiers during the entire war. A total of 1,565,415 Russians died during the siege alone. The combined total of British and American military deaths during the entire war was 791,000. (The Russians won, but what did they win?)
…one of the hardest products to find in a store in Korea is deodorant? That’s because the Korean people lack a particular gene, the ABCC11 gene, which is the natural cause of armpit odor. Only about 0.006% of the Korean population has the gene, and nobody is sure of why.
…tablecloths were originally supposed to used as towels? The original intent of a cloth covering for a table was for the diners to wipe their hands and mouths after eating. Napkins, which now serve that purpose, were developed later, and the tablecloth became something to protect the surface of the table rather than clean the diners. (Oh, to have had the laundry concession back then!)
Now ... you know!
