Fun Facts: Bibliography and Sources

The sources for many facts found on All Fun and Games, along with some of my comments about them, are listed below. The sources are listed approximately in order of how many facts on this site originated in the work as a whole (i.e. the entire book, website, encyclopaedia, etc.). For facts that used multiple sources, the sources are listed in whatever order makes sense.

Most, but not all, facts used in the site list the source(s) used. If a fact does list a source, you can click on the "(source)" link, which will take you to this page with the source(s) in question highlighted. For some of the facts, I did not record the sources used and now cannot remember them, but most of the facts are not particularly obscure so I suspect a source could be found reasonably easily.

Unlike most "useless facts" type of sites, I list sources used for three reasons:

1. I feel it's not a bad idea to give credit where credit is due.
2. I receive a fair number of questions asking where I found certain facts. So, I hope that listing the sources will make it easier for the reader.
3. While doing research for this collection, I have found that many "fantastic/useless/amazing/interesting facts" books that don't cite sources often contain a lot of "facts" that either aren't true at all, or are incredibly difficult to verify. I hope that citing sources will help to make this collection somewhat more reliable and verifiable. Still, as some of the sources used aren't highly reliable, it's possible that even the facts in this collection that do list a source are not correct. I welcome corrections if you find any; please contact me.

For web sources, I have hyperlinked the sites used so that you can go straight to the source. For books, I have included a link to the book's page on Amazon, where available.

• Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979). I think I've used this book in my research for this site more than any other book. Note that this book doesn't cite any sources and some of the facts in it are vague, so the warning I mentioned above about such books applies to this book to a certain extent.
• Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979); Ed Zotti, Know It All! The Fun Stuff You Never Learned In School (Ballantyne Books, New York, NY, 1995).
• James Mason, The Principles of Chess in Theory and Practice (1910); personal research.
• Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979); Carl Sagan, Cosmos (Ballantyne Books, New York, NY, 1980).
• Will Pearson, Mangesh Hattikudur, and Elizabeth Hunt (eds.), mental_floss Presents: Condensed Knowledge: A deliciously irreverent guide to feeling smart again (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2004); Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979).
• Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979); other unknown sources.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Earth/index.html. Note that, because NASA's works are not copyrighted since NASA is an arm of the U.S. federal government, I've mostly copied these facts verbatim instead of rewriting in my own words. This includes the next couple of sources as well.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Earth/earth_facts_archives.html.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Space/index.html.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Space/space_facts_archives.html.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Universe/index.html.
• http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Universe/universe_facts_archives.html.
• "NASA - Science", http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/science_faq.html (Retrieved January 8, 2008).
• John D. Barrow, The Artful Universe Expanded (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005); http://www.nasa.gov/facts/Universe/universe_facts_archives.html.
• Christa Pöppelmann, 1,000 Common Delusions and the real facts behind them (Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY, 2006).
• Christa Pöppelmann, 1,000 Common Delusions and the real facts behind them (Firefly Books, Buffalo, N.Y., 2006); Mick O'Hare (ed.), Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? and 101 other intriguing science questions (Profile Books, London, 2008).
• David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac (Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1975).
• David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac (Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1975); Paul L. Knox, Sallie A. Marston, and Alan E. Nash, Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, Third Canadian Edition (Pearson Canada, Toronto, 2010).
• David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac #2 (Bantam Books, New York, N.Y., 1978).
• Aylmer Sun (November 18, 1909, page 4); David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac #2 (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1978).
• Robert and Celia Dearling with Brian Rust, The Guinness Book of Music Facts and Feats (Guinness Superlatives, Ltd., Enfield, Middlesex, 1976), as quoted in David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac #2 (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1978).
• David Louis, 2201 Fascinating Facts (Wings Books, New York, New York, 1983).
• Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett, Just Curious, Jeeves: What are the 1001 most intriguing questions asked on the Internet? (Ask Jeeves Inc., Emeryville, CA, 2000). A rather entertaining book, but somewhat incautious regarding typography (see the next entry for more details).
• Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett, Just Curious, Jeeves: What are the 1001 most intriguing questions asked on the Internet? (Ask Jeeves Inc., Emeryville, CA, 2000); spelling corrections thanks to Geoff Wilkins ("Finnegans") and Timwi ("Kleinkinderbeschäftigungsanstalt"). My one criticism of Just Curious, Jeeves is that it is rather incautious with regards to typography.
• Toronto World (Toronto, Ontario, February 10, 1881, page 4); Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett, Just Curious, Jeeves: What are the 1001 most intriguing questions asked on the Internet? (Ask Jeeves, Emeryville, CA, 2000).
• Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett, Just Curious, Jeeves: What are the 1001 most intriguing questions asked on the Internet? (Ask Jeeves, Emeryville, CA, 2000); Barbara Berliner with Melinda Corey and George Ochoa, The Book of Answers: The New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions (Fireside, New York, NY, 1990).
• Bernard Siskin and Jerome Staller with David Rorvik, What Are the Chances? Risks, Odds, and Likelihood in Everyday Life (Signet, New York, NY, 1989); Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett, Just Curious, Jeeves: What are the 1001 most intriguing questions asked on the Internet? (Ask Jeeves Inc., Emeryville, CA, 2000).
• Bruce Felton and Mark Fowler, Felton & Fowler's More Best, Worst, and Most Unusual (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, NY, 1976).
• M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Blunder Book: Colossal Errors, Minor Mistakes and Surprising Slipups That Have Changed the Course of History (William Morrow and Co., New York, NY, 1984).
• M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Blunder Book: Colossal Errors, Minor Mistakes and Surprising Slipups That Have Changed the Course of History (William Morrow and Co., New York, NY, 1984); Tad Tuleja, Fabulous Fallacies: More Than 300 Popular Beliefs That Are Not True (The Stonesong Press, New York, NY, 1982).
• M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Blunder Book: Colossal Errors, Minor Mistakes and Surprising Slipups That Have Changed the Course of History (William Morrow and Co., New York, NY, 1984); Darrell Huff, How to Lie With Statistics (W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York, NY, 1954).
• M. Hirsh Goldberg, The Blunder Book: Colossal Errors, Minor Mistakes and Surprising Slipups That Have Changed the Course of History (William Morrow and Co., New York, NY, 1984); other unknown sources.
• Geoff Tibballs (ed.), The Ultimate Lists Book (Carlton Books, Bristol, 1998); Barbara Berliner with Melinda Corey and George Ochoa, The Book of Answers: The New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions (Fireside, New York, New York, 1990).
• Geoff Tibballs (ed.), The Ultimate Lists Book (Carlton Books, Bristol, 1998).
• Ian Crofton, Brewer's Cabinet of Curiosities (Orion, 2006).
• Ian Crofton, Brewer's Cabinet of Curiosities (Orion, 2006); Isaac Asimov (ed.), Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (Hastings House, 1979).
• Frank H. Stauffer, The Queer, The Quaint, The Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious (Robert A. Tripple, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 1882). Note that, since this work has entered the public domain, I've copied many of these facts verbatim instead of rewriting in my own words. Also note that the typography in the book is in some cases very subtle; if you're looking for this book I would suggest trying to get a hold of the 1968 reprint edition by Gale Research Co. if you can find it, not a modern OCR edition of the book that will likely not capture this subtlety.
• Frank H. Stauffer, The Queer, The Quaint, The Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious (Robert A. Tripple, Philadelphia, PA, 1882); David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, and Amy Wallace, The Book of Lists (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1977).
• Simon Adams and Lesley Riley (eds.), Reader's Digest Facts & Fallacies (Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, NY, 1988).
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/with; Simon Adams and Lesley Riley (eds.), Reader's Digest Facts & Fallacies (Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, NY, 1988).
• Will Pearson, Mangesh Hattikudur, and Elizabeth Hunt (eds.), mental_floss Presents: Condensed Knowledge: A deliciously irreverent guide to feeling smart again (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2004).
• "Winehouse Joins the '27 Club'", Toronto Star (Toronto, July 24, 2011, page A14).
• "Fame, Wealth and Misgivings", Toronto Star (Toronto, March 10, 2012, page A25).
• "Last Titanic survivor, a baby put in a lifeboat, dies at 97", http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/01/last-titanic-survivor-dies (Retrieved March 10, 2012).
• "Russia scraps WW2 peace talks with Japan", https://www.rt.com/russia/552423-japan-kuril-islands-negotiations/ (Retrieved March 22, 2022).
• Wicks, Ben. Ben Wicks on Mutual Funds. Toronto: Ben Wicks and Associates, 1994.
• "Title 21. Crimes and Punishments", http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os21.rtf (Retrieved May 25, 2014).
• Justin Pollard, The Interesting Bits: The History You Might Have Missed (John Murray (Publishers), London, 2007).
• Justin Pollard, The Interesting Bits: The History You Might Have Missed (John Murray (Publishers), London, 2007); Simon Adams and Lesley Riley (eds.), Reader's Digest Facts & Fallacies (Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York, 1988); "Benedict IX, Pope", in New Catholic Encyclopedia, second edition, volume 2 (Thomson-Gale, Detroit, Michigan, 2003).
• "The Crusades", in Encyclopædia Britannica, Fifteenth Edition, Vol. 16 (Chicago, 2005). I used to try to provide around the same number of facts to for each of the topics on the site. However, it's a lot harder to find facts about, say, the Crusades than it is to find facts about, say, animals. In cases like this, I find encyclopaedia articles to be quite helpful.
• "Slavery", in Encyclopædia Britannica, Fifteenth Edition, Vol. 27 (Chicago, 2005).
• Tad Tuleja, Fabulous Fallacies: More Than 300 Popular Beliefs That Are Not True (The Stonesong Press, New York, NY, 1982).
• Noel Botham & The Useless Information Society, The Best Book of Useless Information Ever (Perigree Group, New York, NY, 2008).
• Noel Botham & The Useless Information Society, The Ultimate Book of Useless Information (Perigree Group, New York, NY, 2007).
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7081038.stm.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3330527.stm.
• "30 pieces of trivia about Star Wars", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6679425.stm (Retrieved December 30, 2007).
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1990859.stm (Retrieved January 13, 2008).
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/archaeology/excavations_techniques/king_stonehenge_03.shtml (Retrieved January 13, 2008).
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2746505.stm (Retrieved January 13, 2008).
• "Hubble sees 'most distant object'", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3490657.stm (Retrieved January 15, 2008).
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/modern/oddities_modern.shtml (Retrieved January 21, 2008).
• Waterford Star (Waterford, Ontario, June 13, 1907, page 3); Geoff Tibballs (ed.), The Ultimate Lists Book (Carlton Books, Bristol, 1998).
• "Curiosities of Measurement", Waterford Star (Waterford, Ontario, July 4, 1907, page 3).
• "The Original New England", Waterford Star (Waterford, Ontario, August 29, 1907, page 4).
• Alan Vaughan, Incredible Coincidence: The Baffling World of Synchronicity (Lippincott, Philadelphia, PA, 1979).
• Bill Richardson, Old Father William's Well-Ordered Universe (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, 2008).
• Allen M. Ward, Fritz M. Heichelheim, and Cedric A. Yeo, A History of the Roman People, Third Edition (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999).
• Barbara Berliner with Melinda Corey and George Ochoa, The Book of Answers: The New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions (Fireside, New York, New York, 1990).
• William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• B.J. Carr and M.J. Rees, "The Anthropic Principle and the Structure of the Physical World", Nature (278:605, 1979), as given in William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• N. David Merin, "Is the Moon There When Nobody Looks? Reality and the Quantum Theory", Physics Today (38:38, April 1985), as given in William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• Jean-Pierre Protzen, "Inca Stonemasonry", Scientific American (254:94, February 1986), as given in William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• Franklin K. Paddock, "The Great Wall of the Inca", Archaeology (37:62, July/August 1984), as given in William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• Bill Dietrich, "Water from Stones: Greeks found a Way", Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona, December 22, 1991, page AA1), as given in William R. Corliss, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1994).
• David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, and Amy Wallace, The Book of Lists (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1977).
• Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace, and Sylvia Wallace, The Book of Lists #2 (William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, NY, 1980).
• Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace, and Sylvia Wallace, The Book of Lists #2 (William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, NY, 1980); Doug Lennox, Now You Know Almost Everything: The Book of Answers, Vol. 3 (Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON, 2005).
• David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace, The Book of Lists: The '90s Edition (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, 1995).
• David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, The People's Almanac #2 (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1978); David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace, The Book of Lists: The '90s Edition (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, 1995).
• Bruce Felton, One of a Kind: A Compendium of Unique People, Places, and Things (William Morrow, New York, NY, 1992).
• Bruce Felton, What Were They Thinking? Really Bad Ideas Throughout History (The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT, 2003).
• Bruce Felton, What Were They Thinking? Really Bad Ideas Throughout History (The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT, 2003); Paul Collins (ed.), Jose da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino, English as She Is Spoke: Being a Comprehensive Phrasebook of the English Language, Written by Men to Whom English was Entirely Unknown (McSweeney's, New York, 2004).
• James Burke, The Knowledge Web: From Electronic Agents to Stonehenge and Back—and Other Journeys Through Knowledge (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 1999).
• Darrell Huff, How to Lie With Statistics (W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York, NY, 1954).
• Darrell Huff, How to Lie With Statistics (W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York, NY, 1954); "US Historical Population, by Year", http://www.npg.org/facts/us_historical_pops.htm (Retrieved July 24, 2010).
• Gerald Messadié, Great Inventions through History (W & R Chambers Ltd., Edinburgh, 1991).
• Janet and Colin Bord, Ancient Mysteries of Britain (Grafton Books, London, 1986).
• Frank Joseph (ed.), Unearthing Ancient America: The Lost Sagas of Conquerors, Castaways, and Scoundrels (New Page Books, Franklin Lakes, NJ, 2009).
• Christopher Slee, The Chameleon Book of Lasts (Chameleon Publishing Limited, Huntingdon, Cambs, 1990).
• John D. Barrow, The Artful Universe Expanded (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005).
• Doug Lennox, Now You Know: The Book of Answers (The Dundurn Group, Toronto, ON, 2001).
• Doug Lennox, Now You Know More: The Book of Answers, Vol. 2 (The Dundurn Group, Toronto, ON, 2004).
• Doug Lennox, Now You Know Almost Everything: The Book of Answers, Vol. 3 (Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON, 2005).
• Doug Lennox, Now You Know: Big Book of Answers (Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON, 2007).
• Ed Zotti, Know It All! The Fun Stuff You Never Learned In School (Ballantyne Books, New York, NY, 1995).
• Bernard Siskin and Jerome Staller with David Rorvik, What Are the Chances? Risks, Odds, and Likelihood in Everyday Life (Signet, New York, NY, 1989). An interesting book written in question-and-answer format. Note that this book is very similar to the book Chances by James Burke, although in the latter the questions have been changed to be more British-centric, and in some cases the answers are, surprisingly enough, completely different. One small issue that I have with this book is that it often presents statistics as probabilities, so in that regard the book should be read with caution.
• Charles Berlitz, Charles Berlitz's World of Strange Phenomena (Wynwood Press, New York, NY, 1988).
• John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, The Book of General Ignorance (Faber and Faber Limited, London, 2006).
• James F. Dunnigan, The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design & Find Them, Revised Edition (William & Morrow Co., New York, New York, 1992).
• "Christmas and its Cycle", in New Catholic Encyclopedia, second edition, volume 3 (Thomson-Gale, Detroit, Michigan, 2003).
• "Crusaders' States", in in New Catholic Encyclopedia, second edition, volume 4 (Thomson-Gale, Detroit, Michigan, 2003).
• "Crusades", in in New Catholic Encyclopedia, second edition, volume 4 (Thomson-Gale, Detroit, Michigan, 2003).
• "Crusades", in in New Catholic Encyclopedia, second edition, volume 4 (Thomson-Gale, Detroit, Michigan, 2003); Erik Durschmied, The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1999).
• Patricia Hluchy, "When fiction becomes fact", Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario, January 13, 2008, page ID3).
• telegraph.co.uk, as given in John Sakamoto, "10 Things We Learned This Week", Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario, January 13, 2008, page ID9).
• "Language at risk of dying out—the last two speakers aren't talking", http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/13/mexico-language-ayapaneco-dying-out (Retrieved July 3, 2011).
• "Why are there So Many Bibles in the world?", http://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/why-are-there-so-many-bibles-in-the-world.html (Retrieved July 9, 2011).
• "This Date in Baseball", Waterloo Region Record, June 29, 2011, page C5; other unknown sources.
• "Interesting facts about India", http://india.gov.in/myindia/facts.php (Retrieved January 5, 2008).
• "300 Million", http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html (Retrieved January 5, 2008); "Forty-Four Million-Dollar Families", Simcoe Reformer (Simcoe, Ontario, September 9, 1915, page 7).
• "300 Million", http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007276.html (Retrieved January 5, 2008).
• "The Holiday Season", http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005870.html (Retrieved January 5, 2008).
• "International Programs", http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldhis.html (Retrieved January 18, 2010).
• http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb10-ffse04.html (Retrieved June 25, 2011).
• http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff03.html (Retrieved June 25, 2011).
• http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/orange?view=uk; personal research or recollection. The page cited lists "orange" and "silver". The word "month" in the fact is based on personal recollection and personal research using a rhyming dictionary (whose name I no longer recall offhand). Also, thanks to all of the people who have e-mailed me about this fact; it helped get the wording correct. As a side note, the words "curple" (pointed out to me by Steven Martin) and "hirple" rhyme with "purple".
• http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/dreamt?view=uk (retrieved November 18, 2007).
• http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/billion?view=uk (retrieved November 18, 2007).
• Richard R. Randall, Place Names: How They Define the World—and More (Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, 2001).
• Tony Buzan, Use Your Perfect Memory, third edition (Penguin Group, New York, N.Y., 1991).
• Jonathan Clements, A Brief History of: The Vikings (Constable & Robinson Ltd., London, 2005).
• Erik Durschmied, The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1999).
• John Farman, A Suspiciously Simple History of Science & Invention: (without the boring bits) (Piccadilly Press, London, 1991).
• Richard Wiseman, Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives (Macmillan, London, 2007).
• Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, 365 Surprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1994).
• Marcus Chown, The Quantum Zoo: A Tourist's Guide to the Neverending Universe (Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC, 2006).
• Norris and Ross McWhirter, Guinness Book of World Records, third edition (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1964).
• Alan Russell (ed.), 1988 Guinness Book of World Records (Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., New York, NY, 1987);
• Alan Russell (ed.), 1988 Guinness Book of World Records (Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., New York, N.Y., 1987); http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3807/features/language.html (Retrieved August 22, 2008).
• Alan Russell (ed.), 1988 Guinness Book of World Records (Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., New York, NY, 1987); other unknown sources.
• Claire Folkard (ed.), Guinness World Records 2005 (Bantam Books, New York, NY, 2005).
• Isaac Asimov, Asimov on Physics (Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976).
• Holger H. Herwig, The Outbreak of World War I, Sixth Edition (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1997).
• http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2006/materials/SolarEclipseThroughSp4.ppt (Retrieved March 17, 2011).
• The New Lexicon Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, Canadian Edition (Lexicon Publications, New York, 1988).
• Jerome D. Fellmann, Arthur Getis, and Judith Getis, Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities, Ninth Edition (McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston, 2007).
• Richard Shenkman, Legends, Lies & Charished Myths of World History (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1993).
• Richard Shenkman, Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History (William Morrow and Company, New York, 1988).
• Richard Shenkman, I Love Paul Revere, Whether He Rode or Not (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1991).
• Thomas F. McIlwraith, Looking for Old Ontario (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1997).
• John Allen Paulos, I Think, Therefore I Laugh (Vintage Books, New York, 1985).
• A. D. Moore, Invention, Discovery, and Creativity (Doubleday & Company, Garden City, 1969).
• Boese, Alex, Museum of Hoaxes (Penguin, Camberwell, 1969).
• Koestler, Arthur, The Thirteenth Tribe.
• Wilding, Norman and Philip Laundy. An Encyclopædia of Parliament, Third Edition,. London: Cassell, 1968.
• Sketchy Facts, Issue No. 2. Riverview, N.B.: Robert D. Barton, 1995.
• Murrell, Deborah. Superstitions: 1,013 of the Wackiest Myths, Fables & Old Wives' Tales. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association, 2008.
• Lloyd, John et al. The Third Book of General Ignorance. London, U.K.: Faber & Faber, 2015.
• Cousins, Norman. The Celebration of Life. New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1974.
• Percy, Walker. Lost in the Cosmos. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1983.
• Fischer, David Hackett. Fairness and Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• "Paul VI", in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (Columbia University Press, New York, New York, 2001–07), http://www.bartleby.com/65/pa/Paul6.html (Retrieved December 26, 2007); "John Paul II", in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (Columbia University Press, New York, New York, 2001–07), http://www.bartleby.com/65/jo/JohnPaul2.html (Retrieved December 26, 2007).
• "Richard I", in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (Columbia University Press, New York, New York, 2001–07), http://www.bartleby.com/65/ri/Richard1.html (Retrieved December 26, 2007).
• Jeff's Almanac (software package).
• "Artillery Curiosities", Lock Haven Express (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1908, page 7).
• Lock Haven Express (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1908, page 7).
• "Fatal Accident to Mr. Vallandigham", The Western Reserve Chronicle (June 21, 1871, page 2).
• "Facts for the Curious", Fairfield News and Herald (Fairfield, South Carolina, May 17, 1882, page 4).
• "Popular Science", Fairfield News and Herald (Fairfield, South Carolina, May 17, 1882, page 4).
• http://world.unomaha.edu/bethsaida/ (Retrieved June 3, 2014).
• Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry L. Beyerstein, 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology (Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2010).
• Awesome Facts (Igloo Books, Sywell, 2008).
• Karen Farrington, The Lore of Averages (Sanctuary Publishing, London, 2004).
• Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario, June 3, 2006, page B2).
• Jim Aylward, You're Dumber in the Summer: and over 100 other things no one ever told you (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, NY, 1983).
• Charles Panati, Panati's Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody (Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1989).
• http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Graunt/1.html.
• "An Epic Find", http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916245,00.html (Retrieved February 24, 2008).
• Douglas Stanglin and Elizabeth Muell Gross, "Oprah: A Heavenly Body?", U.S. News & World Report (March 31, 1997, page 18).
• http://www.ecrm5700.org/; http://www.elgintourist.com/.
• Pamela Wintraub (ed.), Omni's Catalog of the Bizarre (Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1985).
• Carl Sagan, Cosmos (Ballantyne Books, New York, New York, 1980). While this book is now over 40 years old, it is still a good resource for understanding the cosmos. I recommend the hardcover or large-format paperback edition (the link above points to the large-format paperback), not the mass-market paperback edition, which omits many illustrations helpful in understanding the book.
• Nick Yapp, Great Hoaxes of the World: And the Hoaxers Behind Them (Robson Books, London, 1995).
• Gerard Del Re, The Whole Truth: A Compendium of Myths, Mistakes, & Misconceptions (Random House, New York, N.Y., U.S.A., 2004).
• Frances & Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1994).
• Waldemar Kaempffert (ed.), Modern Wonder Workers: A Popular History of American Invention (Blue Ribbon Books, New York, NY, 1924).
• F. George Kay, F.R.S.A., Pioneers of British Industry (Rockcliff Publiching Corporation Limited, London, 1952).
• Isaac Asimov, Out of the Everywhere: Thoughts on Science from the Master (Doubleday, New York, N.Y., 1990)
• Ian Stewart, Math Hysteria: Fun and Games With Mathematics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
• Dmitri Borgmann, Beyond Language: Adventures in Word and Thought (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1967).
• http://www.scrabble.4t.com/wordlist/novowel.htm.
• The Pioneer (Allahbad, India, January 31, 1913), as quoted in http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17113/17113-8.txt
• "The Giant's Staircase.", Lock Haven Express, August 15, 1905, page 5.
• "The World Factbook—Spratley Islands", https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pg.html.
• "The World Factbook—Bangladesh", https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html (Retrieved January 7, 2010).
• "The World Factbook—Chad", https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html (Retrieved June 19, 2014).
• "CIA - The World Factbook - Field Listing :: Median Age", https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2177.html (Retrieved June 26, 2010).
• "Force is strong for Jedi police", http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8003067.stm (Retrieved April 18, 2009).
• "Test the Nation", http://www.cbc.ca/testthenation/mt/quick_facts/sports_quick_fact_5.html (Retrieved January 7, 2010).
• "'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world", http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4357829/Immortal-jellyfish-swarming-across-the-world.html (Retrieved June 25, 2011).
• Marc Abrahams, IgNobel Prizes (Orion Books, London, 2003).
• Erik Sass and Steve Wiegand with Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur, The Mental Floss History of the World (HarperCollins Publishers, 2008).
• Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace, Significa (E. P. Dutton, New York, 1983).
• Henry Petroski, To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (Vintage Books, New York, N.Y., 1992).
• Roger Millington, The Strange World of the Crossword (M&J Hobbs, London, 1974).
• Arnold Buffum Chace, The Rhind Mahematical Papyrus (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1979). This is also the source for the illustration of the title of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus.
• Bethanne Patrick and John Thompson, An Uncommon History of Common Things (National Geographic, Washington, D.C., 2009).
• The Knowledge Commons, Instant Genius: Fast Food for Thought (Portable Press, Ashland, OR, 2008).
• The Knowledge Commons, Instant Genius: Fast Food for Thought (Portable Press, Ashland, OR, 2008); Bruce Felton, One of a Kind: A Compendium of Unique People, Places, and Things (William Morrow, New York, NY, 1992).
• William J. Kaufmann III, Black Holes and Warped Spacetime (Bantam Books, Toronto, Ontario, 1980).
• David Wells, The Penguin Book of Curious and Interesting Mathematics (Penguin Books, London, 1997).
• James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995).
• Eric J. Mash and David A. Wolfe, Abnormal Child Psychology, 3rd Edition (Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 2007).
• John S. Dacey and John F. Travers, Human Development Across the Lifespan, Sixth Edition (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 2006).
• Scott Freeman, Biological Science, third edition (Pearson Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA, 2008).
• Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement (Free Press, New York, NY, 2009).
• Alfie Kohn, You Know What They Say... The Truth About Popular Beliefs (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 1990).
• George Stimpson, A Book About A Thousand Things (Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, NY, 1946).
• Wayne Weiten and Doug McCann, Psychology: Themes And Variations, Second Canadian Edition (Nelson Education, Toronto, 2010).
• W. M. Flinders Petrie, Social Life in Ancient Egypt (Coopers Square Publishers, New York, NY, 1923).
• Joshua Knelman, "Chasing Down the Art Thieves", National Post (Toronto, ON, November 15, 2011, page A14).
• Terry O'Reilly & Mike Tennant, The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture (Knopf Canada, 2009); BookFinder.com Report Fall 2011 (Retrieved January 31, 2013).
• http://www.memorialcemiterio.com.br/historia.htm (Retrieved February 10, 2013).
• Allen M. Ward, Fritz M. Heichelheim, and Cedric A. Yeo, A History of the Roman People, Third Edition (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999); additional corrections from Rob.
• Raymond M. Smullyan, What is the Name of This Book (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1978).
• Ethan Trex, Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur (eds.), mental_floss: The Book (HarperCollins, New York, NY, 2011).
• Mapart Publishing, Ontario Road Atlas (Mapart Publishing, Oshawa, Ontario, 2008).
• Children's Television Workship, That's a Fact! (New York: Random House, 1984).
• Bibel, George. Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).
• Lloyd, John, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin. 1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012).
• "Romance of Canes", Simcoe Reformer (Simcoe, Ontario, August 5, 1915, page 6). Note that, as these Simcoe Reformer articles are in the public domain, parts of them were copied verbatim.
• "Murdered 2,500 Years Ago.", Simcoe Reformer (Simcoe, Ontario, June 15, 1906, page 11).
• "Self Made Men In All Ages", Simcoe Reformer (Simcoe, Ontario, April 26, 1907, page 3).
• "10 Things to Learn This Week", Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario, July 6, 2008, page ID1).
• Debra Black, "Date of birth more likely to be date of death", Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario, June 13, 2012, page A15).
• "Continuum", Omni (April 1992).
• "Continuum", Omni (October 1992).
• Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, "A Woman's Place: Outer Space", Discover (March 2004), page 78.
• http://www.snopes.com/holidays/fathersday/collect.asp (Retrieved June 25, 2011).
• http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/whitehouse.asp (Retrieved July 10, 2011).
• "Sinking the Unsinkable", http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/unsinkable.asp (Retrieved March 7, 2012).
• "Gigantic", http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/gigantic.asp (Retrieved March 7, 2012).
• "Cent to College", <http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/cent.asp> (Retrieved July 30, 2012).
• "The Unsolvable Math Problem", <http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp> (Retrieved July 30, 2012).
• "Company Officials Declare Big Ship Cannot Founder", The Washington Times (Washington, D.C., April 15, 1912, page 2).
• The Day Book (Chicago, Ill., December 4, 1915, page 12)
• "Roman Religion". Roman Religion, <http://www.romanreligion.info> (Retrieved July 7, 2012).
• http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/history101.html (Retrieved July 9, 2012).
• Paul L. Knox, Sallie A. Marston, and Alan E. Nash, Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, Third Canadian Edition (Pearson Canada, Toronto, 2010).
• "Bacteria", Sizes. <http://www.sizes.com/natural/bacteria.htm> (Retrieved July 29, 2012).
• "Table 20. Actual and projected numbers for total enrollment in all degree-granting institutions, by sex, attendance status, and control of institution, and actual and projected numbers for first-time freshmen fall enrollment in all degree-granting institutions, by sex: Fall 1994 through fall 2019", National Center for Education Statistics. <http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2019/tables/table_20.asp> (Retrieved July 30, 2012).
• "Community College Facts at a Glance", U.S. Department of Education. <http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/ccfacts.html> (Retrieved July 30, 2012).
• "Fast Facts", National Center for Education Statistics. <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=74> (Retrieved July 30, 2012); other unknown sources.
• John Stossel, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel—Why Everything You Know is Wrong (Hyperion, New York, 2006).
• D. H. Montgomery, The Leading Facts of American History (Chautauqua Press, New York, 1891).
• Edward Finegan, Language: Its Structure and Use, fifth edition (Thomson Wadworth, Boston, 2008).
• "Many Curious Names", Paducah Sun (Paducah, KY, November 9, 1903, page 4).
• "What sank the Titanic? Scientists point to the moon", http://ca.news.yahoo.com/sank-titanic-scientists-point-moon-181342953.html (Retrieved March 20, 2012).
• "Disaster prevention: lessons learned from the Titanic" , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1291331/ (Retrieved March 21, 2012).
• "Green Bay Packers Top Chicago Bears As NFL's Winningest Team", https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/04/packers-top-bears-nfl-all-time-winningest-team (Retrieved December 24, 2022).
• "Oldest Tramp of South Pike Hitter Since '65", Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, OH, May 11, 1916, page 2).
• "Deep Roots in Plants Driven by Soil Hydrology", https://www.rutgers.edu/news/deep-roots-plants-driven-soil-hydrology (Retrieved February 27, 2023).
• Bergerson, Howard W. Palindromes and Anagrams (Dover Publications, New York, 1973).
• "Egypt's Pyramids: Monuments with a Message", http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/egypts-pyramids-monuments-message (Retrieved July 31, 2011).
• Richard Sullivan, "A Brief Journey Into Medical Care and Disease in Ancient Egypt". J R Soc Med. 1995 March; 88(3): 141–145. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1295132/
• "World's First Automobile Insurance Policy", http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2597 (Retrieved August 5, 2011).
• http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:3613168522828920::NO::P3_FID:619290 (Retrieved August 15, 2012).
• Chuck Shepherd, John J. Kohut & Roland Sweet, More News of the Weird (Plume Books, New York, N.Y., 1990).
• Greg Daugherty, "They Missed the Boat", Smithsonian (Washington, D.C., March 2012, page 38).
• "Optical Illusion: A New Explanation for the Disaster", Smithsonian (Washington, D.C., March 2012, page 37).
• "'Mind and body' failing him, Pope tells cardinals", National Post (Toronto, February 12, 2013, page A2).
• Logan Marshall (ed.), Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters (1912).
• Carl Sagan, Other Worlds (Bantam Books, Toronto, 1975).
• Cyril Bailey (ed.), The Legacy of Rome (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1923).
• http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-networks/resources/cities-101/most-common-u-s--street-names (Retrieved May 25, 2012).
• http://bettersleep.org/better-sleep/the-science-of-sleep/sleep-statistics-research/survey-results/ (Retrieved May 25, 2012).
• https://screenrant.com/times-stunt-performers-seriously-injured-or-died-on-set/ (Retrieved November 20, 2020).
• Personal research; Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, Volume XIV; Brian suggested "haggadahs" and "halakhahs".
• Personal research; "stewardesses" was suggested by Simon Shine.
• Unknown source, with correction from Mark Totton.
• Personal research, calculation, or recollection.