Tuesday Trivia

Trivia about people, kind of a mish-mash of stuff.



HERBERT HOOVER(AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION)

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), a Republican, was president when the Great Depression began. He infamously declared in March 1930 that the U.S. had “passed the worst” and argued that the economy would sort itself out. The worst, however, had just begun and would last until the outbreak of WWII (1939).

People who lost their homes often lived in what were called “Hoovervilles,” or shanty towns, that were named after President Herbert Hoover. There was also “Hoover Stew” (food dished out in soup kitchens), “Hoover Blankets” (newspapers that served as blankets), “Hoover Hogs” (jack rabbits used as food), and “Hoover Wagons” (broken cars that were pulled by mules).

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression. “Black Thursday,” “Black Monday,” and “Black Tuesday” are all correct terms to describe the Crash because the initial crash occurred over several days, with Tuesday being the most devastating.

The most famous demonstration during the Great Depression was held by the “Bonus Army.” It consisted largely of WWI veterans who requested financial bonuses that were scheduled to be given in 1945 to be paid instead in 1932. The U.S. Army was called in to disperse them.

The “Three Little Pigs“—released May 27, 1933, and produced by Walt Disney—was seen as symbolic of the Great Depression, with the wolf representing the Depression and the three little pigs representing average citizens who eventually succeeded by working together.

Chain letters seemed to have first begun in 1935 as a get-rich-quick scheme. The source of the letters is unknown, but the letters became so popular that post offices around the nation had to hire extra help.

ACTORS

Lon Chaney's great skill as a silent film actor came about as a result of his upbringing. Both of his parents were deaf-mutes, so he learned to communicate by expressive pantomime.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg played a cameo role as the clerk who receives Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi's money at the end of the Blues Brothers.

Max Von Sydow plays Jesus Christ in 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and Satan in 'Needful Things', the only actor to play both parts.

Ed Koch, the Mayor of New York in 1984, played himself in the film, The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Ronald Reagan was the only president to have ever worn a NAZI uniform. (Of course. he wore it as an actor in a movie)!

Both actors that have played 'Mr. Rourke' on the 'Fantasy Island' television programs have also played a villain on 'Star Trek'.

WEIRD STUFF ABOUT PEOPLE

Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII of England, is commonly believed to have had 11 fingers. Historians believe that she did have an extra finger or at least some sort of
growth on her hand that resembled an extra finger.

Major league baseball pitcher Antonio Alfonseca has six fingers on each hand, but he claims the extra fingers do not affect his pitching, as they do not usually touch the ball. In most cases of polydactylism (extra fingers or toes), the extra digit has only limited mobility, or cannot be moved at all, and is often surgically removed shortly after birth.

Actor Mark Wahlberg has a third nipple on the left side of his chest. Early in his career, he considered having it removed, but he later came to accept it. Around 2 percent of women and slightly fewer men have a supernumerary nipple, although they are often mistaken for moles.

In 2006, a boy named Jie-Jie was born in China with two left arms. Although all three of his arms looked normal, neither left arm was fully functional, and, when he was two months old, doctors in Shanghai removed the one closest to his chest after tests revealed it was less developed.

Francesco Lentini, who was born in Sicily in 1889, was born with three legs, two sets of genitals, and an extra foot growing from the knee of his third leg -- the remains of a conjoined twin that had died in the womb. Rejected by his parents, he was raised by an aunt, then in a home for disabled children before moving to America when he was eight.

Josephene Myrtle Corbin, born in 1868, was a dipygus, meaning that she had two separate pelvises and four legs. She could move all of the legs, but they were too weak to walk on. She married a doctor with whom she had five children. Legend has it that three of her children were born from one pelvis, and two from the other.