DID YOU KNOW …? Did one of the most popular television programs of the 1960s happen because of a Broadway play?

I know what you must be thinking.

“How in the world does this guy come up with different trivia each week?” That’s got to be it.

Well, if you are indeed thinking that, then I just made the best guess I’ll ever make. And I’ll answer it: I have a storehouse of trivia that may last into the 22nd Century, or beyond! I’ve already mined it; each week I polish up a few nuggets and leave them here for you to enjoy.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Now, enjoy this week’s collection!

Did you know …

… a British gymnast survived a four-story fall thanks to his skills? Steven Jehu (born 1987), a gymnast from Exeter, England, fell from the fourth floor of a hotel in Slovenia in 2004. Somehow, Jehu had the presence of mind to go into a somersault during the fall, and he landed – almost fifty feet below – on his feet, suffering only a broken ankle. Doctors who set the ankle later said Jehu would have died had he not instinctively gone into his gymnastic training. (Good training beats just about everything else!)

… the “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature on the Google™ search page actually costs the company money? Estimates are that Google loses $110 million in ad revenue per year when people use that feature to avoid advertising in their searches. (So when you’re feeling lucky, Google isn’t.)

… in the popular video game, “Super Mario Brothers,” the character of Mario the Plumber does not use his head to get bonus points from blocks? He uses his hand, which – if you freeze-frame the game – you can see above his head. It’s his left hand, by the way. Additional trivia note: The bushes in the background of the game are just re-renditions of the clouds in the sky, re-colored green. (You always wondered about that, didn’t you?)

… one of the most popular television shows of the 1960s indirectly happened because of a Broadway play? In 1965, ABC tried hard to acquire the rights to the character of Superman, in order to make a new series, but those rights were tied up in a not-too-successful Broadway musical titled It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman. So the network then tried to get the rights to Dick Tracy, but creator Chester Gould (1900-1985) was already negotiating with NBC. Finally acquiring the rights to Batman from DC Comics, the network hired producer William Dozier (1908-1991) to make the show happen, and happen it did. Airing twice a week during its first two seasons, Batman demolished the competition with its lampooning of the entire superhero genre. (To the Bat-poles, Robin!)

… television can be a very bad influence? Yeah, you needed me to tell you that. But consider this: when the television series Breaking Bad finished its run, police agencies throughout the country noted a sharp uptick in the popularity of crystal methamphetamine, the drug created by the show’s central character Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston (born 1956). Manufacturers of the illegal substance actually dyed their drug blue in an effort to resemble the drug shown in the series. (I’ve heard of emulating your heroes, but this is ridiculous.)

… a singer’s vegetarianism caused a popular parody artist to not perform one of his songs? When “Weird Al” Yankovic (born 1959) wanted to do a parody version of the Wings song “Live and Let Die,” he asked permission from the composer, Sir Paul McCartney (born 1942). McCartney did not object to the parody, but he did object to Yankovic’s change of the title line to “chicken pot pie.” McCartney is a vegetarian, and did not want his work to be used to promote the eating of meat. Yankovic tried to work around the restriction but could not come up with a suitable substitute, so the parody was scrapped. (Now that I would have liked to hear.)

… no firm consensus exists on what a popular McDonald’s™ character is supposed to be? Beginning in 1971, advertisements for the restaurant chain began using a cast of characters in “McDonaldland,” which were ads aimed primarily at children. Most of the characters – Ronald McDonald™, Mayor McCheese™, the Hamburglar™, etc. – are pretty obvious, but for decades, there’s been disagreement over what The Grimace™ is supposed to be. The purple, teardrop-shaped character doesn’t look like anything living on Earth, but it’s supposedly a living milkshake. At least, that’s what some think. Others, however, maintain the Grimace is a taste bud. (Having never seen either a purple milkshake or a purple taste bud, I can’t offer an opinion – well, I can, but I’m not allowed to say stuff like that here.)

… a man once went to a great length to prove the afterlife is real? He killed himself. In 1921, Thomas Lynn Bradford (1872-1921), a spiritualist, decided once and for all to prove there is an afterlife. He got in touch with another spiritualist, Ruth Doran (1877-1938), and made an agreement to prove the existence of the afterlife. On the agreed-upon date, Bradford went into his Detroit apartment, sealed it, blew out the pilot light on his gas stove, and turned on the gas. He died … but Doran said she never received any messages from him. (I have a line here, but it would close the show.)

… the average person in the United States eats about 100 pounds of sugar a year? Sugar currently represents about 50% of a person’s daily carbohydrate intake for the day. Amazingly, just a century ago, the average American (whoever that is) only ate around 10 pounds of sugar per year. Scientists say that ideally, only about 10% of a person’s diet should come from sugar. (How sweet!)

Now … you know!