Trivia

Most dangerous piece of gear on a sailboat is the sail.

Q. What did Jim Carrey do before he turned into a zillion-dollar comic?

A. Factory work.

A British airline specializing in vacation trips has authorized its flight crews to handcuff overly obnoxious drinkers.

Surveytakers asked a sizable sampling of recent M.B.A. graduates to name the person they most admired. The candidate who came in first was “Father.” Second were “Mother” and “Bill Gates,” tied.

If it’s more than 100 feet tall, it’s not a chimney but a smokestack.

Q. What was the worst ship disaster in U.S. history?

A. The boiler explosion of the Mississippi sidewheeler Sultana on April 27, 1865. It was packed with 2,400 Union soldiers just released from Confederate prison camps, plus about 100 civilians. At least 1,547, probably more, died in the fire and sinking.

First came the carpenters. Some branched off as joiners. Specialists among these became cabinetmakers. Everything evolves.

Q. What’s a “flink”?

A. Twelve or more cows, I’m told.

A lengthy study of police statistics confirms the common suspicion: Two out of three reported thefts occur at night.