I feel the need to distribute a little more useless information today. There seems to a never-ending supply which I will happily make available to as many people as possible. Some of this information was also supplied by my all-time favorite writer, Isaac Azimov.

• The foundations of the great European cathedrals go down as far as 40 or 50 feet. In some instances, they form a mass of stone as great as that of the visible building above the ground.

• While Columbus was seeking new worlds to the West, Italian engineers were rebuilding the Kremlin in Moscow.

• The number of possible ways of playing just the first four movies on each side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000.

• There were more than 100 distinct ethnic groups in the old Soviet Union.

• The Pacific Ocean fills nearly a complete hemisphere of the Earth’s surface.

• Because of the story in Genesis that Eve had been created out of Adam’s rib, it was widely believed during the Middle Ages that men had one fewer rib than women.

• Immediately after the end of the American Revolution, Congress abolished the United States Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, leaving the Congress itself as the only national government organization. They feared a standing army.

• When Thomas Jefferson became president, in 1801, 20% of the people in the United States were slaves. There were 5 million people in all.

• It was only in 1968 – 43 years after the Scopes “monkey trial” – that the state of Tennessee abolished its anti-evolution law and accepted the doctrine of evolution.

• “Red Tape” the rigid application of regulations and routine, resulting in the delay in getting business done, got its name from the color of the tape that was commonly used to tie official papers. The term was in use as early as 1658.

Well, for all of you trivia lovers out there you’ve just received your daily fix of totally useless information. My supply never seems to run low and more will definitely follow.

ENJOY YOUR WEEK