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Our Awards
and what they had to say about us (if anything).

Site of the Week You don't remember when Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, but you know that Jean-Claude Van Damme just separated from his fourth wife. With so many useless facts floating around in our heads, we might as well gather some useless facts that serve as good conversation starters. Visit the Useless Information Home Page for the best of the best in stories devoid of intellectual significance.
Are you surprised at how much useless information is swimming around in your head? You're probably even more blown away by the amount of useless information swimming around other peoples' heads. It's important to know your geography and multiplication tables, but it's also important to have a few useless facts tucked away in your brain in case a conversation looks like it's dying. Nothing revives a crowd more than the true story of how forks were invented.

Replenish your bank of useless knowledge by visiting the Useless Information Home Page. With over 60 fascinating true stories to share, this site showcases "stuff you never needed to know but your life would be incomplete without." Read about the amazing life of Violet Jessop, a nurse who survived the sinking of the Titanic as well as the sinkings of two other ships, the Olympic and the Britannic. Learn about the day that Niagara Falls stopped falling or how hot, steaming molasses once flooded Boston.

Each story includes a sidebar that highlights Web links related to the subject and lists books and other references for learning more. It may take more research to learn all there is about the origin of Pez Candy, after all. The site also answers the burning questions of your youth. Haven't you always wanted to know how they get 100% of your daily allowance of vitamins and minerals in Total Cereal? And how exactly do they get Teflon to stick to the pan? The Useless Information Home Page tells you.

The stories on the site may all sound like urban legends, but they're true. True, we say! You have no real reason to visit the site, but then again, you have no reason to know how the fork was invented either.

If trivia is of interest to you, this site, The Useless Information Home Page, will keep you fascinated for many hours. Consider the story of the first subway line built in New York City, or read about actress Hedy Lamarr's other life - she patented a device whose concept would prove to be very useful to missle guidance and modern telecommunications. There are over sixty stories here, trivia but, not trivial.

Listing.

Truth in advertising. This page is a shrine to the trivial. If you ever wondered what the "WD" in WD-40 stands for or want to learn about the great Flubber controversy of 1961, this is the site for you. Who knows, the knowledge you glean from this site may just put you over the edge in a hard fought Trivial Pursuit game.

Sixty "fascinating stories" of old news like the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, an entire book written without e's, and the man who ate a spoonful of Vaseline every day. (Fur balls?)

BBC Comedy Zone
Web Choice for July 28, 1998 Useless Information - Presented on a Don't-Need-to-Know Basis
Anyone with a thirst for trivia will enjoy this site, maintained by an American science teacher. Did you know that urine was used for centuries as an ingredient in toothpaste? Or that Coca-Cola can be used - if you're that desperate - as a contraceptive? Hundreds of fascinating facts can be culled from these pages. Most, though, are to be found in full-length stories on a particular subject, many with pictures or photographs. The tale of the 1904 Olympics is both shocking and hilarious; so is the account of what happened when an American toy company put Flubber on the shelves in 1963. There's a strong academic vein to this bunkum, with plenty of historical and scientific background. Some of the yarns are rather long-winded as a result, but perseverance pays dividends.

An amusing American site offering a wealth of useless facts, stories and anecdotes. Tales range from the bizarre (How 1930s screen legend Hedy Lamarr invented modern missile control and telecommunications) to the ridiculous (Contact lenses for chickens). All true, apparently.

Useless information has a strange and wonderful property: it is frequently more useful than information that is supposed to be useful in its own right. Consider, for example, the daily usefulness of things we were required to memorize in school: State capitals, Boyle's Law, taxonomy, the binomial theorem, the date of the Peloponnesian War, and the like. Who wouldn't gladly trade the time and brain space consumed by these things for knowledge of the origins of Band Aids? Listerine? Vaseline? Aspirin? Condoms? Bras? Or flash lights? You could marvel friends and coworkers with histories of toilet paper, xerography and toy trains! Steven Silverman, a high school science teacher, offers us such an opportunity with his extensive and entertaining Web site. Over 60 fascinating articles cover a variety of topics, such as the hazards of vinegar, the chemistry of Grecian Formula, lost NYC subway stations, and what happens when you pull the stopper out of a lake. You'll also find witty biographies, pictures, and original graphics, as well as useless books, articles, and links. Why don't they teach this stuff in more schools?

Listing.

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Site of the Week	You don't remember when Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, but you know that Jean-Claude Van Damme just separated from his fourth wife. With so many useless facts floating around in our heads, we might as well gather some useless facts that serve as good conversation starters. Visit the Useless Information Home Page for the best of the best in stories devoid of intellectual significance. Are you surprised at how much useless information is swimming around in your head? You're probably even more blown away by the amount of useless information swimming around other peoples' heads. It's important to know your geography and multiplication tables, but it's also important to have a few useless facts tucked away in your brain in case a conversation looks like it's dying. Nothing revives a crowd more than the true story of how forks were invented. Replenish your bank of useless knowledge by visiting the Useless Information Home Page. With over 60 fascinating true stories to share, this site showcases "stuff you never needed to know but your life would be incomplete without." Read about the amazing life of Violet Jessop, a nurse who survived the sinking of the Titanic as well as the sinkings of two other ships, the Olympic and the Britannic. Learn about the day that Niagara Falls stopped falling or how hot, steaming molasses once flooded Boston. Each story includes a sidebar that highlights Web links related to the subject and lists books and other references for learning more. It may take more research to learn all there is about the origin of Pez Candy, after all. The site also answers the burning questions of your youth. Haven't you always wanted to know how they get 100% of your daily allowance of vitamins and minerals in Total Cereal? And how exactly do they get Teflon to stick to the pan? The Useless Information Home Page tells you. The stories on the site may all sound like urban legends, but they're true. True, we say! You have no real reason to visit the site, but then again, you have no reason to know how the fork was invented either.
	If trivia is of interest to you, this site, The Useless Information Home Page, will keep you fascinated for many hours. Consider the story of the first subway line built in New York City, or read about actress Hedy Lamarr's other life - she patented a device whose concept would prove to be very useful to missle guidance and modern telecommunications. There are over sixty stories here, trivia but, not trivial.
	Listing.
	Truth in advertising. This page is a shrine to the trivial. If you ever wondered what the "WD" in WD-40 stands for or want to learn about the great Flubber controversy of 1961, this is the site for you. Who knows, the knowledge you glean from this site may just put you over the edge in a hard fought Trivial Pursuit game.
	Sixty "fascinating stories" of old news like the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, an entire book written without e's, and the man who ate a spoonful of Vaseline every day. (Fur balls?)
BBC Comedy Zone Web Choice for July 28, 1998	Useless Information - Presented on a Don't-Need-to-Know Basis Anyone with a thirst for trivia will enjoy this site, maintained by an American science teacher. Did you know that urine was used for centuries as an ingredient in toothpaste? Or that Coca-Cola can be used - if you're that desperate - as a contraceptive? Hundreds of fascinating facts can be culled from these pages. Most, though, are to be found in full-length stories on a particular subject, many with pictures or photographs. The tale of the 1904 Olympics is both shocking and hilarious; so is the account of what happened when an American toy company put Flubber on the shelves in 1963. There's a strong academic vein to this bunkum, with plenty of historical and scientific background. Some of the yarns are rather long-winded as a result, but perseverance pays dividends. An amusing American site offering a wealth of useless facts, stories and anecdotes. Tales range from the bizarre (How 1930s screen legend Hedy Lamarr invented modern missile control and telecommunications) to the ridiculous (Contact lenses for chickens). All true, apparently.
	Useless information has a strange and wonderful property: it is frequently more useful than information that is supposed to be useful in its own right. Consider, for example, the daily usefulness of things we were required to memorize in school: State capitals, Boyle's Law, taxonomy, the binomial theorem, the date of the Peloponnesian War, and the like. Who wouldn't gladly trade the time and brain space consumed by these things for knowledge of the origins of Band Aids? Listerine? Vaseline? Aspirin? Condoms? Bras? Or flash lights? You could marvel friends and coworkers with histories of toilet paper, xerography and toy trains! Steven Silverman, a high school science teacher, offers us such an opportunity with his extensive and entertaining Web site. Over 60 fascinating articles cover a variety of topics, such as the hazards of vinegar, the chemistry of Grecian Formula, lost NYC subway stations, and what happens when you pull the stopper out of a lake. You'll also find witty biographies, pictures, and original graphics, as well as useless books, articles, and links. Why don't they teach this stuff in more schools?
	Listing.