2201 Fascinating Facts: 2 Vols. in One

by David Louis

Did you know
—in 1740 a cow was found guilty of sorcery in France and publicly hanged?
—the principality of Monaco consists of only 370 acres?
—the Mona Lisa has no eyebrows?
—there are ten million bricks in the Empire State Building?
These intriguing facts and 2197 more like them are collected here to delight, entertain, educate and astonish trivia buffs, esoterica experts, information addicts and anyone else with a passion for collecting odd bits of knowledge.
Dip into 2201 Fascinating Facts and you'll be hooked instantly. You'll find provocative, curious and often humorous facts about everything from the body, smoking, sports, and geography to place names, human oddities, weather, royalty, government, fallacies, firsts, fashions and dozens of other topics.
2201 Fascinating Facts will help you settle bets, finish crossword puzzles, amaze your friends. It will supply you with an endless fund of conversation starters—and stoppers. And because you'll be the only one around who knows how many calories there are in the glue on a postage stamp, who invented the parking meter or how many ridges there are around the edge of a quarter, you'll soon find yourself the star of the office lunch group and the life of every party.
Whether you're merely an interested collector of trivia or a hardcore fact fiend, you'll find 2201 Fascinating Facts totally irresistible. It will be a book you'll go back to again and again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, History, Trivia

384 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1988

About the author

There is more than one David Louis in the GR database. This is David^^^^Louis, a factoid author.

Reviews

[Ki · Rating 1 out of 5]

In order to get more than one star, you have to actually have 2201 facts.

Best I can tell, 10% are simple wrong. Although, if you use this book as a "puzzle book" and just look mistakes, you might want to give it 5 stars.

But if finding things that wrong presented as facts, just watch Fox News, and make it a drinking game.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really hard to get through. Dating from 1983 the almanac-style facts are too dates to be interesting. Then, the others are seasoned with known falsehoods to give the whole thing a suspicious aroma. For instance,

* The would-be Stone Age Tasaday have been disproved really.
* Tom Parr isn't really believed to have had an Old Testament lifespan.
* Although a popular etymology connects "hooker" with Joseph Hooker, a Union general in the American Civil War, the word more likely comes with an earlier vintage.

Etc.

[EddieP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but many of these facts have been DEBOOOONKED!

[Skallagrimsen]

prehistoric clickbait

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe I first encountered this treasure when I was about twelve and I still own a copy. For lack of a better word it's awesome! This book will equip ANY person, young or old with a plethora of data with which to confound, annoy and impress upon your peers. Unlike many books of facts, this particular "Facts" book is actually interesting. The facts are applicable in conversation and most surprisingly, they should kindle a spirt of wonder in even the most life-drained of office-bots.
Go get a copy Now.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts spanning 87 topics. This was previously published in two volumes, but has here thankfully been condensed into one. 387 pages and over 300 illustrations supporting the 2201 fascinating (or at least interesting) facts in topics such as Demography, People, Death, Crime, Predictions, Medicine, and Insects.

I wish I had the book here to use a few examples. I found it very interesting and would recommend it to anyone grade school to adult.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book when I was ten. I brought it along when my mom drove my brother, sister, and me across the country that summer. When we arrived in CA, I proceeded to read my favorite snippets of trivia from it, to anyone I could manage to corner. It made me quite the popular kid, believe you me.

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book overall interesting and a fun read - but some of the "facts" contradicted themselves between the 2 volumes - and other "facts" are based on urban legends that are incorrect. But I still think it's a fun book to read.

[Sariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back in high school. It has plenty of fun and odd little facts (which I'm sure you can guess from the title). I quite enjoyed it at the time. Not sure if I would as much now days though.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've learned lots of interesting facts from this book...

[Paul McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

There should only be one book like this, and this does the job.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favs