Who Knew?: Things You Didn't Know about Things You Know Well

by David Hoffman

The man who commissioned the Mona Lisa refused it.
Three of the first five U.S. Presidents died on July 4th.
The company name Atari was chosen so consumers would think the Northern California-based company was Japanese.

These and other eye-opening revelations await the reader of Who Knew? Part pop culture, part pop quiz, this quirky compilation of little-known facts and figures will amaze and amuse readers of all ages.

Who Knew? collects tidbits and trivia about well-known personalities and products that we are all familiar with—or at least think we're familiar with.

From Twinkies to Tupperware to toys and television, these offbeat informational nuggets are guaranteed to entertain and enthrall.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, Reference, Comedy, Humor

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Andrea Cox]

Very interesting book! Lots of trivia I didn't know... and a few that I did.

Content: 2 expletives

[lizzy register!!!!]

On the average, we
forget 80 percent of what we learn on any given day.

[MrsK Books]

Do you know why peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth? How many ridges are there on a dime? Why did they call the book of maps an Atlas? Do you know what key a housefly hums in? Did you know that there is one "soothing" smell from childhood that could lower your blood pressure?

This is a book that is truly a hidden treasure! Every page has a quick fact that you probably never knew and most importantly probably will begin sharing with others more than once,
MrsK https://mrskbookstogo.blogspot.com/

[kglibrarian (Karin Greenberg)]

I found this short book of fun facts and enjoyed reading it. It was written in 2000 and some of the topics relate to older decades but I actually liked the nostalgic feel to it. If you need some trivia bits, this is a good book to consult.

[Jill]

Just a fun, fast compilation of random factoids that I ran into at a Barnes & Noble on Christmas Eve.

[Theresa F.]

Bite sized nuggets of fun info. I love this author's work.
Did I like it? It was amazing.
Would I reread it? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Yes.

[Danielle Mccoy]

Quick easy to digest facts.

[Tim]

A book of interesting items with a very short description of each. Some items are appealing and could be researched for more background and to determine if the item is true

[Destiny Sanderson]

I love these books love the facts and someone this stuff is very interesting

[April]

Fun, quick read. There is a fun fact in here for just about everyone’s interests.

[Scott]

Fun and surprising trivia.

[Sky Alicia Duran]

Love learning more "useless" knowledge. Knew some of the facts, but the rest was fun to find out.

[Christie]

Nice book of trivia on a wide range of topics. It is one of those books that you can always learn something new, and to my surprise and delight, there was even quite a few tidbits around WWII.

Here are the WWII trivia bits that I thought were really interesting and many of them I didn't already know.

The original Twinkies filling was banana; it was replaced by vanilla-flavored cream during WWII when the US experienced a banana shortage.

M&M's owe their success to the US military, which was hungry for a candy that could hold up in G.I.s' pockets and backpacks and could be eaten without their trigger fingers getting sticky.

Before attending the Cordon Bleu, before mastering the art of French cooking, Julia Child did intelligence work for the Office of Strategic Services in India and in China during WWII.

Silly putty resulted from a failed WWII effort to develop an inexpensive synthetic substitute for rubber.

The total amount of money in a standard Monopoly game is $15,140; real money was slipped into packs of play money that were smuggled into POW camps inside Germany during WWII.

The original Volkswagen Beetle was commissioned by Adolf Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

The name Jeep is derivative of the expression "G.P.." military slang for General Purpose Vehicle.

[Barbara Brown]

Who Knew?: Things You Didn't Know about Things You Know Well is an enjoyable little read! It’s filled with surprising facts that completely flipped my understanding of everyday topics. For example, I was amazed to learn how much our taste buds can influence our perception of flavors. It’s wild to think that what I thought I knew about taste was just the tip of the iceberg!

I couldn’t help but laugh and say, “I had no idea!” as I flipped through the pages. The blend of education and entertainment is perfect. Each chapter felt like a fun conversation where I was constantly learning something new, like the quirky origins of common sayings or the unexpected history behind everyday inventions.

It’s a great reminder to look at the world differently and appreciate those little quirks that often go unnoticed. This book is definitely one I’ll revisit whenever I need a good fact fix.

[Dione Sage]

This isn't the type of book I can review, however I am oddly attracted to knowing just random facts that are pretty much useless in my daily life. It's entertaining to me. For example, Houseflies hum in the key of F .... who cares right? But I bet ya before I typed it or you read it elsewhere you probably had no idea what that obnoxious thrumming noise a fly makes was! Because I am odd like that it was no surprise that I received this book as a Christmas Present and I look through and read it any time I am bored.

[Trudy Nye]

Who knew that the name Jeep comes from a government acronym for a general purpose (GP) vehicle?

Who knew you could get a book published by collecting random trivia?

Much of this book is fun and interesting...it's certainly a quick read. Quite often, though, you will answer the "Who knew?" question with...I knew that! Of course, that's fun, too.

[Mayda]

This little book is filled with fun facts, some of which may be new to you. Small in size, it just fits on an end table and fills those empty moments between novels. But don’t expect to remember all you read the first time through. According to the last page, on the average, we forget 80 percent of what we learn on any given day.

[Michelle Balog]

There was only one short little tidbit on each page. Some of the information is a bit dated and some of the younger folks might not know why that factoid is at all important. IE...The Monkeys, The Godfather, The Yellow Submarine. Some were quite amusing and entertaining but honestly I don't think the book is worth the price when you get can get an app that does more for far less.

[Amy]

I think I am the only adult in America who has never seen the show Sex In The City. It is a cultural phenomenon. And I missed it...typical. However, I know TONS of stuff that I never knew before, some of it even useful, thanks to this little book.

[GoldenjoyBazyll]

Personally- I think it is vital to know that Barbie's last name is Roberts..... The land of OZ was named as such because the last drawer on Baum's cabinet said O-Z and that Twinkies explode in the Microwave at the 45 second mark! Enough said! FUN book!

[Ashley]

I loved this book. It basically contains a bunch of random facts that people may or may not know. From facts about food or television, you can learn a bunch of random things from this book! This book was really fun to read in advisory.

[Sara Johnston]

this book was wierd. just a bunch nof strange random facts, so yeah. it doesnt really even fall under the catagory of a book. lol

[Jillian]

I'm a sucker for random facts! Love it!

[Emylie]

Barbie's last name is Roberts. I never knew...

[TJ Shelby]

More fun and interesting facts and trivia.

[04AndreH]

I loved it!

[Halle Bentley]

Very interesting facts about things we know pretty well!
Very cool!

[Kathryn]

This book was a lot of fun. It had a lot of interesting information - some I knew and some I didn't.

[Julia]

A quick read, with a few tidbits of information I didn't know, and a lot more that I already knew. Would make good bathroom reading if it weren't a library book.

[Angel]

I actually already knew some of the facts in this book, but many were new and surprising. Find out where R2D2 got his name and how many spots are in 101 Dalmatians! Read this book.