The trivia archive
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One Infusion Cut the Every-Four-Hours Cornstarch Doses by 41%
The FDA cleared Genglycos on Aug. 19 — the first gene therapy for GSDIa, after trial patients cut daily cornstarch about 41% in 48 weeks.
Aug 24, 2026
Josh Monin's 1,882-Pound Pumpkin Just Broke the Kentucky Fair Record
Josh Monin hauled a 1,882.4-pound pumpkin to Louisville on Aug. 22, beating the fair record by 261 pounds and earning $3,764.80.
Aug 24, 2026
Lorelei, 17, Swam the Channel in 12 Hours to Finish the Triple Crown
Broughton High senior Lorelei Schmidt, 17, crossed the English Channel in about 12 hours on Aug. 7 — completing open water's Triple Crown.
Aug 24, 2026
Everett, 16 Months, Is the First US Child Given Hearing Gene Therapy
Born deaf, Everett, 16 months, received a working copy of his OTOF gene at Boston Children's in early August — 1,200 miles from home.
Aug 24, 2026
Five Days Adrift, Two Fishermen Stayed Afloat in a Fishing Cooler
Mexico's navy found two Chiapas fishermen about 150 miles offshore on Aug. 19 — five days with no food or water, bobbing inside a turquoise cooler.
Aug 24, 2026
Olivia Rodrigo Paid Jamie's Final $5,000 Tuition Bill — Kept Quiet a Year
A DM in April 2025 covered Jamie Causey's last $5,000 at Alabama — and she kept the pop star's name to herself for more than a year.
Aug 24, 2026
Maverick Never Left the Missing 3-Year-Old's Side in Rural Kansas
When a 3-year-old vanished in rural Atchison County, Kansas, on Aug. 20, the family's service dog stayed put — and got every treat responders had.
Aug 24, 2026
Three Osprey Chicks Hatch in Cumbria — a First Since Victorian Times
Ash, Bowness Bobbi and Beau hatched between June 7 and 14 at RSPB Campfield Marsh, the first ospreys raised on an RSPB reserve in England in over a century.
Aug 24, 2026
After 20 Years of Sickle Cell, Martin's Blood Came Back 85% Normal
Martin Mwita Jr. left Bellevue, Nebraska, for St. Louis at 20. Six weeks after gene therapy, 85% of his red blood cells were healthy.
Aug 24, 2026
A Drone Found Carl on a Cliff Ledge. 17 Hours Later, He Came Home
Carl, a 30-pound Lagotto Romagnolo, spent about 17 hours on a ledge roughly 120 feet down a Tennessee bluff — until a neighbor's drone found him.
Aug 24, 2026
A $2,500 Check and 560 Pounds of Pork: Willmar's Kindness List
Every Wednesday, Willmar's West Central Tribune prints 'Good Neighbors' — August's editions logged a fire department gift, donated pork and root beer floats.
Aug 23, 2026
In Ardmore, a Park Full of Cars Raised Money for Neighbors in Need
Ardmore's Love Your Neighbor filled Central Park with vendors, cars and a 50/50 raffle for kids with cancer and abuse survivors.
Aug 23, 2026
Moore County Wants 250 Neighbors to Give $25,000 by Labor Day
United Way of Moore County is asking 250 individual neighbors — not big donors — to raise $25,000 by Labor Day for America's 250th.
Aug 23, 2026
Four Sihek Chicks Hatch in Virginia for a Bird Extinct in the Wild
Poki and Antonio had never raised a family — now four Guam kingfisher chicks have hatched in Front Royal, in a species down to about 125 birds.
Aug 23, 2026
Five Secretarybird Chicks Hatch at Chester Zoo, a First in 95 Years
Jolene's eggs never hatched — until her mate John began taking incubation shifts. Now five chicks mark a first in the zoo's 95-year history.
Aug 23, 2026
Betty, 97, Climbed Onto a Biplane Wing a Year After Her Stroke
Betty Bromage was strapped to the top wing of a biplane over Gloucestershire on Aug. 4 — her sixth wing walk, and a new world record at 97.
Aug 23, 2026
The Volcano That Grew in a Cornfield
A farmer watched a volcano born in his field, Mars hides the biggest one anywhere, and pumice is the rock that floats.
Aug 18, 2026
Even the Tumbleweeds Are Immigrants
Gun control in Tombstone, a 30-second gunfight, and the Russian weed behind the West's most famous cameo.
Aug 18, 2026
Keepers, Wrecks, and One Vanished Crew
A boast that summoned a storm, the lens that saved a million ships, and three keepers who vanished in 1900.
Aug 18, 2026
Older Than Trees, Faster Than You
Fish older than forests, a Greenlander pushing 400, and the trance you can trigger by flipping a shark upside down.
Aug 18, 2026
Invisible Ink Was Classified Until 2011
A corpse that fooled Hitler, a bug that hid in plain sight for seven years, and the cat the CIA wired for sound.
Aug 18, 2026
The Vikings Never Wore Horned Helmets
Wagner's costume department, a Saturday bath schedule, and the 10th-century king hiding in your phone's settings.
Aug 17, 2026
Chocolate Was a Drink for 5,000 Years
A chili-spiked drink for 5,000 years, a cookie 'accident' that wasn't, and the cake named for a man called German.
Aug 17, 2026
Grimmer Than You Remember
Red Riding Hood's original ending, the stepmother edit, and the glass-slipper 'mistranslation' that never happened.
Aug 17, 2026
Goodbye Literally Means 'God Be With Ye'
An island nation with about 840 languages, the 1839 joke behind 'OK,' and why only English calls it a pineapple.
Aug 17, 2026
Say Cheese and Hold Still for Eight Hours
An eight-hour first exposure, a 23-second digital debut, and the gentle green hill you've seen more than any photo on Earth.
Aug 17, 2026
When Atari Buried Its Mistakes in the Desert
700,000 cartridges buried in New Mexico, a plumber who began as a carpenter, and the puzzle that slipped out of the Soviet Union.
Aug 16, 2026
Hold the Boiling Oil
Whitewashed walls, toilets over the moat, and the truth about all that boiling oil.
Aug 16, 2026
The Machine That Beat Napoleon at Chess
A 'machine' with a man inside, an 18-quintillion-grain legend, and the human being named Elo.
Aug 16, 2026
The Webcam Was Invented to Watch a Coffee Pot
Beethoven's 60-bean ritual, the coffee house that became Lloyd's of London, and the 'second-most-traded commodity' myth.
Aug 16, 2026