The Mammoth Book of Useless Information. Noel Botham

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СКАЧАТЬ in the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit as Chewbacca prepares to depart from Mos Eisley. The dice do not appear in subsequent scenes.

      • Zeppo Marx (the unfunny one of the Marx Brothers) had a patent for a wrist watch with a heart monitor.

      • A schoolgirl asked band Coldplay for their autographs to sell for charity – and got a triple platinum disc worth £4,000.

      • Flamenco dancer José Greco took out an insurance policy through Lloyd’s of London against his trousers splitting during a performance.

      • Jonathan Davids, lead singer of Korn, played in his high-school bagpipe band.

      • Rap artist Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs had his first job aged two when he modelled in an ad for Baskin-Robbins ice-cream shops.

      • E.T. (1982) director Steven Spielberg is Drew Barrymore’s godfather. After seeing her nude in Playboy magazine, he sent her a blanket with a note telling her to cover herself up.

      • In 1996, 37 per cent of the toys sold in the United States were Star Wars products.

      • Speed (1994) star Sandra Bullock has revealed she uses haemorrhoid cream on her face.

      • The Monty Python movie The Life of Brian (1979) was banned in Scotland on its release.

      • In 1977, the legendary Groucho Marx died three days after Elvis Presley died. Unfortunately, due to the fevered commotion caused by Presley’s unanticipated death, the media paid little attention to the passing of this brilliant comic.

      • Men in Black star Will Smith wants female fans to stop asking him to sign their breasts – because he doesn’t want to upset their boyfriends.

      • Actor Robert De Niro played the part of the Cowardly Lion in his elementary school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. De Niro was ten at the time.

      • ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ was created in 1939, in Chicago, for the Montgomery Ward department stores for a Christmas promotion. The lyrics were written as a poem, ‘Rollo, the Red-nosed Reindeer’, by Robert May. Montgomery Ward liked it but didn’t like the name Rollo, so they changed it to Rudolph. It wasn’t set to music until 1947 and Gene Autry recorded the hit song in 1949.

      • The first Michelin Man costume (Bibendum) was worn by none other than Col. Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.

      • Former EastEnders star Danniella Westbrook buys her millionaire husband clothes on eBay.

      • In Estonia, Teletubbies is known as Teletupsuds.

      • Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne’s full name was Alan Alexander Milne.

      • Teletubbies is filmed in the open on a site in Warwickshire. The dome, hills and rabbits are real. Some of the grass and flowers are real and some are artificial.

      • You cannot walk down the Disney parade route without being on at least one camera.

      • Actress Jodie Foster was George Lucas’s second choice to play the part of Princess Leia in Star Wars.

      • In 1978, the ‘Hollywood’ sign was in such a state of disrepair (termites had infested the wooden scaffolding that supports the 15m-high letters) that one of the Os had fallen off.

      • After fifty events, the UK claims to be the most successful Eurovision nation – Ireland have won more often, with seven victories to the UK’s five, but the UK have finished second an astonishing fifteen times.

      • A shocking EastEnders storyline featuring Dennis Rickman having an affair with Peggy Mitchell was pulled at the last minute.

      • Nicole Richie has six pet rats and gave her Simple Life co-star Paris Hilton a rat she called ‘Tori Spelling’ for Christmas.

      • Ex-Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth cancelled the rest of his US tour after injuring himself performing ‘a very fast, complicated 15th-century samurai move’ during a recent performance.

      • In 2004, rocker David Bowie thought he was being stalked by someone dressed as a giant pink rabbit. Bowie noticed the fan at several concerts, but became alarmed when he got on a plane and the bunny was on board.

      • The beginning of The Wizard of Oz is black and white because colour was not available at that point. When colour was available, the writers decided to start using it for the scenes in Munchkinland.

      • Television presenter Johnny Vaughan says his £60,000 sports car was crashed by his pet bulldog, Harvey. Vaughan had stopped his automatic Maserati 3200GT on the way home from a visit to a vet, thinking Harvey needed the toilet, but, when he got out of the vehicle, Harvey jumped across the seat and hit the gear stick into drive.

      • Stars received an unusual gift in their goodie bag at this year’s Oscars – a vacuum cleaner.

      • The computer Hal in 2001: Space Odyssey (1968) got his name from the producers of the film. HAL are the letters before IBM (H comes before I, A before B and L before M).

      • Napoleon Bonaparte is the historical figure most often portrayed in movies. He has been featured in 194 movies. By comparison, Jesus Christ features in 152 and Abraham Lincoln in 137.

      • While on a training schedule and drinking protein drinks to enhance her muscles, Hollywood superstar Halle Berry confessed she couldn’t stop breaking wind as a result of the drinks.

      • Chewbacca’s name is inspired by the name of Chebika City, in Tunisia, near the place where the Tatooine scenes in Star Wars where shot.

      • Glamour model Jordan once said she fancied a six-in-a-bed romp with five other celebrities – but not the Beckhams.

      • In 1965, auditions were held for TV show The Monkees. Some of the people who responded (but were not hired) were Stephen Stills, Harry Nilsson and songwriter Paul Williams.

      • American Beauty (1999) star Kevin Spacey’s older brother is a professional Rod Stewart impersonator.

      • A BBC children’s presenter was reprimanded for wearing a T-shirt that contained a risqué slogan. Dominic Wood was rapped for wearing a ‘Morning Wood’ T-shirt on his Dick and Dom in da Bungalow show.

      • Irish singer Ronan Keating had to abandon a filming session when he was flashed at by streakers in Phuket, Thailand.

      • A mouse caused £7,000 worth of damage to BBC television presenter Sue Barker’s Ferrari.

      • David Letterman was voted Class Smart Alec at his home-town high school, Broad Ripple High.

      • La Boca in southern Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the birthplace of the tango.

      • Basic Instinct (1992) star Sharon Stone is a member of MENSA.

      • The Millennium Falcon in Star Wars was originally inspired by the shape of a hamburger with an olive on the side.

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