Useless trivia (only 2 concern baseball)

As I've stated earlier this week, I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger right now. When I'm busy, my mind tends to fixate on useless trivia. Those who know me (especially if you were on the "nerd bowl" team with me in HS) know that my brain is filled with a massive quantity of such minutiae and it needs an outlet. Hence, today's note ...

Some little known facts:
1. The duck-billed platypus and (two species of) the spiny anteater are the only egg-laying mammals. Folks tend to remember the platypus, but I feel the spiny anteater is overlooked.
I had to look this up in 5th grade and I've always remembered.

2. As the crow flies, Memphis to Bristol (or another of the tri-cities) is a longer trip than Bristol to Canada. Get a map and check it out.
Thanks to Elmer Brown's 7th grade TN History class.

3. Squirrels always go up and down trees forward. You'll never see a squirrel backing up or down a tree.
Shout out to Encyclopedia Brown. This fact was the key to thwarting one of Bugs Meany's plans.

4. Light can be both wave and particle.
Thanks to Ellen Gilchrist.

5. West Virginia has the most "irregular" border of any U.S. state. I'm not sure quite how they measure that, but if you look at a map you'll see that there isn't a straight line anywhere around the circumference of the state.
I'm assuming I got this from some WV tourism pamphlet, though I guess your state is looking pretty hard for bragging rights if it has to laud this fact.

6. Speaking of bragging rights, ... Lawrenceburg, TN is home to one of only two monuments to the Mexican-American war in the U.S. Also, scant yards to the south, one will find what some claim is the ONLY statue of David Crockett in the country.
I find that hard to believe, but it's the tale we tell.

7. The first professional baseball game played at night was on May 24, 1935.
The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Crosley Field. FDR threw the switch.

Of course some of these facts might not be true facts. To round out the list (and because all lists need 10 entries), I'll include 3 popular misconceptions.

8. Following up on #7 (and to get Vol Abroad's displeasure out of the way all at once), Abner Doubleday did not invent the game of baseball.

9. Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet.

10. Water does not flow down a drain with a different rotation in the northern vs. southern hemisphere.
This one really hung me up because I thought I knew this to be true. Seriously, at issue is something called the Coriolis Force. Check out Snopes or The Library of Congress if you don't believe me.

Whew, that was 10 little pieces of info that just had to come out. I promise I'll be back to what passes as normal as soon as things settle down. Oh, my stint as a guest lecturer has been extended one more day, so we'll see what that does to my mood.

Whoops, one more little thing. The stagecoach tips might be fake. C'mon, Vox Baby, I suspended my innate skepticism and trusted you on this one.