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On this date in 1947, the Hughes H-4 Hercules made its first and only flight. Here are some things you may not have known about the airplane known as the Spruce Goose. Henry J. Kaiser and Howard Hughes teamed up in 1942 to build the largest aircraft of its time. Kaiser, a shipbuilder, wanted a…

On this date in 1938, the village of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, was ground zero for an invasion by Martians in the radio drama “The War of the Worlds,” directed by and starring Orson Welles. Here are some things you may not have known about “The War of the Worlds,” and the reaction to its…

Welcome to the Trivia Minute, your daily dose of history, facts and tidbits from TriviaPeople.com … I’m Marcus Michelson. On this date in 1969, two computers were linked on ARPANET, a precursor of today’s Internet for the first time. Here are some things you might know about the early days of computer networking. ARPANET was named for the Advanced…

Today is the 73rd anniversary of the completion of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska. Here are some things you may not have known about the highway. A land route from the lower 48 states to Alaska was considered as far back as the 1920s. At the time, the…

On this date in 1936, Wallis Simpson was granted a divorce from her second husband, Ernest Aldrich Simpson, setting up the British constitutional crisis that led to the abdication of King Edward VIII. Here are some things you may not have known about Wallis Simpson and the abdication crisis. Bessie Wallis Warfield was born in…

Today is the 56th birthday of musician and actor “Weird Al” Yankovic. Here are some things you may not have known about him. Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburbs. He had his first accordion lesson the day before his sixth birthday, making yesterday the 50th anniversary of his accordion…

On this date in 2006, 77.8 percent of voters in Panama voted to expand the Panama Canal to allow larger ships to transit the Isthmus of Panama. Here’s a little bit about the history of the Panama Canal and the improvements that are scheduled to be finished in 2016. The Panama Canal opened in 1914,…

Today is “Back to the Future” Day, the day that Marty McFly traveled to in the movie “Back to the Future Part II.” Here are some facts about the “Back to the Future” trilogy and the predictions the films made about 2015. The first “Back to the Future” movie was released in 1985, and starred…

On this date in 1973, the Sydney Opera House in Australia opened. Here are some things you may not have known about the architectural marvel. Planning for the Opera House began in the late 1940s. In 1957, Danish architect Jorn Utzon was chosen to design the project after an international contest. Ground was broken in…

On this date in 2012 the 52-foot tall statue of Big Tex at Fair Park in Dallas was destroyed by fire during the Texas state fair. Here are some things you may not have known about Big Tex and state and county fairs. Big Tex was originally built as the world’s tallest Santa Claus in Kerens,…