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-> "3,000 of the most interesting, entertaining, fascinating, unbelievable, unusual, and fantastic facts."
-> -- '''{{Tagline}}'''
Also known as ''Facts and Trivia'' or ''The Giant Book of Facts and Trivia'' (both from the UK), this book was first published in 1979, with final edits being made by Creator/IsaacAsimov. As a [[NonFictionLiterature general reference book]], the Dewey Decimal Classification includes it in 031 -- General encyclopedic works.
The book is divided into seventy-seven chapters, each with a few dozen facts related to the chapter title. Most reviewers recommend this for bathroom reading, as the short facts are mildly entertaining, but [[NoPlotNoProblem lacks an overarching narrative]] to create continuity.
----
!!This work provides examples of the following tropes:
* AlliterativeList: The {{Tagline}} for the 1980 Fawcett publication would feature two words per line, matching the letters/sounds.
--> unbelievable, unusual, \\
funny, fascinating, \\
interesting, entertaining, \\
and fantastic facts
* AudienceParticipation: The book has a letter from Dr Asimov, requesting that readers send in ''their'' facts for the next volume of ''Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts''.
* BilledAboveTheTitle: The 1991 edition has Dr Asimov's name take up half of the cover.
* CassandraTruth: RealLife Phoenician traveller Hanno was the first to circumnavigate the African continent. When he reported the unusual sight of a noonday sun in the northern direction, the Greek historian who recorded this fact, Herodotus, considered it completely unbelieveable. Nowadays we realize that it was proof of his trip.
* AChildShallLeadThem:
** RealLife Queen of Scots Mary Stuart became Queen when she was six days old, and publically crowned when she was nine months old, in 1543.
** RealLife King of England Henry VI was publically crowned when he was nine months old, in 1422.
** RealLife Pharaoh of Egypt Pepi II ruled for ninety years, which indicates being crowned at a young age, the year 2272 BC.
* TheGrandHunt: RealLife subjects of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty in China, would train lions to hunt with them. The large cats would chase down and kill large prey, from bulls to bears, and they would stay with the kill until the hunters caught up.
* IAmSpartacus: RealLife King Christian X of Denmark, when UsefulNotes/NaziGermany gave the order that the Jews would wear the yellow stars, defied the order by sharing in the danger. Within hours of the order, all citizens were wearing the star, and the King declared, "''I'' am my country's first Jew."
* IfItBleedsItLeads: RealLife Herostratus [[InvokedTrope wanted to become a historical figure]], so he burned down the Temple of Artemis in an Ionian city of Ephesus, known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld. The authorities of the time executed him and tried to {{Unperson}} him, [[StreisandEffect but to no appreciable effect.]]
* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Dr Asimov negotiated the publication into something he had final editorial fiat over the contents, as well as adding a few hundred factoids himself. The primary author of this book was actually Creator/JeromeAgel. UK editions generally give Dr Asimov credit as editor, but USA editions like to plaster his name [[BilledAboveTheTitle larger than the title]].
* LanguageBarrier:
** RealLife King of England George I never learned how to speak or read the English language during his thirteen year reign. He was German-born and succeeded Queen Anne at the age of fifty-four.
** RealLife Queen of England Victoria was a native speaker of German, not English. Despite ruling for sixty-four years, she was never able to master the English language.
* LoopholeAbuse: RealLife Russian Empress Catherine I made it illegal for women to get drunk. Her daughter (and friends in the court) would go to [[SweetPollyOliver transvestite balls]] and get drunk as men.
* ManInTheIronMask: RealLife Sultan of Turkey Mohammed VI had been held prisoner in his own home since the age of four. He went from prisoner to Sultan in less than a day, at the age of fifty-seven (1918).
* MinimalisticCoverArt: The 1981 hardback edition is simply a black cover, with the title written along the spine in two lines.
* MixAndMatchCritters: RealLife ancient Europeans first named this animal camelopard, due to the belief that it came from a cross between a camel and a leopard. [[spoiler:It is now called a giraffe.]]
* MonumentalDamage: RealLife Lighthouse of Alexandria, on the island of Pharos. Inaccurate descriptions are all we have to go on, so it may have been 200-600 feet tall. Known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld, it was destroyed in the fourteenth century AD, by an earthquake.
* TheNapoleon: RealLife horned frog of Argentina is incredibly aggressive, causing the superstition that its bite can kill a full-grown horse (it isn't venomous).
* NonIndicativeName:
** RealLife ring-tailed cat is actually a racoonlike animal.
** RealLife crayfish is actually a crustacean.
** RealLife firefly is actually a beetle.
** RealLife glass snake is actually a lizard.
** RealLife horned toad is actually a lizard.
** RealLife civit cat is actually a mongoose.
* NoPlotNoProblem: The majority of the book is a collection of random facts, sorted by theme, but without any sort of narrative to connect them.
* NPlusOneSequelTitle: RealLife King Charles VII of Sweden was the first king named Charles. The next King Charles of Sweden was named VIII.
* OverlyLongTongue: RealLife Okapi have tongues longer than a foot, which it uses to clean its own face and ears, grab young shoots from tall shrubs/trees, and scare away flies.
* SacredLanguage: RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Roman Emperor]] Charles V claimed that he always used Spanish for his prayers.
* SlaveRace: RealLife Egyptians trained baboons to work as waiters in restaurants.
* SweetPollyOliver: RealLife Russian Empress Catherine I made it illegal for women to get drunk. Her daughter (and friends in the court) would go to transvestite balls and [[LoopholeAbuse get drunk as men]].
* {{Tagline}}:
** From the 1991 edition: "3,000 of the most interesting, entertaining, fascinating, unbelievable, unusual, and fantastic facts."
** From the 1980 Fawcett edition: "3000 of the most unbelievable, unusual, funny, fascinating, interesting, entertaining, and fantastic facts."
* UnlimitedWardrobe: RealLife Empress Elizabeth I of Russia died with over 15,000 dresses. The book also says that she would change her dress two-three times each evening.
* {{Unperson}}:
** The RealLife Pharaoh of Egypt, Thutmose III, is the first to have attempted the removal of a person from history. Because Pharaoh Hatshepsut had kept him from ascending the throne, he ordered every statue smashed and her name destroyed from every public building.
** RealLife Herostratus wanted to become a historical figure, [[IfItBleedsItLeads so he burned down the Temple of Artemis]] in an Ionian city of Ephesus, known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld. The authorities of the time executed him and tried to remove every record of his name to deny him his victory, [[StreisandEffect to no appreciable effect.]]
* VirginInAWhiteDress: RealLife Queen of Scots Mary Stuart married Francis Dauphin a year before he ascended to the throne of France. Her choice of white was due to liking the colour, but at the time she was defying the tradition of French Queens wearing white for mourning. [[{{Irony}} He died two years later.]]
----
-> -- '''{{Tagline}}'''
Also known as ''Facts and Trivia'' or ''The Giant Book of Facts and Trivia'' (both from the UK), this book was first published in 1979, with final edits being made by Creator/IsaacAsimov. As a [[NonFictionLiterature general reference book]], the Dewey Decimal Classification includes it in 031 -- General encyclopedic works.
The book is divided into seventy-seven chapters, each with a few dozen facts related to the chapter title. Most reviewers recommend this for bathroom reading, as the short facts are mildly entertaining, but [[NoPlotNoProblem lacks an overarching narrative]] to create continuity.
----
!!This work provides examples of the following tropes:
* AlliterativeList: The {{Tagline}} for the 1980 Fawcett publication would feature two words per line, matching the letters/sounds.
--> unbelievable, unusual, \\
funny, fascinating, \\
interesting, entertaining, \\
and fantastic facts
* AudienceParticipation: The book has a letter from Dr Asimov, requesting that readers send in ''their'' facts for the next volume of ''Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts''.
* BilledAboveTheTitle: The 1991 edition has Dr Asimov's name take up half of the cover.
* CassandraTruth: RealLife Phoenician traveller Hanno was the first to circumnavigate the African continent. When he reported the unusual sight of a noonday sun in the northern direction, the Greek historian who recorded this fact, Herodotus, considered it completely unbelieveable. Nowadays we realize that it was proof of his trip.
* AChildShallLeadThem:
** RealLife Queen of Scots Mary Stuart became Queen when she was six days old, and publically crowned when she was nine months old, in 1543.
** RealLife King of England Henry VI was publically crowned when he was nine months old, in 1422.
** RealLife Pharaoh of Egypt Pepi II ruled for ninety years, which indicates being crowned at a young age, the year 2272 BC.
* TheGrandHunt: RealLife subjects of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty in China, would train lions to hunt with them. The large cats would chase down and kill large prey, from bulls to bears, and they would stay with the kill until the hunters caught up.
* IAmSpartacus: RealLife King Christian X of Denmark, when UsefulNotes/NaziGermany gave the order that the Jews would wear the yellow stars, defied the order by sharing in the danger. Within hours of the order, all citizens were wearing the star, and the King declared, "''I'' am my country's first Jew."
* IfItBleedsItLeads: RealLife Herostratus [[InvokedTrope wanted to become a historical figure]], so he burned down the Temple of Artemis in an Ionian city of Ephesus, known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld. The authorities of the time executed him and tried to {{Unperson}} him, [[StreisandEffect but to no appreciable effect.]]
* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Dr Asimov negotiated the publication into something he had final editorial fiat over the contents, as well as adding a few hundred factoids himself. The primary author of this book was actually Creator/JeromeAgel. UK editions generally give Dr Asimov credit as editor, but USA editions like to plaster his name [[BilledAboveTheTitle larger than the title]].
* LanguageBarrier:
** RealLife King of England George I never learned how to speak or read the English language during his thirteen year reign. He was German-born and succeeded Queen Anne at the age of fifty-four.
** RealLife Queen of England Victoria was a native speaker of German, not English. Despite ruling for sixty-four years, she was never able to master the English language.
* LoopholeAbuse: RealLife Russian Empress Catherine I made it illegal for women to get drunk. Her daughter (and friends in the court) would go to [[SweetPollyOliver transvestite balls]] and get drunk as men.
* ManInTheIronMask: RealLife Sultan of Turkey Mohammed VI had been held prisoner in his own home since the age of four. He went from prisoner to Sultan in less than a day, at the age of fifty-seven (1918).
* MinimalisticCoverArt: The 1981 hardback edition is simply a black cover, with the title written along the spine in two lines.
* MixAndMatchCritters: RealLife ancient Europeans first named this animal camelopard, due to the belief that it came from a cross between a camel and a leopard. [[spoiler:It is now called a giraffe.]]
* MonumentalDamage: RealLife Lighthouse of Alexandria, on the island of Pharos. Inaccurate descriptions are all we have to go on, so it may have been 200-600 feet tall. Known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld, it was destroyed in the fourteenth century AD, by an earthquake.
* TheNapoleon: RealLife horned frog of Argentina is incredibly aggressive, causing the superstition that its bite can kill a full-grown horse (it isn't venomous).
* NonIndicativeName:
** RealLife ring-tailed cat is actually a racoonlike animal.
** RealLife crayfish is actually a crustacean.
** RealLife firefly is actually a beetle.
** RealLife glass snake is actually a lizard.
** RealLife horned toad is actually a lizard.
** RealLife civit cat is actually a mongoose.
* NoPlotNoProblem: The majority of the book is a collection of random facts, sorted by theme, but without any sort of narrative to connect them.
* NPlusOneSequelTitle: RealLife King Charles VII of Sweden was the first king named Charles. The next King Charles of Sweden was named VIII.
* OverlyLongTongue: RealLife Okapi have tongues longer than a foot, which it uses to clean its own face and ears, grab young shoots from tall shrubs/trees, and scare away flies.
* SacredLanguage: RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Roman Emperor]] Charles V claimed that he always used Spanish for his prayers.
* SlaveRace: RealLife Egyptians trained baboons to work as waiters in restaurants.
* SweetPollyOliver: RealLife Russian Empress Catherine I made it illegal for women to get drunk. Her daughter (and friends in the court) would go to transvestite balls and [[LoopholeAbuse get drunk as men]].
* {{Tagline}}:
** From the 1991 edition: "3,000 of the most interesting, entertaining, fascinating, unbelievable, unusual, and fantastic facts."
** From the 1980 Fawcett edition: "3000 of the most unbelievable, unusual, funny, fascinating, interesting, entertaining, and fantastic facts."
* UnlimitedWardrobe: RealLife Empress Elizabeth I of Russia died with over 15,000 dresses. The book also says that she would change her dress two-three times each evening.
* {{Unperson}}:
** The RealLife Pharaoh of Egypt, Thutmose III, is the first to have attempted the removal of a person from history. Because Pharaoh Hatshepsut had kept him from ascending the throne, he ordered every statue smashed and her name destroyed from every public building.
** RealLife Herostratus wanted to become a historical figure, [[IfItBleedsItLeads so he burned down the Temple of Artemis]] in an Ionian city of Ephesus, known as one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld. The authorities of the time executed him and tried to remove every record of his name to deny him his victory, [[StreisandEffect to no appreciable effect.]]
* VirginInAWhiteDress: RealLife Queen of Scots Mary Stuart married Francis Dauphin a year before he ascended to the throne of France. Her choice of white was due to liking the colour, but at the time she was defying the tradition of French Queens wearing white for mourning. [[{{Irony}} He died two years later.]]
----
