Useless Facts

The most played song on American radio during the twentieth century was You've Lost That Loving Feeling which was written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil. Although recorded by different artists, the song is the only one in history to be played over 8 million times on the radio. That amounts to about 45 years if the song was played back to back! Three songs were played 7 million times: Never My Love, Yesterday, and Stand By Me (in that order).
Source: The BMI Top 100 Songs (BMI)
"Weird" Al Yankovic received a Bachelor's degree in Architecture in 1981. He also served as valedictorian of his high school at age 16.
Source: VH1's Behind the Music
The oldest business in the United States of America is the cymbal company Zildjian which was founded in Constantinople in 1623.
Source: American Heritage of Invention & Technology, Winter 2000
Every act that has had a Billboard Top 40 hit whose title included the name of a different recording act, that other act had at least one Top 40 hit at the same exact time. Some examples (not a complete list):
1964: The song We Love You Beatles by the Carefrees was on the charts while The Beatles had seven songs of their own in the Top 40.
1984-85: Rick Springfield had the minor hit Bruce while Bruce Springsteen was charting himself with Born in the U.S.A.
1987: Both the ABC song When Smokey Sings and Smokey Robinson's song One Heartbeat were in the Top 10 at the same time.
1992: Weird Al had the hit Smells Like Nirvana at the same time that Nirvana had the hit Come As You Are.
Source: Chart Beat Chat, Billboard Online, April 28, 2000
There are approximately ten million bricks in the Empire State Building.
Source: A&E Top 10 Architectural Wonders
The lightning that we see actually goes from the ground to the sky in what is known as the "return stroke" at 1/3 the speed of light. We can't see the initial "stepped leader" that passes from the sky to the ground.
Source: USA Today Weather Book by Jack Williams (1992, page 127)
From space, the brightest man-made place is Las Vegas, Nevada.
Source: Understanding Electricity, The Learning Channel, March 27, 2000
Janis Joplin's will called for a party for 200 people at her favorite pub in San Alselmo, California at a cost of $2,500.00.
Source: The People's Almanac #2 by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace (1978, page 1200)
Contrary to common belief, elephants are not afraid of mice. Go to any zoo and chances are that the mice are living in the same quarters as the elephants. The mice eat the grain and nest in the hay that is so common to elephant habitats.
Source: National Geographic web site
The Carpenters signature song, We've Only Just Begun, was originally part of a television commercial for a California bank. The music played in the background of a scene in which a newlywed couple had, of course, just begun their lives together. Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and sculpted it into the classic song that we know today.
Source: The liner notes of the Carpenters' album The Singles 1969-1973
Actress Cheryl Ladd started her career as the singing voice of the character Melody on the 1970's cartoon Josie and the Pussycats.
Source: Cheryl Ladd in an interview on Live with Regis & Kathy Lee (8/24/99)
The most common invention of the 19th century was the washing machine. Between 1804 and 1873, at least 1676 patents were issued by the United States Patent Office for various forms of this device.
Source: Household Wonders (The History Channel)
The five most stolen items in a drugstore are batteries, cosmetics, film, sunglasses, and, get this, Preparation H. Apparently people are just too embarrassed to purchase the last item. And, just in case you are curious, one of Preparation H's main ingredient is shark liver oil. The oil not only helps shrink hemorrhoids, but will shrink any tissue. As a result, many older women in Florida use the stuff to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles!
Source: Do Pharmacists Sell Farms? by Vince Staten (1998, Simon & Schuster)
It's widely known that Alexander Graham Bell beat Elisha Gray to the patent office by a mere two hours with his application to patent the telephone. However, ten years after Bell's patent was issued, patent examiner Zenas Wilber admitted in a sworn affadavit that he had taken a $100 bribe from Bell, had taken a loan from Bell's patent attorney, and had given Bell the complete details of Gray's caveat. Hmmmm....
Source: Inventor's Digest, July/August 1998, pages 26-28.