Trivia Day

Created by
Robert L. Birch (Puns Corps)
in 1980ish
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Imagine if you will, a world where facts and knowledge were celebrated and revered like they were the last functional mobile phone on a deserted island. A world where trivia was king, and we were all its loyal subjects.
This is not imaginary on Trivia Day!
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The word “trivia” comes from the Roman word “triviae” for when one road splits or forks into two roads.
Triviae is a combination of tri (three) and viae (roads). So it literally means “three roads”.

Much later in 1902, Logan Pearsall Smith wrote a book called “Trivialities, bits of information of little consequence”, which was full of essays about everyday occurrences and small moments. The book became popular in 1918 and then was republished in 1921 with another book called “More Trivia”. It was all collected together in 1933.

In the 1960s, some college students and other people started to informally chat about the popular culture they remembered from their childhood.
On February 5, 1965, this casual game was finally awarded the label of “Trivia” in a piece written in The Columbia Daily Spectator.
Ed Goodgold, the author, and Dan Carlinsky then joined forces to organize some of the
These contests were so popular that they eventually evolved into the trivia games and quizzes that we know and love today.

Then Robert L Birch of Puns Corps. founded National Trivia Day and organized its first celebration in 1980!
As usual with US national days, there is little distinction between US pop culture and non-US pop culture since we see all US pop culture world wide on electronic devices Almost as soon as it starts to exist. So now it’s no longer national.

Trivia Day is not just about winning a barroom bet or impressing your friends with your encyclopedic knowledge of obscure facts. It’s about the joy of learning, the thrill of discovery, and the satisfaction of knowing that there is always more to learn.

So, if you’re now convinced you want to celebrate Trivia Day, but wonder how to do it.
Here are a few unconventional examples of how to mark this special day!
You could host a trivia night with friends and family, where the winner gets to choose the movie for the next family movie night.
You could play a game of Trivial Pursuit with your significant other, where the loser has to do the dishes for the week.
You could even organize a trivia scavenger hunt, where teams have to find and answer trivia questions hidden around the city.

But perhaps the most unconventional way to celebrate Trivia Day is to simply take a moment to learn something new. Read a book, watch a documentary, or listen to a podcast. Expand your knowledge and your horizons, and remember, as the great philosopher Aristotle once said, “The more you know, the more you realize how little you know.”

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And finally, as a bonus, here’s a piece of trivia for you:
The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
It’s a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine silica dust.
We hope you will never have any reason to have to remember this word.