TRIVIA TODAY - Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Over the fourth of July weekend, I decided to wash my car for once instead of taking it to the car wash. Well, apparently that was a bad idea, because I strained a muscle in my back and it didn't stop hurting until yesterday!

I felt a pull when I turned to pick up the bucket of soapy
water, but I didn't think anything of it until the following day when I woke up in so much pain that I could hardly walk. Who would have thought that washing the car could be such a dangerous task?

Enjoy!
Melissa

Questions? Comments? Email Melissa

TODAY'S MYSTERY QUOTE
QUOTE: "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change."

HINT: (1836-1902), American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.

RANDOM TIDBITS
Gamblers in ancient Greece made dice from the ankle bones and shoulder blades of sheep.

Sir Miles Partridge once played at dice with Henry VIII for the bells of St. Paul's church, won, and collected the bells.

In 18th century English gambling dens, there was an employee whose only job was to swallow the dice if there was a police raid.

At Brooks, an 18th century English gambling club, the faro table had a large semicircular section cut out of one of its sides in order to accommodate the enormous stomach of the famous statesman Charles James Fox.

In poker a pair of aces and a pair of eights is known as a "dead man's hand." The odd name originated in 1876, when Wild Bill Hickok was shot down by Jack McCall during a card game in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. As Wild Bill slumped over the table he exposed his hand for all to see-it showed a pair of eights and a pair of aces.

The receipts from illegal gambling each year in the United States surpass the total revenues of America's 75 largest industrial organizations combined.

TODAY'S MYSTERY QUOTE
QUOTE: "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change."

ANSWER: Bret Harte

VIDEO CLIP
Blackjack - Ocean's 13
Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) has developed a way to guarantee a winning deal in the game of Blackjack, but Rusty, Danny and Linus (Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon) think it might need a little more work.

Watch It Now: Ocean's 13: Blackjack

*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
I am bound in a book but you cannot read me,
I am struck and played but not musically,
I am your equal in skill and also in stature,
I am used in heat and light manufacture.

What am I?

Submit your answer by visiting: HERE

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck!

If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize. Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.