The Mammoth Book of Useless Information. Noel Botham

      • For Star Wars’ 20th anniversary, the first episode film renovation cost as much as the original movie.

      • Former Generation-X singer Billy Idol has revealed he shaves his grey pubic hair.

      • Over eight years of Seinfeld, ‘Cosmo’ Kramer went through Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment door 284 times.

      • Actress Elizabeth Hurley has twelve piercings in her ears and a pierced nose.

      • Buskers in Budapest are to have to take a yearly exam to protect tourists from musically incompetent beggars.

      • A rock fan who paid £1,000 for a guitar signed by Queen’s Brian May rubbed off the signature with his sleeve when he played it.

      • In all three Godfather films, when you see oranges there is a death (or a very close call) coming up soon.

      • Prince Charles sent a bottle of whisky to recovering alcoholic Ozzy Osbourne after his quad bike crash.

      • When director George Lucas was mixing the American Graffiti (1973) soundtrack, he numbered the reels of film starting with an ‘R’ and numbered the dialogue starting with a ‘D’. Sound designer Walter Murch would ask George for Reel 2, Dialogue 2 by saying ‘R2D2’. George liked the way that sounded so much he integrated it into another project he was working on.

      • Singer Janet Jackson’s boob flash at the Super Bowl has become the most searched event in the history of the Internet.

      • It was illegal to sell E.T. dolls in France because there is a law there against selling dolls without human faces.

      • DJ Jo Whiley has gone under the knife to have a third nipple removed. She had thought it was a mole until doctors informed her otherwise.

      • The Paramount logo contains twenty-two stars.

      • Donald Duck lives at 1313 Webfoot Walk, Duckburg, Calisota.

      • The small actor hiding inside R2-D2 is named Kenny Baker. He is less than 4ft (1.2m) tall.

      • Canadian singer Bryan Adams’s song ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ is the track most couples pick for the first dance at their weddings.

      • By the time an American child finishes primary school he will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television.

      • Veteran crooner Tony Christie has landed a £50,000 contract to become the face of Stilton cheese.

      • Sections of the under-construction Death Star in Star Wars resemble the San Francisco skyline, the silhouette of a favourite city of George Lucas.

      • In 1912, the Archbishop of Paris declared dancing the tango a sin.

      • Karmuela Searlel, one of the many Tarzans, was mauled to death on the set by a raging elephant.

      • The most popular TV show in Venezuela is the Miss Venezuela Pageant.

      • A man who lost £20,000 worth of prizes on ITV1’s Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway crashed his car after leaving the studio.

      • Return of the Jedi (1983) was originally titled ‘Revenge of the Jedi’ – but later underwent a title change, because, according to director George Lucas, a Jedi would never take revenge.

      • Television presenter Nick Owen was turned away from a football club bar that is named after him. The BBC Midlands Today presenter was trying to get into the Nick Owen bar at Luton Town Football Club, but was refused entry because the bar was full.

      • Scenes showing Irish actor Colin Farrell’s penis have been cut from a film he’s made – because it’s too distracting for audiences.

      • Jackie Stallone, mother of Rocky star Sylvester, says she believes her dogs possess psychic powers because they predicted George W. Bush would win the US election.