Name cost actor Lennon role

Assassins sure can make life complicated. Remember “Greatest American Hero,” that old TV series about a real-life superhero? Originally, his “secret identity” was Ralph Hinkley. That became a problem when John Hinkley fired shots at Ronald Reagan, so the character suddenly became Ralph Hanley. Actor Mark Lindsay Chapman, meanwhile, lost the role of John Lennon in the TV movie “John and Yoko,” since Lennon’s actual killer was Mark David Chapman.

Trivia question: What celebrity’s twin brother Hunter became an Obama organizer and was named to “People’s” list of “Single and Sexy Men of 2008?” A. Scarlett Johansson B. Alanis Morissette C. Ryan Reynolds D. Lady Gaga

Australia claims 42 percent of Antarctica, more than any other country. Various countries have overlapping claims, but the 1961 Antarctic Treaty sets aside the disputes indefinitely. The U.S. doesn’t recognize anybody’s claims to the continent, and nobody lives there permanently anyway. Oddly, no nation claims Marie Byrd Land, making it by far the world’s largest chunk of unclaimed territory.

The Lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) is a scary critter. First, it controls ants, turning them into robots. Then it forces the ant to attach itself to the top of grass blades, so the poor ant can get eaten by grazing animals, like cows and sheep. This is where the parasite likes to hang out. In one case, though, the critters ended up in a human being who had drunk a bottle of water filled with infected ants.

The United States expanded, in part through war, but mostly through money. It bought Alaska for $7.2 million, or about 2.5 cents per acre, which was a better deal than the Louisiana Purchase, which was $15 million, or 2.9 cents per acre. The most expensive real estate, though, was the U.S. Virgin Islands, purchased from Denmark for $25 million in 1917. In 2005, a 230-acre island in USVI cost $24 million, or just $1 million less.

The Longaberger headquarters in Newark, Ohio, on State Route 16, is basketshaped, which is not a coincidence, because Longaberger sells baskets. Originally, Dave Longaberger wanted all of the Longaberger buildings to be shaped like baskets, but he died first and his more sensitive daughters vetoed the idea. Such “novelty architecture” was once very much in vogue: the Brown Derby restaurant in LA was shaped like a hat, for example.

In the mid-80s, video game company revenues dropped 97 percent, destroying North America’s console game business. As the business moved to Japan, Atari (an American company after all) tried to get back in the game in 1989 with the Lynx, but it didn’t make it out in time for Christmas and it never was able to compete with Nintendo’s Game Boy. In 1993, it tried again with the Jaguar 64-bit system, but that flopped, too, and Atari ended up a division of Hasbro.

Trivia answer: Scarlett Johansson has a twin.