How to Find an Interesting Tidbit of Information Every Day
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Need to get attention? And a LOT of it? A unique and fun way to do this is to find a piece of information, such as a quote, event that happened on that day, birthday that happened on that day, or even a death that happened on that day, etc. and announce it to everyone you know - and maybe even a few people you don't know at all, just for kicks! This article explains how to do just that.
Steps
- Decide the specifics of what you're going to do. Are you going to announce a quote each day? Birthday? Death-day? Historical event? All of the above? Also decide how long you're going to do it. It helps if you stop at a definite turning point where it would seem logical to stop, such as December 31st or the end of the school year (if you go to school).
- Do some research. If you're going to announce an event, birthday, etc., you can find all of that by going to Wikipedia and typing in the date that you're going to announce it on. For example, if you were planning to start on February 17th, you'd type in "February 17". You should find a page which has events, births, and deaths which all happened on that day.
- Pick an event. Read carefully through the list and and write down the one which takes your fancy on a small piece of paper.
- If you're looking for a quote then Wikiquote, rather than Wikipedia, will be of the most service to you. Another thing you can do is go to a search engine such as Google or Dogpile and search "weird quotes", "funny quotes", "profound quotes", or whatever kind of quotes you're going after.
- After that, have fun with it! Show up at school/work every day and announce your tidbit. Act excited about it, like it's the most interesting thing you've ever heard in your life.
Tips
- If it's an event you're doing, it pays to do extra research on the topic so you'll have more to talk about. You don't have to do anything extreme; just a minute or so of Wikipedia research will suffice.
- After you've written down your tidbit, carry it around in your pocket at all times so you can check it every now and again to make sure you've got it right. Nothing is more embarassing than having to check your notecard right in the middle of declaring your piece of information, especially if it's to a lot of people.
- If you're not sure of the details, or you forgot to write it down, or you've just forgot something about it in mid-sentence, then bluff. More often than not, nobody will be able to call your bluff, and you'll be okay.
- Although Wikipedia is overall the best way to find a tidbit of information suitable for announcing, if you can't get to the computer for some reason an encyclopedia will do. Just look in the volume titled with the letter that the current month starts with, and look for an article within the encyclopedia about the month. There should be one or more events, birthdays, etc. for each day of the month.
- If you've searched long and hard for a tidbit but can't seem to find one that you like, just pick one and use it anyway. A lousy tidbit is better than no tidbit at all.
Warnings
- Someone may try to top your randomness by coming up with random facts, quotes, etc. of their own and announcing it to everyone. If this happens, do not lose your cool. It will only make things worse. Simply refuse to acknowledge their pathetic attempt at ripping you off and continue to announce a new tidbit every day. More often than not your challenger will get bored pretty soon and move on to other projects.
- Even if you think you're sure of how long you're going to be announcing tidbits, don't go around telling people the date that you're going to stop. You never know when your plans could change, and you could wind up going back on something you announced to a good-sized amount of people. This could make people realize that you're human, and make mistakes just like everyone else--which, as every class clown knows, is not something you want people to remember about you.
- While it's OK to make up a tidbit if you don't have access to any, this should be a last resort, and a last resort only. Don't stoop to making something up unless you can't get to the computer, you don't have access to any form of written information that could be useful, you've asked everyone who you're not concerned with impressing if they know any tidbits, and you have completely ransacked your brain. DO NOT get lazy and start making up facts just because you don't want to bother looking for them.
- People will probably think you're weird if you do this consistently for a long time; however, if that's what you're aiming for then disregard this warning.
Sources and Citations
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