As an 18-year-old chemistry student in 1850s England, William Perkin was trying to make synthetic quinine for treating malaria. Instead, his experiments with coal tar yielded a brilliant purple liquid that Perkin called “mauveine.” The first synthetic dye ever produced, mauveine was such a breakthrough that Queen Victoria herself made a public appearance wearing a gown dyed mauveine purple and her image on postage stamps was colored with — what else? — mauveine.
Deep Purple’s classic rock hit “Smoke on the Water” describes events surrounding a rock concert in what country?
A) Belgium
B) France
C) Germany
D) Switzerland
Previous answer: Bacteria in your mouth produce sulfur compounds that cause bad breath.
TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts.” Contact her at [email protected]
