Monty Hall

Bet you thought the host of Let’s Make a Deal was already dead, didn’t you? Well, not only is Hall alive, but he’s still married to the woman he wed in 1947.

Fun facts to know and share: Hall’s wife Marilyn is a distant cousin and was introduced to Hall by another distant cousin.

Legacy: Since watching reruns of quiz shows in which contestants win obsolescent products manufactured in the 1960’s is about as much fun as scrubbing grout with a toothbrush, Hall’s legacy probably lies in the so-called “Monty Hall problem,” a brain teaser made famous from a question from a reader’s letter quoted in Marilyn vos Savant’s “Ask Marilyn” column in Parade magazine.

Marilyn vos Savant is also not trending on Yahoo.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

Although Sloan Wilson’s most famous novel was a sensation when published in 1955, it’s as dated today as congealed salad, no matter what Jonathan Franzen says to the contrary.

Fun facts to know and share: Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, sent Percy Wood, the president of United Airlines, a bomb concealed in another of Sloan Wilson’s books, Ice Brothers, severely injuring the recipient.

Legacy: The phrase “the man in the gray flannel suit” became synonymous with boring white-color conformists, though nowadays, no self-respecting Republican, not even Mitt Romney, would be caught dead wearing a gray flannel suit.

Tiddlywinks

This description of the game from Wikipedia tells you all you need to know why tiddlywinks isn’t trending:

Tiddlywinks is an indoor game played on a flat felt mat with sets of small discs called “winks”, a pot, which is the target, and a collection of squidgers, which are also discs. Players use a “squidger”: a disk (nowadays made of plastic) used to propel a wink into flight by pressing down on the edge of a wink, thereby flicking it into the air. The objective of the game is to score points by sending your own winks into the pot and preventing the opponent from “squopping” your winks by placing your own winks on top of them. As part of strategic gameplay, players often attempt to squop their opponents’ winks and develop, maintain and break large piles of winks.

Fun facts to know and share: none

Legacy: search me.

Aneta Corsaut

Best known for playing Andy’s sweetheart Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show, Ms Corsaut also appeared in episodes of Bonanza, the Real McCoys, and Gunsmoke. In addition, she had a continuing role in the TV drama Blue Knight playing what Wikipedia calls “policeman Bumper Morgan’s pawnshop owner friend.”

Fun facts to know and share: She’s the co-author of The Mystery Reader’s Quiz Book, which Amazon ranks as #9,985, 760 on its best seller list.

Legacy: Though few will know who in the hell she is, a few senior citizens will for the next decade or so recognize the name Helen Crump.

 Skippy

Not unlike Aneta Corsaut (see above), Skippy, a wire-haired terrier, is better known as Asta, the pet he played in the 1930 Thin Man films, than he is by his birth name. In fact, his owners Henry and Gale East changed his name to Asta after the release of the first Thin Man. Skippy/Asta also appeared in The Awful Truth starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, Bringing Up Baby starring Katherine Hepburn, and Topper Takes a Trip.

Fun facts to know and share: During the height of the Great Depression, Skippy’s weekly salary was $250 a day.

Legacy: Asta lives on as a frequent answer in New York Times crossword puzzles.