Season 2 Episode 5 -This episode will make your head explode with useless trivia about taxes, basketball, and meat dresses.

We journey through entertaining but useless knowledge, from bizarre tax facts to NCAA basketball origins and Lady Gaga's remarkable rise to fame. 

• The first federal income tax from 1913 started at just 1% for incomes over $3,000 and 6% for incomes above $500,000
• Early tax forms were only one page long, compared to today's complex documents
• The first IRS audit target was a farmer who claimed 14 cows as dependents
• Al Capone avoided taxes by bribing politicians with spaghetti
• The IRS once seized someone's pet goldfish for unpaid taxes
• The first NCAA basketball tournament had only 8 teams and was played at Northwestern University
• Teams in the first tournament had to pay their own travel expenses
• The Oregon Webfoots (now Ducks) won the first championship 46-33 against Ohio State
• Lady Gaga's real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
• Before fame, Gaga played in dive bars and once set hairspray on fire onstage after being booed
• In 2019, she became the first woman to win an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in the same year
• Dandelions have nutritional and medicinal properties, containing vitamins A, C, calcium, iron, and fiber
• Bananas are technically berries while strawberries aren't
• The inventor of the Pringles can is buried in one

So no, this day is not talking about mops or brooms, but celebrating foods that people eat on a stick.

Send Phil a message! He’d love to hear your thoughts, questions, or topic ideas. Who knows? It could be featured on the show!

fruit·less
/ˈfro͞otləs/
1. unproductive or useless.
Ex. Phil's facts sure are fruitless!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fruitless.
Fruitless, useless or failingto achieve the desired outcome.
Fruitless.
This is Phil's Fruitless Facts,a short, fun weekly podcast

(00:27):
filling you up with entertainingbut useless facts and
information.
Welcome to Phil's FruitlessFacts, and now your host, phil
Meyer.
Welcome to Phil's FruitlessFacts, where we're legally
obligated to warn you thisepisode may trigger flashbacks
to unpaid parking tickets andthat time you claimed your cat.
Welcome to Phil's FruitlessFacts, where we're legally
obligated to warn you thisepisode may trigger flashbacks
to unpaid parking tickets andthat time you claimed your cat

(00:50):
as a dependent.
Today's chaos includes total taxBS stories, a squirrel who
filed for bankruptcy, nationalWeed Day man no, not that kind.
And the first ever NCAAbasketball tournament.
Plus, we're celebrating thebirthday of the one and only
meat dress wearing pop icon,lady Gaga.
So come on in, sit back, relax,kick the shoes off and let's

(01:12):
get into it.
It was on this date in historythat the 16th Amendment was
ratified, which eventually ledto the Revenue Act of 1913,
which eventually led to thefirst ever federal income tax.
So I took a quick dive intosome income tax fruitless facts.
Did you know that the first taxrate was 1%?
So yeah, the initial tax was 1%tax on personal incomes greater

(01:36):
than $3,000 and a 6% tax onincomes above $500,000.
Man, could you imagine makinghalf a million dollars in 1913?
That's rich, that's rich.
Here's some other fruitlessfacts about taxes.
The first IRS audit target wasa farmer who claimed 14 cows as
dependents.
Early tax forms guess what?
One page long Now they'relonger than War and Peace.

(01:58):
1920, al Capone avoided payingtaxes by bribing the politicians
with spaghetti.
Hmm, that'd still work.
The IRS once seized a guy's petgoldfish for unpaid taxes.
They could seize my cat.
1950s, housewives deductedlipstick as a business expense.
Boss move, the IRS acceptspayment in gift cards.
Boy, they've come back to that.

(02:22):
Huh, yes, please go get someTarget cards.
In 1985, a man paid taxes with40,000 pennies.
The IRS took them, but theymade him roll them.
70% of Americans would ratherclean a public toilet than do
taxes.
Public toilet Hmm.
The Vatican pays zero taxes.
What do you call that?
God's loophole?
How you doing on your brackets.

(02:46):
You still hanging in there.
It was on this week in history.
The first ever NCAA basketballtournament was played.
College basketball wasn't themulti-billion dollar beast it is
today.
In fact, the first NCAAtournament had just eight teams.
That's right.
No 64 team brackets, noCinderella stories, no blown

(03:07):
parlays ruining your wallet.
Who won?
Well, the Oregon Webfoots,that's right, and that was their
name before the Ducks.
They took down Ohio State 46-33in the final.
Well, where was it played?
It was actually played inNorthwestern's campus in
Evanston, illinois.
Not exactly a Vegas-level venuevenue, but hey, we all start
somewhere.

(03:27):
The tournament slowly grew,expanding to 16 teams in 1951,
32 teams in 1975 and thelegendary 64 team format in 1985
.
Today there's a 1 billiondollar industry with endless
upsets, cinderella runs and fansyelling at their TVs because
their 16th seed just ruinedtheir entire bracket Not me, of
course, man.

(03:49):
So here's a wild fact the firsttournament game were so low
budget that teams had to paytheir own travel expenses.
Could you imagine telling teamstoday they have to buy their
own plane tickets?
Hey, you made it.
Pony up a bunch of money.
The last fun fact I came acrosswhat do you think the lowest

(04:09):
seed ever was?
To win it all you know numbereight bilanova, 1985.
Wouldn't you love to see a 12seed win sometime?
Talk about a Cinderella story.
Celebrity birthdays for today.
Happy birthday to Lady Gaga.
If you were alive in 2009, yousimply could not escape Lady

(04:30):
Gaga.
She came out of nowhere,wearing crazy outfits, making
crazy music videos and turningthe pop world on its head.
Her real name's Stefani JoanneAngelina Germanotta.
Can you imagine putting that ona Starbucks coffee cup Order
ready for Stefani JoanneAngelina Germanotta?
Her first big hit was in 2008,.

(04:51):
Was Just Dance?
Many people thought it was justgoing to be a one-hit wonder,
but man, were they wrong?
All right, and the weirdestoutfit ever had to have been her
infamous meat dress worn at the2010 MTV Music Video Awards.
Before fame, she played gigs indive bars in New York.
At one, she actually got booedand literally set hairspray on

(05:13):
fire on stage in protest.
In 2019, she became the firstfemale to win an Oscar, a Grammy
, a BA, fta and a Golden Globein the same year.
So I guess it's National.
What it's?
National Weed Appreciation Day.
So what's that all about?
National Weed Appreciation Dayeach year reminds us that some
weeds are actually beneficial tous.

(05:34):
Humans have used weeds for foodand as herbs for much of
recorded history.
Some are edible, nutritious,while other weeds actually have
medicinal value.
Remember running around as asmall child, the fun you'd have
with dandelions Mama had a babyand her head popped off.
Those bright yellow flowersactually serve a purpose.
Dandelions are a source of foodfor insects and some birds.
Humans eat young dandelionleaves to enjoy tea and wine

(05:56):
made of leaves and flowers.
The Native Americans usedandelions to treat specific
ailments.
Nutritionally, dandelionscontain a source of vitamin A, c
, calcium, iron and fiber.
And it's National Eat Somethingon a Stick Day.
Skewer your cravings withdelicious foods impaled on a
stick, from corn dogs to kebabs.

(06:18):
It's a portable and fun way tosnack and dine.
So no, this day is not talkingabout mops or brooms, but
celebrating foods that peopleeat on a stick.
Because who doesn't loverelaxed finger food that can be
picked up by a stick and eatenright?
I mean, whether it's toffeeapples, campfire sausage, cheese
cubes on a toothpick, ice creambar lollipops, feel free to

(06:39):
indulge in them today.
A couple quick hits dyk beforewe leave.
Hey, did you know that bananasare berries and strawberries
aren't?
Wrap your head around that one.
And did you know that theinventor of the pringles can is
buried in one?
I hope they at least use thefamily size can.
All right, that's a wrap forthis week's phil's fruitless

(06:59):
facts.
This week we covered the firstn first NCAA tournament that was
played in a glorified highschool gym.
Lady Gaga may or may not stillown a beef jerky dress, but
before I go, here's something toponder If I get buried in a
Pringles can, what flavor shouldI be?
Think about it.
I'll see you next time.