Hollywood – it’s a tough town; once you enter, you have to constantly wonder what’s fact and what’s fiction.

But one thing stays tried and true – the HOLLYWOOD sign, standing tall and welcoming aspiring actors since 1923.

Did you know? Hollywood sign fun facts from Answers.com on Alltop:

The sign read HOLLYWOODLAND from 1923 to 1949.

In 1932, Broadway actress Peg Entwistle committed suicide by jumping off the letter “H.”

Alice Cooper led the 1978 donation drive to remodel the famous sign. The shock rocker contributed $27,000 of his own money to the project, and bought an “O” in memory of Groucho Marx.

In the 1940s, the sign’s official caretaker, Albert Kothe, destroyed the “H” after crashing into it while driving drunk.

Get the rest the Hollywood sign fun facts from Answers.com on Alltop.

Happy Independence Day! Smell that? The United States is all a-barbecue today; how about infusing those steaks (and guests) with a few Fourth of July facts…

• Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he played his part in creating the Declaration of Independence (…and what have you done lately?).
• The Declaration of Independence was originally known as “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”
• The declaration has no official legal standing, but it is one of the main documents in the United States Code.
• Fifty-six men were signatories to the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence that Congress ordered to be made on July 19, 1776.
• The first July 4 celebration to fall on a Sunday was in 1779. Like this year, the holiday was extended to be celebrated on Monday, July 5.
• Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.
• In 1791 the first recorded use of the name “Independence Day” occurred.
• Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was made. Adams’s last words: “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” Jefferson’s last words: “This is the Fourth?”
• John Adams made a fairly accurate prediction about future generations celebrating ‘the great anniversary Festival’ – “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore,” – except that he assumed it would be celebrated on July 2nd, the date on which the resolution of independence was adopted.
• There is a new holiday in the United States known as Constitution Day, celebrated on September 17, since 2004.
• There are lots of other events, birthdays and historical moments recorded for July 4th – check out the full list.

Learn more about the United States’ Independence Day. Have a great holiday!

Today is the Summer Solstice for all you Northern Hemispherians. Since you have a bit more daylight to play with, go on and turn off your artificial lights and learn a little more about what this means:

• What is summer solstice?
• Which day is the longest day in a year?
• What is the date of the Summer Solstice 2010?
• If it’s June 21 in New York, is it June 21 in Australia?

By the way, the folks in the Southern hemisphere will have their day in December, the opposite end of the year. Meanwhile, hope you enjoyed the Winter Solstice down under!

And now to leave you with today’s quote:

“Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January.” – Hal Borland

Have a great day!

You know how they say you may not always remember the designer of the dress you were dying to have at age 16, or the name of that has-been actor you met once outside a club, but you’ll always remember the names of the teachers who truly taught you in life?

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States. Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) across the country are holding activities to encourage respect and strengthen support of teachers and the profession. Teacher Appreciation Week was founded in 1984 and is held annually during the first full week of May.

So go ahead, reconnect with that teacher of yours who really made a difference. It’s never been easier to track down your childhood real-life heroes: give your old school a call, or search for their names on Facebook.

Are you a romantic, hopeless or not? Then you must be hyper-actively aware that Valentine’s Day is this Sunday.

Whether you’ve been with your partner for 30 years, just started dating or are taking a new lover for the occasion, you have to shop for a gift with the assumption that they’ve seen all the cliches.

Especially if ‘they’ are men.

For years, men have received heart-splattered boxers, red-striped ties, even, gasp, self-made coupons for hugs… So I took the liberty of scanning the Valentine’s Day Gift Giving Q&A to summarize fresh, new gift ideas for your men, as suggested by the Answers.com community:

Five Valentine’s Day gift ideas for men

1. Beef jerky.

   The rationale: “Men love to eat…” They do say the best way to a man’s heart is his stomach. I highly recommend not trying this one on a woman. It would take a special woman to appreciate this gift.

2. Chocolate.

   Wait – hear me out. Not girly chocolate. Not chocolate shaped like anything except… chocolate. Manly chocolate. Big, giant, jumbo chocolate bars.

   Or, fine, beer.

3. The three S’s.

   A sandwich, silence while watching TV and…the other ‘s’ word guys want.

4. Not flowers.

   Don’t do it. Seriously.

5. Anything autographed.

   Well, mostly anything. Baseball cards. Rock band posters. Anything retro. Vinyl records. Balls of any kind. Get on eBay and make sure it includes the John Hancock of anyone famous. It works for this contributor.

By the way, steer clear of the worst Valentine’s Day gifts… And feel free to comment below with some of your own ideas.

Here are a few other Valentine-related Q&As that will at least raise an eyebrow or two:

• How do you make a card for your Valentine?
• Why is Valentine’s Day represented by the colors pink and red?
• How did the symbol for a heart come about given that it looks nothing like an actual heart?
• Why did St. Valentine’s Day become a romantic holiday?

Good luck out there.

Ahhh! Clean off your mittens! Stock up on cocoa! Check on your flight departure times!

The snowpocalypse is coming!!!

At least, that’s all I keep hearing about from colleagues and family in the New York region.

If you’re also far off in some warm climate, learn more about what our winter-wary friends are prophesying about: What is the snowpocalypse?

And for those of you stuck on the east coast, here are some tips for surviving the snowpocalypse (take them seriously at your own risk):

1. Wear all your clothes at the same time.
2. Stock up on hot cocoa.
3. Shout how many inches of snow your street has already received.
4. Take a shot of something warm for every foot of snow the weatherman predicts.
5. Park your car on top of your house so it isn’t snowed in tomorrow.

And, seriously – if you have any flights scheduled for today, check with the airline before leaving for the airport.

Good luck, my cold-climate friends.

After all – it’s coming and you can’t stop it…

With the announcement this morning about Google’s taking on the world of sharing via Google Buzz, Answers.com has created a brand new Google Buzz Q&A category to answer the questions buzzing around inside your head.

Here are a few Q’s to get you started:

• What is Google Buzz?
• Why did Google create Buzz?
• Is Google Buzz available in Gmail?
• Does Google Buzz work on the iPhone?