No. 256.

In November 1997, Desperate Dan, the Dandy comic book character, struck oil, then sailed off with The Spice Girls.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/13/oldest-comic-the-dandy-faces-closure.)

No. 249.

Stewart Lee sent a song he wrote to Fry and Laurie because he and Richard Herring weren't too impressed by the quality of the music featured on the show.

(Source: Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast.)

No. 237.

Robert Powell met his wife, Babs of dance troupe Pan's People, in the BBC bar. He saw them come in, but didn't have the courage to ask her out, so he took the whole group out for a drink instead.

(Source: Tales From Television Centre.)

No. 230.

Barry Cryer had a number one single in Finland with a cover of Purple People Eater, quite possibly because the original hadn't been released there for contractual reasons.

(Source: Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast.)

No. 187.

Will.I.Am's first rap name was M.C.Will. It stood for Move Cos Will Is Living Large.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 174.

Simon Cowell didn't want anyone to know it was his 52nd birthday, so Cheryl Cole hired a plane to fly around his house, trailing a banner behind it congratulating him on the occasion.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 172.

The idea for the Beach Boys' song 'Good Vibrations' came from Brian Wilson's mum suggesting that dogs bark when they pick up 'bad vibrations' from people.

(Source: http://uk.omg.yahoo.com/news/anatomy-song-beach-boys-explain-origins-good-vibrations-011657291.html.)

No. 157.

Charlie Higson completely reinvented himself at university by dressing as a punk and giving himself the nickname 'Switch'.

(Source: Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.)

No. 154.

The Solids, the band that provides the theme song for How I Met Your Mother, was founded by the show's creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

(Source: Wikipedia.)

No. 143.

The French word for paperclip is 'trombone'.

(Source: QIkipedia Twitter feed.)

No. 128.

Morgan Freeman is part owner of Blues club, Ground Zero, in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

(Source: The Mighty Mississippi with Trevor McDonald.)

No. 125.

In Powerpuff Girls episode 'Meet the Beat-Alls', there are sixty-five references to Beatles songs made in its runtime of twenty-two minutes.

(Source: The Guardian. Verified by Google.)

No. 91.

One of Clint Eastwood's sons, Kyle, is an acclaimed double bass player who has contributed music to several of his father's films.

(Source: Told by friend. Verified by Wikipedia.)

No. 85.

Singer Olly Murs, before gaining fame on The X Factor, appeared on Deal or No Deal. He won just £10.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 81.

During the 2012 Brits ceremony, best band winners, Kasabian, kissed Jackie Mason's face.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 65.

The Muppet Show classic song 'Mahna Mahna' was first heard on the soundtrack to Italian soft-core movie Sweden: Heaven and Hell.

(Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/11/_
mahna_mahna_how_a_ditty_from_a_soft_core_italian_movie_became_the_muppets_catchiest_tune_.html)

No. 52.

Musician Ed Sheeran has named his four small guitars Felix, Nigel, Lloyd, and Cyril.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 45.

The vultures in The Jungle Book were originally intended to be voiced by the Beatles. This is evident from their mop haircuts and Liverpudlian accents.

(Source: Twitter feed WTFFacts.)

No. 31.

Actor Mark Wahlberg used to rap under the name 'Marky Mark'.

(Source: Lecturer explaining reference in the Bill Hicks routine famously cut from David Letterman's show.)

No. 8.

Auld Lang Syne roughly translates as 'old time since', 'days gone by' or 'long long ago'.

Incidentally, contrary to popular belief, the song is not written by Robert Burns.

(Source: Trivia website. Verified by Wikipedia. Latter fact explored on QI.)