A tongue-in-cheek disclaimer in the fine print of The 1993 World Almanac reads: "The World Almanac does not decide wagers."
"We get a lot of calls with the noise of clinking glasses in the background," says Almanac editor Mark S. Hoffman. "Obviously, we can't be involved in gambling."The World Almanac, 125 years old, remains a dignified and serious reference book that sold 2.2 million copies of its latest edition.
It was first published in 1868. That 108-page almanac noted President Andrew Johnson's $25,000 yearly salary, and the national debt was around $250 million. The solar system did not include Pluto.
The almanac still features factoids on parade: Actor Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas; a bunch of goldfinches are called a charm, and this year's neologisms are car-phone, yuppiedom and foodie.
For the seekers of the serious, there are complete election results, a profile of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and "Principal U.S. Mine Disasters Since 1900." The almanac continues to chart the next 100 years of Ash Wednesday.
"I asked an editor to cut back on our coverage of Ash Wednesday. We heard from 30 librarians who said this is important to their readers," says Hoffman, who has edited the almanac for 10 years. "I still don't know what purpose that information serves."
His main job, he says, is to preserve the integrity of the Almanac. But his staff of five editors also has a little fun. Enshrined in their file of "Off-Beat News Stories" is one about Poop-Poop We Do, the Loxahatchee, Fla., business that delivers manure bouquets.
The almanac is published after the World Series in October or presidential elections in November. Those results - such as county-by-county election returns - are hustled into the almanac. An earthquake during the 1989 World Series shook the schedule. For the first time, the almanac did not have the complete results.
In October 1983, Hoffman was driving to the typesetter with the finished 1984 almanac. The car radio told him U.S. Marines had invaded Grenada. The news had to make the almanac.
"In my head I composed a piece to cover it," Hoffman says.
There have been goofs. One year the almanac repeated outdated times for sunsets and sunrises. Relying on the times, U.S. newspapers "got back to us in droves," Hoffman says.