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Fruitless. Fruitless, useless or failing to achieve the desired outcome. Fruitless. This is Phil's Fruitless Facts, a short, fun weekly podcast filling you up with entertaining but useless facts and information. Welcome to Phil's Fruitless Facts, and now your host, phil Meyer. Welcome to Phil's Fruitless Facts, where we're legally obligated to warn you this episode may trigger flashbacks to unpaid parking tickets and that time you claimed your cat. Welcome to Phil's Fruitless Facts, where we're legally obligated to warn you this episode may trigger flashbacks to unpaid parking tickets and that time you claimed your cat as a dependent.

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Today's chaos includes total tax BS stories, a squirrel who filed for bankruptcy, national Weed Day man no, not that kind. And the first ever NCAA basketball tournament. Plus, we're celebrating the birthday 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 get into it. It was on this date in history that the 16th Amendment was ratified, which eventually led to the Revenue Act of 1913, which eventually led to the first ever federal income tax. So I took a quick dive into some income tax fruitless facts. Did you know that the first tax rate was 1%? So yeah, the initial tax was 1% tax on personal incomes greater than $3,000 and a 6% tax on incomes above $500,000. Man, could you imagine making half a million dollars in 1913? That's rich, that's rich.

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Here's some other fruitless facts about taxes. The first IRS audit target was a farmer who claimed 14 cows as dependents. Early tax forms guess what? One page long Now they're longer than War and Peace. 1920, al Capone avoided paying taxes by bribing the politicians with spaghetti. Hmm, that'd still work. The IRS once seized a guy's pet goldfish for unpaid taxes. They could seize my cat.

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1950s, housewives deducted lipstick as a business expense. Boss move, the IRS accepts payment in gift cards. Boy, they've come back to that. Huh, yes, please go get some Target cards. In 1985, a man paid taxes with 40,000 pennies. The IRS took them, but they made him roll them.

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70% of Americans would rather clean 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. You still hanging in there.

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It was on this week in history. The first ever NCAA basketball tournament was played. College basketball wasn't the multi-billion dollar beast it is today. In fact, the first NCAA tournament had just eight teams. That's right. No 64 team brackets, no Cinderella stories, no blown 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 46-33 in the final. Well, where was it played? It was actually played in Northwestern's campus in Evanston, illinois. Not exactly a Vegas-level venue venue, but hey, we all start somewhere.

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The tournament slowly grew, expanding to 16 teams in 1951, 32 teams in 1975 and the legendary 64 team format in 1985. Today there's a 1 billion dollar industry with endless upsets, cinderella runs and fans yelling at their TVs because their 16th seed just ruined their entire bracket Not me, of course, man. So here's a wild fact the first tournament game were so low budget that teams had to pay their own travel expenses. Could you imagine telling teams today they have to buy their own plane tickets? Hey, you made it. Pony up a bunch of money. The last fun fact I came across what do you think the lowest seed ever was? To win it all you know number eight bilanova, 1985. Wouldn't you love to see a 12 seed win sometime? Talk about a Cinderella story. Celebrity birthdays for today. Happy birthday to Lady Gaga.

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If you were alive in 2009, you simply could not escape Lady Gaga. She came out of nowhere, wearing crazy outfits, making crazy music videos and turning the pop world on its head. Her real name's Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Can you imagine putting that on a Starbucks coffee cup Order ready for Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta? Her first big hit was in 2008,. Was Just Dance? Many people thought it was just going to be a one-hit wonder, but man, were they wrong? All right, and the weirdest outfit ever had to have been her infamous meat dress worn at the 2010 MTV Music Video Awards. Before fame, she played gigs in dive bars in New York. At one, she actually got booed and literally set hairspray on fire on stage in protest. In 2019, she became the first female to win an Oscar, a Grammy, a BA, fta and a Golden Globe in the same year.

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So I guess it's National. What it's? National Weed Appreciation Day. So what's that all about?

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National Weed Appreciation Day each year reminds us that some weeds are actually beneficial to us. Humans have used weeds for food and as herbs for much of recorded history. Some are edible, nutritious, while other weeds actually have medicinal value. Remember running around as a small child, the fun you'd have with dandelions Mama had a baby and her head popped off. Those bright yellow flowers actually serve a purpose. Dandelions are a source of food for insects and some birds. Humans eat young dandelion leaves to enjoy tea and wine made of leaves and flowers. The Native Americans use dandelions to treat specific ailments. Nutritionally, dandelions contain a source of vitamin A, c, calcium, iron and fiber.

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And it's National Eat Something on a Stick Day. Skewer your cravings with delicious foods impaled on a stick, from corn dogs to kebabs. It's a portable and fun way to snack and dine. So no, this day is not talking about mops or brooms, but celebrating foods that people eat on a stick. Because who doesn't love relaxed finger food that can be picked up by a stick and eaten right? I mean, whether it's toffee apples, campfire sausage, cheese cubes on a toothpick, ice cream bar lollipops, feel free to indulge in them today.

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A couple quick hits dyk before we leave. Hey, did you know that bananas are berries and strawberries aren't? Wrap your head around that one. And did you know that the inventor of the pringles can is buried in one? I hope they at least use the family size can. All right, that's a wrap for this week's phil's fruitless facts. This week we covered the first n first NCAA tournament that was played in a glorified high school gym. Lady Gaga may or may not still own a beef jerky dress, but before I go, here's something to ponder If I get buried in a Pringles can, what flavor should I be? Think about it. I'll see you next time.