Our recent Bit about Phyllis Diller's onetime association with jazz great Dizzy Gillespie prompted Mark Morelli of San Ramon, Calif., to let us know about Ms. Diller's lesser-known, quite serious musical background. She studied piano at a Chicago music conservatory for three years, and after she became famous for her comedy, appeared as a piano soloist with over 100 symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Canada.

Good old quotable Ben Franklin, by his own admission, was the originator of less than 10 percent of the sayings attributed to him through their appearances in his "Poor Richard's Almanack." Franklin asked rhetorically in his 1747 Almanack, "Why then should I give my readers bad lines of my own, when good ones of other people's are so plenty?"

The total number of pages in the U.S. hardcover editions of the seven Harry Potter novels of J.K. Rowling is approximately:
A) 2,100
B) 3,100
C) 4,100
D) 5,100

Previous answer: Marie Antoinette was born an archduchess of Austria, in Vienna.

TRIVIA FANS: Send the trivia questions you've always wanted answered, or original TriviaBits ideas of your own, with your full name and hometown, to Stan Newman at StanTrivia@aol.com or on a postcard to P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762.

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