Hi Shallowford,
Interesting idea, especially given how much trivia probably was lost in the years before the Internet. To me, there is just one problem: there's a ton of Earth-specific stuff that you can, maybe, learn from books but typically would have to pick up. But most of it's likely not specific to a time period but generally of the type that Superman wouldn't know unless he's been here longer than he has said. Or eaten the brains of some of the Earthans. The probably easiest thing to trip Superman up with would be if he fell into some country trap. Of course, he doesn't put himself into situations where this type of thing comes up. Probably the easiest thing would be some type of news-trivia that got lost because a publishing house burned down and the records where lost. Oh, or maybe some add-campaign. Or maybe a reference to an old tv show that didn't last more than a season, never got syndication but left an impression on those who saw it. A cop drama most likely, something that reminds Lois or a cop of a current story they're working on, someone makes a comparison and Superman agrees. And then you have the next problem: Superman came from outer space, television broadcasts have been sent into outer space. So...he could always have watched the television show while becoming familiar with Earth habits. So, those are out, too. Yeah, I'll stick with print media and print adds as the most likely trip wire.
Michael
