Miscellaneous Madness XV Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

Not by a LONG SHOT! Even Concord, New Hampshire is way ahead of Florida. A 30 year check of averages that was done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that Miami comes in at 76 clear days a year compared to Concord: 92, Albuquerque, N.M.: 172, Rapid City, South Dakota: 110. Las Vegas, Nevada is the clearest with 216 annual days of sunny weather. Phoenix, Arizona is right behind them at 214 days.

In general, the West and a lot of the Midwest are clearer than in the East.

Answer: No

Say you can count to 200 in a minute. In a day, you can count to 288,000 and in a year---oh boy!---clear up to 105,120,000. You get to rest a day every 4 years. Even if Adam had started counting the day he was born (was he born?), he wouldn't be up to a trillion yet. How about 9,512 years, 34 days, 5 hours and 20 minutes to count to a trillion? You can rest well tonight knowing that you don't have to try this feat.

Answer: 450,000

I wonder how 450,000 people got into Max Yasgur's pasture in Bethel, New York. Woodstock, the music festival is "counterculture's" biggest party. I am so happy I wasn't there!

Answer: Horned Toad

When they picked him up, he was dusty, dry and flat. Suddenly the toad had a convulsive shudder and took a deep breath. He started to swell up. He was called "Old Rip" because Rip Van Winkle only slept for 20 years. "Rip" was put on a tour of the United States and Calvin Coolidge, President at the time, broke several engagements to see the toad. Sadly, "Rip" passed away 11 months after being freed from the courthouse cornerstone.

Answer: Coffee

Bet you didn't think coffee did all that! Well, here's what it really does: "The stomach temperature jumps 10 to 15 percent; salivary glads double their flow; the heart beats 15 percent faster; the lungs work 13 percent harder; blood vessels dilate in the brain and near the heart; the metabolism rate goes up 25 percent and the workload of the kidneys doubles." So let's have another cup of coffee while we decide if we want to give it up for something else----like gin.

The 1657 advertisement is reprinted in "A Millennium Primer" as is the current coffee information but this was reprinted from "Commentary" 1997.

Answer: No

They do not even come from the same family. Yams are large, starchy roots that grow in tropical countries where they require 8-10 months of warm weather. They can become quite large-- 2-3 feet long and some can weigh as much as 80 pounds! The word "yam" means "to eat" in Guinea.

Some say the sweet potato is the healthiest vegetable of all. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and a good source of Vitamin C, They are high in iron and dietary fiber. They don't quit there either. They also provide potassium and Vitamin B6 plus they're high percentage of beta-carotene that the body converts to Vitamin A. On top of all this wonderful news, one medium sweet potato contains only 135 to 155 calories! LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE SWEET POTATO!

Answer: Sassafras

What was thought to be perfectly innocent turns out to have been a bad guy all along. Sassafras tea? My grandmother made it and drank it. I have to admit she died of cancer but surely not from sassafras. It was used in perfume, medicine (diuretic, diaphoretic and stimulant). Are you thinking about sarsaparilla, the soft drink? Fear not. This is from a different root.

Answer: Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison also built a telephone but Bell is given the credit for inventing "the infernal machine". Edison thought his device would only be used in businesses with open lines at both ends. He started with, "Are you there?" and "Are you ready to talk?". Alexander Graham Bell had other ideas though.

He went for "Ahoy!" as the greeting. Edison wrote a letter dated August 15, 1877 at the time his telephone was to be introduced to the City of Pittsburgh. It said, "Dear David, I don't think we shall need a call bell as 'hello' can be heard 10 to 20 feet away. What do you think?" From then on "hello" became the recommended greeting in telephone operating manuals.

Answer: Tarot

Was time for an easy one. The game is named after Tar, the Egyptian god of the underworld, whom the Greeks called Tartarus. It has a lot of the features from other games such as bidding and the wild joker. It is now played with 54 cards, 22 of them being trump card tarots that show illustrations.

They show vices, virtues and elemental forces. They are the only ones used in the fortune-telling game called Tarot.

Answer: David Hannum

There is no recording of Barnum ever saying these words although, he surely lived by them. Another anonymous saying that some of us know is, "Never give a sucker an even break." This became the title of a a W.C. Fields movie.