Know It All

The first time the image of George Washington was put on quarters was in 1932. The quarters were issued as a commemorative coin to celebrate America’s 200th birthday. The design was popular with the public, so it became permanent.

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Environmental activist and naturalist John Muir (1838-1914) is pictured on the California state quarter, issued in January of this year.

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John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892. The purpose of the Sierra Club is to “explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the Earth.”

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Sierra Nevada means “snowy range” in Spanish.

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The Sierra Nevada mountain range in Andalucia, Spain, is home to the country’s largest national park, Sierra Nevada National Park (Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada).

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Sixty years ago, the population of mountain goats in the region of Andalucia, Spain was almost totally wiped out due to hunting. Ongoing breeding programs by the regional government have increased the mountain goat population in nature reserves and in the wild.

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A male mountain goat is called a billy goat A female is called a nanny goat.

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The Brothers Grimm tale “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” set in the mountains of Norway, is a story about three goats that pass over a bridge with a menacing troll living beneath it.

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Trolls, dwarves and giants were popular creatures in Norse mythology; the mythology of Scandinavia before the establishment of Christianity. Folklore was passed orally to many generations.

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Do you know how many countries make up Scandinavia? Can you name them? See answer at end.

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Pippi Longstocking is from Sweden. Created by Swedish children’s book author Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), Pippi is a 9-year-old girl with red braids that stick out sideways. She lives on a farm with a monkey and a horse.

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Popular around the world, Pippi Longstocking stories have been translated into more than 60 languages. She is known as Pippi Langstrumpf in Germany, Pippi Si Kaus Kaki Panjang in Indonesia and Pippi Calzelunghe in Italy.

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Author Astrid Lindgren attended secretarial school. When she started writing children’s stories about Pippi Longstocking in 1944, she wrote them in shorthand and continued to do so throughout her writing career.

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Shorthand is most commonly known as stenography. The word comes from the Greek words stenos, meaning narrow or close, and graphy, meaning writing.

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Court stenographers are usually notary publics that are legally empowered to administer oaths and witness signatures.

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Answer: Scandinavia is the countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend edition of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? Email knowitall(at)smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 ext. 129.