Know It All

National Football League (NFL) footballs are made out of cowhide leather, not pigskin. College teams also use leather footballs.

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Unopened bottles of ketchup can be stored for one year on a cool, dark shelf. Tightly covered opened bottles of ketchup will last a month in a cool, dark, dry place.

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George Stephen designed his first kettle-shaped barbecue grill in 1951. At the time, he worked for Weber Brothers Metal Works near Chicago. He developed a barbecue with a lid on it. He added three legs to the bottom, a handle to the top and the Weber grill was born.

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The grill ranks as the fifth most popular appliance in American homes. Seventy-six percent of U.S. households own a barbecue grill.

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Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse, was the first animated cartoon to use sound. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. It debuted on Nov. 18, 1928.

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Walt Disney’s (1901-1966) middle name was Elias. Norman Rockwell’s (1894-1978) middle name was Percevel.

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Do you know the middle names of the following presidents? George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant. See answer at end.

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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is the medical term for Mad Cow Disease. BSE is a progressive disease that affects the cow’s nervous system. BSE kills all infected cattle. There is no treatment or vaccine. More than 97 percent of all BSE cases have been in the United Kingdom.

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In 1888, Dr. James H. Salisbury, an English physician, believed that eating well-cooked chopped beef three times a day, with large glasses of hot water, would cure almost any disease or ailment including anemia, asthma, rheumatism and tuberculosis. Salisbury steak is so called because of that doctor.

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There used to be a cow pasture at the western edge of what is now San Francisco International Airport. It was part of the Millbrae Dairy, established in 1870. The Millbrae Dairy was considered the best dairy west of the Rocky Mountains. Borden’s Dairy Delivery Company took over the Millbrae Dairy in 1938.

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McDonald’s Big Mac was introduced in 1968. The cost was 49 cents. The Egg McMuffin was introduced in 1973 and McDonald’s started offering Happy Meals in 1979.

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The hamburger debuted at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Fletcher Davis made them famous by selling them on the midway. His fried ground beef patties served between two slices of homemade bread caused a sensation at the fair.

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The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, ran for seven months from April 30 to Dec. 1. Twenty million people visited the fair, for the most part traveling by horse and carriage.

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Answer: George Walker Bush (born 1946), 43rd president; John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), 34th president; Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), 33rd president; Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), 31st president; Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893), 19th president; Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885), 18th president.

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. 114.