Know it All

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Mourning widows in Thailand wear purple.

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Clara Barton (1821-1912) founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Barton held two philosophies for the Red Cross: "unconcern for what cannot be helped and control under pressure.”

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According to legend, woodsman Paul Bunyan found a baby ox in the snow in Minnesota. It was so cold that the snow and the ox were blue. Babe the Blue Ox stayed blue, and was always by Paul Bunyan’s side.

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When the Blackfriar Bridge in London was painted green, suicides committed from the bridge dropped 34 percent. The bridge used to be black.

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Do you know what the primary colors are? Do you know the secondary colors? See answer at end.

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The color most commonly found on national flags is red.

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The Purple Heart is a medal awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded by the enemy. The medal was established by George Washington, and was the first medal that all soldiers, not just officers, could receive.

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"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” recorded by Brian Hyland, was a number one hit song in 1960.

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Flamingos are pink from the beta-carotene in the various types of crustaceans and plankton that they eat.

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According the University of Chicago, in the early 1900s, yellow was the easiest color to spot. John Hertz, founder of the Yellow Cab Company in 1907, read that report, and that is why he chose to paint his cabs yellow.

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The purple seats at Coors Field baseball stadium in Denver, Colo. are exactly 5,280 feet above sea level; a mile high.

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The Toronto Blue Jays won two consecutive World Series, in 1992 and 1993.

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The shipping company UPS (United Parcel Service) launched its $45 million ad campaign "What can brown do for you?” during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.

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The story of Little Red Riding Hood was first written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812. In that version, Little Red Riding Hood was taking a piece of cake and a bottle of wine in her basket to her sick grandmother.

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Yellow has been the predominant color for pencils since 1890. The L&C Hardtmuth Company of Austria introduced a high-quality pencil painted golden yellow. Yellow became the symbol of quality in pencils.

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Bulls are color-blind. Bullfighters wave a red cape to excite the crowd, as the color red increases blood pressure and quickens the pulse rate. The bulls cannot tell red from any other color.

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Carl Perkins (1932-1998) wrote and recorded the song "Blue Suede Shoes” in 1955. Two million records were sold. The next year, Elvis Presley recorded the song. Presley’s version topped the pop, country and rhythm and blues charts.

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Answer: The primary colors are red, blue and yellow. All colors are derived from the primary colors. The secondary colors are orange, green and purple. Secondary colors are made from the mixture of two primary colors. Tertiary colors are formed by mixing one primary and one secondary color.

Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments?

E-mail knowitall@smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 x114.