Know it all

The Japanese word for chef is itamae, which means in front of cutting board.

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The Swiss consume the most chocolate per capita then any other nation. In Switzerland, people eat an average of 22 pounds of chocolate per person per year. Americans eat 11 pounds per person.

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Sherwood Forest is located in Nottinghamshire, England. Famous for being the home of legendary Robin Hood, the forest has been owned by English royalty for over 600 years and used as hunting grounds, timber and grazing.

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The 1963 movie "The Birds" has no music. According to director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), the stark sound of the movie emphasizes the vulnerability of people when they cannot control nature.

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Simon and Garfunkel made music together since they were teenagers. Do you know what their first hit song was, and the year it came out? See answer at end.

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The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck on April 18 at 5:12 a.m. The earthquake was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and as far inland as central Nevada.

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A Harvard student began the college fad of swallowing goldfish. In 1939, the classmates of Lothrop Withington Jr. offered him $10 to swallow a 4-inch goldfish, which he did. The Boston newspapers publicized it and the college fad was born.

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Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) was the first U.S. Congresswoman. The suffragist and pacifist from Montana served in Congress from 1917 to 1919.

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It costs $50,000 to have a fantasy fulfilled on "Fantasy Island" (1978-1984).

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The "whiskers" on a catfish are called barbels. The fish search for food with the barbels, which have taste buds on them.

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The career of comedienne Phyllis Diller (born 1917) began in 1955 with a stand-up comedy routine at The Purple Onion, a comedy club in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. Diller's act at the club sold out for 87 straight weeks.

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The best-selling cut flowers are roses, carnations and gladioli.

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There are specific regulations for competitive bowling set by the U.S. Bowling Congress. The bowling lane must be 60 feet long and 42 inches wide. A bowling ball must be made of a completely solid material and cannot weigh more than 16 pounds.

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In a license agreement with the movie "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (2005), Hasbro toys introduced a new version of Mr. Potato Head. Darth Tater comes with a light saber, cape and helmet.

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Before the advent of the cotton mattress, people slept on beds stuffed with straw or down feathers, which attracted insets. Hence the term "bed bugs."

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Prior to using nylon in 1938, hair from pigs was used for toothbrush bristles.

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The Gerber Baby, pictured on all Gerber products since 1928, is Ann Turner Cook (born 1927) at 4 months old. Cook is a mystery novelist and retired English teacher living in Florida.

Answer: The first hit song for musical pair Paul Simon (born 1941) and Art Garfunkel (born 1941) was "The Sound of Silence" in 1966. Some of their other hits include "Mrs. Robinson" (1968) and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970).

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 fax 344-5290