When the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was founded in 1863 they were called the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. They insured Civil War soldiers against wartime wounds and accidents.
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Dream analysts say that dreaming about your job indicates overwork or a subconscious desire to be more productive in your professional life.
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It is rare, but sharks can get cancer.
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Giraffes have vocal cords, but they don’t use them much. They communicate by making air in their 8-foot long necks vibrate. The resulting sound is too low pitched to be heard by humans.
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There is a rare variety of sapphire that is orange. Called the padparadscha, it is more valuable than blue sapphires.
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Herman Munster, played by Fred Gwynne (1926-1993) on "The Munsters” (1964-1966), worked at the Gateman, Goodbury and Graves Funeral Parlor.
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The International Association of Pet Cemeteries established National Pet Memorial Day on the second Sunday of September each year. It is a day to honor the memory of a pet you once had.
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There is no fish that is called a sardine. Canned sardines are usually herring. The name sardine comes for the Mediterranean island Sardinia, where small fish were in abundance.
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Do you know what a polyglot is? See answer at end.
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Margaret Higgins Sanger (1879-1966) was a nurse and social advocate that believed birth control should be available to all women. Her belief was inspired by the life of her mother, who died at age 48 after 18 pregnancies. Sanger founded Planned Parenthood in 1916.
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When Disneyland opened in 1955 Tomorrowland gave a glimpse into the future — it represented a city from 1986.
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Human body functions are at their lowest ebb at 4 a.m., according to biorhythm research.
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Sassafras root bark was banned by the FDA in 1960 because it contains safrole, a potential cancer causing carcinogen. The ban affected root beer, which was flavored with sassafras. Now it is has artificial flavorings.
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The characters used together in e-mail to indicate emotions are called emoticons. Examples of emoticons are a smile for happy :) and a frown to indicate sad :(.
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The flag of South Korea pictures a red and blue yin-yang symbol. Mongolia also has a yin-yang symbol on their flag.
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Casper the Friendly Ghost has three uncles who hate people. Uncles Stretch, Fatso and Stinkie are called the Ghostly Trio.
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"Your Hit Parade” was a radio show from 1935 to 1955 that presented the top tunes of the week every Saturday night. Statisticians employed by the show determined the most popular songs by looking at sheet music sales and the most-played songs on jukeboxes.
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Answer: A polyglot is a person who speaks several languages.
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.
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