The first Rotary Club was formed in Chicago in 1905. The organization was open to male members only. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the limited membership was sex discrimination, so women were allowed to join.
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A gnu is also known as a wildebeest. The animals live in the savannas of Africa. They grow up to 6 feet and weigh 600 pounds.
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The largest zipper factory in the world is in Georgia. The YKK factory produces seven million zippers per day. The company also makes other fasteners, such as snaps and buckles.
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During the French Revolution, a French doctor named Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) recommended that execution by beheading was quicker and less painful than hanging. The guillotine became the official method of execution in France.
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The original name of the town that became San Francisco was Yerba Buena.
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In the movie “Wayne’s World” (1992), best friends Wayne and Garth host a public access television show. Their hobbies are listening to rock music, hanging out at a hockey-themed doughnut shop and driving around in Garth’s car, a baby blue AMC Pacer.
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Do you remember what movie featured the songs “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Chim Chim Cheree?” See answer at end.
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The company that makes Silly Putty held a contest for people to submit silly uses for Silly Putty. The contest winner was a man from Connecticut who said “form Silly Putty into a ball, throw it at the stock market listings and invest in the stock it lifts off the page.” His prize was a lifetime supply of Silly Putty.
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Checkerberry, teaberry, deerberry and boxberry are all names for shrubs that are a source of wintergreen oil.
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After being covered in an unknown chemical substance, Patrick Eel O’Brian was able to stretch and shape his body into any form. He became the comic superhero Plastic Man. The crime-fighting hero and his sidekick Woozy Winks first appeared in Quality Comics in 1941.
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On the television sitcom “Will and Grace” (1998-2006), Karen had a rich husband named Stan who was often referred to but never appeared on the show. Neither did Lt. Columbo’s wife, Mrs. Columbo, on “Columbo” (1971-1978).
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The U.S. Secret Service assigns code names to political people. President Jimmy Carter (born 1924) had the code name Deacon. Richard Nixon (1913-1994) was called Searchlight.
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Statistician George Gallup (1901-1984) wrote the book “A Guide to Public Opinion Polls” in 1944.
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Answer: They were all songs in the 1964 Disney movie “Mary Poppins.” The song “Chim Chim Cheree” won the Academy Award for Best Song. The movie was based on the books about a magical nanny created by Australian author Helen Lyndon Goff (1899-1996) under the pseudonym P. L. Travers in 1934.
Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? Email knowitall(at)smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 ext. 114.
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