Know it all

The first president of the United States born in a hospital was Jimmy Carter (born 1924), the 39th president.

***

One of Hollywood’s most famous kisses was between Burt Lancaster (1913-1994) and Deborah Kerr (1921-2007) in the movie “From Here to Eternity” (1953). The scene of the passionate kiss on a beach in the surf is only 3 seconds long.

***

The only words with three dotted letters in a row are hijinks, Beijing and Fiji.

*** ***

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time nationwide.

***

Rabbits were brought to Australia in 1859 for hunting. Soon rabbits, not native to Australia, were reproducing at such a rapid rate they were becoming a plague. In 1950, the government introduced a disease called myxomatosis that successfully controlled the rabbit population with a mortality rate of 99 percent.

***

The trumpeter swan is the largest waterfowl in North America. A pair of trumpeter swans mates for life. They live 20 to 30 years.

***

The world’s smallest bird is the bee hummingbird. Found in Cuba, the tiny birds are about the size of a bee and weigh .07 ounces.

***

The longest outdoor covered escalator in the world is in Hong Kong. It takes 20 minutes to ride the 2,625-foot long Central-Mid-levels escalators, opened in 1994. The escalator runs down from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and up from 10:30 p.m. to midnight.

***

On July 16, 1945, a test took place that was code named Trinity. Do you know what the test was? See answer at end.

***

Elephants walk at a speed of about 4 mph.

***

French physicist Augustin Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) invented the Fresnel lens used in lighthouses. The multiprismed lens intensified the light and focused the beam in lighthouse lamps.

***

In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration approved olestra, a calorie-free fat substitute, for use in salty snacks such as chips and crackers. However, all snacks containing olestra had to carry a warning label that olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools. As of 2003, the label was no longer required because it confused consumers.

***

Introduced in 1930, the Motorola was one of the first commercially successful car radios. The brand name came from combining the word motor, for motorcar, and “ola,” which implied sound; thus Motorola meant sound in motion.

***

Ad campaigns for Lifebuoy Soap popularized the term ‘B.O.’ for body odor.

***

Harvard College, established in 1636, was named for its first benefactor. John Harvard (1607-1638) of Charlestown, Massachusetts, was a minister who left his library and half his estate to the new institution.

***

Actor Telly Savalas (1924-1994) was actress Jennifer Aniston’s (born 1969) godfather. Telly is short for Aristotle.

***

Answer: It was the testing of the first atomic bomb, conducted by the United States. The plutonium bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The explosion was equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT and the mushroom cloud reached 7.5 miles in height. Trinity is considered the beginning of the Atomic Age.

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.