Know it all

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Abracadabra! Magicians use the exclamation that is derived from the Hebrew phrase Abarah K’Dabarah, which means "I will create as I speak.”

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Actor Mickey Rooney’s parents were vaudeville performers. Rooney, named Joe Yule Jr. when he was born in 1920, was just two weeks old when he started traveling the vaudeville circuit with his parents.

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Adorable moppet Shirley Temple (born 1928), child movie star of the 1930s, set a national hairstyle trend of ringlets.

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Aerosol cans were patented by Norwegian engineer Erik Rotheim in 1927.

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After eight hours in room temperature, an orange that has been cut open loses 20 percent of its vitamin C. Vitamin C is destroyed by oxygen.

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Agatha Christie (1890-1976) wrote 79 mystery novels and short story collections over 50 years. Can you name her first mystery novel and her last? See answer at end.

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Ahead of his time, 400 years ahead, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) designed a flying helicopter. It would have worked, too, except for the lack of a motor and modern lightweight materials.

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Air is composed primarily of nitrogen and oxygen.

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Ajax Pixies were the first animated commercial mascots on television. Debuted in 1948, the three pointy-eared pixies cleaned with Ajax cleanser, while singing television’s first jingle "You’ll stop paying the elbow tax, when you start cleaning with Ajax.”

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Akron, Ohio is the headquarters of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) discovered the process of vulcanization of rubber, which made rubber durable and resilient enough for industrial use.

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Albert Sylvester (1889-1989), of England, was the oldest competitive ballroom dancer in the world before he retired in 1983 at the age of 94.

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"Amos ‘n Andy” is the longest-running radio program in broadcast history. The radio show aired from 1928 to 1960. In 1943, the format changed from 15 minutes 5 days a week to a half-hour once a week.

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Anableps are "four-eyed fish,” a species of fish that has two pupils in each eye. The fish can see above and below the water simultaneously.

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Aortic aneurysms are four times more likely to develop in men than women. The aorta is the main blood vessel leading away from the heart and it is the largest artery in the body.

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Approximately half of the U.S. population is nearsighted.

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Aquamarine gemstones range in color from almost blue to deep blue. Legend says aquamarine increases intelligence and is effective as a treatment for anxiety.

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Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1958) designed 1,141 buildings during his 70-year career. Of those designs, 532 were built and 409 of those buildings still stand.

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Assembly lines for manufacturing cars were the key to success for Henry Ford (1863-1947). In 1913, he installed the first conveyor belt-based assembly line in his factory. It took only 93 minutes to build a Model T.

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Attack weeds in your garden by pouring vinegar on them. The weeds will die.

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Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) trained to be a dental assistant before she became an actress.

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Answer: Agatha Christie’s first novel was "The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” published in 1920. The book introduced the eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Christie’s last novel was "Sleeping Murder,” published in 1976. Miss Jane Marple was the detective.

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.