Know It All

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The song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” (1912) was written by Chauncey Olcott (1858-1932) and George Graff (1886-1973). The music was composed by Ernest Ball (1878-1927). All three men were Americans that had never been to Ireland.

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White cats with blue eyes are usually deaf. White cats with gold or green eyes usually are not deaf.

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Every state except for Hawaii has reached a temperature below zero at some time during recorded history. The coldest temperature in Hawaii was 12 degrees Fahrenheit in 1979.

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The town of Winston-Salem, N.C., is the home of a huge coffeepot built more than 100 years ago. Tinsmith Julius Mickey (1832-1916) built the 12-foot-tall metal coffee pot in 1860 to attract attention to his business.

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Black powder and gunpowder have the same ingredients — potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal — but in different proportions. Pyrotechnicians use black powder for fireworks.

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The Doors’ 1967 debut album "The Doors” contained their first hit song "Light My Fire.”

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Do you know what these actors have in common? Cesar Romero (1907-1994), Vincent Price (1911-1993), Burgess Meredith (1907-1997) and Zsa Zsa Gabor (born 1918). See answer at end.

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Walrus tusks are an average of 14 inches long. Tusks on male walruses can grow as long as three feet.

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The professional baseball teams in Texas are the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. The NBA teams in Texas are the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

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Students at the University of Texas created the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society in 2001 in reaction to the dwindling population of albino squirrels on campus. The students want to protect and encourage the squirrels because college lore says that a person who sees an albino squirrel will have success on their next exam.

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The Roman God of Fire was called Vulcan. It is the origin of the word volcano.

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Beverly Hills High School is the only public high school in the town of Beverly Hills. The school’s motto is "Today Well Lived.”

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In Japan, a person can get pickled-orchid ice cream. Eel-flavored ice cream, wasabi ice cream and rice-flavored ice cream are also available.

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Before she married Paul Simon (born 1941) in 1983, actress Carrie Fisher (born 1956) was in a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd (born 1961). The relationship ended when Lourd left Fisher for a man.

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The most common names for streets in the United States are Park, Washington and Maple streets.

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A palindrome reads the same forwards and backwards. A couple of examples are: "some men interpret nine memos,” and "no lemons, no melon.”

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In 1951, only 3 percent of lawyers in the United States were women. In 1980, the percentage was 8 percent. In 2000, women made up one-quarter of the lawyer population.

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Answer: They all played villains in the television show "Batman” (1966-1968). Cesar Romero was The Joker, Vincent Price was Egghead, Burgess Meredith was The Penguin. Zsa Zsa Gabor was the villain Minerva in the final show in the series. Minerva owned a spa for men. While clients relaxed at the spa, their brains were secretly scanned under special hair dryers.

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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For weekend edition

Garden Golf was a popular game played in the early 1900s. Played with a putter on real grass, garden golf followed the rules of regulation golf.

Miniature golf had a boom when a weatherproof carpet was invented in the 1920s. It created a smooth playing surface and made it possible to build a miniature golf course almost anywhere.

In the 1930s, there were 150 rooftop miniature golf courses in New York City.

The first miniature golf franchise was Tom Thumb Golf, which began in 1929. The courses had hazards and obstacles to challenge the players. Entrepreneurs could buy a prefabricated mini golf course for $4,500 and be open for business in six days.

Tom Thumb is a fairy tale first written in England in the 1600s. Tom is no larger than his father’s thumb, which makes the world a dangerous place. He falls into his mother’s pie mix, gets picked up by a bird and dropped into a lake, and rides on the back of a butterfly.

At the age of 4, Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) went to work for the circus. P.T. Barnum (1810-1891) dubbed him General Tom Thumb. Thumb, who was 33 inches tall, became famous around the world, singing and dancing in the traveling circus.

Jeffrey Hudson (1619-1682) was a court jester to England’s Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), wife of King Charles I (1600-1649). Hudson had perfect proportions for his small size — only 19 inches tall. He was famous as the "Queen’s dwarf” and "Lord Minimus.”

At 5 feet 4 inches tall, King Charles I was Britain’s shortest king.

In the 16th century, the King Charles Spaniel was a popular pet of English royalty. King Charles II (1630-1685) had two or three spaniels with him at all times. He wrote a decree that the spaniels would be accepted in the House of Parliament, where animals were not usually allowed.

Dogs have been popular pets of presidents throughout U.S. history. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) had a King Charles Spaniel named Rex. Can you name the owners and breeds of these White House canine residents? Millie, Checkers, Liberty and Charlie. See answer at end.

The name Tyrannosaurus Rex derives from the Greek words tyrannos, meaning tyrant, and sauros, meaning lizard. Rex is a Latin for King.

The world’s smallest reptile is the dwarf gecko, found in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It grows up to three quarters of an inch long.

Answer: Millie (1985-1997) was a springer spaniel that belonged to George W. Bush (born 1946). Checkers was Richard Nixon’s (1913-1994) cocker spaniel. Liberty was Gerald Ford’s (born 1913) golden retriever. Charlie was a Welsh terrier that belonged to John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).

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.