Oriental fire-bellied toads have heart shaped pupils in their eyes.
***
Austrian father and son Johann Strauss (1804-1849) and Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) were composers of waltzes. In 1867 Strauss Jr. wrote "The Blue Danube,” one of the most famous waltz melodies.
***
Since the 14h century, the spiritual and political leader in Tibet has been the Dalai Lama. Each person who has served as the Dalai Lama is believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion. When the leader dies, his soul is reincarnated in an infant.
***
The word delicatessen comes from the German word delikatessen, which means an abundance of good things to eat.
***
The strength of gemstones and minerals is measured by the Mohs Scale. The scale ranges from one (softest) to 10 (hardest). Talc measures one, while a diamond measures 10.
***
The Beatles made their first television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show " (1948-1971) in 1964. The crime rate in America dropped dramatically during the program.
***
To film the last scene of the movie "The Birds” (1963) when actress Tippi Hedren (born 1931) is attacked by birds, live birds were attached to her clothes by long nylon threads so they could not get away.
***
Yul Brynner (1915-1985) was the king in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The King and I.” Since its debut in 1951, Brynner starred in 4,525 stage performances.
Recommended for you
***
There is a Welsh village in the United Kingdom called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The name translates to "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave.” For simplicity, the village is referred to as Llanfair.
***
In bowling, if a person throws 11 strikes and the final ball leaves one pin standing the score for the game is 299; one point short of a perfect game.
***
Authors C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) and J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) belonged to a literary group called The Inklings. The intellects met throughout the 1930s and ‘40s on Thursday nights in the back room of a pub in Oxford, England.
***
For a short time in 1934, the government printed $100,000 bills. The currency note, used for transactions between Federal Reserve banks, pictured Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924).
***
Two Canadian men hold the record for longest water-skiing marathon. In 1994 Ralph Hildebrand (born 1955) and Dave Phillips water-skied for 56 hours, 35 minutes consecutively. At night, the skiers used night vision goggles and spotlights to help them see.
***
Answer: Achilles was killed by an arrow into his heel. As an infant, Achilles’ mother dipped him into the river Styx to make him immortal. She held him by the heel, which did not get wet, and was therefore his only vulnerable part. Achilles was the greatest Greek warrior in the Trojan War, but Paris, a prince of Troy, knew about his weakness and killed him.
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.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.