Know it All

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A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. The next blue moon will occur on Dec. 31, 2009.

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The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore blue clothes because they believed that the color blue provided protection against evil spirits.

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The Blue Bayou restaurant at Disneyland in Anaheim is adjacent to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The indoor Cajun-themed restaurant creates the illusion that dinners are at an outdoor restaurant at night. There are stars in the sky and sound effects of crickets and frogs.

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American folklore says that lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his companion, Babe the Blue Ox, were so big that their footprints filled with water to create Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.

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At 90 percent, Finland has the highest percentage of people with blue eyes.

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Diana Ross (born 1944) portrayed jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959) in the biographical film "Lady Sings the Blues” (1972). Billy Dee Williams (born 1937) and Richard Pryor (born 1940) also starred in the Academy Award winning movie.

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Dennis Franz (born 1944) is the only actor who appeared in all 261 episodes of "NYPD Blue” (1993-2005). He played Detective Andy Sipowicz in the television police drama.

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The blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived. At an average length of 80 feet and weight of 120 tons, blue whales are larger than any dinosaur.

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Do you know why the sky is blue? See answer at end.

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The role that launched the career of German actress Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) was as the singer Lola Lola in "The Blue Angel” (1930). The movie was filmed in two languages — German and English — and was titled "Der Blaue Engel in Germany.

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The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration in 1946 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron was formed at the end of World War II to keep the public interested in naval aviation.

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The average age of a Blue Angels pilot is 32.

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Kerry Blue Terriers, a dog breed originating in Ireland, do not shed.

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The 1926 "Blue Book of Motor Car Values,” an early version of what is now called the "Kelley Blue Book,” listed the value of the 1926 Packard sedan limousine with balloon tires at $3,825.

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Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) painting Garçon à la Pipe (Boy with a pipe), painted during his Blue Period, sold for $104 million at an auction in New York last May. It is the most expensive painting ever sold at an auction.

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Cyanosis is a medical condition that occurs when a person is not getting enough oxygen in their blood so their skin takes on a blue tint.

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The stadium for the professional baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays is the SkyDome in Toronto, Canada. The stadium, opened in 1989, has the world’s first fully retractable roof. The roof takes 20 minutes to open.

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A group of blue jays is called a party of jays.

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Le Cordon Bleu (French for blue ribbon) cooking school was founded in Paris in 1895. Today there are 26 Cordon Bleu schools in 15 countries.

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Answer: Light is made up of all colors. When sunlight enters the atmosphere, the color with the shortest wavelength, which is blue, is scattered more than any other color. It is called Rayleigh scattering, named after British physicist Baron Rayleigh (1842-1919) who made many discoveries about light.

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.