Q: What famous American entrepreneur’s first business success was selling the Multimixer—a machine that could mix five milkshakes at once?
A: Ray Kroc, the man behind the McDonald’s fast-food empire. (The Wizard incidentally. worked for Ronnie's at the time, and did in fact use the machine described - I remember that having 5 shakes whipping - in paper cups - was not an easy task - and remember a few occasions where the shake 'blades' ripped a cup and splattered me with milkshake!)
Q: Who was the first singer to have an album sell over a million copies?
A: Silky-voiced Harry Belafonte, in 1956. The album, Calypso, featured “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” “Jamaica Farewell,” “Come Back Liza,” and “Brown Skin Girl.”
Q: How much does a standard ping-pong ball weigh?
A: Not quite 1/10 ounce—or exactly .095 ounce.
Q: How many signatures are on the U.S. Declaration of Independence?
A: 56.
Q: What well-known piano piece was written by a 16-year-old British girl named Euphemia Allen?
A:“Chopsticks.” Allen wrote “The Celebrated Chop Waltz” in 1877, and had it published under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli.
Q: What inspired the radical Symbionese Liberation Army to give kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst the underground name Tania?
A: It was the nickname of a key member of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara’s guerrilla movement—the beret-wearing Haydee Tamara Bunke Bider, who was known as Tania the Guerrilla.
Q: Which North American mammal has the shortest gestation period?
A: The American (or Virginia) opossum, which is born 12 to 13 days after conception. Worldwide, only two other mammals have equally short gestation periods—the rare water opossum (or yapok) of South America, and the eastern native cat of Australia. All are marsupials that are born prematurely and complete their development in the mother’s pouch.
Q: Who was the only member of a losing Super Bowl team to be named Most Valuable Player?
A: Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley, at Super Bowl V in 1971. Dallas lost 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts in a sloppily played game that was dubbed the Blunder Bowl by some and the Blooper Bowl by others because of its 11 turnovers.
Q: The names of how many U.S. state capitals include their state’s name?
A: Two—Indianapolis, Indiana, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Q: How did the gemstone turquoise get its name?
A: It was originally imported to Europe through Turkey. In French, turquoise means “from Turkey,” or “Turkish.”
A: Ray Kroc, the man behind the McDonald’s fast-food empire. (The Wizard incidentally. worked for Ronnie's at the time, and did in fact use the machine described - I remember that having 5 shakes whipping - in paper cups - was not an easy task - and remember a few occasions where the shake 'blades' ripped a cup and splattered me with milkshake!)
Q: Who was the first singer to have an album sell over a million copies?
A: Silky-voiced Harry Belafonte, in 1956. The album, Calypso, featured “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” “Jamaica Farewell,” “Come Back Liza,” and “Brown Skin Girl.”
Q: How much does a standard ping-pong ball weigh?
A: Not quite 1/10 ounce—or exactly .095 ounce.
Q: How many signatures are on the U.S. Declaration of Independence?
A: 56.
Q: What well-known piano piece was written by a 16-year-old British girl named Euphemia Allen?
A:“Chopsticks.” Allen wrote “The Celebrated Chop Waltz” in 1877, and had it published under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli.
Q: What inspired the radical Symbionese Liberation Army to give kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst the underground name Tania?
A: It was the nickname of a key member of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara’s guerrilla movement—the beret-wearing Haydee Tamara Bunke Bider, who was known as Tania the Guerrilla.
Q: Which North American mammal has the shortest gestation period?
A: The American (or Virginia) opossum, which is born 12 to 13 days after conception. Worldwide, only two other mammals have equally short gestation periods—the rare water opossum (or yapok) of South America, and the eastern native cat of Australia. All are marsupials that are born prematurely and complete their development in the mother’s pouch.
Q: Who was the only member of a losing Super Bowl team to be named Most Valuable Player?
A: Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley, at Super Bowl V in 1971. Dallas lost 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts in a sloppily played game that was dubbed the Blunder Bowl by some and the Blooper Bowl by others because of its 11 turnovers.
Q: The names of how many U.S. state capitals include their state’s name?
A: Two—Indianapolis, Indiana, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Q: How did the gemstone turquoise get its name?
A: It was originally imported to Europe through Turkey. In French, turquoise means “from Turkey,” or “Turkish.”
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