Why Do You Know That?

We haven't done this one in a while, so today let's have a round of why do you know that?  It's the inverse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where instead of asking questions about anything from the mundane to arcane, in this case you provide answers.  Tell us anything interesting that you know.


West Side Story was the first Broadway production to have its Playbill sport the now ubiquitous yellow stripe at the top.

Duckpin bowling was invented by baseball hall of famers John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson when they were members of the championship Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s.  They owned a sports bar/pool hall/gymnasium called the Diamond and had ten pins shaved down for lanes in the bar area.  One of them -- no one remembers who -- told a local reporter that when you hit them, they fly like ducks and thus was born the name "duckpins."

So, what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Been a while since we've had one of these. It's the converse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where you provide everyone with those tidbits of useless knowledge you have stored away for no good reason.

My contribution:

King Kong is of indeterminate height. He is of completely different scale in different scenes in the film.

Why do you know?

Why Do You Know That?

Been a while since we've had one of these. It's the converse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where you provide everyone with those tidbits of useless knowledge you have stored away for no good reason.

My contribution:

The capital of West Virginia was originally named Charles Town until they were informed that there already was a town in West Virginia named Charles Town (over by Harpers Ferry) and so they shortened it to Charleston.

So what do you know and why do you know that?

Whty Do You Know That?

Let's go back once more to this one. It's the converse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where you provide everyone with those tidbits of useless knowledge you have stored away for no good reason.

My contribution:

Oak trees don't drop their dead leaves in the fall.

The word "stoic" comes from the Greek "stoa" which means porch.

The word "set" is the most ambiguous word in the English language, having the most independent meanings.

So, what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's go back once more to this one. It's the converse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where you provide everyone with those tidbits of useless knowledge you have stored away for no good reason.

My contribution:

Not all horse/donkey hybrids are mules, only those with a donkey father and a horse mother. A male horse and a female donkey produce a hinny.

Graham crackers were developed by the Reverend Sylvester Graham in 1829 as part of a religious movement. The cookies were thought to be nutritious in a way that would suppress immoral desires...including those that come with gooey marshmallows and soft melted chocolate.

Isaac Newton only laughed once in his life, when a student asked him of what use is learning geometry.

So, what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's do this one again. It's the converse of "Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics" where you provide everyone with those tidbits of useless knowledge you have stored away for no good reason.

My contribution:

New Haven, CT has the greatest number of Dunkin' Donuts per capita of any city.

B.B. King's real name is Riley. B.B. is short for "Blues Boy."

William Whewell gave us the terms "scientist," "physicist," "ion," "anode," and "cathode."

So, what do you know?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's try this again. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

Mine for this week:

In Ethiopia, 12:00 a.m. is what we think of as 6:00 a.m. (from a former student who just got back).

Ohio has the only non-rectangular state flag.

The philosopher Hans Reichenbach introduced skiing to Turkey when he fled there after the Nazi purge of 1933. He was also a great ice skater.

What do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's go to the well one more time. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

Mine for this week:

One to stir up the Moxy Fruvous fans out there: Delaware is the state with the second lowest highest point, Ebright Azimuth, at 442 feet above sea level. Florida has the lowest highest point, Britton Hill, which reaches 345 feet above sea level.

Charles Darwin's wife used to make fun of the overuse of commas in his writing.

The original name for the game lacrosse is "bagataway," an Ojibway word, although the game was also played by the Mohawk. The goals were about a mile apart and 100 yards wide.

So, what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

One of my new favorties that we haven't done for a little while. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

My contribution:

The first parking meters were operated in Oklahoma City in 1935.

Tony LaRussa not only has won the World Series and Manager of the Year in both leagues, he is a lawyer, holding a J.D. from Florida State.

Since WWII, half of the Presidents have been left-handed.

Your turn. what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's pull this one back out. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

My contribution:

Stan Freberg's son was the original voice of Linus on the Peanuts television specials.

Benjamin Franklin was an expert swimmer and invented an early version of flippers. He is the earliest American inducted into a sporting Hall of Fame having been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs to ever play football, is not only in the Professional Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, but also in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame for his career at Syracuse.

Your contribution? What do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Let's have some more fun with this one. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

My contribution:

The book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was written by Ian Flemming of James Bond fame and the screen play was written by Roald Dahl of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The famous mathematician Kurt Godel was so concerned about being poisoned that his wife tested all of his food. After she died, he all but starved himself to death.

The set of even numbers is the same size as the set of all positive integers, even though one is a proper subset of the other. At the same time, there are different sizes of infinity -- the number of real numbers between 0 and 1 is larger than the number of positive integers.

So, what do you know and why do you know it.

Why Do You Know That?

It worked a little while back, so let's try "Why Do You Know That?" again. It's the converse of "auto mechanics to quantum mechanics," where the idea now is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

My contribution:

"I" and "MIX" are the only numbers expressible in Roman numerals that are also English words.

Next to Stonehenge there actually was a Woodhenge, although contrary to Eddie Izzard's routine, there is no reason to believe there was also a Strawhenge that was blown down by a big bad wolf.

Isaac Newton's father died before he was born.

Baltimore and Saint Louis are the only cities that in the country that are part of a state, but not part of a county.

So, what do you know and why do you know it?

Why Do You Know That?

Here's a new something that is probably worth trying and if it goes well, maybe we'll make it an irregular. It's the converse of "any questions." The idea is to contribute those bits of knowledge that seem really cool even if they are not directly applicable to anything.

-- The letters YKK that you find on many zippers stands for the initials of Yoshida Company Limited transliterated from Japanese.

-- Hamsters can run up to seven miles a night on their little exercise wheels.

-- Charles Darwin's grandfather was Josiah Wedgwood of Wedgwood china, the father of English potters.

-- We can dream at any point during the sleep cycle, not just during REM sleep.

-- Original title of the Beatles' song "Yesterday" was "Scrambled Eggs."

What some some interesting factoids that you know for no good reason?