by Bill McLain
Do Fish
Drink Water?
uzzling and Improbable
Questions and Answers
Bill McLain
To Possum, with love
Contents
Animal Kingdom
Do dolphins ever sleep?
Where do butterflies go in the winter?
Why do cats purr?
Is it true that elephants are afraid of mice?
On a turkey, what is the name of that red thing that hangs
down over the beak?
Is there a land animal that has a body the color of purple grape juice?
Is a pinto a breed of horse or just a color?
Is it true you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
Do fish drink water?
Clothing and Apparel
When and where were the first eyeglasses made?
Where did the idea for underwear come from?
Are denim, jeans, and Levi’s the same thing?
What is the origin of the neckties that men wear?
Finance
Does the government still print two-dollar bills?
What does the information on a U.S. penny represent?
How much gold does the United States store in Fort Knox?
Why are gasoline prices listed to three decimal places, such as $1.479 per gallon?
What caused the Great Depression of 1929?
Anecdote: A rare disease leads to a wedding
Food
Where did pizza originate?
What’s the difference between lager and pilsner beer?
How many colors of M&Ms are there?
What is the difference between caffe latte and cappuccino?
What makes peppers so hot?
What is the difference between apple juice and apple cider?
What is the difference between jelly, jam, preserves, and marmalade?
Geography
What is the lowest point on earth?
How did each of the seven continents get its name?
Is it true that at one time the entire world consisted of a single continent?
Is there really a north pole?
History
How did the ship that landed at Plymouth harbor get the name Mayflower?
Did Napoleon lose the battle of Waterloo because of hemorrhoids?
Is it true that in ancient Greece 300 soldiers held off 200,000 Persian elite troops for 3 days?
What does “flying the hump” mean?
Has a U.S. vice president ever been assassinated?
How many people died in the Civil War?
Is it true that a former king of England had blue urine?
Who were the Knights Templar?
Anecdote: Pushing a van around an island
Holidays
Why are eggs associated with the Easter bunny?
What is the origin and meaning of Valentine’s Day?
Where did the custom of kissing under the mistletoe originate?
What is the origin of celebrating New Year’s Eve?
How did the custom of trick-or-treating on Halloween begin?
What is the origin of the Christmas tree?
Language
What is Zulu time?
What does “mind your p’s and q’s” mean?
Why do people say “Gesundheit” or “God bless you” when you sneeze?
Where did the term “dark horse” come from?
How did grapefruit gets its name?
Why do people yell “Geronimo” when they jump off something?
What is the origin of the word “jazz”?
What is the origin of the phrase “It’s not over until the fat lady sings”?
Literature
What are the fourteen Oz books written by L. Frank Baum?
How many pages were in the longest book ever written?
What was the first typewritten manuscript of a novel submitted to a publisher?
Is there a place called Transylvania and was there a real Count Dracula?
Who wrote the first “detective” novel?
Anecdote: Can you fix my koto, Kato?
The Human Body
Why don’t Eskimos die from scurvy?
Why do I get a headache when I eat ice cream too fast?
Do people who are born blind ever dream?
What makes us yawn?
What blood type is the rarest?
Music
In the Australian song, what does “waltzing Matilda” mean?
Why did Custer choose Garry Owen as his regimental song?
What was the last song the musicians on the Titanic played?
What makes the sound when you rub your finger along the edge of a glass?
What gave Roger Miller the inspiration to write King of the Road?
Odds and Ends
What is the world’s fastest roller coaster?
What is the difference between green and blue mailboxes?
Why don’t beeswax candles drip?
Did Thomas Crapper really invent the toilet?
What is the name and breed of the RCA dog?
What is the average number of flowers used on a Rose Parade float?
Before refrigeration was invented, where did the iceman get the ice he delivered to homes during the summer?
Anecdote: Which came first, the chicken or the exercise machine?
Off the Wall
How many licks does it take to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop?
How long would it take to vacuum the state of Ohio?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
What is the correct way to eat an Oreo cookie?
What can I do with the small slivers of soap left over in the shower?
Religion
Who are the Shi’i Muslims and what do they believe?
When did the Roman Catholic Church begin using the calendar we use today?
Why are the signs on Pennsylvania Dutch barns called “hex” signs?
What is the religious makeup of the United States?
What is the history and significance of the Infant of Prague?
Science
Is it true that toilets in Australia flush in the opposite direction from those in the United States?
My grandmother told me that when she visited Ireland she saw the sun turn green. Is that possible?
How are magnets made?
What makes the sound when you snap your fingers?
Does hot water freeze faster than cold water?
Why do some paints, stickers, and toys glow in the dark?
Why aren’t there 100 seconds in a minute and 100 minutes in an hour instead of 60?
What is the star closest to our sun?
Why are the oceans salty but not lakes?
Is it true that opals contain a lot of water?
Anecdote: A visit from the Dutch Royal Navy
Sports
What does “packers” refer to in the name of the Green Bay Packers football team?
Who was the model for the Heisman trophy?
How did the “seventh-inning stretch” originate?
What is the difference between billiards, snooker, and pool?
Why is a dartboard laid out the way it is?
In football, why is it called a “down” instead of a chance, or try, or attempt?
How did the sport of hockey get started?
Transportation and Travel
How does a traffic signal know that a car is waiting for a green light?
Why do they drive on the left side of the road in England?
Why are the roofs of some school buses painted white?
Why don’t they make dirigibles anymore?
How many people in the world visi
t zoos in a single year?
United States
What is the average height of a person in the United States?
Who was the youngest American to go up in space?
What is the book that the Statue of Liberty is holding?
What caused the fire that destroyed San Francisco?
Which place in the United States has the longest name?
How many political parties can be represented in a presidential election?
Anecdote: A 14-year search for a cowboy song
Weather
What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
What is the difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny?
What part of the world gets the most rain?
Can it really rain frogs?
World
What is the oldest living thing in the world?
What is the tallest clock in the world?
When the Panama Canal was built, was it just cut through the land or did they have to build a concrete bottom and sides?
What are the seven natural wonders of the world?
Why is the Tower of Pisa leaning and will anyone ever straighten it?
What is the largest museum in the world?
Acknowledgments
Exploring the Internet
Index
Copyright
About the Publisher
Animal Kingdom
Do dolphins ever sleep? (Yes and no.)
Dolphins must be conscious to breathe. If they went into a full deep sleep, they would suffocate. In addition, they must be constantly alert to avoid danger. Yet virtually every animal needs to sleep. The dolphins have solved this problem in a unique way.
The dolphin brain has two hemispheres, just like ours. However, a dolphin’s hemispheres each operate independently of the other. For eight hours, both hemispheres are awake; for the next eight hours, only the left hemisphere sleeps; and for the next eight hours, only the right hemisphere sleeps. This way the entire brain gets eight full hours of sleep, although only half is sleeping at any given time. During the time half the brain is sleeping, the dolphin remains physically active but tends to move as little as necessary.
When the dolphin is sleeping, circumstances and individual preferences determine how it continues to breathe. It may swim slowly and surface only now and then to take a breath. If in shallow water, the dolphin may rest on the bottom and occasionally rise to the surface. Or, it might simply rest at the surface and keep its blowhole exposed.
When a dolphin is underwater, it holds its breath. Just before reaching the surface, it opens the blowhole and begins to exhale. Once at the surface, it quickly takes in air and then closes the blowhole. A dolphin typically surfaces to breathe about every two minutes.
When we breathe, we exchange only about 17 percent of the air in our lungs. The efficient dolphin exchanges about 80 percent of its lungs’ air with each breath.
FACTOIDS
It is believed that dolphins can live as long as 50 years.
A group of dolphins is called a “pod.” Being social, they tend to congregate and spend their entire lives with fellow podmates. A pod can contain anywhere from 10 to 30,000 dolphins.
Dolphins can look forward with one eye while using the other to look to the side or behind. They see well both underwater and out of the water.
The closest land animal relatives to the dolphin are hoofed animals such as horses and cows.
Dolphins can swim at a sustained speed of 20 mph and can reach 25 mph in short bursts.
Dolphins use clicks, whistles, and other sounds as well as body language to communicate.
DID YOU KNOW?
A dolphin’s brain, in proportion to body size, is larger than a human brain. Dolphins are considered to be extremely intelligent and have developed many unique skills to aid living in their watery environment.
The dolphin produces high-pitched clicks that bounce off any object in its path, whether a fish, rock, or man-made object. By listening to the echo and estimating the time it takes to come back, the dolphin can determine the size of the object and how far away it is. Although similar to SONAR, the dolphin’s method is far superior. SONAR uses a single frequency, while a dolphin emits clicks ranging from low to very high frequencies. For instance, the bottlenose dolphin can detect metal as thin as 13 thousandths of an inch.
People who train dolphins have discovered that dolphins can understand words and how the words work together. The trainer might put various objects in a pool and ask the dolphin to pick the “ball” for instance, which the dolphin will do. But if the trainer says, “Basket, ball, in,” the dolphin will swim to the ball, pick it up, carry it to the basket, and then put it in the basket.
Dolphins use other skills when hunting for food. A group of dolphins might encircle a school of fish and then take turns swimming to the center for feeding while the other dolphins keep the fish from escaping. Dolphins also often use the shoreline as a barrier to prevent fish from escaping. One dolphin will vocalize a command telling the other dolphins to charge together in a coordinated assault on a school of fish.
A combination of sleek beauty, high intelligence, and an affinity for humans has made the dolphin one of our most loved ocean mammals.
Where do butterflies go in the winter?
Some butterflies live for only a few weeks during the summer. Others hibernate during the winter for up to eight months and then revive in the spring. How long a butterfly lives and whether it hibernates during the winter depends on the species and the time of year the butterfly is born, or more correctly, comes out of its cocoon.
During hibernation, butterflies cling to the boughs and trunks of trees for protection from the drying wind and freezing cold. Many die, but many more survive. As the spring sun warms them, the butterflies begin to move and spread their wings to soak up the warmth of the sun. Then they fly away to feed and mate, and eventually die.
Other butterflies, such as the monarch, migrate over thousands of miles rather than hibernate.
A meteorologist, discovering that a simple model of heat convection possesses intrinsic unpredictability, called it “the butterfly effect,” suggesting that the mere flapping of a single butterfly’s wings can change the weather.
FACTOIDS
A Native American legend says that to make a wish come true you must catch a butterfly, whisper your wish to it, and then set it free. Your winged messenger will then carry your wish to the Great Spirit who will grant it.
Some species of butterflies have developed a survival tactic by mimicking other butterflies. Certain butterflies are noxious and inedible by birds. Edible butterflies have taken on the same wing markings as their inedible relatives to cheat the birds out of a tasty meal.
Nineteen species of butterflies in the United States are on the endangered species list.
In Appalachia it is believed that if a new bride sees a butterfly on her wedding day it is a sign of good luck.
At one nursing home, butterflies are raised so that Alzheimer’s patients can watch and enjoy them. Residents look forward to each day’s display of butterflies. Some wait patiently for the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly to take place. Others spend hours just watching the butterflies flutter and then land in the cage to feed.
A growing business is that of supplying butterflies for weddings. Each guest is given an envelope with a butterfly inside. When the bride and groom leave the church, the guests tear open the envelopes to release the butterflies which soar overhead in a group, circle for a short time to create a fluttering canopy, and then fly off.
Why do cats purr? (Does any other animal purr?)
It seems that even scientists are not certain why cats purr. There are three theories. The first is that purring is caused when a cat rapidly contracts the muscles of both the larynx and diaphragm. The second theory is that purring is produced by vibrating membranes close to a cat’s vocal cords. These membranes are called “false vocal cords.” The
third theory proposes that purring is related to the cat’s circulatory system. Experts think that muscles around a vein oscillate like a fluttering flag and the noise is amplified by the bronchial tubes and sinuses.
Although most people believe that purring is a sign of contentment, cats also purr at other times. A kitten purrs to tell its mother it is okay, doing so without interrupting its suckling. A mother cat purrs when approaching her kittens to tell them they are not in danger. Some older kittens purr to entice adults into playing with them. When playing, a dominant cat will purr when approaching a subordinate.
Purring can often mean just the opposite of contentment. A cat may purr when frightened. A sick cat unable to defend itself will purr in an effort to calm a potential aggressor. Cats have been known to purr when giving birth, when they are injured, and sometimes when they are dying. Scientists believe that when a cat purrs, calming endorphins are released. If true, this would explain why cats purr when in pain.
Tigers, leopards, jaguars, ocelots, mountain lions, and cheetahs also purr after a fashion, although experts disagree as to whether their purring is the same as in domestic cats. But after all, they are all members of the cat family.
Is purring unique to members of the cat family? Scientific studies have found that purring occurs in other species, such as black bear cubs and nursing spotted hyenas.
So why do cats purr? Well, it is a voluntary act. And any cat owner knows that a cat won’t do anything at all unless it wants to.
FACTOIDS
Because it has no collarbone, a cat can squeeze through an opening that is no larger than the size of its head.