Now that my never-ending retro trivia posts have been completed, it’s time to return to my first love those funny and bawdy LIMERICKS. As I’ve always said, I love limericks and I also love history. I’ve decided today to combine the two with a few limericks made famous during the World War II era. I assume some of these may have been written by a few GI’s but I can’t be sure. I find it refreshing that even during the worst war we’ve ever experienced, a sense of humor was still maintained. Some of these might be considered a little much for younger children. Be warned!
Here is the next installment of more retro trivia facts from the 1950’s. Lets see if you can improve on your score from the 1940’s quiz. As always the answers will be listed below. Have fun!
How man presidents were elected in the 1950’s?
Name the pope elected in 1958.
Who did George Jorgensen become?
Name the first atomic submarine.
What lamp reached it’s height of popularity in the 1950’s?
What British king died in 1952?
The Ford Motor Company has never lived down the failure of what car, introduced in the 50’s?
Name the political group that was established in 1950 by H.N. Arrowsmith, Jr,
Established in 1953, NASA stands for what?
What Russian word, popularized in the late 1950’s , means “fellow wayfarer”?
BONUS Question
Where did the unoccupied Soviet spacecraft Lunik journey?
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Answers
One, John XXIII, Christine Jorgensen, The Nautilus, Pole Lamp, King George VI, The Edsel, The American Nazi Party, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Sputnik, BONUS- To the Moon,
Todays post will take us on a short time-travel trip to the 1940’s. This will be the first of five trivia posts from past decades from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. These first few questions may be difficult since most readers weren’t alive in the 40’s but if your a fan of history you may learn a few mostly forgotten facts. Let’s get started. As always the answers will be listed below.
What important journal was found in Amsterdam following World War II?
In what year was Korea split in two?
On what day of the week was Pearl Harbor bombed?
Who coined the phrase “Iron Curtin”?
What newspaper ran the infamous headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”?
In what island group is Corregidor, which fell to the Japanese in 1942.
From what nation did Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gain it’s independence in 1948?
The body of what World War II leader was hung upside down in public?
What world leader in 1943 survived a bomb set by his generals to assassinate him?
What was the nickname given the the Nazi general Erwin Rommel?
BONUS Question
What two world leaders met in Casablanca in 1943?
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Answers
The Diary of Ann Frank, 1948, Sunday, Winston Churchill, The Chicago Daily Tribune, The Philippines, Great Britain, Benito Mussolini, Adolph Hitler, The Desert Fox, BONUS-Churchill and Roosevelt
Todays post is just a small part of the never-ending list of interesting and at times obscure facts that continue to make their way to my archives. As always the answers will be listed below. See how you do this week . . .
What famous American poet was a West Point cadet? Who was he and how did he fare?
Ernest Hemingway believed all American literature comes from one novel, Name It!
Which of the 13 original states was the last to ratify the Constitution?
Which of the Great Lakes does not border on Canada?
Which nation was the first to give women the right to vote?
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When was the modern day brassiere invented?
The Galapagos Islands belong to what country?
Where did the Doobie Brothers get their name?
Name the epic classic movie that won the Academy Award without having any female speaking roles?
From the I Love Lucy program . . . what was Lucy’s maiden name?
An Extra FAV that always makes me smile . . .
What White House fixture had to be replaced due to President William Howard Taft? A new and larger bathtub was installed after the President became stuck in the old one due to his size (big butt). It took six men to extricate him.
Answers
Edgar Allen Poe lasted 8 months before being court-martialed and dismissed in 1831, Mark Twain’s – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Rhode Island, Lake Michigan, New Zealand in 1893, In 1914 by Mary Phelps Jacob a New York Socialite, They are a province of Ecuador, “Doobie” slang for a marijuana cigarette, Lawrence of Arabia, MacGillicuddy.
I decided to take a break from watching the tremendous happenings that are occurring around the world. The gigantic wakeup call has commenced but I feel the need to step back and not get too caught up in politics. I have only one thing to say and I’ll do it at the top of my lungs . . . THANK GOD FOR OUR TROOPS.
Now for todays posting. In the past I’ve posted quizzes from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s , and 80’s. Some were easy and some were not. The people that lived through each era scored well as you would expect. Todays quiz concerns the 1950’s and the number of people born and raised in that time has been significantly reduced by old age. Let’s see how well you all do with this one. As always the answers will be listed below.
Who succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union?
In what year was Dwight D. Eisenhower first elected US President?
Great Britain, France, and __________ attacked Egypt during the Suez Crisis.
North Korea and South Korea are separated at the __________ Parallel.
In 1956, most of the action in the Hungarian Revolution took place in what city?
What was the game that Eisenhower referred to in his famous “Falling” speech?
__________ was the leader of China during the Korean War?
In what country was Joseph Stalin born?
More Americans lost their lives in which Korean War battle that lasted from November 27 to December 15, 1950?
__________ was the leader of Egypt during the Suez Crisis?
I was just a five year old during the fifties and I scored seven correct answers. How did you do?
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Answers
Nikita Khrushchev, 1952, Israel, 38th, Budapest, Dominos, Mao Zedong, Georgia, The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Gamal Abdel Nasser
I’ve spent a few nights recently getting reacquainted with Isaac Azimov’s Foundation series. It’s a classic creation that I’ve read a number of times over the years and it’s still a great read. Being a huge fan of Azimov I still read the story in absolute amazement much like I get when I read the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. How their minds work to write these amazing stories puzzles me but I still enjoy every minute spent reading them. Todays post will contain a group of unrelated facts collected by Azimov over the years and I thought you might enjoy them.
After the most recent North American glacier ended its southward advance about 11,000 years ago, it took more than 4,000 years for the mile-deep ice mass to melt from the present site of Hartford, Connecticut to that of St. John’s, Vermont, a distance of 190 miles.
The Earth receives only one-half of one-billionth of the sun’s radiant energy. But in just a few days it gets as much heat and light as could be produced by burning all of the oil, coal, and wood on this planet.
The first English settlement in what became New England was founded 13 years before the arrival of the Pilgrim’s. In 1607, a settlement was established at Popham Beach, Maine. After a year, its inhabitants found the climate too harsh, and departed.
During most of the Middle Ages, few people, including kings and emperors, were able to read or write. The clergy were virtually the only ones who possessed those skills.
Blue Laws became known as such because of the color of the paper on which they were printed. In 1665, Theophilus Eaton, governor of the New Haven Colony, and a friend, clergyman John Davenport, drew up the strict legal code regulating personal conduct that subsequently became known as the Blue Laws.
Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, was sentenced to life in prison for splinting the fractured leg of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, became a hero to guards and inmates of his island prison when he stopped a yellow-fever epidemic there, in 1868, after all of the Army doctors had died. President. Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, pardoned Mudd in early 1869.
Until the “pooper-scooper law” was passed in 1978, the 500,000 dogs in New York City deposited 175 pounds of fecal matter on the streets each day. The law requires dog owners to clean up after their dogs, on penalty of fines up to $100. Most dog owners comply, and New York City is much cleaner.
President Lincoln’s only son to live to manhood – Robert Todd Lincoln – was at hand at the assassinations of three Presidents: his father’s, Garfield’s, and McKinley. He was called to the house where his father was dying; arrived only moments after Garfield was shot in the capital and McKinley was shot in Buffalo.
I’ve been on a roll of late with a collection of weird and unusual trivia facts but I think today I’m taking it one step further. I like weird and strange! I’ve never denied it and I’ll prove once again by offering up more information that isn’t common knowledge. Humans are imaginative and creative and extremely strange at times. Here’s proof of that and I hope you enjoy it. Inventions of the WEIRD.
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The Motorized Ice Cream Cone: ( Patent issued in 1999)
Just push the handy on/off switch on the side of the cone and your ice cream will spin around and around, and all you have to do is stick out your tongue.
Pet Petter: (Patent issued in 1989)
If you don’t have the time to constantly coddle your pet, the Pet Petter does. An electric eye sees your pet and signals the electronic motors to start swinging a petting arm tipped with a humanlike hand.
Toilet Snorkel: (Patent issued in 1982)
In most fires, it’s the smoke that will get you, and a source of fresh air can be a lifesaver. So here it is – a way to snake a snorkel through the zigs and zags of your toilet, so you can brief underwater.
Motorcycle Airbag: (Patent issued in 1989)
An all-over body suit airbag designed to cushion the motorcyclist’s fall in an accident. Air is forcibly ejected from the bike, the suit swells from compressed gas. It covers the arms, legs, and torso, along with a soft landing.
Life Expectancy Watch: (Patent issued in 2002)
This invention counts backwards toward the date of your eventual demise. You program the watch by answering a series of questions about your lifestyle such as exercise, eating habits, and alcohol and tobacco use. Your remaining time is conveniently displayed in years.
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A FAVORITE FUN FACT
Thomas Edison filed 1,093 patents, including those for the light bulb, electric railways, and the movie camera. When he died in 1931, he held 34 patents for the telephone, 141 for batteries, 150 for the telegraph, and 389 patents for electric lights and power.
It’s been a miserable few days trying to get my systems back into operation. After four days I can finally return to the blog. It will probably take me another few weeks before things return to abnormal. This post will concern quotes from prominent people about politics. It seems to be all the rage nowadays so I decided to get on board with all of the other wackos. Here goes nothing . . .
My Quote of the Day
“Technology is a queer thing. It brings you
great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you
in the back with the other.”
(C. P. Snow)
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other.” Oscar Ameringer
“No man should be in public office who can’t make more money in private life.” Thomas Dewey
“The cardinal rule of politics – never get caught in bed with a live man or a dead woman.” J.R Ewing (Dallas)
“Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be President but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.” John F. Kennedy
“One fifth of the people are against everything all the time.” Robert Kennedy
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“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even when there’s no river.” Nikita Krushchev
“Socialism is workable only in heaven, where it isn’t needed, and in hell, where they’ve got it.” Cecil Palmer
With Congress, every time they make a joke it’s a law, and every time they make a law, it’s a joke.” Will Rogers
“My choice early in life was to be either a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, There’s hardly any difference.” Harry Truman
“If God had been a liberal, we wouldn’t have had the Ten Commandments – we’d have the Ten Suggestions.” Malcolm Bradbury
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THANK GOD ONLY ONE OF THEM CAN WIN!
(Bumper sticker from the Kennedy-Nixon campaign in 1960)
I’ve been fascinated for decades about anything related to space travel. I can thank my mother for that when shortly after Sputnik made its appearance she showed up in my bedroom with paint brushes and paints. She then proceeded to turn my bedroom into a huge space mural filled with planets, stars, meteorites, and spaceships.. She knew I loved anything related to space travel because I was already a sci-fi junkie at the ripe old age of five. Today’s post contains information that I’ve picked up along the way concerning the space race and weird little factoids that you may never have heard before. I hope you enjoy them.
Our galaxy is so wide that, at the speed of light, it would take you 100,000 years to cross it.
A meteorite the size of the school bus would destroy the entire eastern seaboard of the United States.
The volume of the Earth’s moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.
A solar flare is basically a gigantic magnetic arch-like horseshoe magnet-that attracts itself inward, back to the surface of the sun.
The famous Halley’s Comet returns to earth every 76 years. It last appeared in 1986 and will reappear here again in 2062.
A solar flare, ejected from the sun’s surface, can reach speeds of 190 miles per second or 306 kilometers per second.
It takes 3 minutes for the sunlight that is reflected from the moon to reach our eyes.
Astronauts are not permitted to eat beans before they go into space because the methane gas released while passing wind can damage spacesuit materials.
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year or 870,000,000,000 miles or 9.4 5 trillion kilometers.
A Martian day lasts 24 hours, 37 min., and 23 seconds. And Earth Day last 23 hours, 56 min., and 4 seconds.
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Here’s a salute to one of the greatest minds of all time.
Galileo Galilei
Here’s fair warning to some of you out there with outrageous or ridiculous theories. Galileo got into trouble with the Inquisition for his many theories, and spent some serious time in prison. The fact that he was correct made no difference.
It’s another anniversary of 9/11 and on top of that we are trying to cope with another cowardly assassination of another intelligent and charismatic, god-fearing patriot, Charlie Kirk. I’ve been around almost 80 years and that young man touched me deeply. I hope those of you on the left realize what a tragedy this is and the adverse effect it will have on you. Charlie was a true believer in God and wished only good things for this country and it’s people. I hope he didn’t die in vain and that his millions of young followers listened to him and will take up the cause he loved so much.
I can’t possible post anything else today. I’m mourning his loss and my heart just isn’t into it. I wish his close friends and family my deepest condolences. I hope all of the seeds he’s planted over the years take root and produce more people just like him.