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Which cities had the original National league teams? Baseball's National League was born in 1876. Eight competing baseball teams met in New York City's Grand Central Hotel. The first president of the new league was Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, who later became a US Senator. The eight original cities with teams were: Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Louisville and Hartford. Two of the original teams are now in the American League (Boston and New York) while Louisville and Hartford are now minor-league baseball towns. Where was the United State's first nuclear power plant? In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.) What's in the air that we breathe? The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen, 21.5% oxygen, .5% argon and other gases. Were things "mummy powered" in 19th century Egypt? For a time - In the late 19th century, millions of human mummies were used as fuel for locomotives in Egypt where wood and coal were scarce, but mummies were plentiful. How much does one million dollars weigh? If you stacked one million $1 dollar bills, the pile of money would weigh 2,040.8 pounds. If you used $100 dollar bills, the stack would weigh only 20.4 pounds. What happened to Chanels numbers one through four? Designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel introduced her first perfume in 1921. She gave it the name "Chanel No. 5." According to Chanel, she jumped straight to number five because it was her lucky number. To add luck to the fragrance, she introduced it on the fifth day of May, the fifth month. Chanel No. 5 became the world's best selling perfume. Who developed table tennis? Table tennis was originally played with balls made from champagne corks and paddles made from cigar-box lids. It was created in the 1880s by James Gibb, a British engineer who wanted an invigorating game he could play indoors when it was raining. Named "Gossima," the game was first marketed with celluloid balls, which replaced Gibb's corks. After the equipment manufacturer renamed the game "Ping-Pong" in 1901, it became a hot seller. When would you drink a caudle? During the Middle Ages, a popular warm drink for those who were sick was called a caudle. Wine or ale was mixed with eggs, bread, sugar, and spices and was used to soothe and heal the ill. How was scurvy prevented on ships of old? British sailors were given lime or lemon juice to prevent scurvy; Dutch sailors were given sauerkraut. Do prairie dogs really talk to each other? Communication within the prairie dog community is crucial to the creatures' survival. An appointed sentry, spotting a predator, will give a distinctive warning cry, which instantly sends all others grabbing up babies and scurrying to the safety of their burrows. An all-clear call later announces that danger is passed. Experts are fascinated by the prairie dogs' cooperative system. Which are the top two wine-producing states in the U.S? After California, New York is the second largest wine-producing state in the United States. Some of the country’s best Rieslings are made in the upstate Finger Lakes district. How tiny is the smallest owl? The smallest of American owls, the elf owl, often nests in the Gila woodpecker’s cactus hole after the woodpecker leaves. The owl measures barely 6 inches tall. It specializes in catching scorpions, seizing each by the tail and nipping off its stinger. It then swallows the scorpion’s body, pincers and all. How far can you see from the Empire State Building? On a clear day, you can see five states from atop the Empire State Building in New York City: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. What does the "WD" in WD-40 stand for? Per the company, the product's full name is WD-40® Water Displacer, which was perfected on the fortieth attempt. (Some sites have erroneously stated the WD is an abbreviation for Water Displacement). Which are the members of the brass family? The brass family of instruments include the trumpet, trombone, tuba, cornet, flügelhorn, French horn, saxhorn, and sousaphone. While they are usually made of brass today, in the past they were made of wood, horn, and glass. How big can a minnow get? Carp are the largest of the minnows - it's a big family, including over 300 American species, mainly small freshwater fishes. True minnows (family Cyprinidae) are soft-rayed fishes with teeth in their throats only. Which cell is the largest in a human? The largest cell in the human body is the female ovum, or egg cell. It is about 1/180 inch in diameter. The smallest cell in the human body is the male sperm. It takes about 175,000 sperm cells to weigh as much as a single egg cell. Are we eating our vegetables? Americans eat less than one serving of fruit and only 1½ servings of vegetables per day. About 45 percent reported eating no fruit in a day, and one in nine said they didn't eat either fruit or vegetables. Can snails possibly be dangerous? There are about 500 different kinds of cone snails around the world. All have a sharp, modified tooth that stabs prey with venom like a harpoon. Most cone snails hunt worms and other snails, but some eat fish. These are the ones most dangerous to people. The nerve toxin that stops a fish is powerful enough to also kill a human. How many neon signs does Las Vegas have? There are over 15,000 miles of lighted neon tubing in the many signs on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas. How many atoms in a pound? The number of atoms in a pound of iron is nearly five trillion billion 4,891,500,000,000,000,000,000,000. How long can you go without water? The average person can live up to eleven days without water, assuming a mean temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Change for a dollar? If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in U.S. coins without being able to make change for a dollar. Why are evergreens in danger? Evergreens, because of their long life span and their needles' year-round exposure to pollution, are the most vulnerable trees to air pollution. What does the BRAT diet consist of? The BRAT diet is a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. The diet is often prescribed for infants with diarrhea. Are prairie dogs private about child rearing? Mother prairie dogs will nurse their young only while underground in the safety of the burrow. If an infant tries to suckle above ground, the mother will slap it. How complex is a cockroach's heart? A cockroach heart is nothing but a simple tube with valves. The tube can pump blood backwards and forwards in the insect. The heart can even stop moving without harming the roach. How did hook and loop tape come about? In the early 1940s, Swiss inventor George de Mestral went on a walk with his dog. Upon returning home, he noticed that his dog's coat and his pants were covered with cockleburrs. His inventor's curiosity led him to study the burrs under a microscope, where he discovered its natural hook-like shape. This was to become the basis for a unique, two-sided fastener: one side with stiff "hooks" like the burrs and the other side with the soft "loops" like the fabric of his pants. The result was VELCRO® brand hook and loop fasteners, named for the French words "velour" and "crochet." How valuable are emeralds? While diamonds are usually considered the most precious of stones, a large, near flawless emerald is worth considerably more than a diamond of the same size. some birds really have magnetic personalities? Pigeons and hummingbirds have tiny magnetic particles in their heads that respond to the Earth's magnetic fields and are used for navigation. What exactly is an ISBN anyway, and why are they all over books? ISBN stands for "International Standard Book Number." The ISBN is a 10-digit identification system that allows booksellers and libraries to easily differentiate between books and other media when ordering. The ISBN refers to the specific edition (e.g., trade paperback, mass market paperback) and is usually located on the back of the book and on the copyright page. By the way, it's properly referred to as an "eye ess bee enn" and not an "eye ess bee enn number" as the latter is redundant - it's as if you're saying "International Standard Book Number Number!" How rich would you have been near the turn of the century? If you had the appropriate currency, rather significantly - In 1915, the average annual family income in the United States was $687 a year. Comparably, the $40-$60k made by the average family today would be a king's ransom! Was aluminium really considered valuable at one time? Very much so - The first known item made from aluminum was a rattle - made for Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon also provided his most honored guests with knives and forks made of pure aluminum. At the time, Adele Stephens said the newly discovered metal was so rare, it was considered more valuable than gold. How deep will a manatee swim? Although manatees are excellent swimmers, the deepest that one has been observed diving is 33 feet. Typically, the large, gentle creatures feed no deeper than about ten feet below the surface of the water. Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!
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