April 30- Sports

Since it is late and I am tired, I am sad to inform you that there will be no customary paragraph long introduction. This is just a question that popped into my head, and being that today is sports day, I though I'd ask. So today's question is: What was the first sport televised in the U.S.?




The first sport was baseball. It was between Princeton and Columbia. Princeton won.

April 29- Geography

When American states and territories were first being made, the proud citizens were clamoring for things to make their state famous or well known. New Hampshire is the Granite State. Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State (Because, like a keystone, it held early America together.) and New York, named for the Duke of York (brother of Charles ll) is known as the Empire State. But, unbeknownst to many people, there is a state that "copies" New York's nickname, which brings me to my question of the day: Which state has the nickname of "Little Empire State"





The state that goes by the name of "Little Empire State" is Georgia.

April 28- Science

You see it all the time in ads. This cleaning product will be so and so effective. And often, non-descriptive words are used, like "cleaner" or "fresher". Notice how they don't often use the words sanitize or sterilize. Well, at least I noticed that. Anyway, they don't use those words because those words have definitions. Which brings me to my question of the day: What is the difference between sanitize and sterilize?




To sanitize something, you need to get rid of 99.999% of micro organisms in 30 seconds. To sterilize something, you need to get rid of every micro organism, in 30 seconds.

April 27- History

As it turns out, females have been vying for the seat of President of the United States. Before Hilary, other women have run for the seat in the past, but much longer before most people think. Which brings me to the question: Who was the first woman to run for president, and when? (Hint: It was before women had the right to vote.)





Victoria Woodhull ran in 1876, but lost. Suffrage was passed in 1920.

April 26- Presidents

To be elected to the highest position of office in the most powerful country in the world, one must have an impressive resume, to say the least. Sometimes people achieve this through being a governor, senator, or congressman. But also, people rise to power through the military. Which brings me to my question: How many presidents have been 2 star Generals or higher? (Surgeon General or Attorney General doesn't count.)




8 presidents have had 2 stars or higher: Washington (6), Eisenhower(5), Grant(4), Jackson(2), William Henry Harrison(2), Taylor(2), Hayes(2), Benjamin Harrison(2).

For more info visit: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_presidents_were_Army_generals

April 25- Random

The game of Monopoly. Invented during the Great Depression, this intense real-estate game involves bribing, tricking, and buying ones way to victory, or, monopoly. The "spokesperson" and mascot for the game of Monopoly is, or was, Rich Uncle Pennybags. But recently, Pennybags changed his name to Mr. Monopoly. Also, with the changing times, (and I suspect a decent dose of political correctness) Mr. Monopoly quit smoking. Which brings me to my question of the day: When was Mr. Monopoly renamed and quit smoking?




He changed his name and quit smoking in 2000. And, just for a bonus, a quick fact: The longest game of monopoly ever was 1,680 hours long, or 70 days.

*I got these facts from Mental_Floss, probably the best magazine ever. Check them out at www.mentalfloss.com

April 24- Music

The glass armonica. A series of glass bowls placed in order from biggest to smallest, it is played by someone wetting their fingers, and rubbing the top of the bowl that has the desired sound. A foot pedal at the bottom keeps the bowls spinning. Famous composers such as Mozart have written pieces for it. Unfortunately, the glass armonica has sort of died out over the years, but enthusiastic fans predict its imminent return to fame. So, without further ado, I bring my question of the day: Which famous American invented the glass armonica?





In 1761, Benjamin Franklin invented it after watching a performance of a man playing tunes on the top of wine glasses.

For more info visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPfoFZYso8 (The title is "Glass Harmonica", which is another widely used name, but not the official one.)

April 23- Sports

Wow, aren't you guys lucky. I plum forgot that Thursday is SPORTS day, and Friday is MUSIC day. So, the only possible solution is I do another question today about sports, and one tomorrow about music. Anyway, this question has to do with America's pastime, Baseball. Since the 1870's, baseball has been a huge American sport, but as the sport became popular, people wanted to watch better players, and so came Major League Baseball. And with these new teams, stadiums were built. Which brings me to my question: Where was the oldest MLB stadium built. (Bonus: when was it built?)




The oldest MLB stadium was built in Boston in 1871. It belonged to the Boston Braves, and was called South End Grounds.

For more info visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_stadiums

April 23- Music

Every year, American singers gather from near and far to possibly receive a Grammy award. Presented annually, the Grammy awards go to musicians for all sorts of accomplishments. Originally started in 1958 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Grammys have been presented every year since. But technically, the name of the award isn't "Grammy". So my question to you is: What does Grammy stand for?






The word Grammy is short for the music player Gramophone.
For more info visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_awards

April 22- Geography

Being that today is Earth Day, a holiday founded in San Francisco, I'm going to ask a California question. San Francisco is located on a peninsula in California. The San Francisco Bay to the Southeast helps carve out this body of water, but there is a lesser known bay to the North. This brings me to the question: What is the name of the bay to the North of San Francisco?






The name of the bay is the San Pablo Bay. San Rafael Bay could have also been correct, but it is very small.

April 21- Science

Radios are weird. They have all sorts of strange properties, like if you grab the antenna, the reception gets better. Another strange thing, that you may or may not have noticed, is that the reception is often times better at night. Which brings me to my question of the day: Why is the reception better at night? (Hint, it has to do with the sky)







In order to find a complete answer, we need to remember a couple of things. First, the earth is constantly revolving. Second, there are several layers of the atmosphere that keep said earth from frying. One such layer is the ionosphere. This is a layer of the atmosphere that has lots of ions very close to each other. Now lets look down at the picture. (Click on it to see the image in its entirety) You can't really see some of the writing I put on there, but, you can see the earth, and that white oval around it. Inside the oval is a purple line. That represents radio waves. Now, the left side of the earth is day, and the right is night. Since the ions are so close in the ionosphere, radio waves have to bounce off them. You can see that the ionosphere is closer during the day, so the radio waves have to bounce more, giving it more opportunity to get blurred. But at night, the ionosphere is farther away, so the waves can go farther in one bounce. This means you get a clearer reception.

April 19- Politics/Presidents

Although they are our commander-in-chiefs, you don't often hear about them storming into battle while they are president. Even though 11 of our presidents have been generals, none have directly lead a combat unit into battle, except for one. Which brings me to the question of the day: Who is the only president to directly lead a combat unit into battle while they were president?





During the War of 1812, lots of crazy things were happening, like the Capitol being razed. Through all the craziness, James Madison ended up leading a siege unit into battle. Unfortunately, to his embarrassment, he was forced to retreat.

April 18- Random

I've decided that finding decent news stories is hard, so I'm changing Fridays to music day. Now for today-
Ketchup. The all important condiment. Found on french fries and hot dogs alike. Unfortunately, it seems like it takes forever for the ketchup to get from the bottle to the food item. And really, does hitting the top of the ketchup container with your palm do anything? But actually, ketchup is moving pretty fast, which brings me to this question: How fast does ketchup leave the bottle?




On average, the speed of ketchup leaving the bottle is 30 miles per hour.

April 16- Sports

The game of polo. Hockey on horses. Polo has risen over time to be one of those sports you associate with England, but surprisingly, it does not originate there. So, my question is: Where did polo originate?




Polo originated in China and Persia around 2,000 years ago. It only became popular in the Western Hemisphere in the mid-1800's because of British colonization.

For more info visit:
www.polo.co.uk/polo_history.htm

April 15- Geography

As I'm sure you know, pirates are everywhere these days. Unfortunately, they aren't even the fun kind with peg legs and hooks. Right now after the Maersk takeover, the kind of pirate you hear about now are the Somalian pirates. Constantly out on the Indian Ocean, it seems like all kinds of ships are in danger, which brings me to my question: "The Indian Ocean is the name of the ocean the pirates are on, what is the name of the body of water to the North of Somalia?



The name of the body of water to the North of Somalia is the Gulf of Aden

April 14th-Science

The much loved Ozone layer. High above us, it converts UV rays into heat. Without it, the Earth would become sterilized, or in simpler terms, we'd be toast. Man made pollutants are constantly breaking down this part of the atmosphere, but more recently, the Ozone layer has been patching itself up. But what exactly is the Ozone layer?




The element that makes up the Ozone layer is oxygen. The exact compound is O3 which means that it is 3 oxygens linked together.

To learn more visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/Ozone/ozonelayer.html
http://www.oar.noaa.gov/climate/t_ozonelayer.html

The Daily Question Layout

My newest blogging endeavor, The Daily Question, will present a question each day about history, science, sports, geography, and anything else I can think of. The schedule should look something like this:

Monday: History
Tuesday: Science
Wednesday:Geography
Thursday: Sports
Friday: News
Saturday: Random
Sunday: Politics/Presidents

I intend to stick with that plan, but like anything, it is subject to change. :)
Please send this link to whomever you feel, and also check out my popular quiz on Facebook, "Which President are You?"