July 23- Sports

Since it is 11:55, and this is the Daily Question, I'm just going to cut to the chase. The only state that still has a confederate flag waving at its capital is Georgia. I'm not 100% sure why, but I imagine it is because Georgia was one of the hardest hit states in the Civil War.



Now for today's question. This question has less to do with playing sports, but more to do with watching sports. With the invention of the television, sports were able to be seen in front row, even from miles away. Sports television has evolved significantly, and leading the coverage of a billion dollar industry is the broadcasting station ESPN. But, my question for today is: What does ESPN stand for?

July 22- Geography

Ancient Greece had four main elements: earth, wind, water, fire. Actually, all of these could be proven by burning a tree. First, you can feel the tree is wet. Once you light it on fire, you can see the elements escape, the water through steam, the wind through smoke, the earth as ashes, and the fire as, well, the fire. However, there is a curve ball; the fifth element. The fifth element was aether, a kind of void element. It represented the vacuum of space, and made up all celestial bodies. Actually, we get the word quintessential from it. Quint, which meant 5, and essential, meaning it was an element. So, a word for the void element that is everywhere now comes to mean something that is typical.



Now, to compliment some classical Greek philosophy, how about some Civil War geography? During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America made their own flag reminiscent of the U.S.A. one, red with a blue x and white stars. Today, all southern states have officially given up this flag, except for one. So my question is: Which state still has a Confederate flag perched atop their capital building?

June 17- Geography

Isn't the National Geographic Society great? From their Bees to their magazine, National Geographic is full of fun and useful information. How useful, you might just be asking. Well first of all, the magazine was great today when I was hanging out in a radio station after school. Second, the magazine came enclosed with a nifty little map of Asia. But more importantly, this most recent July '09 issue provided me with a cool question for today. Some of you might have heard of a place called Angkor. Old city. Destroyed. All that jazz. Anyway, when I first started reading the article, I could not place where Angkor was, until the article was significantly underway. So, for my daily question, I ask: Where is the destroyed city of Angkor located?


By the way, I'd just like to throw out a thanks to a certain radio station that did a shout out about The Question today... appreciate it!!!


Angkor is a region in Cambodia. Not to be confused with Angkor Wat, (as I was) which is a temple complex within the region of Angkor.
To read more about Angkor, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor
For Angkor Wat, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
For National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ (also features a link to the Angkor Wat article.)

June 10- Geography

Sorry I haven't been regular with the blog, but as I said before, it's going to be a busy last couple days of school. I will post my paper as promised, but I want to make sure it is up to par. Hopefully tomorrow I can have the first section out. Anyway, just to satisfy your hunger for more daily facts, this question comes straight from Africa. This country has done fairly well for itself over the years against invaders, and they aren't afraid to show it. On the national flag, they actually have a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle. So, for my question, I ask: Which coastal African country has an AK-47 on their flag?





The country is Mozambique.

May 27- Geography

All countries have their own special way of dealing with crime. For a fun social experiment, you can compare the crime rate to the justice method used, but we're about already proven facts here at The Daily Question. Now, most countries try to keep the crimes committed per person down, but the country that has the highest crime committed per person is 1.5! That means 1.5 crimes are committed for every person in that country. So, keeping in mind a bit of irony, which country has the highest crime rate in the world.






The country is in Europe, and is Vatican city. Most crimes are pickpockets, but count for a lot because the country is so small.

May 20- Geography

Last year, I was given a week to pick a country to study for the rest of the school year, and give numerous reports on. And I, being the procrastinator that I am, (which you can tell since I'm posting this at 10:08pm) Picked a country off the list 5 minutes before the choosing time was due. I mostly picked this country because it had a cool name, and I didn't know much about it. Later, as I would find out to my chagrin, there was almost no information online about it. However, I did find one fact about this eccentric little country, that has stuck with me today. So my daily question is: What is the only landlocked country to be landlocked by landlocked countries, in Europe?








The country I did a report on, and is landlocked by landlocked countries in Europe, is Liechtenstein.

May 15- Music

Recently, I rediscovered a great album from the dark depths of my iTunes account. A hit in the U.K. (reaching #1) and #3 in America, Paul Simon's 5xPlatinum CD Graceland is one of my favorites of all time. To date it has sold over 14 million copies. Recorded mostly in South Africa by a large group of musicians, with all very diverse backgrounds, most from around Africa, Graceland experiments with many different kinds of music and rhythms. People liked it so much, it won The Record of the Year Grammy award for 1986 and 1987. Also in 1987, Paul Simon went on a tour of African, performing the songs from Graceland. Which brings me to the daily question: Which African country did Paul Simon perform the songs from Graceland to make the movie The African Concert in 1987?








It was filmed over the course 2 concerts in Harare, Zimbabwe.
To see clips from the movie, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3CBdLfGqw
For more info:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graceland_(album)

May 13- Geography

I don't know how many Clash fans we have following this site, but I do hope there are a few, because this question entails a famous song by said band: Rock the Casbah. (Unfortunately, there were no good geography questions about "Should I Stay or Should I Go".) If you don't know the song, you might want to check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAkfHShATKY . There are several different theories about what the song is about. One is that it just sort of happened, and was created randomly after a producer's comment. Another is that it has to do with bans on rock music, and the Middle-East, and jets listening to music. Whatever the lyrics mean to you, you have to notice the eclectic, if not nonsensical word choice of "Rock the Casbah". Well, if you are a history/geography buff as I am, you might notice that Casbah is also a term for a fortress, one of which played a drastic part in the Operation TORCH during World War 2. During Operation TORCH, Allied forces were vying for a better hold in North Africa by landing on beaches and all that stuff. One of these landings was at a certain beach, and resulted in a fair sized battle, which finally concluded in Allied victory and taking the Casbah. So for my question, I ask: What is the name of the beach that held this famous Casbah and what country is it in?






The Casbah is in Morocco, and is on the beach Mehdia, about 80 miles East of Casablanca.

May 6- Geography

I was flipping through an atlas today, and was looking at some of the smaller country names. At this point, I was thinking of demonyms. A demonym is what you call a person from where they live. For example, I am from America, so I am an American. Someone from Spain would be a Spaniard, and so on. Anyway, one of the countries I noticed was Monaco. Monaco is a very tiny country that is entirely city and is on the Mediterranean Sea. And though I knew all of that, I didn't know what you called a person from Monaco, which brings me to my question of the day: What do you call a person from Monaco?





You call someone from Monaco a Monégasque or Monagasque.
If you would like to learn more about Monaco, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco

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 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 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