Mindless Crap May 2002 Stump Me Questions (and Answers)

Stump Me Questions Answered in May 2002

Q.: What color hair do they put on the drivers license of a bald man?
- Andrew

A.: The color of his eyebrows.

Q.: Not trying to stump you, just want to know the answer....When were panty hose introduced to the market?
- No Name Given

A.: In the early 20th century, hosiery utilized cotton, wool and silk, but those materials had no elasticity and required too many sizes that didn't exactly fit well. In 1937, a researcher at DuPont named Dr. Wallace Carothers synthesized a form of silk whose strength surpassed that of cotton or wool. He called it Fiber 66. It was later renamed nylon. On May 15th 1940, in New York, the first recorded sale of nylon pantyhose saw women buy 72,000 pairs on the first day.

Q.: Where can I find a website with the best Japanese Anime?
- No Name Given

A.: Try this site.

Q.: I'm trying to find out what the symbolism and the origin of polka dots are. Cool-word.com supposedly has the info, but the site must be down or something. Any ideas?
- Shelley S.

A.: They came about as a result of the dance known as the polka, which was introduced in Europe and America in 1835. At the height of the polka's popularity (believe it or not it was HUGE) - from the mid to late 1800s - a bunch of manufacturers cashed in on the public's polka craze by creating a ton of products with the word polka in it, including polka hats, polka curtain ties, and polka-dotted fabrics. Granted these had nothing to do with the dance, but the items sold like crazy. When the craze ended, only the polka dot survived because it was pretty much the only product that was unique.

In case you're curious, according to the Dictionary of Etymology, the word polka literally means Polish woman. However, the Czech word polka is an alteration of pulka, which were half steps of the Bohemian peasant dance.

Q.: What in the Indian constitution is called the 52 second rule? I do not know the answer but there is an answer.
- Grant N.

A.: Every citizen of India is bound by law to show respect to the national anthem by standing up while it is sung. In fact, the duration for which the national anthem should be sung is also clearly defined. It's for not more than precisely 52 seconds. Any violation of these provisions will attract a punishment of 3 years imprisonment or fine or both. If you want to look it up, check the the provisions of the 1950 Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act (No.12 of 1950), and the 1971 Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act (No. 69 of 1971).

Q.: What phrase, meaning "Get out of the way or you'll be shot" originated when soldiers would "take a knee" so the row of soldiers behind them could shoot over them. Who still uses the phrase today?
- Micki M.

A.: Fore. Some special forces units still use it today.

Q.: My son asked me: "Who invented the seat belt?" I have no clue.
- Jackie

A.: In the 1930s, U.S. physicians started equipping their own cars with lap belts and began urging manufacturers to provide them in all new cars. But it wasn't until 1947's Tucker (by Preston Tucker) that the first seat belts were offered in a American car. Prior to that, the state of the art were lap belts.

Q.: I have a riddle I cannot figure out: " What is big, red and eats rocks?"
- Lauren F.

A.: A volcano or, as the many people who've been e-mailing me, a big, red rock eater. Take your pick.

Q.: This concerns the writings of Josephus. How many of his writings exist today? Not copies made by others that could possibly have been changed or misinterpreted, but of the actual material used and words written by his very own hand.
- Bob W.

A.: Josephus is our only source of knowledge for much of the history of Judaism in the First Century A.D. His books provide essential background for an understanding of both the beginning of modern Judaism and of the New Testament in its historical setting. Four of his works have survived:
The Jewish War
Antiquities of the Jews
Against Apion
The Life

Q.: What did Jenny die of in Forrest Gump?
- Elizabeth H.

A.: Though they never come right out and say it, they leave a subtle hint that she's dies of AIDS. There's a scene with Jenny and Forrest in the park where she talks about dying (this is where she asks Forrest to marry her). Here's the line: "I have some kind of virus and the doctors don't know what it is. There isn't anything they can do about it." Like so much of the movie you have to piece things together on your own. For this one you need to keep in mind what the approximate time frame was.

Q.: How was the Microwave discovered/invented?
- Jeff I.

A.: Like many of today's great inventions, the microwave oven was a by-product of another technology. It was during a radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, noticed something unusual. He was testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron when he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. This intrigued Dr. Spencer, so he tried another experiment. This time he placed some popcorn kernels near the tube and watched in surprise as the popcorn sputtered, cracked and popped all over his lab.

The next morning, Dr. Spencer decided to put the magnetron tube near an egg. Spencer was joined by a curious colleague, and they both watched as the egg began to tremor and quake. The rapid temperature rise within the egg was causing tremendous internal pressure and the egg exploded. Spencer came up with a logical scientific conclusion: the melted candy bar, the popcorn, and the exploding egg, were all attributable to exposure to low-density microwave energy.

Dr. Spencer fashioned a metal box with an opening into which he fed microwave power. The energy entering the box was unable to escape, thereby creating a higher density electromagnetic field. When food was placed in the box and microwave energy fed in, the temperature of the food rose very rapidly.

Q.: What does "chow" mean when someone says chow instead of goodbye. And is it an Italian word? Can't find it in an Italian dictionary.
- No Name Given

A.: Actually, it is Italian, and it's spelled ciao. It means "hello."

Thanks to Claude C. for the help.

Q.: What word has been incorporated into 1000's of languages without changing it?
- Gail M.

A.: Think religion: Amen. Thanks to several people who sent this one in.

Q.: In a poem by D.H.Lawrence called Last Lesson of the Afternoon there is a line that states: "To me it is all my aunt." I cannot find anywhere to what he might be referring. I can only think that it is a vernacular phrase from England. Any Help?? Thanks.
- Keith S.

A.: I think the best way to answer this is to give you the following example: In my Greats Books class in college we were reading about a professor's interpretation of a short essay by Robert Frost (I think it was about a park). It just so happened that Frost was in the auditorium listening to the professor explain every detail of his work. At the end of the class, Frost stood up and explained to the class that he wrote the piece simply to describe what he saw at the park. As he put it, not everything is meant to be analyzed.

As for your answer, to be honest I have no idea what the aunt thing means. He may just be saying that everything's relative. If anyone else wants a shot at this, the poem can be found here.

Q.: Who invented wallpaper?
- No Name Given

A.: Since nobody knows for sure historians base their answers on historical records. It's believed that wallpaper began in ancient China, first because the Chinese invented paper, and secondly because they glued rice papers onto their walls as early as 200 BC.