Everything From Animals to Geography

Browse the Stump Me Questions
1,292 Stump Me questions have been asked so far (or something like that).  I've grouped them a best I can based on the categories listed below.

If you have a question that needs answering, e-mail me at stumpme@mindlesscrap.com.  If you know an answer, e-mail me at spot@mindlesscrap.com.

My Only Rule:
1)  There must be a legitimate answer to your question or don't bother asking.  It doesn't matter if you don't know the answer.

Why You Can Trust My Answers:
I do the research...plain and simple.  Nothing goes up on my site unless I've located a reliable source or verified a visitor's submission with a secondary source.  Most of my answers come from one of the many source books I own, but others come from my directly asking a company, a college professor or some other person who would be considered an informed and reliable source.

Questions without hypertext links (the black ones) have not been answered yet.

1. Do fish have memories, and if so, how is this proven?  Do you know anything about the memory span of a Betta?
2. Why is a pregnant goldfish called a twit?
3. Don't fish get electrocuted?
4. What are the five families of freshwater fish that have an adipose fin?
5. Can you name 8 aquatic sea mammals?
6. Do fish feel pain when they get hooked ?

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1. Why do cats phlegm?
2. Why do cats like ear wax?
3. Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
4. Why do city dogs usually live longer than country dogs?
5. Do you know why dogs tend to sniff the buttocks of anything to see if it recognizes it?
6. Why does cats pee glow under a black light?
7. Do you know which was the first animal to be domesticated?
8. Why does a cat scratch have a burning sensation on human skin?
9. Will feeding a dog chocolate over time lead to his demise?
10. Why do rabbits keep turning their big, sound collecting ears?
11. Why do people refer to cats as having nine lives?

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1. Why don't Chickens migrate north in the winter?
2. Why can't a pig look up at the sky?
3. Why can't a horse vomit?
4. What exactly is the purpose of a pig having an orgasm that lasts for 30 minutes?

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1. Why do spiders have 8 legs?
2. What are cicadas?
3. Is it true that the daddy long legs is a venomous spider, but don't have the mouth parts to bite humans?
4. Can a spider get caught in another spider's web?  And if so, do the spiders have to be different species or can it happen with the same species?
5. Have you ever heard that the most poisonous spider in the world was the granddaddy longlegs spider, but it's mouth is to small to bite you?  Is that statement true?

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1. How much sperm does an African elephant produce in one year?
2. How many babies are in a litter of sloths?
3. Do you know why a duck's quack doesn't echo?
4. Why don't mongooses die when they eat cobras, rattlers, etc.?
5. Why are elephants always depicted as being afraid of mice?  Are they?  If so, why?
6. There are "critters" that are found nowhere else in the world but in a Sloth's fur.  What are they?
7. Is a polar bear primarily right-handed or left-handed?
8. Why were zebras never domesticated into work animals as horses and mule, etc. were?
9. Why can't a crocodile stick its tongue out?
10. What is the air speed of an unladen swallow?
11. What is the gestation period, maturation period, and average litter size for rats?
12. Why do the ears of a fox point forward as sound detectors?
13. If frogs have ears on the side of their heads, what can they hear in water?
14. How do bats use their ears to catch insects?
15. How does an elephant use its ears to keep cool?
16. How do we know a song thrush must have ears?
17. Mammals come in all different colors, except 1.  What is it?
18. What is the only Mammal with four knees?

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1. What is the name of the Renaissance artist, Botticelli's, mother?   NEW
2. What is the Salvador Dali painting, "The Endless Enigma," all about ?
3. What is the link between the word America and Sandro Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus (1485)?

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1. How many 1976 Ford F100 shortbed stepside pickups were made and what is the value?
2. How many concept cars are Lamborghini currently working on?
3. How many 1970 Cadilacs were made last year?
4. What does the P.T. stand for in P.T. Cruiser?
5. How much is a 60 Dodge Charger worth if it has all original numbers and everything?
6. How many 1962 Pontiac Super Duty Catalinas were made?
7. What is a nicely restored, '62 Catalina Super Duty with the original engine & aluminum fenders, bumpers & hood worth?
8. I drive my 1995 Chevy-S-10, 6 cylinder automatic less than a thousand miles a year lately.  I live in the Midwest.  Is it necessary to change the oil at least yearly?
9. What year did Cadillac make a truck and how many, if so?
10. What year was the first Volkswagen beetle produced?
11. Where does the Lamborghini Diablo get its name from?   NEW
12. Why do European automobile builders continue to produce models able to reach over 200km/h when European highway speed limits are much more restricted?
13. What do car dealerships do with the cars on the lot that they didn't sell? Where do the cars end up?
14. How many 1962 and 1963 Ford Pickups were made with the uni-body construction?

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1. Why are guys such idiots, especially you?
2. Why are women so hard to understand?
3. Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?
4. How can I be so annoyed with a girl and hate her so much, but love her hopelessly and think of her all the time?
5. Traditionally, blue represents a boy baby and pink represents a girl baby. Why might this be true?
6. Why is my friend so annoying when I'm trying to be serious?
7. Why is it that most people I know don't want to go out with there best friends even if they really like each other?
8. Why do most women believe that African American men do not like to engage in oral sex?   NEW
9. Why do women, as a rule, enjoy chocolate more than men?
10. Why are men's feet so unattractive and smelly?
11. Women measure men's penises in inches, right?   NEW
12. Do men measure vaginas? And how?   NEW
13. Can a girl orgasm through peeing?
14. Why do men spit into the urinal every time they go to the bathroom?   NEW
15. What percentage of African women are circumcised?
16. What is the size of the largest penis?

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1. Is there a Web site where I can listen to the various "Real American Heroes" commercials?
2. Who coined the phrase "Good to the last drop" used by Maxwell House Coffee?
3. So, are those PowerAde commercials real footage or just some weird CGI stuff?
4. Do you know the name of the singer of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius ads?
5. What's the name of the company that created the Real Men of Genius and Real American Heroes ads?   NEW
6. Who wrote the music for the Real American Heroes and Real Men of Genius ads?
7. We were trying to remember the words to an old Bud Ice commercial.  It has a woman talking about how she married some really old guy, and it was true love "or so I led him to believe until the wedding."  Can you help?
8. Who was the brunette actress in the 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial who synced the words "Wind it up, baby?"
9. The Bud Light Real America Heroes (not men of genius) foot long hot dog inventor guy. I have seen a video online they made a long time ago. Where can i find it again to view on my computer?   NEW
10. Last year around Christmas time there was a commercial out (a Christmas commercial) and it was of a man telling the night before Christmas story. He is telling this story and his wife is sitting next to him and in the story he adds something about a bowl full of jelly, his wife then interjects (while slapping his stomach) "there was no bowl of jelly."
11. What's the Pillsbury Dough Boy's given name?
12. What are the four fruit characters that comprise the Fruit of the Loom commercials?   NEW

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1. What was the first consumer product to have a barcode and why?
2. Who or what company made the first commercial flight?  When?
3. What is the label under the fourth light from the left on the front of the black Motorola cable modem that is issued in the Midsouth area by RoadRunner to their customers. What color is it when it lights up?
4. The first TV commercial featured what product?
5. How much money did American Airlines save in a year from taking out one olive from each salad served in first-class?
6. What did Nintendo manufacture before video games?
7. Up north in Greenland, the nationals are dragging icebergs from the ocean back to their port, where they melt them down and sell them as the purist form of water. Why aren't they selling Salt Water?
8. How do you set the main "tag" on a Nokia 6190 on Cingular?
9. Why are bank clerks called tellers?
10. In what year did the Concorde's first commercial service begin?   NEW

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1. What was the first copyright?
2. What was the first patent?
3. What was the first company that was forced to break into smaller companies due to the monopoly law?  What companies were formed due to this breakup?

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1. What is Mr. Clean's full name?
2. Who is responsible for the creation of the Pillsbury dough boy?
3. What was the name of the first computer built by IBM?
4. How does the toothpaste in a tube of Aquafresh still come out in perfect red, white, and blue stripes, no matter how much it's kneaded, twisted, mangled, or rolled?
5. What color was the first crayon that Crayola made?
6. Who were Barbie and Ken named after?
7. Why is a Coca-Cola can red?
8. Where did WD-40 get its name?
9. How was Silly Putty discovered/invented?
10. If there is a roll of only red Lifesavers, why isn't there a roll of just green ones? Who decided that the red ones were so desirable that they needed to be sold separately?
11. I use many different kinds of shampoos and all are a different color. My question is how come they all produce white lather?
12. When you press the button on the top of a shaving gel can, the gel comes out and the can appears to be clean. However, the next time that you open it, there are bubbles everywhere inside the cap. Why does this happen and how can it be stopped?
13. What does the YKK stand for in YKK zippers?
14. Someone told me that Mountain Dew contains cow placenta and it is listed in the ingredients under some long chemical name. Is she right?   NEW
15. Which Ty Beanie Baby is worth the most money?
16. Where can I order Ramen noodles online and in bulk (specifically Maruchan Ramen Noodles)?
17. Is it true that Jell-O is made of horse hooves or bones or something to that effect?   NEW
18. What was the original filling of a Twinkie made of? When was it changed? What is the shelf life of one today?   NEW
19. Okay, once and for all, which is better Coke or Pepsi?   NEW
20. What does Kool-Aid have in it to make sugar dissolve quickly in cold water?
21. How exactly are Twinkies made?   NEW
22. Why are Apple Jacks called Apple Jacks if they taste nothing like apples? And what is it that they actually taste like?
23. Who made Corn Quistos, why were they discontinued, and how can I get them back?
24. Bud Light allows two states to be displayed on there labels.  One is Texas. What is the other?

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1. Where is at least one piece of the original electronic calculator, the Mark I?
2. When and where was the first computer built?  Why was it built?  What was the name of the inventor?  What was the inventor's profession?
3. How many bits are in a megabyte?
4. Why do they call a skuzzy (S.C.S.I.) port a skuzzy port?
5. What is the origin of the button mouse that is on a laptop (the ones that are hard to use)?
6. What was the first computer program to be pirated and who wrote it?
7. What is the fastest single computer processor in the world?
8. If a CD-ROM reads at 40X, what speed is it actually reading at (rpm)?
9. What does the scroll lock do?
10. What exactly are the liquid crystals in LCD monitors?
11. What is the first game considered to have an "Easter egg" in it?
12. What is a relational database?

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1. Why are the wines of New York's Finger Lakes region considered by many to be inferior to that of California?  And, why is California considered inferior to France?
2. How is Coca-Cola made?
3. How much beer, in ounces, is shipped from all the Budweiser breweries in one month?
4. My friend tells me that Mountain Dew will kill sperm. Is this true? If so, why?
5. If you boil rubbing alcohol can you drink it? Or what about mouthwash...can you drink that? And, if it's possible to drink either, how much or does it matter?
6. What is in the drink "chocolate monkey," and how is it made?
7. Does mixing orange juice and milk create a lethal combination?
8. Is it true that Diet soda can cause birth defects?
9. Is coffee really good for you to drink after you get drunk?  Why or why not?   NEW
10. When Coca Cola came out with there original product was there cocaine in the drink?

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1. What was Mickey Mouse's original name?
2. Is Walt Disney actually frozen in a block of ice?
3. What happened to Marilyn Monroe before she died?
4. Is Robin Williams a gay man or does he just play one in movies?
5. What is Oprah Winfrey's e-mail address?
6. What sport did Ellen DeGeneres consider playing professionally?
7. My in-laws said that Clint Eastwood was the son of Stan Laurel.  Can you confirm whether this is true or not?
8. Joaquin Phoenix almost stole an item from a drugstore during a interview.  What item was it?

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1. What Broadway play is the song Four Jews in a Room Bitching from?
2. In movies, cartoons, and comics, why are farts depicted as being green?
3. Why do all fake phone numbers in cartoons and such, especially older ones, start with 555?
4. Did the Australian Bell Shakespeare Company rewrite its 1998 version of King Lear so Lear's eyes were taken out instead of Gloucesters?
5. How come when someone from a TV show or a movie is done talking on the phone they hang it up backwards?
6. From what play does the following line come: "I'd best be off. I have my Ruth to watch. Good morning Mr. Proctor."?   NEW

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1. Does eating broccoli make your urine smell funny?
2. How do you mail gravy?
3. Why does asparagus make your urine smell shortly after consuming it?
4. Why, when I open a green bean, are the seeds always on opposite sides?
5. What was made in 1954 that has a lot of sugar and the kids like it?
6. Do popcorn kernels rot in a bag of unpopped popcorn?
7. Is RED #40 (the food coloring in many products) derived from animal product, such as pork? And do other food dyes come from animal products or are some made from plant products only?
8. Why do trucks carrying fish have the word "FISH" in block letters on the side? Is this something required by law?
9. My parents told me that watermelon was not a fruit or a vegetable, and that meant that it had to be a meat. So, tell me what category does watermelon fit into and why?
10. Where does the word hushpuppy come from....It's really easy to figure out if you were born and raised in the "South."
11. What does ketchup and mayo combined make?
12. If everything taste like chicken, what exactly does chicken taste like?   NEW
13. What type of cooking was developed because of its efficient use of fuel?
14. In the mid 1960s, they use to soak hot pretzels in a vat of lye water. The man I worked for used Dran-O. When I asked him about it he said when you baked them it took out the impurities. Was he right?
15. Where did the name "Long John" for the oblong doughnuts come from?
16. Why is tuna fish canned in oil as well as water?
17. If Canadian bacon is ham in Canada, then what is bacon?
18. Where, why, and when was the croissant created?
19. Why is Genoa Cake called that when it is not from there?
20. Why do they call hot spicy chicken wings "buffalo wings?"

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1. How many peanuts are in a jar of peanut butter?
2. What's in mayonnaise?
3. What does Gray Poupon actually consist of?
4. How many peanuts are there in a box of Cracker Jacks?
5. How come popcorn pops?

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1. In Counter-Strike, what objectives must the Counter-Terrorist team complete to win a round on map cs_italy?
2. In the computer game Aliens vs. Predator Gold, what is the name of the research installation where the Predator's first mission takes place?
3. How many NPC's from the computer game Fallout survived to see Fallout 2 and who are they?

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1. How many different possible answers can a Magic 8 Ball give someone? And what are those answers?
2. Why do we depict rubber ducks as being yellow when real ducks aren't yellow?

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1. How many game titles were released for the original Nintendo entertainment system?
2. How many game titles were released for the Sega Genesis?
3. How many game titles were released for Atari?
4. In Twisted Metal Black for PlayStation 2, what was the original name of the car, Warthog?
5. How many video game platforms are there in all?
6. In the SNES game "Super Godzilla," what is the final enemy Godzilla must face?
7. What is one reason that Sheik might not have been Zelda in drag?
8. What is the next game console that will be released?
9. How many games will be released for the XBOX game console by the end of 2003?
10. What keys do you press on the piano in the school in the video game Silent Hill?

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1. Where is the only place (I think) in the world where train carriages have an upstairs and downstairs area?
2. What color is the door of house number 23 Hartington Street, derby, Derbyshire, England?
3. Why is the spire in Chesterfield crooked?
4. Does the fountain of youth actually exist?
5. What is the earth's water percentages?  What about lakes, rivers, ice caps and the atmosphere?
6. Which way does a toilet flush exactly at the equator?
7. Why do most Puerto Ricans speak so loud?
8. There is only one state in the U.S. in which no letters in the name of the capital city appear in the name of the state, and vice versa. Name the state and the city.
9. Does the Garden of Eden exist? If so, where is it? And why hasn't anyone gone there?
10. How high does the elevation of a hill have to be in order to be called a mountain?
11. What is the average total square footage of land on earth?
12. How in the heck can you believe the world is 4.6 billion years old?  And how was the Grand Canyon created?
13. What recording studios are in my area and what are their rates, given a 30 mile radius from Turlock, CA?

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1. Why was "Ayers Rock" in Central Australia renamed "Uluru?"
2. What is the smallest borough in the state of Pennsylvania?  Where is it located, and how far away is it from Bath, PA and Bath, Maine?
3. What was the former name of the city of Gorki?
4. Where is the widest part of the Mississippi?
5. How did Poland become a country?
6. Why is Greenland called that if its covered in ice and the same with Iceland being all green?
7. From where you can see five different states?
8. What state's capital is located nearest to the geographical center of its state?
9. Name the town/city that had its name in all 50 states?
10. Whilst down the pub one night a man told me that Black Heath is the only park in London that does not have any houses around its borders.  The reason for this and the name 'Black Heath' is because during the time of the black death the whole area was used as mass graves. Is this true?
11. Is every single country in the world divided into administrative divisions (like counties or states)?  If not, what is the smallest country in the world divided into administrative divisions?
12. If you sailed due south from Reykjavik, Iceland, what is the next land?
13. What made them decide not to make Washington D.C. be in either Maryland or Virginia but rather made it it's own place and not be in a state at all?
14. What is the smallest state capital (square footage) in the United States?
15. Through how many independent states does the Greenwich Meridian pass?
16. Identify two Nottingham villages whose names differ by a single letter?
17. What is the link between a river in South America, a town on the Trans-Siberian Railway, a European country, a town in Western France, a Scottish town, and one of the Channel Islands?
18. What is the deal with Area 51?

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