Trivia

Mon., June 2, 1997

L.M. Boyd Crown Syndicate

Q. What was the name of the Union Navy’s aircraft carrier in the Civil War?

A. The USS George Washington Parke Custis. It was a converted coal barge with ascensions for an observation balloon.

Q. What were the words written on the first Christmas card we know anything about?

A. A message particularly noteworthy, in that it was not one bit different from the standard Christmas card message of today. Sir Henry Cole in 1843 composed it: “A merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you.” What else occurs to you that hasn’t changed since 1843?

On the dirt floors of tents, the Civil War bayonet, pointed at one end and socketed at the other, made a perfect candlestick.

Babylonians of 4,000 years ago studied algebra, and they didn’t survive. See?

In an apartment complex with a pool, 80 percent of the people will never use the pool.

In the Love and War code of the West African Ewe tribes, any husband whose wife was unfaithful could keep the wife and fine the lover. Or he could let his wife remarry, providing the wife’s lover agreed to pony up all the money the husband had spent on her.

England has no rabies.

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