Tag: Trivia

Last month we asked you to tell us a city name found on every continent? I confess this was a trick question – if you include Antarctica, the answer is “none.” Unfair? Probably. But three people gave us the correct answer, all within seconds of each other and noted the answer that would have been right if I had excluded Antarctica. Kudos to long-time readers and prior winners John Falco at MTV Networks and Randy Henrick at DealerTrack, and to newcomer Karen Baumann at Team Detroit, JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, Ogilvy, GroupM. Each correctly told us the city of Roma (not Rome) can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

This month we would like you tell us a city name that can be found on every continent on Earth. Think you know the answer, send it to me. If you are first with the correct and complete answer, you win.

Last month we asked you to tell us where the expression “passing the buck” or “the buck stops here” came from. This month’s winner comes to us from Australia, where Peter Le Guay, a Partner of Thomson Playford Cutlers and member of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (“GALA”), correctly noted that in the latter half of the 1800s, the game of poker became very popular in the United States, with no shortage of “cheats.” To minimize cheating, the dealer regularly changed and the individual next to deal was given a marker—usually a knife with a handle made from a buck’s horn. The marker became known as a “buck” and “passing the buck” meant card dealing was passed to the next person. There is widespread belief that as time went on, silver dollars were used, and the use of “buck” as slang for a dollar originated.

Reaching for that bottled water? At an average of $1.49 per bottle, that comes to $21/gallon. You could supercharge your tank with Starbucks coffee at $12+ per gallon. Better yet, Bud Light at $9.73 per gallon looks like a bargain—although good ol’ Vitamin D milk checks in at only $3.50/gallon. Now when compared with Absolut Vodka at about $58 per gallon or Chanel No. 5 perfume at $25,600 per gallon—well gasoline doesn’t sound all that expensive, does it?

In times of turmoil, everyone seeks to blame someone else. Especially with our financial institutions in jeopardy, everyone seems to be passing the buck. One might think the expression derives from the almighty dollar, or from a hunting expedition that forgoes any stag with insufficient points, or that someone saved from the brink, instead of “kicking the bucket” might pass the buck. Sorry, all of these are wrong. So where did the expression “passing the buck” or “the buck stops here” come from? Think you know, send your answer to me.

Last month we asked you to tell us how Hicks was awarded Olympic Gold in the 1904 games, even though he didn’t actually cross the finish line first. This month’s prize winner comes to us from The Hague, Netherlands. where Cor van den Beukel at Shell Information Technology correctly noted that Frederick Lorz appeared at the finish first—unfortunately, it was discovered he enjoyed a leisurely ride in a car from mile 9 to 18, and with Lorz disqualified, the medal went to Hicks. Congratulations, Cor!!

As the Olympics came to a close, I was reminded of Thomas Hicks in the 1904 Olympic marathon in Missouri who, when starting to fail around the 19th mile, had his coach hand him a prepared cocktail—cognac, egg whites and 1/60th grain sulfate of strychnine—yes, the rat poison! A second dose with only a few miles to go apparently kept him going (another would likely have killed him), but alas, he crossed the finish line second. But the person who came in first was disqualified and Hicks was ultimately awarded the Gold Medal—notwithstanding his almost comatose state. Who was the disqualified athlete and for what? Send your answer to me.

Last month we asked you about two individuals who had the courage to print the Declaration of Independence—a hanging offense at the time. The fastest right answer—coming in two emails before anyone else fired off a single one—comes from John Falco, a long-standing Legal Bytes reader. He correctly told us that after Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s handwritten copy was sent a few blocks away to John Dunlap’s print shop at 48 Market Street. Then, in January 1777, the Continental Congress ordered signed copies to be more widely distributed and hired Mary Katherine Goddard to do the job. In addition to being the first American woman postmaster, she operated the Maryland Journal, a Baltimore newspaper, and owned a print shop where the copies were made.

There are two forgotten heroes in the saga of America’s struggle for independence who could easily have been hanged for treason. After the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, together with Charles Thomson, then Secretary of State, sent Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy to someone to be printed (200 copies bearing only the signatures of Hancock and Thomson were printed). Then in January 1777, the Continental Congress, wanting signed copies to receive wider circulation, asked another person to undertake the dangerous job. This time, copies contained the typeset names of all 56 signatories. Legal Bytes wants to know who are these brave printers to whom we owe our gratitude? Acknowledgement to Antonio Perez, Chairman and CEO of Kodak, for the article that enlightened me—and now, hopefully, you. If you know the answer, send it to me.

Last month we asked you how Jack Benny got his stage name. Congratulations to Nigel Sloam, principal in Nigel Sloam & Co. in London—long-time client and friend—who gave us the correct, speediest response. Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in Chicago on Valentine’s Day, 1894. His parents lived in nearby Waukegan and there, working as a violinist in the pit band of a local Vaudeville house, Benjamin broke into show business. He hit the road working with a female pianist in an act known as “Salisbury and Kubelsky—From Grand Opera to Ragtime,” but when concert violinist Jan Kubelik’s lawyer objected to the comedic violin-playing and similarities in name, Benjamin changed his name to Ben Benny. With a new partner, “Benny and Woods” continued, but when World War I broke out, Benny enlisted, working in a Navy-sponsored revue touring the Midwest. After the war, Benny went back to vaudeville, doing a monologue as “Ben K. Benny, Fiddleology and Fun.” Although he changed the spelling to “Bennie,” Ben Bernie, an entertainer (also a violinist-bandleader who did monologues), had been doing a similar act longer and guess what—his lawyer contacted young Kubelsky objecting to the similar names. This time, Benjamin changed his stage name for the last time to Jack Benny. The rest, as they say, is history.