#9178, aired 2024-10-09 | WORD ORIGINS: This word for one who cuts a trail comes from a name of a character in an 1840 novel pathfinder |
#9177, aired 2024-10-08 | WORLD FLAGS: The 12 stars on its flag symbolize perfection, not geographic or political units the European Union |
#9176, aired 2024-10-07 | BRAND NAMES: In 1886 this brand's bookkeeper came up with its name & flowing script logo, saying, "the two Cs would look well in advertising" Coca-Cola |
#9175, aired 2024-10-04 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: A fragment from a nautical tool found on a Chilean island in 2005 was likely left by the Scot who partly inspired this character Robinson Crusoe |
#9174, aired 2024-10-03 | 19th CENTURY NAMES: Shrunken auditory nerves were seen in his autopsy after his 1827 death in Vienna (Ludwig van) Beethoven |
#9173, aired 2024-10-02 | SCIENCE: Physicist John Wheeler said he coined this term as a faster way to say "completely collapsed objects" black holes |
#9172, aired 2024-10-01 | SITCOMS: The first British sitcom to win a Best Comedy Golden Globe, it was remade in a U.S. version that had almost 15 times as many episodes The Office |
#9171, aired 2024-09-30 | BIBLICAL PLACES: The name of this, actually a not very tall hill, became a symbol of Jewish national aspiration & was used in spirituals & reggae Mount Zion |
#9170, aired 2024-09-27 | LANDMARKS: At its dedication, Senator John Sherman said, "Simple in form... it rises into the skies higher than any other work of human art" the Washington Monument |
#9169, aired 2024-09-26 | STARS OF THE 20th CENTURY: A 1927 N.Y. Times headline: "Witness testifies" this woman "rewrote play and insisted on the spicy scenes because city liked them" Mae West |
#9168, aired 2024-09-25 | SHAKESPEARE: "Blood will have blood", says this title character, who is later told, "Be bloody, bold, & resolute" Macbeth |
#9167, aired 2024-09-24 | 20th CENTURY AMERICA: In a state of shock, on November 27, 1978, she announced that "both Mayor Moscone & Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot & killed" (Dianne) Feinstein |
#9166, aired 2024-09-23 | 19th CENTURY AMERICANS: Among those who attended his 1864 funeral were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott & Franklin Pierce Nathaniel Hawthorne |
#9165, aired 2024-09-20 | ISLAND CHAINS: Named for a Spanish queen, this Pacific island chain was a starting point for famous explorations of 1960 & 2012 the Mariana Islands |
#9164, aired 2024-09-19 | NEW YORK MOVIES: Frank Sinatra got upset that a photo of him caught fire in a Brooklyn pizzeria in this film Do the Right Thing |
#9163, aired 2024-09-18 | THE MOVIES: Hewlett-Packard's first big customer was Walt Disney, who purchased special sound equipment for the making & showing of this film Fantasia |
#9162, aired 2024-09-17 | CHARACTERS IN BOOK SERIES: This 12-year-old began his first book saying, "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood" Percy Jackson (Perseus Jackson) |
#9161, aired 2024-09-16 | HISTORY: A 1976 report initiated by Admiral Rickover found it was an internal, not external, explosion that caused the destruction of this the (USS) Maine |
#9160, aired 2024-09-13 | BRITISH KNIGHTS: A sir since 2018, he contracted TB as a teen in 1953 & spent years in a sanatorium, where he learned to play the drums Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) |
#9159, aired 2024-09-12 | HISTORIC NAMES: In 1824, President Monroe invited him back to the adopted country of his youth, which has always cherished his "important services" the Marquis de Lafayette |
#9158, aired 2024-09-11 | WORLD BORDERS: After Canada & the U.S., these 2 countries share the longest land border at more than 4,700 miles Russia & Kazakhstan |
#9157, aired 2024-09-10 | SIGNS & SYMBOLS: Via a diplomatic conference in 2005, a diamond was added to supplement these 2 symbols, thought by some to have religious meaning a (red) cross & a (red) crescent |
#9156, aired 2024-09-09 | FAMOUS WOMEN: Before her death in 2022, she pledged her collection of more than 200 pins to the National Museum of American Diplomacy (Madeleine) Albright |