Tag: Useless But Compelling Facts

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.

Many of you will remember (or look up) an extraordinary comic who played the violin, had a butler-friend named Rochester, and who—until the day he died—stated his age as 39. The comic was Jack Benny, who started in Vaudeville, remained lifelong friends with Zeppo Marx (whose birth name was actually Herbert Marks), and brought audiences to tears with facial expressions, comic timing and comedy—in Vaudeville, on radio and television—for decades. But Jack Benny wasn’t his real name; so this month we want you to not only tell us what his real name was, but also describe just how he got to be “Jack Benny.” Know the answer? Send it to me.

Last month we asked you to tell us what former Major League Baseball All-Star Pitcher became a dentist when he left the game? Our winner this month was Roy Trout at SunTrust Banks, who was first and fastest in pitching the answer to us. Although Jim Lonborg never actually appeared in the All-Star Game, he was on the roster and went on to become a dentist after retiring from baseball.

This month we want to know what former Major League Baseball All Star Pitcher became a dentist once he finally left the game of baseball. Send your answer to me.

Our prize for last month goes to long-standing reader and Legal Bytes’ friend, Debbie Kaste, Director of Legal Operations Support for Hilton Hotels. She (very quickly and quite correctly) knew why so many children’s toy coin banks are in the shape of a pig. In Middle English, “pygg” referred to a dense type of orange clay used in Europe for making household jars, dishes and cookware. When people saved coins in kitchen pots and jars made of this clay, the jars became known as “pygg jars” and at some point in the 18th Century, some English potter misunderstood the word and starting making coin-collecting jars in the shape of a pig—hence the pig or “piggy” bank. By the way, it is still illegal in France to name a pig Napoleon.

Anyone notice the TYPO last month? Want a prize? Dig out last month’s issue (March 2008). The first five win. Ah, but now back to this month: did you know Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest? But again I digress. This month we are curious as to why so many children’s toy coin banks are in the shape of a pig. Know the answer? Send it to me.

Last month we asked you to identify the nation that is the oldest democracy on earth. This prompted a variety of answers, since nation, as many of you pointed out, could include the “Six Nations of the Iroquois” (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras). It might also include the Republic of San Marino, founded in the 4th century A.D. by St. Marinus who fled to escape Christian persecution, or the world’s oldest democratic kingdom established in Kalinga in Northern India approximately 300 B.C.—alas no more. Of course one of our astute readers noted if “oldest” also meant continuous it would put the Isle of Man in the running—its Parliament has been continuously operating since 979 A.D. But after all is said and done (and more said than actually done), we award this month’s prize to Al Teich at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., who correctly noted that Iceland, whose parliament (the Althing) was formed by the Vikings in 930, is the oldest democracy still in operation, and who actually visited Thingvellir, the Icelandic site of the first democratically elected parliament.

This month we want to know if you can identify the nation that holds the title of the oldest democracy on earth. Send your answers to me.

Last issue we asked if you can tell us how many times, since official records have been kept, Niagara Falls has frozen over completely. Congratulations to Shari Gottesman, one of our loyal readers and a past prize winner, who very quickly responded by correctly telling me that the flow of water is too great for all of Niagara Falls to completely freeze—although there have been ice bridges that have formed and the American Falls were stopped six times since records have been kept because of ice jams. There are claims that the Falls completely froze in 1911, and in 1912, people were allowed to walk across the ice bridges even though water was still flowing underneath. Unfortunately, the bridges broke and the practice halted. Congratulations Shari, and I’m going to figure out a bigger prize for your loyalty!

In this world of concern over global warming, can you tell me how many times it has been, at least since official records have been kept, that Niagara Falls has actually frozen over completely? Send your answers to me.