Q. When did Saddam Hussein become President of Iraq?
Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq on July 17, 1979. Citing bad health, Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr stepped down from office and Hussein, then Vice President, assumed power. al-Bakr and Hussein assumed control of the government on July 17, 1968 when a coup by Ba'thiest party overthrew the goverment of Abdul Rahman Arif.

Q. Who thought of Daylight Saving Time?
A. The idea for Daylight Saving Time, or Summer Time as it is known in Europe, was first introduced by Benjamin Franklin while in Paris in 1784. His essay, An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light, was a humorous discourse on the thrift of natural versus artificial lighting. Other ideas in the essay were leving a tax on all windows built with shutters to keep the sun out, rationing candles to one pound per family per week, and forbidding coach traffic after sunset except for physicians, surgeons and midwives.

The first serious supporter of Daylight Saving Time was William Willett, a London builder. In 1907 he wrote the pamphlet, Waste of Daylight, in which he proposed advancing the clock by 20 minutes each Sunday in April and then subtracting 20 minutes each Sunday in September. A bill was drafted by Sir Robert Pearce and introduced, several times, in the House of Commons.

During World War I, the idea finally caught hold as a way to save energy. Germany was the first country to institute the change on May 1, 1916. Britain followed with the introduction of Summer Time on May 21, 1916. In the US, An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States was enacted March 19, 1918, which established the standard time zones across the country and called for Daylight Saving Time to begin the end of March.

Q. What is the smallest republic in the world?
A. The smallest independent republic in the world is Nauru, a one-island country in Oceania, south of the Marshall Islands. Independence was achieved from Austraia in 1968 and it joined the UN in 1999. The country measures 21 sq km or 8.1 sq miles, about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC.

Vatican City and Monaco are smaller but are not republics.

*Q. There are two distinct orders of dinosaurs. How are they distinguished?*
A. The two orders of dinosaurs are distinguished by their pelvic structure. The Saurischian or "lizard-hipped" dinosaurs had pelvises similar to modern lizards and clawed feet. These were both carivores and hervibores and included Allosaurus, Velociraptor, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. The second order is the Ornithiscian or "bird-hipped" dinosaurs with a pelvic structure similar to modern birds and hoofed toes. These were all herbivores and included Iguanodon, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops.

Q. Who invented Coca-Cola?
A. According to the Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton in 1886. Mr. Pemberton, a Civil War vetran and Atlanta pharmacist, was trying to make a quick cure for headache. He took this mixture to Jacobs' Pharmancy where it was mixed with carbonated water and serverd to patrons.

Frank Robinson, Mr. Pemberton's accountant, is credited with naming the product Coca-Cola. The famous product logo is said to be the name in Mr. Robinson's distinctive handwriting

The company was purchased by Asa Griggs Candler, born December 30, 1851, for $2300 over the period of 1888 to 1891. Mr. Candler was a successful salesman who began to make the company what it is today.

Q. How many times has the Oscar Award been refused?
A. The Oscar, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been refused three times, in 1935, 1970, and 1972.

The first refusal was by Dudley Nichols. He won the award for Best Writing, Screenplay for The Informer. The movie also won Best Actor (Victor McLaglen), Best Director (John Ford), and Best Music, Score (Max Steiner). It was nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Mr. Nichols refused to accept the award because the Writers Guild of America, which represents writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable and new media industries, was on strike against the movie studios at the time .

The second refusal was by George C. Scott for Best Actor in Patton. The movie also won Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Director (Franklin J. Schaffner), Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography; Best Effects, Special Visual Effects; and Best Music, Original Score. Mr. Scott refused the nomination and the award because he did not feel himself to be in any competition with other actors.

The third refusal was by Marlon Brando for Best Actor in The Godfather. The movie also won Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. It was also nominated for Best Costume Design; Best Director; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (the nomination was withdrawn because it actually reused a Fortunella score); Best Sound; and Best Supporting Actor (three nominations - James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino). Mr. Brando cited the discrimination of Indian people by the US and especially Hollywood.

Q. Who invented the Frisbee?
A. According to Wham-O, the holders of the Frisbee trademark and makers of many models of the plastic flying disk, the frisbee was invented by Fred Morrison, a building inspector. Morrison sold the idea to Wham-O in 1955. The first models were sold as the Pluto Platter in 1957. The disk was modified and re-introduced as the Frisbee in 1958.

Historians now believe that Fred Morrison and Warren Franscioni invented what became the frisbee in 1948. The two formed a company called Partners in Plastic, or Pipco, and made the Flyin' Saucer. Priced at $1 each, the disks didn't sell well. To boost sales, Morrison began crossing the country and demonstrating the disk at fairs while Franscioni remained behind and ran the business. Problems developed when people were injured during demonstrations and then a publicity agreement with Al Capp, creator of the Li'l Abner comic, sued Pipco for overstepping the agreement. Pipco went out of business in 1950 and the two inventors went their separate ways.

Q. When were the first traveller's checks issued?
A. The first traveller's checks (or cheques) were issued by the London Exchange Banking Co on January 1, 1772. The idea for the checks came from Sir Robert Herries, a partner in the bank. London Exchange Banking Co went through several name changes before becomming part of Lloyds Bank in 1839.

Q. What was the first known mathematical puzzle?
A. The "Rhind Papyrus", an Egyptian scroll written around 1650 BC, contained mathematical tables, problems, and the oldest known mathematical puzzle.

The current version of the puzzle is:
As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Every wife had seven sacks, and every sack had seven cats. Every cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, how many were going to St. Ives? Answer.

Q. Who invented the Kaleidoscope?
A. The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by Sir David Brewster of Scotland. He was experimenting with prisms and other optical tools. The internal mirrors and lenses are set to reflect the loose pieces of glass and other objects to create various symmetrical patterns. The name kaleidoscope comes from the Greek for "beautiful-form-to-see."

Sir David lived between 1781 and 1868. A child prodigy, he attended Edinburgh University at the age of 12. He was physicist interested in optics and a natural philosopher. He also improved the spectroscope and devised the dioptic system of lighthouse illumination.

Q. Two early rock-and-roll stars have similar names that remind you of well fed parlor games. Who are they?
A. Fats Domino and Chubby Checker

Fats Domino, born Antoine Domino, was a piano player from New Orleans. He was one of rock-and-rolls's earliest stars, selling 65 million records. He outsold every 50's rock-and-roll perfomer except Elvis. The nickname Fats came from his first commercial release in 1950, the Fat Man.

Chubby Checker was born Ernest Evans in Spring Gulley, South Carolina. Best known as the King of The Twist, he sold over 250 million records since his debut in 1960. Barbara Clark, wife of Dick Clark, is said to have suggested the name Chubby Checker, "Chubby... Chubby Checker. You're going to be Chubby for Fats and Checker for Domino."

Q. What is the world's largest fish?
A. The world's largest fish is a whale shark. When grown, these fish are typically between 30 and 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) in length, but may reach over 50 feet. These gentle giants are can be found near the surface of warm areas of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They are filter feeders existing on plankton.

Q. Who was Blackbeard, the pirate?
A. The pirate known as Blackbeard was Englishman Edward Teach. He was born in Bristol, England. He was killed off the Virginia coast on November 22, 1718 by Lieutenant Maynard of the Royal Navy, at the request of Governor Spotswood of Virginia. Blackbead's ship, Thw Queen Anne's Revenge, sank off Beaufort, North Carolina in 1717 when the priate tried to go straight. He received a pardon and settled in Bath, North Carolina. Four months of the honest life was all Teach could stand and he soon returned to his previous lifestyle.

Q. What is the world's smallest primate?
A. The world's smallest primate is the lesser mouse lemur, found only in Madagascar. About the size of a chipmunk, their heads are about the size of a human thumb and weigh just a few ounces.

Q. What were the first animals to fly in a manmade device?
A. On September 19, 1783, a duck, a rooster, and a sheep flew in a hot air balloon. The balloon was designed by Joseph and Ettienne Montgolfer and was launched from Versailles, France. The flight lasted eight minutes.

Q. Who first lived at 10 Downing Street, home of the British Prime Minister?
A. In 1732, King George II offered his principal minister, Sir Robert Walpole, the residence that is now known as 10 Downing Street. Walpole refused to accept it as a private house and asked that it be given to the govenment as the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, one of the titles still held by the British Prime Minister. Walpole moved into the residence in 1735 after modifications were done linking the modest Number 10 with the "stately house" behind it.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Number 10 was occupied by the Chancellors of the Exchequer. The Prime Ministers used the residence as their office but actually lived in their own private homes. This practice was changed by Benjamin Disraeli, who moved into 10 Downing Street in 1877. Since that time only Lord Salisbury has not lived there while Prime Minister.

Q. The new Green Bank Telescope is the largest fully-steerable dish antenna in the world. How big is it?
A. The GBT is 485 feet tall and weighs 16 million pounds. Officially a 100-meter telescope, the dish is actually 100 x 110 meters and is made up of over two acres of reflecting surface. To understand the size of the telescope, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty (302 feet including the base) and the Big Ben Clock Tower (320 feet) but shorter than the Washington Monument (555 feet, 5.5 inches) and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis (630 feet).

Q. How many settlers sailed from England in 1620 on the Mayflower ?
A. According to the passenger lists, 100 people departed England and 100 were on board when land was reached. During the voyage there was one birth, Oceanus Hopkins, and one death, William Button. Peregrine White was born on the ship after land was reached.

Q. Who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations?
A. Trygve Lie of Norway was the first Secretary General of the United Nations. He held the post from February 1946 to November 1952.

Q. How many Ringling brothers were there in the Ringling Brothers Circus?
A. At the time the Ringling brothers bought the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1907, there were 7 bothers in the business: Alf T., Al, Charles, John, Otto, Henry, and A.G. 'Gus' Ringling.

Q. What city has hosted the most Democratic National Conventions?
A. Chicago was the host city 11 times: 1864, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1932, 1940, 1944, 1952, 1956, 1968, and 1996. Baltimore, Maryland, is the second most popular site with 9 conventions.

Q. How many people participated in the Great Train Robbery?
A. Fifteen masked robbers ambushed a mail train from Glasglow, Scotland, on August 14, 1963 and made off with 2.5 million British Pounds, about $7 million. Twelve were cought and received sentences of up to 30 years.

Q. What was the international distress signal before SOS was adopted in 1908?
A. CQD. CQ had long been used by telegraph operators for all stations. The D was added to signify distress in 1904.

Q. What is the longest possible domain name?
A. As of January 2000, the maximum length of a domain name is 67 characters, including the .com.

Q. Who discovered the first planets outside our solar system?
A. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the first indirect evidence of an extra-solar planet in October 1995. The first direct evidence was found in December 1999 by a team of British scientists led by Andrew Collier Cameron.

Q. What was the German code name used by Mata Hari?
A. During interrogations by the French Secret Service, Matta Hari confessed to spying for the Germans under the pseudonym of H21. Born Magaratha Zella in Leeuwarden, Freisland, The Netherlands, she recanted her confession and proclaimed her innocence.

Q. Before Dom Perignon invented what we know know as champagne in 1693, the Champagne region of France was known for what kind of wine?
A. Champagne was a dry, red wine. Louis XIV preferred the wines from Burgundy so the vintners of Champagne needed to develop an alternative product.

Q. Who did Lewis and Clark hire as their guide?
A. French fur trader Toussant Charbonneau. He brought with him one of his two Native American wives, Sacajawea, and their two-month old son Jean Baptiste.

Q. Who was the Republican Party's first candidate for US President?
A. John C. Fremont in 1856. He lost to James Buchanan by 114 electorial votes to 174. Fremont had been approached by the Democrats to be their candidate but he declined because he could not support the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Fugitive Slave Act.

Q. Thomas Harriot is famous for two, unrelated things. What are they?
A. He introduced the potato to Europe in July 1586 after an expedition to Virginia with Sir Walter Raleigh. He also recorded the first observation of sunspots in December 1610.

Q. Who received the first singing telegram?
A. Singer Rudy Vallee, real name Hubert Prior, received it on July 28, 1933 to celebrate his 32nd birthday.

Q. What horse holds the record for the fastest mile?
A. Elusive Quality, a bay stallion, ran the mile in 1 min 31.63 seconds at Belmont Park, New York on July 4, 1998. He was 5 at the time he set the new record.

Q. Is the world population increasing at a faster or slower rate than it was ten years ago?
A. According to the US Census Bureau, the expected rate of growth in the year 2000 is 1.26%. The rate for 1990 was 1.56%.

Q. Who invented margarine?
A. French chemist Hippolyte Mhge-Mourihs developed the first margaring from beef fat in 1869. Today margarine is primarily made from soybeans, although corn or cottonseed oils may also be used.

Q. Who was the first unseeded player to win the Gentlemen's Championship at Wimbledon?
A. Boris Becker in 1985. He was also the youngest champion, 17, and the first German men's champion.

Q. What is the deepest lake in the world?
A. Lake Baikal in Russia. The deepest spot is 5,134 feet deep.

Q. Who was the second American to orbit the Earth?
A. Scott Carpenter on May 24, 1962.

Q. When were yo-yos invented?
A. The oldest surviving yo-yo has been tracked to about 500BC in Ancient Greece. The yo-yos were terra cotta disks. A Greek vase from the period shows a boy playing with a yo-yo.

Q. How big the the primary mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope?
A. The mirror has a diameter of 94.5 inches, or 2.4 meters, and weighs about 1,800 pounds.

Q. What were the highest wind gusts ever recorded?
A. 231 miles per hour on the top of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire on April 11, 1934.

Q. When King Henry VIII wanted a divorce, which pope did he ask?
A. Pope Clement VII, Giulio do Medici

Q. When did Snoopy make his first appearance in the Peanuts comic strip?
A. October 4, 1950

Q. Who was the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe ?
A. Alexander Selkirk. He was marooned on the Island of Juan Fernandez in the Chilean Sea far off in the Pacific Ocean for five years, 1704 - 1709.

Q. Who first patented chewing gum?
A. William F. Semple, a dentist from Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1869.

Q. What is the Chandler Wobble?
A. Named for astronomer S.C. Chandler, the Chandler Wobble is the movement of the axis of rotation of the Earth caused by the movement of the oceans and liquid interior. The wobble is the movement of the pole by 0.7 arcseconds over a period of about 14 months.

Q. When did December 25 become Christmas?
A. In 354 the church in Rome declared December 25 to be the birthday of Christ. The date was chosen because it was already a pagan holiday celebrating the birthday of the sun and connected with the winter solstice.

Q. Who held the first US patent on the automobile?
A. George Selden applied for a patent on the Road Engine in 1879. He delayed issuance of the patent until 1895.

Q. What was the per acre price Russia received for Alaska in 1867?
A. $0.019. The total price was $7.2 million. Alaska contains 586,412 square miles or 375,302,130 acres.

Q. When did the fourth Thursday in November become the US national holiday of Thanksgiving?
A. Abraham Lincoln made the 4th Tuesday the national holiday in 1863, FDR changed it to the 3rd Thursday in 1939, and after much protest, FDR changed it to the current 4th Thursday in 1941.

Q. When did SOS become the international distress signal?
A. Delegates attending the International Radio Telegraph Convention in Berlin voted to use SOS, short for Save our Souls, in November 1906.

Q. Who was the last ruling monarch in the United States?
A. Queen Lydia Paki Liliuokalani of Hawaii. She ruled from 1891 to 1893.

Q. Of the two terms for this time of year, fall and autumn, which is the older name?
A. Autumn was first recorded in the 14th century. Fall was not used until the 16th century.

Q. How fast has anyone traveled on land?
A. The World Land Speed Record of 763.035 MPH, faster than the speed of sound, was set October 13, 1977 by Andy Green.

Q. How long did Sputnik I circle the Earth?
A. 92 days. It was launched October 4, 1957 and fell to Earth January 4, 1958.

Q. Who was the first British monach to abdicate?
A. King Richard II in September 1399 to Henry of Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV, following the surrender of Richard to Henry in August of that year. Richard II was imprisoned in Pontefract Castle until his death the following year.

Q. What was the first book published by Stephen King?
A. Carrie, published in 1974

Q. What is the real name of singer/actor Meat Loaf?
A. Marvin Lee Aday, born September 27, 1951

Q. How many hurricanes were category 5 when they hit the US mainland this century?
A. 2. The strongest struck the Florida Keys in 1935, before storms were named. The second was Hurricane Camille which struck Mississippi, SW Louisanna, and Virginia in 1969.

Q. Who was the only Dutch pope?
A. Pope Adrian VI, 1522 - 1523. He was born Adrian Florensz in Utrecht, March 2, 1459.

Q. What is the hottest shade temperature ever recorded?
A. 136.4 degrees Fahrenheight, 58 degrees Celsius, on September 13, 1922 at El Azizia, Libya.

Q. On the TV show Space 1999 what happened on September 13, 1999?
A. Atomic waste stored on the dark side of the moon exploded, sending the moon and the inhabitants of the permanent moon base into deep space.)

Q. What safety feature was added to London streets in September 1925?
A. White lines to mark the middle of the road

Q. What other names has St. Petersburg, Russia, been know by?
A. Petrograd, 1914 - 1924, and Leningrad, 1924 - 1991.

Q. Who wrote Bambi ?
A. Felix Salten, an Austrian novelist, 1869 - 1945. The full title is Bambi: A life in the Woods.

Q. Who discovered asprin?
A. Arthur Eichengrun while working for Bayer in 1897. Until recently it was thought that Felix Hoffman, a German chemist, had made the discovery but it seems Mr. Hoffman assisted Mr. Eichengrun but was given the credit because Mr. Eichengrun was Jewish.

Q. What was the original name of Boston, Massachusetts?
A. Trimontaine - it was renamed in 1630.

Q. Who invented the slide rule?
A. William Oughtred, an English mathematician and minister, in 1630.

Q. Who played James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service ?
A. George Lazenby. It was his only 007 movie.

Q. Who invented ice cream?
A. The Chinese in about 2000 BC. It was a mixture of milk and rice packed with snow.

Q. Who was the last man on the moon?
A. Gene Cernan - He was the commander of the Apollo 17 mission which left the Taurus Littrow valley on the moon on December 14, 1972. The other crew members were Harrison Schmitt, the lunar lander pilot, and Ronald Evans, the command module pilot.

Q. How many tropical disturbances are there each year?
A. On average, there are 96 worldwide. The Western Northern Pacific is the most active with an average of 25.

Q. When and where was the first wheeled rollercoaster built?
A. In 1784, Catherine the Great had it build in the Gardens of Oreinbaum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Q. What is the largest ship that can use the Panama Canal?
A. For regular transits, the maximum size is: beam, 106 feet; length, 965 feet; and draft, 36.5 feet. The locks are 110 feet by 1000 feet.

Q. Who invented the stethoscope?
A. Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec in 1816. He chose the name from the Greek words for chest, stethos, and to inspect, skopeein.

Q. How big are the numbers on Big Ben?
A. Each number is 2 feet, or 0.6 meters, tall.

Q. Who said "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics."?
A. Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

Q. What was the broadcast name used by Iva Toguri during World War II?
A. Although convicted, and later pardoned, for being Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri broadcast as Orphan Anne.

Q. Who did Steffi Graf defeat to win her first Grand Slam event?
A. Martina Navratilova to win the 1987 French Open.

Q. When was the Hubble Space Telescope deployed?
A. April 25, 1990

Q. Who was the first Chess World Champion?
A. Wilhelm Steinitz - he was the champion between 1886 and 1894.

Q. Who was the first person to swim the English Channel westward (France to England)?
A. Enrico Tiraboschi in 1923. Matthew Webb was the first to swim the channel eastward, the normal direction, in 1895.

Q. How many people have declined the Nobel Prize?
A. 6 - Richard Kuhn, 1938 Chemistry; Adolf Butenandt, 1939 Chemistry; Gerhard Domagk, 1939 Medicine; Boris Pasternak, 1958 Literature; Jean-Paul Sartre, 1964 Literature; and Le Duc Tho, 1973 Peace. All but Sartre and Le Duc Tho did so at the request of the authorities of their country.

Q. How many ships were in the Spanish Armada that sailed against England in 1588?
A. There were 150 ships, mostly Spanish but some from Portugal and Naples. Only 65 returned to Lisbon.

Q. How old was the oldest captive goldfish?
A. At least 43. Tish was acquired at a fair in July 1956 and died in early August 1999.

Q. Who discovered penicillin?
A. Alexander Fleming in 1928 while trying to find a way to kill bacteria.

Q. Where was the first traffic light installed?
A. The corner of Eculid Ave and E. 105th St in Cleveland, Ohio on August 5, 1914.

Q. What was the maiden name of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother?
A. Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon. She was born August 4, 1900.

Q. Where did the US Congress decide to put the Statue of Liberty?
A. On Bedloe's Island. On August 3, 1956 the name was changed to Liberty Island.

Q. Who wrote Happy Birthday to You?
A. Mildred Hill and her sister Dr. Patty Hill in Louisville, Kentucky for their kindergarten. Originally titled Good Morning to All, it was first published in 1893.