Uncle John’s Impossible Questions & Astounding Answers by Bathroom Readers’ Institute Page B
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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each printed with a special “First Official Rocket Mail” insignia. (The “official” designation was an important qualifier, because 23 years earlier, the postmaster of Greenwood Lake, New York, had launched an unauthorized rocket full of letters 2,000 feet across a frozen lake to the postmaster of Hewitt, New Jersey.)
After flying more than 100 miles, Summerfield’s mail missile crashed reasonably close to its target. The letters scattered everywhere, but nobody was hurt, and Summerfield was quite pleased with the experiment. However, few others—including Eisenhower—were convinced that this was a viable way to deliver mail. In addition to the potential dangers involved, the number of missiles needed to transport America’s millions of letters every day would have been staggering. Result: U.S. Rocket Mail was declared dead on delivery.
Back for Seconds
Who is the only man to have served as President of the United States and as Chief Justice on the Supreme Court? Hint: He’s more famous in the Philippines than in the U.S.
General Mayhem
What was especially unusual about the Battle of Palmito Hill?
Back for Seconds
William Howard Taft. The Yale graduate much preferred law to politics, and his lifelong dream was to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, which he eventually did in 1921, but only after spending four awkward years as president from 1909 to ’13.
In the U.S., Taft is perhaps best known today for being too fat to get out of the White House bathtub, but in the Philippines, he is considered a national hero. While Taft was serving as a federal judge in 1900, President McKinley sent him to the U.S.-controlled island nation just after it gained independence from Spain. The portly politician helped set up a new government in the Philippines: He procured millions of dollars from the U.S. in order to jump-start the Filipino economy and to build roads and schools.
General Mayhem
The war was over. During the U.S. Civil War, generals often went weeks without orders from headquarters, forcing them to act on their own. Case in point: the Battle of Palmito Hill, fought on the banks of the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas. On May 11, 1865, breaking a local gentleman’s agreement that neither side would advance on the other without prior written warning, a Union commander led a raid on a Confederate camp, making off with some supplies and a few prisoners. A two-day battle ensued, resulting in a few dozen soldiers injured and dead. Unbeknownst to them, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered on April 9, 1865…more than a month earlier.
Freedom Fighters
What island nation’s revolution helped double the size of the United States?
Mapped Out
You may know that the word “America” comes from Italian explorer cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. But it was another cartographer who first wrote “America” on a map. Who was he?
Freedom Fighters
Haiti. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte was building up his empire in Europe and extended his land-grabbing to North America. The French ruler laid claim to New Orleans and the rest of the Louisiana Territory. That gave Napoleon’s army control of all shipping into and out of the Mississippi River. In short, he staked a claim on nearly everything west of the Mississippi.
Then, in 1803, slaves in Haiti revolted against the French colonists who occupied the island nation. Napoleon was forced to send in reinforcements, but his army met with more resistance than anticipated—along with yellow fever—which led to tens of thousands of French casualties.
Seeing an opportunity, President Thomas Jefferson sent an envoy to France with an offer to buy the port of New Orleans for $10 million. Jefferson got a lot more than he bargained for: The besieged Bonaparte offered to sell 828,800 square miles of French-claimed land for $15 million, or about 3¢ per acre. The envoy took the deal, now known as the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the
After flying more than 100 miles, Summerfield’s mail missile crashed reasonably close to its target. The letters scattered everywhere, but nobody was hurt, and Summerfield was quite pleased with the experiment. However, few others—including Eisenhower—were convinced that this was a viable way to deliver mail. In addition to the potential dangers involved, the number of missiles needed to transport America’s millions of letters every day would have been staggering. Result: U.S. Rocket Mail was declared dead on delivery.
Back for Seconds
Who is the only man to have served as President of the United States and as Chief Justice on the Supreme Court? Hint: He’s more famous in the Philippines than in the U.S.
General Mayhem
What was especially unusual about the Battle of Palmito Hill?
Back for Seconds
William Howard Taft. The Yale graduate much preferred law to politics, and his lifelong dream was to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, which he eventually did in 1921, but only after spending four awkward years as president from 1909 to ’13.
In the U.S., Taft is perhaps best known today for being too fat to get out of the White House bathtub, but in the Philippines, he is considered a national hero. While Taft was serving as a federal judge in 1900, President McKinley sent him to the U.S.-controlled island nation just after it gained independence from Spain. The portly politician helped set up a new government in the Philippines: He procured millions of dollars from the U.S. in order to jump-start the Filipino economy and to build roads and schools.
General Mayhem
The war was over. During the U.S. Civil War, generals often went weeks without orders from headquarters, forcing them to act on their own. Case in point: the Battle of Palmito Hill, fought on the banks of the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas. On May 11, 1865, breaking a local gentleman’s agreement that neither side would advance on the other without prior written warning, a Union commander led a raid on a Confederate camp, making off with some supplies and a few prisoners. A two-day battle ensued, resulting in a few dozen soldiers injured and dead. Unbeknownst to them, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered on April 9, 1865…more than a month earlier.
Freedom Fighters
What island nation’s revolution helped double the size of the United States?
Mapped Out
You may know that the word “America” comes from Italian explorer cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. But it was another cartographer who first wrote “America” on a map. Who was he?
Freedom Fighters
Haiti. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte was building up his empire in Europe and extended his land-grabbing to North America. The French ruler laid claim to New Orleans and the rest of the Louisiana Territory. That gave Napoleon’s army control of all shipping into and out of the Mississippi River. In short, he staked a claim on nearly everything west of the Mississippi.
Then, in 1803, slaves in Haiti revolted against the French colonists who occupied the island nation. Napoleon was forced to send in reinforcements, but his army met with more resistance than anticipated—along with yellow fever—which led to tens of thousands of French casualties.
Seeing an opportunity, President Thomas Jefferson sent an envoy to France with an offer to buy the port of New Orleans for $10 million. Jefferson got a lot more than he bargained for: The besieged Bonaparte offered to sell 828,800 square miles of French-claimed land for $15 million, or about 3¢ per acre. The envoy took the deal, now known as the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the
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