Mr. Write's Page

The Questions…

1. Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist and mathematician, was a devout Christian. Based on his reading of the Bible, he predicted the Apocalypse will occur in… what year?

2. The term Breakfast of Champions has been a tagline of Wheaties cereal since the 1920s. It’s also the title of a 1973 novel by Kurt Vonnegut. What is the breakfast of champions in Vonnegut’s book?

3. As you may know, the hippo got its name from the ancient Greeks; hippopotamus means river horse. What African animal did the ancient Greeks call hippotigris?

4. Botox injections prevent the development of wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing the facial muscles. Before the stuff became an anti-aging panacea, what was it used for?

5. At one time, Aspirin and Heroin were trademarked products. Who owned the names, and how did they become generic?

The Answers…

1. Sir Isaac calculated that the world will end in 2060.

2. In Vonnegut’s novel, a waitress uses the phrase “breakfast of champions” each time she serves a martini.

3. The zebra, which they believed was a cross between a horse and a tiger.

4. Botox originally was used (and still is used) to treat crossed eyes, uncontrollable blinking, and spasms of the esophagus.

5. In 1895, Bayer Pharmaceuticals of Germany began selling Heroin (legal at the time) as a cough treatment. In 1897, Bayer introduced Aspirin, eventually the world’s most popular drug. After World War I, Bayer was stripped of the two trademarks as war reparations. To the victors belong the spoils, and all that.