What was “Life” like 50 years ago? The cover story of the Sept. 2, 1957, issue was the 100,000-foot balloon ascent of Air Force Major David Simons. A Sept. 16 ad touted the virtues of the oddly named Fizrin, a new “superfine powder” competitor to Alka-Seltzer.

You may not have ever heard of the organic compound urushiol (approximate pronunciation “a-ROO-she-awl”), but you may well have been the “beneficiary” of its effects. You are most likely to have had an encounter with urushiol while:

A) Washing your hair

B) Hiking in the woods

C) Peeling an onion

D) Painting a room

Monday’s answer: In Jules Verne’s book “From the Earth to the Moon,” the fictional space pioneers reach the moon by being shot out of a cannon.