n April Burstedt of Danville, Calif., wants to know how to coin a word. Well, first you need to find out if it’s really new, which you can assume if a Google search yields no hits (as it does on “TriviaBitting.”) Next, you must define it (TriviaBitting means “reading this column”). To make sure that you’re credited with the word, you must publicize it as your own and trademark it, to be sure you’ll get your share of the T-shirt revenue and movie rights. Good luck!

As spoken by the main character in the Jane Austen novel “Mansfield Park,” “the best recipe for happiness” is a:

A) Large income

B) Thanksgiving feast

C) Good book

D) House cat

Tuesday’s answer: Grindstone, Silver Charm and Real Quiet are the names of the horses that won the Kentucky Derby from 1996 through 1998, respectively.

n Before George Washington created the military medal known today as the Purple Heart in 1782, medals were awarded only to officers. Gen. Washington’s previous preferred reward to deserving common soldiers, a battlefield commission or promotion, had just been stopped by Congress because it didn’t have any money for soldier salaries, let alone for salary increases.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.