n Eponym of the week: Scottish golfer Thomas McCann, whose name was borrowed by American shoe manufacturer Ward Melville in 1922 for his Thom McAn chain of shoe stores. Our Internet searching could find no additional information about Mr. McCann, other than the existence of a documentary film “Shoe Boy,” about a man’s search to learn more about Mr. McCann.
In the world of science, columns, needles and plates are three common varieties of:
A) Snowflakes
B) Stalactites
C) Deserts
D) Dental work
Answer Monday.
Wednesday’s answer: About 50 percent of the world’s lakes are located in Canada.
Thursday’s answer: The Texas-based rock band Max Q is composed entirely of NASA astronauts. “Max Q” is a term for the maximum atmospheric pressure on a spacecraft during ascent.
n Herman Swanson of Borger, Texas, asked us to identify the 1930s radio comedian who portrayed Baron Munchausen, telling far-fetched stories in a thick German accent. That would be vaudevillian Jack Pearl, who, when confronted with skepticism by his straight man, would answer with the catchphrase that became a national idiom, “Vass you dere, Charlie?”
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