In what year was New York City first comprised of the present five boroughs?
Four presidents of the US died, but were not assassinated, while in office. Who were they?
What European country uses its Latin name, Helvetia, on its stamps?
From which animal do we get catgut?
Of Heimlich and Heinlein, the one to call if you swallow a fishbone.
What is the northernmost city of the United States?
17 comments:
Off the top of my head, without research, I can answer four of the six.
1. 1898
2. Harrison, Roosevelt, Garfield,
Taylor (or is it Tyler?)
5. Heimlich. Heinlein's an author.
6. Barrow, AK.
The Wolf
Whoops. Sorry about that. Let me try again.
Garfield was shot. That should be Harding.
The Wolf
ahh, at least i know one answer, the european country in switzerland. They also have it in the coins not just stamps.
Wolf,
Check out your answer to #1 at nyc.gov--you're off a bit. Taylor, not Tyler. At least you recognize there were two of them. Two years ago a student was truly puzzled when he got this question. He always thought that Tyler was just a misspelling of Taylor.
ProfK,
With all due respect, I'm 100% correct.
From here:
When the present day five boroughs were consolidated on January 1, 1898 to form Greater New York, horses, trolleys, elevated railroads and ferries were still the preferred methods of travel; chop suey was developing a following in New York City, but was still unknown to residents of China; malaria was a big health threat on Staten Island; and New York had just become the last American city to open public high schools.
I *always* get Taylor/Tyler mixed up. :)
The Wolf
Wolf,
The date of the charter officially establishing the five-boroughed city was May 4, 1897. One hundred years later, in 1997, the city celebrated its centennial as a unified city. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/100aniv.html
That's right. But the actual unification into "Greater New York" didn't take effect until 1/1/1898.
Your question did not ask when the law was signed. It asked when the city was first comprised of the five boros. On the day the law was signed, the city still consisted only of the Island of Manhattan (and possibly, the Bronx). The city was not comprised of five boros until 1/1/1898.
See here:
On December 31, 1897, thousands of would-be New Yorkers collected near the foot of City Hall to witness the birth of the most magnificent metropolis ever conceived. They could not have foreseen the great public works yet to come, or the skyscrapers that would one day rise to the heavens from the soil beneath their feet. Nor could they be certain the new city would be any greater than the sum of its parts. But the residents of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island placed their future in the hands of fate, hoping to consecrate a more perfect union. And when the clock struck midnight, the bells of Trinity Church sounded the arrival of a new year, brilliant streaks of light turned night into day – and a loose collection of municipalities became the Greater City of New York.
The Wolf
Wolf,
I don't think that either one of us is going to "win" this one. It's one of the machlokes questions. On May 5, 1987, Mayor Giuliani declared that day Greater New York City day and further declared that the city's centennial had begun and would continue through 1988. If I read the language of the charter correctly the official incorporation began as soon as the charter was approved, which was 1887. The January 1, 1888 celebration may have been just part of the process.
Wonder what points in our present day history people will be arguing about 120 years from now.
One more try:
Here's a New York Times Article from May 6, 1897, reporting on the Charter being signed. As per the article:
"ALBANY, May 5. -- Gov. Black signed the Greater New York charter at 9 o'clock this morning. The charter takes effect on Jan 1, 1898 and the officers to have charge of the greater municipality will be elected in November this year."
The article, written the day after the charter was signed, clearly states that it did not go into effect until 1/1/1898.
The Wolf
Wolf,
Learn something new every day--thanks.
Prof K: I am surprised at the wording of the first question. Surely you mean either "first composed of" or "first comprised", since the whole comprises, or is composed of, the parts. But the wording is inelegant in either case. You might better ask something like: What was the first year in which New York City comprised the 5 current boroughs?
Mike,
Mea culpa.
I saw the comprised error also Mike, but I figured that even a professor of English is entitled to an error on her blog occasionally. But if we are talking about inelegant sentences, perhaps you might want to take another look at your sentence beginning "You might better ask something like:." Might better ask? And surely you meant to use "such as" instead of "like"?
We can argue about "might better" I suppose. But I used "like" correctly.
By the way, the Heimlich maneuver (Heinlein was a science fiction writer) is used when you are choking on something (i.e. it went down the trachea) not when you have swallowed it (i.e. it went down the esophagus.)
MikeS,
And you now know why I said that some of the questions are not straightforward. You would call neither of these people if all you did was swallow a fish bone. The student who got this question this year answered correctly that only if the act of swallowing went wrong and resulted in tracheal obstruction would you go to the Heimlich manouver.
i almost went to barrow, but there's nothing to there except gain bragging rights that you've been to the northernmost american city. instead i went to nome.
a better (i.e., trickier) question is what is the southermost US city
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