A NEW SODA POP
• In the 1890s Caleb Bradham opened a drugstore and soda fountain in North Carolina. He wanted to invent a drink that would soothe an upset stomach without using narcotics. Using kola nut, vanilla, and extracts, he whipped up a new concoction. He named it after a stomach enzyme that aids digestion, because he believed his drink would aid digestion just as the enzyme does. • The company expanded rapidly, but a major ingredient was sugar, and when sugar prices fluctuated during World War I, Bradham declared bankruptcy. Another entrepreneur bought the drink company from the bank, but declared bankruptcy during the Depression.
• Even the world's best high jumper is unable to stay in the air for more than a single second.
• Before he became a comedian and actor, Bob Ne• The name of the state of whart worked as an acWyoming comes from the countant at the Illinois State Office. Algonquian word chwe- Unemployment wamink, which translates • Those who keep track of as "at the big river flat." such things say that Elvis Pre• If you pay attention to poli- sley had 18 TVs at Graceland. tics at all, you've almost cer- One of them was installed tainly heard the term "ger- in the ceiling over his bed. rymander" used to describe the practice of carving up electoral districts in such a way that one party has an advantage. You probably don't know, though, how that term entered the lexicon. In 1812, a
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Thought for the Day: "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." -- Carl Sagan © 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
Answer: Pepsi, and pepsin.
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• You might be surprised to learn that some fish can hibernate. During the long, dark winters, the Antarctic cod will burrow under the seabed and stay there for days at a time, cutting its metabolism by two-thirds.
• Then he began selling the drink in a 12 ounce bottle for a nickel, whereas Coka-Cola came in a 6-ounce bottle for a nickel. Customers flocked to his product. Today the firm does $39 billion in business annually and has 185,000 employees. What’s the name of the drink? (Bonus points for naming the enzyme it was named after.......Answer at the bottom of page) IT'S A FACT • During Prohibition, the Women’s Christian Temperance union attacked soft drinks as being potentially addictive. This inspired an editor of a Kansas newspaper to write a satire in which he worried about “men returning home sodden with Coca-Cola” and men “caught in the grip of the Coca-Cola habit.”
Weekly SUDOKU
• If you're like the average American, you will consume 22 pounds of lettuce this year.
new district in Essex County, Massachusetts, was created, and a journalist thought the twisting boundaries caused the district to resemble a salamander. A cartoon highlighting the resemblance was created, and because the party that did the redistricting was led by Gov. Elbridge Gerry, the practice was dubbed "gerrymandering."
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• It was beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz who made the following sage observation: "Life is like a 10-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use."
King CROSSWORD
by Samantha Weaver
• In 1931 Charles Guth bought the company for $10,500 out of sheer spite. He owned a chain of over 100 candy stores with soda fountains and was angry that Coca-Cola wouldn’t give him a price break on the enormous volumes of soda he sold. He wanted to give them some competition, but he too ran into financial problems and even offered to sell out to Coca-Cola, a deal they refused.