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Previous Reference Questions - 2000
Q: Do you know what states will be represented on the new quarters
this year?
A: According to the United States Mint's web site, the state quarters
that will be released in the year 2000 are Massachusetts, Maryland, New
Hampshire, South Carolina and Virginia. Rhode Island's quarter is scheduled
to come out in the year 2001. The United States Mint 50 State Quarters
Program web page has a lot of information about coins and the mint itself.
To find out more visit US Mint.
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: How many former United States Presidents are still living?
A: There are four former U. S. Presidents still living: Gerald Ford,
Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Source: World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000
Submitted by Lauren Clark, Reference Assistant
Q: Is 12 noon 12 p.m. or 12 a.m?
A: Midnight is 12 a.m., the point of time when night becomes morning.
Noon is 12 p.m., the point in time when morning becomes afternoon.
Source: Science and Technology Desk Reference, edited by the Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh Science and Technology Department
Submitted by Laurie Dumas, Reference Assistant
Q: What government department does the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) report to?
A: The Justice Department, currently headed by Attorney General Janet
Reno, is responsible for the INS.
Source: U.S.A. Immigration and Orientation, by Bob and Mary
McLaughlin
Submitted by Dianne Carney, Reference Assistant
Q: Can I get IRS forms on the internet?
A: You can obtain IRS forms from IRS Tax Forms.
The Rhode Island tax forms can be printed from State Tax Forms.
Source: WEST WARWICK PUBLIC LIBRARY's
Home Page
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: Is Birch Hill a section of West Warwick or Coventry?
A: The area located south of the Pawtuxet River and adjacent to Clyde
in West Warwick was historically known as Birch Hill. It included parts
of East Main, Main and Pike Streets, and Maple and Woodside Avenues.
This area was the site of the Clyde Hotel, an opera house and a telephone
office and is no longer referred to as Birch Hill.
Source: Historic and Architectural Resources of West Warwick,
Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report, by Rhode Island Historical
Preservation Commission
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: What is the recommended daily allowance of cholesterol?
A: The American Heart Association advises adults to keep their
cholesterol intake to about 300 milligrams per day. This is about the amount
in an egg yolk.
Source: The PDR Family Guide to Nutrition and Health , edited by
David Sifton
Submitted by Lauren Clark, Reference Assistant
Q: What is a cartogram?
A: A cartogram is a geographic map showing statistics of different kinds
diagrammatically with shades, curves and dots.
Source: Webster's Third New International Dictionary
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: What country was the first to have a democratic constitution in Europe?
A: Poland's Constitution of May 3, 1791 was the first European democratic
constitution and "the second in the world after America's Declaration of
Independence." This document centralized Poland's government, gave the
merchant class more power than it ever had, and stopped "the anarchy of the
nobility."
Source: Zgoda: the official publication of the Polish National Alliance
of North America
Submitted by Andrea Plaziak, Circulation Department Head
Q: Who or what is Charlie Noble?
A: Charles Noble was a merchant sea captain who had the ship's galley
smokestack named after him around 1850. He always wanted the galley
smokestack, which was made of copper, to be kept bright and shiny, so,
his crew nicknamed the stack the "Charlie Noble."
Source: Naval Terms Dictionary, by Captain John V. Noel, Jr.
Submitted by Cyndi Desrochers, Head of the Reference Department
Q: Who invented the paper clip?
A: Johann Vaaler, a Norwegian working in Germany, invented the
paper clip in 1890.
Source:
Science Net.
Submitted by Lauren Clark, Reference Assistant
Q: Who invented volleyball?
A: Volleyball was started by William G. Morgan in 1895 at Holyoke,
Massachusetts. It became an international sport in 1947 and was recognized
as an Olympic sport in 1964.
Source: Book of Millennium Records, by Norris McWhirter
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: Is there a sequel to Gone with the Wind?
A: Margaret Mitchell did not write a sequel to Gone with the Wind.
However, in 1987 the attorneys for the Mitchell estate allowed a committee
from the William Morris Agency to select an author to write the sequel.
Scarlet, published in 1991, was written by Alexandra Ripley.
Source: The Complete Gone with the Wind Trivia Book,
by Pauline Bartel
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: What is the official state rock of Rhode Island?
A: Cumberlandite was made the Rhode Island state rock in 1966. It
is found on both sides of Narragansett Bay south of Cumberland and no where
else outside of Rhode Island. It is black or brown in color with white
markings and is also magnetic.
Source: Rhode Island Manual 1991-1992,
Submitted by Cyndi Desrochers, Head of Reference
Q: Where is Sing Sing Prison located and is that its real name?
A: Sing Sing Prison is located in Ossining, New York which is thirty-three
miles north of New York City and looks over the Hudson River. The original
name for this prison built in 1826 was Mt. Pleasant Prison. It was nicknamed
Sing Sing for the town in which it is located. In 1985 the name was officially changed to Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
Source: Encyclopedia of American Prisons , edited by Marilyn D.
McShane and Frank P. Williams III
Submitted by Maureen Delovio, Reference Assistant
Q: I think I saw a fox in my backyard. Is that possible?
A: The fox, a species of the dog family, does inhabit the Northeast (including Rhode Island). Some are actually city dwellers who feed on the trash left by humans. There are twenty-one kinds of fox. The red fox is found from Mexico to northern Alaska and Canada.
Source: Dorling Kindersley Animal Encyclopedia
Submitted by Laurie Dumas, Reference Assistant
Q: What is meant by "pin money"?
A: Pin money is an allowance or sum of money a woman would put aside to purchase pins.
Source: : Devious Derivations, by Hugh Rawson
Submitted by Lauren Clark, Reference Assistant
Q: What did President Abraham Lincoln keep in his silk top hat?
A: President Lincoln kept important business papers and memoranda in his hat.
Source: : The Humorous Mr. Lincoln, by Keith W. Johnson 1965
Submitted by Lauren Clark & Diane Carney, Reference Assistants