Negro Leagues star was oldest rookie

A phenomenal base stealer, Sam “The Jet” Jethroe of the Boston Braves, was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1950. He was a Major League Baseball “rookie,” but Jethroe was no beginner. He’d been a Negro Leagues star and was one of three players (along with Jackie Robinson) invited to a sham tryout for the majors in 1947. Three years later, at age 32-plus, Sam Jethroe became the oldestever MLB Rookie of the Year.

Who was the first catcher to be named Major League Baseball’s rookie of the year? A) Johnny Bench

B) Carlton Fisk

C) Thurman Munson

D) Earl Williams

Answer: Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds was the first Major League Baseball catcher voted Rookie of the Year.

Yellow food = red birds

Male cardinals have red feathers because they eat yellow foods. An enzyme converts the yellow pigments in the seeds, leaves and fruit the birds eat into a red pigment that colors their feathers. In rare instances, the enzyme doesn’t perform this function, and a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) will have yellow feathers instead of red.

Cardinal Richelieu was a real person as well as a character in which novel?

A) “Death Comes for the Archbishop”

B) “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”

C) “The Three Musketeers” D) “War and Peace”

Answer: Cardinal Richelieu was a character in “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas.

Dentist pushed Flag Day

The Stars and Stripes was officially adopted for the American flag on June 14, 1777. That we now call June 14 Flag Day is largely down to Bernard J. Cigrand from Wisconsin. A dentist by trade and a historian at heart, Cigrand (1866-1932) wrote dozens of newspaper articles and sent dozens of letters to American presidents proposing a national holiday to honor the American flag. Flag Day became an official national holiday by a joint resolution of Congress in 1949.

The official 50-star American flag was raised for the first time in what year? A) 1940

B) 1950

C) 1960

D) 1970

Answer: The U.S. flag with a 50th star, symbolizing Hawaii’s statehood, was officially raised for the first time on July 4, 1960.

Germans love asparagus

In the “there’s a museum for everything” category: the Spargelmuseums in Beelitz, Nienberg and Schrobenhausen, Germany, are museums devoted to asparagus. (”Spargel” is German for asparagus.) The thick-stalked white asparagus for which Germany is famous grows underground. No sunlight means no photosynthesis, thus no green color. White asparagus is harvested when its tips break the surface of the soil.