5 Things - True or False? (ETA: Answers)

5 Things - True or False?

• A kernel of wheat has three parts: germ, bran, and endosperm.

• Eggplant, potatoes, and belladonna all belong to the “deadly nightshade” botanical group.

• Yahtzee got its name because it was originally played on a yacht.

• Bilbo Baggins, the main character in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, is based on Winston Churchill.

• There is a McDonald’s restaurant in every U.S. state capital city.

Do you know? (*Answers to come later.)

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ETA:

• A kernel of wheat has three parts: germ, bran, and endosperm.

TRUE - The germ is the heart of the grain and has the most B vitamins. The bran is the cover of the kernel and is made up mostly of carbohydrate cellulose with traces of B vitamins and minerals. The largest part is the endosperm, made up mostly of starchy carbohydrates.

• Eggplant, potatoes, and belladonna all belong to the “deadly nightshade” botanical group.

FALSE - Eggplant, potatoes, and belladonna are all nightshades, but only belladonna is considered a “deadly nightshade.” Other plants in the same botanical group include red and green bell peppers, paprika, tomatoes, chili peppers, and tobacco. Though belladonna is highly poisonous and some other nightshade plants have been known to cause trouble for arthritis sufferers, for the most part the members of the nightshade family are edible.

• Yahtzee got its name because it was originally played on a yacht.

TRUE - A wealthy Canadian couple invented the “Yacht Game” as a fun way to pass time on their yacht. The couple’s friends enjoyed the game so much that they decided to have extra copies made as gifts. In 1956, they brought the game to Edwin S. Lowe, who was making bingo games at the time, and asked him to manufacture more for them. Lowe loved the game and convinced the couple to sell him the rights. Yahtzee became a Milton Bradley game when they acquired the Edwin S. Lowe Company in 1973.


• Bilbo Baggins, the main character in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, is based on Winston Churchill.

FALSE - J.R.R. Tolkien did not base Bilbo Baggins on Winston Churchill, though he may have loosely based the character on himself. Bilbo Baggins, like most other Hobbits, is a simple guy who finds pleasure in eating, drinking, dressing well, and relaxing—things that Tolkien himself was known to enjoy. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again was first published in Great Britain in 1937 and in the United States in 1938.


• There is a McDonald’s restaurant in every U.S. state capital city.

FALSE - Though most U.S. state capitals have at least two McDonald’s restaurants, Montpelier, Vermont, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, don’t have any. The first McDonald’s was in San Bernardino, California, and the first location outside of the United States was in Canada.