5 Things - New Year's True or False (Now with answers)

5 Things - New Year's True or False (Now with answers)
I know it's Friday, but I still wanted to include "Wednesday's Five Things".

• The orangana is a new fruit, developed in the last ten years.

False - Though an orange and banana combination might sound good to some people, no such fruit exists. Scientists are constantly developing fruit hybrids, less technically referred to as “frankenfruit.” One example is the peacharine, a sweet fruit that is half peach and half nectarine. About the same size as a peach, it’s darker and less fuzzy. There is also the nectacotum, another dark, sweet fruit that is one-third each nectarine, apricot, and plum.


• Tchaikovsky conducted Carnegie Hall’s inaugural concert.

True - In 1890, construction began on New York City’s Carnegie Hall, funded by Andrew Carnegie. After little more than a year, Carnegie Hall opened with a five-day festival in May 1891, in which Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky conducted. The Russian composer also performed for audiences in Philadelphia and Baltimore before returning to Russia.


• The phrase “warms the cockles of my heart” actually refers to microscopic structures, which are called “cockles,” in the heart.

False - Cockles are clams with double-valve (bivalve) shells, similar in appearance to our hearts. However, cockles are also called heart clams, so when people say something has “warmed their cockles,” they are indeed referring to their hearts. The saying goes back to medieval times and has varied through the ages, for example: “pleasing one’s cockles,” “delighting one’s cockles,” or “rejoicing one’s cockles.”


• It is against the law to pump your own gas in the state of Oregon.

*I actually found out about this in July.*

True - If you visit Oregon, don’t get out of your car when you pull into the gas station. Because of safety concerns, there are no self-serve pumps in the state. (There are also none in New Jersey, the only other U.S. state to outlaw them.) The possibility of lifting the ban has been brought before the Senate, but without success.


• Mary Queen of Scots began her rule when she was just one week old.

True - Mary Queen of Scots was born in 1542, the same year she began her rule of Scotland. Her father, King James V, died six days after she was born, making her queen. Though her uncle, Henry VIII, tried to gain control of her throne, Mary retained her rule until 1567. She fled her homeland following a rebellion and was beheaded in England in 1587.

Answers to come later. Woo hoo! Annie got each answer correct!