Answers to the "A-Z" Quiz - FINALLY! (...But no grades quite yet.)

A) In 1789 by George Washington after attempts to ratify such a holiday in 1776 and 1777. Abraham Lincoln set the precedent of US Presidents making a Thanksgiving National Address, and FDR fixed the date once and for all as the fourth Thursday of November in 1939, and it was ratified by Congress in 1941. Note: Canada also celebrates their own Thanksgiving holiday on the second Monday in October.

B) The English Civil War is a singular term covering either two or three separate conflicts depending on your choice of definition. The first (1642-1646) and second (1648-1649) conflicts were fought by the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third conflict (1649-1651) was fought by supporters of King Charles II against supporters of the Rex... er, Rump... Parliament. The Civil War ended in Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Charles I was executed, Charles II sent into exile, and the English monarchy was replaced by the Commonwealth of England and then with a Protectorate, under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell in 1653.

C) Tungsten.

D) An irrational number.

E) The RMS Titanic sank on 15 April 1912.

F) Italy.

G) The Boston Red Sox.

H) It's the wool of Alpacas, a close relative of the llama (but considerable smaller) that do not live wild but graze as herds in level spots along the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile year-round between the altitudes of 3500-5000 meters above sea level. The Inca and Moche people were known to have keep domesticated alpacas thousands of years ago. The animal belongs to the Camelid family of ungulates, and is thus related to the camels of Asia and Africa. It is the smallest extant Canelid except for the wild Vicuña, whose hair is also prized in the textile industry.

I) Single-Lens Reflex.

J) A prism is a transparent optical element, usually glass, which refracts light. White light contains waves of all type in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (usually as well as others, like infrared, ultraviolet, and so on). The wavelength of light determines its color as perceived by our brains (via our eyes and optic nerves), thus the common expression that white light contains "every color." Because waves of light refract at different angles while passing through a transparent (but not completely transparent) substance such as an angled bit of glass, and in a consistent way related to their wavelength, the prism in essense "spreads out" the light waves according to their wavelength and we see the familiar rainbow of colors. From longest to shortest wavelengths these proceed from red to violet (you can break it up as finely as you care to; one common way is the red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet, or Roy G. Biv). Red fades smoothly and invisibly into infrared which our eyes cannot detect but which we feel as heat; violet fades smoothly on the opposite end into ultraviolet, which again our eyes cannot detect but which will burn or tan our skin and cause cellular damage over time.

K) Flatbreads and other breads which do not rise are made around the world and were the earliest breads in existance. Leavened (lightened) bread, is what we commonly eat these days, and the airiness is provided by chemicals or, more commonly, bacteria, which ferment the carbohydrates in the flour, including any sugar, after the unbaked dough has been prepared. A byproduct of this fermentation is carbon dioxide. Chemical action of the carbon dioxide trapped within the dough as it heats creates small pockets of gas that get baked into the bread and give it its lighter, airier texture. Sourdough bread uses, in addition to yeast, lactobacillus, which produces lactic acid and gives it its distinctive smells and taste. San Francisco is especially famous for its sourdough breads. Other types of bread leaved by steam, buttermilk, aeration, or other methods exist around the world, though yeast-leaved bread accounts for probably over 98% of all leavened bread produced.

L) ByteDoc and Rex both provided good answers for this question, and I had my own complex explanation ready, but I must defer to the professional midwife amongst us, Magdalene, on this one. She answered: "This is an unanswerable question as it depends entirely on whether she is in first, second or third stage of labour and whether or not there are any complications such as malpositions or fetal distress." So those who gave any sort of credible answer I will give full credit, those who were wiseacres or did not answer get a big egg McNuffin'.

M) Wetlands and/or coastal areas.

N) From the time of its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was counted as the Solar System's ninth planet. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, many objects similar to Pluto were discovered in the outer solar system, notably the object Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto. The question of whether to start counting all these icy bodies with erratic, highly-elliptical orbits far from the sun as true planets became more pressing, not in any critical scientific sense, but for consistency in nomenclature. There was much wrangling on both sides, but the issue was settle at the International Astronomical Union's meeting on 24 August 2006, where the term "planet" was defined formally for the first time, a definition which exluded pluto (and Eris). It is now consider a "dwarf planet," one of many such objects now known and which surely exist in much greater numbers waiting to be discovered. The largest and only spherical asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres, was also re-categorized as not an asteroid but a dwarf planet as well. This regresses the number of "true" or "major" planets in the eyes of professional astronomers back to 8, the number it had been from the discovery of Neptune on 23 September 1846 (increasing the count from 7), till Pluto's discovery on 18 February 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at the famous Lowell Observatory near Flagstaff, Arizona. Even though Pluto was thus only considered a true planet for less than a century, many adults and especially children are still fond of this mysterious far-off world and mourn its demotion. Fortunately, NASA had already sent the New Horizons probe barrelling toward Pluto at the time of the IAU's decision, and thus we should get a good look at this dwarf planet on 14 July 2015. Some of the ashes of its discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, who passed away in 1997, were placed aboard the probe prior to its launch in 1996.

O) This question is entirely subjective and was me just slyly fishing for a good recipe. No credit will be given and it does not affect the scoring of the test, unless you were exceptionally crafty with your answer, which none of you was.

P) Briefly, because the god of pleasure and excess, variously referred to by pagan religions, then Greek and Roman traditions, as Pan, Bacchus, or Dionysus, was given this description, which is that of a mythical being called a satyr. Originally viewed in a positive or at worst neutral light, the pleasure-discouraging and austere Catholic church beginning in the middle age begin to emphasize a "devil" character more and more to swell its ranks, seeing that scaring people into believing was even more effective than using a merciful God to entice them, and the symbol they increasingly chose was of course this frivolous, party-crazed, half-drunk goat man. Thus yet another pagan mythic figure got drafted into the corrosive force that is Christianity, and the poor guy has become the literal "face of the Devil" to many around the world.

Q) Many dates exists for the "Fall of Rome" as an empire, but as far as the city of Rome itself, though it had been sacked and reclaimed before, the traditional date given is 4 September 476 when the last Caesar, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by Odoacer, king of the Ostrogoths (who, however, then considered themselves Romans and tried to carry on many of the city's traditions). This is the answer I was looking for, though other dates and explanations that are close or have some explanation behind them will be awarded partial or full credit depending on merit.

R) Zebras are black or very dark brown with white stripes. This has been confirmed genetically and is the correct answer for a variety of reasons which I could explain if anyone cares to challenge the answer. For one, the black pigment extends to a deeper dermal layer than does the overlying white stripes. Secondly, evolutionary evidence points to the fact that zebras were once black or dark brown, like horses, and only devloped the white stripes (which helps to hide them in tall grass) later on.

S) No deity is recognized or worshipped in Taoism. If anyone answered "all that is" or "nature/the universe" I will give a point or two, but even then, if the ALL, the Tao, is considered a deity, which it is not, it is all inclusive and there would be now followers and thus no one to worship it. Worship is not involved in this philosophy, only a rocognition and acceptance that Nature (in its all-inclusive sense) simply IS and does what it does, and denies all magical forces or resistance to this idea. In a way it is the ultimate deterministic philosophy, but many would argue that even this dualistic notion of determinism vs. free will are a Western creation and that there is no room for such notions in Taoism or Buddhism, with which the Tao shares many of of its precepts. Learn your religions and philosophies, people.

T) Because of the Gulf Stream or Conveyor, which indeed conveys surface level warm water from the Caribbean to Northern Europe, where its salinity level causes it to fall to a deeper level than the less-dense colder waters below, and it is then transported on a sort of anti-Gulf Stream back to the Caribbean, bringing krill and other cold-water nutrients to that region for its marine life to feed upon. The relative warmth of the surface water passing around Ireland and the British Isles has a warming influence upon their interior climates, moderating what would otherwise be a Siberian or Canadian pattern. Thank goodness for you Brits! Now get out to St. Lucia or Grand Cayman and support their tourism industry.

U) Again, subjective. Just curious what your answers would be! I am most thankful for the people who have supported me even through my toughest times, and that includes you all. Thanks! Even when I seem cynical or petulant, I DO recognize the good influences that you and others have had upon me and realize that not all is black and cold all the time. In fact, 10 Dumbledore Points for all of you!

V) True. Coca-Cola used to be sold at the pharmacist/chemist in small vials as a remedy for pain, especially headaches, and contained a small amount of cocaine. This was before cocaine became illegal, of course. Many people surely found cures to their aches, but probably developed a worse addiction to the cure. In fact, I'm not so sure the cocained ever left. I still find myself almost impossible to stop drinking the stuff.

W) Other member of the echidnae family, such as porcupines. Mags was bang onto this one even down to the family name.

X) The 19th century. Many physicists contributed research which leds to discovery of X-rays, amongst them Nicola Tesla and Heinrich Hertz. But it was the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen who dubbed them X-rays, developed several practical uses for them (some of which we still obviously employ in medicine), and most fully devloped the theory behind them for the time. They were dubbed by many of his contemporaries (and are still referred to as in many parts of the world) "Röntgen rays," despite his great objections. He was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for his achievement. Most of his major work on this type of radiation was carried out in 1895 and 1896, so though the discovery of X-rays is a 19th century phenomenon, almost all theoretical and practical development of the subject came in the 20th century.

Y) Eucalyptus leaves. Boring!

Z). Again, subjective. Although, it is a question, so if you left it blank, you will receive no credit. But I believe you all answered it.

OK. Whew. *Wipes brow*
Now comes time to grade the papers (reply to your emails with scores on them) and declare a winner. This may take a little more time, but should be done in less that 24 hours for sure. In the meantime, you can compare your own answers to the key and maybe learn a couple of interesting facts along the way.

Thanks for your patience. I've not been feeling well and have struggled to get this done in a timely manner. I also have a new girlfriend which doesn't exactly give me gobs of time to myself. I will probably make future quizzes less ambitious, something like 10 questions a pop.

I'll correct typos and missing/redundant words and so on in THIS post as I go. I just finished it all in one go and don't feel like proofreading it right now, but I will in a bit. Now I just want to rest my eyes but I did want to get something out there for yous all to read!