Do Penguins Have Knees? (6 page)
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Authors: David Feldman
Why “Rhode”? Lame theories abound. One is that the state was named after a person named Rhodes (although any meaningful details about this person are obscure). Another supposition is that “Rhode Island” was an Anglicization of “Roode Eyelandt,” Dutch for “red island.” The Dutch explorer Adriaen Block noted the appearance of a reddish island in the area, and maps of the mid-seventeenth century often refer to the area as “Roode Eyelandt.”
But all evidence points to the fact that Block was referring not to the landlocked mass of Rhode Island, nor even to the island of Aquidneck, but to an island farther west in the bay. And besides, written references to “Rhode Island” abound long before “Roode Eyelandt.”
Most likely, “Rhode Island” was coined by explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, who referred in his diary of his 1524 voyage to an island “about the bigness of the Island of Rhodes,” a reference to its Greek counterpart. A century later, Roger Williams referred to “Aqueneck, called by us Rhode Island…”
We do know that in 1644, the Court of Providence Plantation officially changed the name of Aquidneck (variously spelled “Aquedneck” and “Aquetheck”—spelling was far from uniform in those days) to “The Isle of Rhodes, or Rhode Island.” The entire colony, originally settled in 1636, was known as “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”
When Rhode Island attained statehood, its name was shortened to Rhode Island, befitting its diminutive size.
Submitted by Tony Alessandrini of Brooklyn, New York. Thanks also to Troy Diggs of Jonesboro, Arkansas
.
Why
Do Blacktop Roads Get Lighter in Color As They Age?
Our correspondent ponders:
When fresh blacktop roads are laid, they are pure black. Why is it that after a few years, they turn gray? You can notice this when they patch potholes. The filler material is a dark contrast to the surrounding road. Even last year’s patched potholes are grayer than the new blacktop patches.
You would think dirt and “worn rubber dust” would make the road blacker, not lighter.
There is only one flaw in your question, Bill. Blacktop isn’t pure black, as Amy Steiner, program director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, explains:
The primary ingredients in “blacktop” are asphalt and stones. Asphalt coats the stones and gives the pavement its black color. As traffic passes over the pavement, the asphalt coating on the surface stones wears off. Since stones are generally lighter in color than asphalt, the road becomes lighter in color.
The other main reason that blacktop lightens in color is oxidation. As the road surface is always exposed to the ambient air, it naturally becomes lighter.
As for what happens to the black tire tread that comes off vehicles, may I suggest you read a stimulating, brilliantly written dissertation on the subject in a wonderful book,
Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and Other Imponderables
. The name of the author escapes us at the moment, but we’re sure your local bookstore employee will happily lead you to the HarperPerennial book, which, we recollect, is very reasonably priced.
Submitted by Bill Jelen of Akron, Ohio
.
All of our electronics sources agreed that consumers prefer “one-touch recording” for both audio and video recorders. All agreed that there is no difference in the performance of decks with one-touch or two-touch controls. So why do we have to go the extra step on the audio recorder? Audio recorders predate video recorders, and the history of the audio tape deck gives us our answer. Thomas Mock, director of engineering for the Electronics Industries Association, explains:
In most earlier audio recorders, the switches were mechanically coupled to the tape drive mechanism. The RECORD button was designed so that it was not possible to accidentally go into the record mode while playing a tape. In order to record, the RECORD button had to be depressed first, allowing it to sense if the cassette ERASE tab was present. Then it would permit closure of the play button.
Modern recorders, audio as well as VCRs, use servo controls to engage the tape mechanism and sensors to detect if erasure/recording is allowed. With these devices, “one button” recording is possible from the control panel or via an infrared remote or by a present timer.
William J. Goffi, of the Maxell Corporation, told
Imponderables
that many audio recorder manufacturers have seen the light and are incorporating user-friendly one-touch recording.
Submitted by Richard Stans of Baltimore, Maryland
.
How
Do Bus Drivers Get into a Bus When the Door Handle Is Inside the Bus?
It all depends upon the bus. According to Robin Diamond, communications manager of the American Bus Association, many newer buses have a key lock that will open the door automatically when a key is turned. Mercedes-Benz buses, according to their press information specialist, John Chuhran, have a hydraulic door release that can be activated “by a key located in an inconspicuous place.” Most often, the “inconspicuous place” is the front of the bus rather than the door itself.
Instead of a key-activated mechanism, some buses have a handle or air-compression button located in the front of the bus. Others have a toggle switch next to the door that opens it. Along with these high-tech solutions, we heard about some other strategies for bus drivers who may have locked themselves out. Karen E. Finkel, executive director of the National School Transportation Association, was kind enough to supply them:
- 1.
Enter through the rear emergency door, which does have a handle. - 2.
Push the door partially closed, but not enough for the door mechanism to catch, so that the door can be pulled open. - 3.
Use your hands to pry open the door.
Why do we think that method #3 is used altogether more often than it is supposed to be?
Submitted by Harry C. Wiersdorfer of Hamburg, New York. Thanks also to Natasha Rogers of Webster, New York
.
Why
Is the Lowest-Ranked Admiral Called a
Rear
Admiral?
If you think that we are going to joke about the fact that a rear admiral is the lowest-ranked admiral because he tends to sit on his duff all day, you severely underestimate us. Puns are the refuge of the witless.
Dr. Regis A. Courtemanche, professor of history at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, wrote to
Imponderables
that the term originally referred to the admirals who commanded English naval fleets in the seventeenth-century Dutch Wars. The fleets were divided into three segments: the vanguard (the ships in front), the center, and the rear. “So,” Courtemanche concludes, “the term lies in the fact that the
lowest
ranking admiral controlled the
rear
of the fleet at sea.”
Submitted by Peter J. Scott of Glendale, California
.
Why
Was April 15 Chosen as the Due Date for Taxes?
It wasn’t ever thus. In fact, the original filing date for federal taxes, as prescribed in the Revenue Act of 1913, was March 1. A mere five years later, the deadline moved back; until the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was approved on August 16, 1954, midnight vigils were conducted on
March
15. Taxpayers who paid on a fiscal year were also given a month’s extension in 1954, so that they now filed on the fifteenth day of the fourth month, instead of the third month, after their fiscal year was over. In fact, all federal returns, with the exception of estates and trusts, are now due on April 15, or three and one-half months after the end of the fiscal year.
Were these dates plucked out of thin air? Not really. The IRS wants to process returns as early in the year as possible. In the 1910s, when most tax returns were one page long, it was assumed that after a wage earner totaled his or her income, the return could be filled out in a matter of minutes. Why wait until after March 1? As anyone who now is unfortunate enough to make a so-called living knows, the IRS form isn’t quite as simple as it used to be. The 1040 is no easier to decipher than the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Kevin Knopf, of the Department of the Treasury, was kind enough to send us transcripts of the hearings before the House Ways and Means Committee in 1953 pertaining to the revision of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Now we don’t necessarily expect the contents of all hearings in the legislature to match the Lincoln-Douglas debates in eloquence and passion, but we were a little surprised to hear the original impetus for the legislation cited by a sponsor of the 1954 IRS revision, the Honorable Charles E. Bennett of Florida, who argued for changing the due date from March 15 to April 15:
The proposal to change the final return date from March 15 to April 15 was first called to my attention by the Florida Hotel Association. They advised that many taxpayers must cut their winter vacations short to return to their homes and to prepare their tax returns for filing before March 15. They pointed out that changing the deadline to April 15 would help their tourist trade as well as that of other winter tourist areas in the United States such as California, Arizona, Maine, and Vermont.
This is why we changed the tax code? Probably not. A succession of witnesses before the House Ways and Means Committee—everybody from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce to the American Federation of Labor to the American Cotton Manufacturers Institute—argued for moving back the date of tax filing. In descending order of importance, here were their arguments.
1. Taxpayers need the extra time to compile their records and fill out the tax forms.
2. The IRS needs more time to process returns efficiently. If the date were moved back to April 15, the IRS could rely more on permanent employees rather than hiring temporary help during the crunch. Perhaps so many taxpayers wouldn’t file at the deadline date if they had an extra month.
3. An extension would also ease the task of accountants and other tax preparers.
4. It would make it easier for people who have to estimate their tax payments for the next year to make an accurate assessment.
5. It would allow businesses who have audits at the end of the year time to concentrate on their IRS commitments.
The 1954 bill passed without much opposition. The April 15 date has proved to be workable, but it is no panacea. Any fantasy that most taxpayers wouldn’t procrastinate until the last minute was quickly dispelled.
This drives the IRS nuts, because most taxpayers receive refunds. The basis of the free-market economic system is supposed to be that people will act rationally in their economic self-interest. If this were true, taxpayers with refunds would file in January in order to get their money as fast as possible, since the IRS does not pay interest on money owed to the taxpayer.
The IRS would love to find a way to even out its workload from January through April. In reality, most returns are filed either in late January and early February or right before the April 15 deadline. A 1977 internal study by the IRS, investigating changing the filing dates, said that “These peaks are so pronounced that Service Centers frequently have to furlough some temporary employees between the two workload peaks.”
Before the code changed in 1954, the IRS experienced the same bimodal pattern—the only difference was that the second influx occurred in mid-March instead of mid-April. If the due date was extended a month, the second peak would probably occur in mid-May.