Uncle John’s Impossible Questions & Astounding Answers (15 page)

Believe it or not, we can thank cartoonist and fellow trivia hound Robert Ripley. In 1929 he published a cartoon with this caption: “Believe it or not, America has no national anthem.” Famed composer John Philip Sousa saw the cartoon and was surprised to find that it was true, so he decided to change that. After a brief search of possible songs, Sousa promoted Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” as the official U.S. national anthem. His efforts paid off: Two years later, President Herbert Hoover signed it into law.

Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough…to keep us from giving you this geography quiz
.

What country has no schools?

Which U.S. town has had people living there the longest?

How many Rhode Islands could you fit inside Alaska?

Vatican City. Called
Città del Vaticano
in Italian, it was once a part of Rome, but achieved its sovereign status in 1929, meaning that it’s not ruled by any other government. And even though it has “City” in its name, it’s technically a country.

Covering only .16 of a square mile (less than two city blocks), Vatican City has a population of about 900 people, of which 60 percent are older than 60. Its official birthrate is zero, which makes sense because the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church is primarily made up of priests, who are sworn to celibacy. No parents means no schools.

It’s not Jamestown, St. Augustine, or any other European settlement. The oldest town is Oraibi, Arizona. Hopi Indians settled there sometime before A.D. 1100, and they’re still there today.

If you packed them nice and tight, you could fit 429 Rhode Islands (at 1,545 square miles, the smallest U.S. state) into Alaska (the largest state, at 663,267 square miles).

Footnote:
Why is it called “Rhode Island” if it’s not an island? Because it reminded early explorers of the Greek island of Rhodes.

The 15th step is 5,280 feet! No, it’s the 18th. Wait a second, it’s actually the 13th. Where is this confusing place?

What is the driest continent on Earth?

They don’t call Denver the “Mile High City” for nothing. In 1890 architect Elijah E. Myers chose a site on which to build the State Capitol building that honors the Colorado city’s distinctive elevation. On the stairs leading to the building’s entrance, Myers placed a marker on the 15th step that says “Exactly One Mile Above Sea Level.” Pretty close, but Myers was off by a few feet. In 1969 the steps were surveyed again, and the marker was moved to the 18th step. In 2003 even more accurate measurements were taken. Now if you’re standing on the 13th step, you can be reasonably certain that you’re exactly one mile above sea level.

By the way, Myers’s other goal was to pay homage to the U.S. Capitol building, so the Colorado counterpart is nearly identical, only smaller.

Antarctica. But when you think of Antarctica, what comes to mind? Ice, and ice is made of water, right? So why is a continent covered in water considered the driest? Because it almost never rains or snows there. The ice is ancient, and it’s still there because Antarctica is so cold: Inland temperatures almost never rise above freezing. In fact, inland Antarctica gets only about two inches of precipitation per year; its coastal areas, only eight inches. It’s the driest
continent
on Earth, but it’s not the driest
location
. Where is that? (Go to the next page.)

What is considered the driest location on Earth?

Where on Earth would you have to go in order to get as far away from an ocean as possible? Once you got there, what’s the shortest distance you’d have to travel to get back to the ocean?

Did you guess the Sahara Desert in Africa? Or maybe Death Valley in the U.S? They’re not nearly as arid as the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. This 600-mile-long plateau, located near the Pacific Ocean, averages less than .004 inches of precipitation annually, and some years it sees no rainfall at all. The hot desert days lead to some amazingly clear nights; there are rarely any clouds or light pollution from cities. Plus, it’s at a high elevation. That makes the Atacama Desert one of the best places on Earth to observe the night sky. As such, some of the world’s largest astronomical observatories are located there.

The Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert in Xinjiang, China. There’s a spot there unofficially known as Nocean (“No ocean”). Officially called the “Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility,” it is the most landlocked place on Earth. How landlocked? It would take you three days to drive to the nearest coastline—the Bay of Bengal on the Indian Ocean, 1,645 miles to the south.

The exact location of Nocean wasn’t discovered until 1986, when two British explorers—cousins Nicholas and Richard Crane—pinpointed it. If you want to go there yourself, set these coordinates into your GPS device: 46°16.8′N 86°40.2′E / 46.28°N 86.67°E / 46.28; 86.67…and start driving.

Where is the largest area of sand dunes in the United States?

What’s the only country in which you can travel from the southern tip to the northeastern tip and end up on another continent (one that’s not part of the same land mass)?