These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tuesday Trivia

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Today's collection is related. Sorta. Money, the Stock Market, and The Supreme Court. Yeah, there's a thread in that. ;)


MONEY
There are over 60 communities throughout the United States that have their own form of local currency. California has the most communities with their own currency, including many popular colleges like Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, one more than a dime. The reason the mint started using ridges was to prevent counterfeit and devaluing of the coin.

A penny weighs 2.5 grams, which is the average weight of a humming bird. A can of soda has four pennies worth of sugar.

America once issued a 5-cent bill during the civil war to combat the coin shortage at the time.

There is more Monopoly money printed in a year, than real money printed throughout the world. The amount of money in a Monopoly game is $15,140.

The United States Government used to keep its supply of silver at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. It now only keeps on hand enough for minting purposes.




THE STOCK EXCHANGE
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was founded in 1792 on Wall Street in New York City. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar value.

The first publicly traded security in the U.S. consisted of $80 million in U.S. Government bonds that were issued in 1790 to refinance Revolutionary War debt.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an index of the stock prices of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States and is compiled to gauge the performance of the industrial sector of the American stock market.

A bull market tends to be associated with increasing investor confidence, motivating investors to buy in anticipation of future price increases and future capital gains. A bear market is a steady drop in the stock market over a period of time.

There have been a number of famous stock market crashes like the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the stock market crash of 1973–4, the Black Monday of 1987, the Dot-com bubble of 2000.

In short selling, the trader borrows stock then sells it on the market, hoping for the price to fall. The trader eventually buys back the stock, making money if the price fell in the meantime or losing money if it rose.




MILESTONE SUPREME COURT CASES
1803 - The Marbury v. Madison case gave the Court a greater degree of power as it was the first time a law passed by Congress was declared unconstitutional. This decision established the Court's right to overturn acts of Congress - something that was not explicitly granted by the Constitution.

1819 - McCulloch v. Maryland is significant because it allowed for a loose construction of the Constitution. The Court upheld the right of Congress to create a Bank of the United States, ruling that it was a power implied but not enumerated by the Constitution.

1954 - Racial segregation in schools was invalidated in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case. The Court declared “in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place” and contending that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

1963 - In the Gideon v. Wainwright case, a defendant's right to legal counsel was guaranteed after the Supreme Court overturned the Florida felony conviction of Clarence Earl Gideon, who had defended himself after having been denied a request for free counsel. The Court held that the state violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause by failing to provide Gideon with counsel.

1973 - The Court ruled in the groundbreaking Roe v. Wade case that a woman has the right to an abortion without interference from the government in the first trimester of pregnancy, contending that it is part of her “right to privacy.” The Court did, however, grant states the right to intervene in the later trimesters of pregnancy.

1978 - In the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case, the Court ruled that affirmative action was unfair if it lead to reverse discrimination. The case involved the University of Calif., Davis, Medical School and Allan Bakke, a white applicant who was rejected twice even though there were minority applicants admitted with significantly lower scores than his. A closely divided Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of rigid quotas was not permissible.



Stay out of trouble, OK?
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7 comments:

  1. We buy poppies all the time and thank the person for their service. Great funnies and trivia both days, We have problems with crows eating the outside cats catfood but then we have racoons, snunks eating it too. We have seen some eagles flying around too.Okay I think I am all caught up with comments

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  2. Bobbie, the sad thing is I read that and didn't notice the typo!!!

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  3. Interesting trivia...I need quarters to really examine the groves...send all of yours to me so I can verify that the number is consistant...K?

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  4. Sure, you betcha, the quarters are in the mail, MJ!!

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  5. A humming bird weighs the same as a penny? My mind is so blown right now!

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  6. I know, Melissa, isn't that amazing?

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If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!