Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 4:01 AM #1

Alex Yeilding
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Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

Credit for this goes to the boys at Car Talk, but I'll take any blame for errors in its retelling.

Tom and Ray were at an antique auction, and one item being auctioned was a red painted wooden child's sled, which the catalog claimed was made by George Washington. Tom and Ray decided to inspect the sled, and it seemed to their untrained eye to be about the right age. On the underside of one of the slats was carved "G. Washington, September 10, 1752". That would make Washington about 20 years old when it was made, and the workmanship was that of a relatively inexperienced amateur.

When the bidding got to this item, one person stood up and proclaimed that the sled was a fake. It was. How did he know?

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 4:04 AM #2

Alex Yeilding
Guest

Trivia puzzle, kinda wood-related

No, my typos in the title were not clues!

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 1:21 PM #3

John Veerkamp, Western Mo
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Registered: 1/4/04

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

Seems like a red flag here.

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 2:27 PM #4

Dan Donaldson
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Registered: 9/17/01

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

Would this have something to do with 13 days?

- - -

I have been woodworking for about 25 years now, and would consider myself an enthusiastic amateur. My claim to fame (or infamy) has always been fixing stuff. I spent time in the Air Force in the 60's then went to work as an electronic technician for civil service. I finally got my EE, and being fed up with the civil service nonsense, took a job with Ford Motor Company until I went with the split to Visteon last year. I got interested in music and started playing in a bluegrass band. I wanted a new guitar, and that kind of led me into woodworking. I bought some books, a few tools, and built a guitar. Luckily, I didn't know any better than to try that as a first ever project. I still play it when I get a chance, so it must not be too bad if it can live for over 20 years. After a stint in Mexico for my job, I moved into a new house and built a small shop. Since then I have been collecting tools and skills, probably more of the former than the latter ;-). Finding this site has done more for my skills and enjoyment than anything else. I have learned a lot and really enjoy the friendships that I have made here. I have been married to LOML (Lori) for 32 years now and have 6 kids. When they are all gone, I want to get a 1 bedroom house (so there is not room for them to move back in) and at least a 6 car heated/air conditioned garage for a shop. (Dream on...)

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 3:05 PM #5

Alex Yeilding
Guest

Indeed it does

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 3:06 PM #6

Alex Yeilding
Guest

False flag

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 3:36 PM #7

Dale Lenz
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Registered: 9/17/01
Website

Re: Very interesting...

Thought that daylight saving time is confusing and upsets some. So did monthy renters get a bargain or short changed? Thanks for the question.

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 4:59 PM #8

Alex Yeilding
Guest

Hint #2

Dan and Dale have alluded to the answer in a way that provides a hint.

Here's another:

While the question relates to a President of the US, the answer relates to a Roman Emperor and a Pope.

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 5:23 PM #9

Alex Yeilding
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I think it was 11, not 13

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 6:38 PM #10

Steven Antonucci
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Registered: 1/21/10

A very interesting story (via Google)

Nice one, Columbo.

Steve

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 6:48 PM #11

Gary Smyth
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Registered: 11/22/04

I get the answer

I know why it happened, but what happened to that time? Was it bundled and all counted as one day? It turns out it only reflected one country (and the colonies). But how was it all accounted for, I wonder?

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 7:26 PM #12

Dan Donaldson
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5,264 posts

Registered: 9/17/01

Re: I think it was 11, not 13

That is what I get for pulling it out of my.....memory;-) I remembered the changeover of calendars, but not the correct number of days ;-(

- - -

I have been woodworking for about 25 years now, and would consider myself an enthusiastic amateur. My claim to fame (or infamy) has always been fixing stuff. I spent time in the Air Force in the 60's then went to work as an electronic technician for civil service. I finally got my EE, and being fed up with the civil service nonsense, took a job with Ford Motor Company until I went with the split to Visteon last year. I got interested in music and started playing in a bluegrass band. I wanted a new guitar, and that kind of led me into woodworking. I bought some books, a few tools, and built a guitar. Luckily, I didn't know any better than to try that as a first ever project. I still play it when I get a chance, so it must not be too bad if it can live for over 20 years. After a stint in Mexico for my job, I moved into a new house and built a small shop. Since then I have been collecting tools and skills, probably more of the former than the latter ;-). Finding this site has done more for my skills and enjoyment than anything else. I have learned a lot and really enjoy the friendships that I have made here. I have been married to LOML (Lori) for 32 years now and have 6 kids. When they are all gone, I want to get a 1 bedroom house (so there is not room for them to move back in) and at least a 6 car heated/air conditioned garage for a shop. (Dream on...)

Re: Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

10/10/08, 7:29 PM #13

Alex Yeilding
Guest

Re: I get the answer

I'm not a techie, but I understand that if you type "cal 9 1752" at the unix command line, it returns

September 1752

S M Tu W Th F S

1 2 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Another oddity: Not only was there no September 3-13, 1752, there was also no January, February, or March 1-24, 1752! In the Julian Calendar as used in GB and colonies, the new year began March 25. So March 25, 1752 was the day after March 24, 1751.

While we celebrate Washington's birthday as 2/22/1732, if you found a contemporaneous record, it would show his date of birth as 2/11/1731.

Trriviia puzzle, kinda wood-related

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