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Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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field. The players tried to catch it, but the frightened cat made a beeline for the dugout, where La Russa—a self-described “cat person”—was able to corral it. The crowd cheered, and the cat spent the rest of the game clinging to La Russa. (He kept the cat and named her Evie.) Inspired, La Russa and his wife Elaine founded ARF, the Animal Rescue Foundation, which auctions off baseball memorabilia and uses the funds to find homes for stray animals (so far, tens of thousands of them). La Russa, who owns three dogs and nine cats, says his animals help him keep things in perspective. “I get home, feeling like hell after we get beat, and then see the faces of my pets telling me that, really, everything’s okay.”
A TIP O’ THE CAP
It’s always tough to return to the home park of your former team, but Casey Stengel came prepared when he and his fellow Pirates showed up at Ebbets Field to play the Dodgers (who’d recently traded him) in 1919. The Dodger fans booed mercilessly as Stengel walked up to the plate, when he suddenly paused and turned to face the hecklers. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, he tipped his cap and out came…a sparrow. It fluttered a few circles around the plate and then flew off into the sky. The fans roared and—at least temporarily—were in love with Casey again.
Penguins sleep more deeply in the afternoon than in the morning. (Researchers discovered this by poking them with sticks.)
KNOW YOUR GEOGRAPHY
There are certain places you hear mentioned on the news or read about in magazines that aren’t exactly countries—they’re more like regions or “geographic distinctions.” But where are they?
I BERIA. The peninsula at the far west of Europe occupied by Spain and Portugal. The name was derived from Iber , the Greek name for the river that flows across the peninsula.
THE FERTILE CRESCENT. Coined around 1900 by American archaeologist James Henry Breasted, the term refers to the crescent-shaped area that ranges across Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. It encompasses ancient Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as “the birthplace of civilization.”
THE GREAT STEPPE .A steppe is a grassy plain that can be flat or hilly. The Great Steppe in Europe and Asia is a vast expanse bordered by the Black Sea that extends over Russia, eastern Europe, and former Soviet republics Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Historically, it was home to nomadic tribes and conquering hordes on horseback.
THE CAUCASUS. This mountain range divides Europe from Asia. It’s nestled between the Black and Caspian seas, and bordered by Ukraine and Turkey. The region includes southwest Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The name comes from the ancient Greek word kau , meaning “mountain.”
TORA BORA. A cave complex situated at nearly 13,000 feet in the Safed Koh mountain range on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Tora bora is the local Iranian dialect’s term for “black dust.” After the 2001 U.S.-led invasion against the Taliban, Tora Bora was the suspected hideout of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
BALKANS. Comprising a mostly mountainous region in southeastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea on the west and the Aegean and Black Seas on the east. Countries making up the Balkan states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and the European tip of Turkey. Balkan is the Turkish word for “mountain.”
PATAGONIA. A desert in the southernmost parts of Argentina and Chile that extends to the tip of South America. The name comes from pata , Spanish for “paw.” According to legend, when Magellan explored the area in 1520, he was impressed by the gigantic tracks he found in the snow and thought they must belong to a race of giants. In truth, the marks were probably left by the oversize llama-skin shoes worn by the indigenous Tehuelches people.
THE BALTICS. The three westernmost
A TIP O’ THE CAP
It’s always tough to return to the home park of your former team, but Casey Stengel came prepared when he and his fellow Pirates showed up at Ebbets Field to play the Dodgers (who’d recently traded him) in 1919. The Dodger fans booed mercilessly as Stengel walked up to the plate, when he suddenly paused and turned to face the hecklers. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, he tipped his cap and out came…a sparrow. It fluttered a few circles around the plate and then flew off into the sky. The fans roared and—at least temporarily—were in love with Casey again.
Penguins sleep more deeply in the afternoon than in the morning. (Researchers discovered this by poking them with sticks.)
KNOW YOUR GEOGRAPHY
There are certain places you hear mentioned on the news or read about in magazines that aren’t exactly countries—they’re more like regions or “geographic distinctions.” But where are they?
I BERIA. The peninsula at the far west of Europe occupied by Spain and Portugal. The name was derived from Iber , the Greek name for the river that flows across the peninsula.
THE FERTILE CRESCENT. Coined around 1900 by American archaeologist James Henry Breasted, the term refers to the crescent-shaped area that ranges across Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. It encompasses ancient Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as “the birthplace of civilization.”
THE GREAT STEPPE .A steppe is a grassy plain that can be flat or hilly. The Great Steppe in Europe and Asia is a vast expanse bordered by the Black Sea that extends over Russia, eastern Europe, and former Soviet republics Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Historically, it was home to nomadic tribes and conquering hordes on horseback.
THE CAUCASUS. This mountain range divides Europe from Asia. It’s nestled between the Black and Caspian seas, and bordered by Ukraine and Turkey. The region includes southwest Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The name comes from the ancient Greek word kau , meaning “mountain.”
TORA BORA. A cave complex situated at nearly 13,000 feet in the Safed Koh mountain range on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Tora bora is the local Iranian dialect’s term for “black dust.” After the 2001 U.S.-led invasion against the Taliban, Tora Bora was the suspected hideout of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
BALKANS. Comprising a mostly mountainous region in southeastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea on the west and the Aegean and Black Seas on the east. Countries making up the Balkan states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and the European tip of Turkey. Balkan is the Turkish word for “mountain.”
PATAGONIA. A desert in the southernmost parts of Argentina and Chile that extends to the tip of South America. The name comes from pata , Spanish for “paw.” According to legend, when Magellan explored the area in 1520, he was impressed by the gigantic tracks he found in the snow and thought they must belong to a race of giants. In truth, the marks were probably left by the oversize llama-skin shoes worn by the indigenous Tehuelches people.
THE BALTICS. The three westernmost
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