Marc
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marc In 1961, former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz campaigned for a revolutionary indoor stadium to keep fans cool.
marc The Houston Astrodome
Paint the skylight glass, now the green grass dies, AstroTurf is born!
marc Houston's extreme heat, humidity, and notorious mosquito swarms made an indoor, air-conditioned stadium a necessity for survival.
Astrodome rain: The Astrodome was so massive that people feared it would form its own rain clouds indoors, though this never actually happened.
marc The Astrodome's massive dome spanned 642 feet without any interior pillars blocking the view.
A large stadium covered by a dome, typically one that is completely enclosed. In 1965, Judge Roy Hofheinz realized his dream of building this groundbreaking astrodome in Houston.
What material was used for the Astrodome's original semi-transparent roof panels?
Who was the driving force behind the creation of the Houston Astrodome?
How did the Astrodome solve the problem of Houston's extreme summer heat?
How wide was the Astrodome's clear-span dome without any interior pillars?
What year did the Houston Astrodome officially open to the public?
What nickname was given to the Astrodome upon its completion?
What was unique about the Astrodome's $2.1 million scoreboard in 1965?
Which Major League Baseball team played its home games in the Astrodome from 1965 to 1999?
marc The Philadelphia Word Jawn
That neighborhood / that favorite thing / it's all a jawn!
marc Without context, jawn is meaningless, but in conversation, it is instantly understood.
Dictionary recognition: Merriam-Webster officially added 'jawn' to its Words We're Watching list in 2017.
marc Linguists classify jawn as a rare multi-purpose word with no direct equivalent in other English dialects.
A slang word used as an all-purpose placeholder to refer to any person, place, thing, or event. Linguist William Labov began documenting the word’s development in Philadelphia through field recordings in the 1970s.
Which dictionary added the Philadelphia word 'jawn' to its 'Words We're Watching' list in 2017?
What is one grammatical function that the Philadelphia word 'jawn' can never perform?
If a speaker from Philadelphia says 'look at those jawns,' what does the plural form 'jawns' refer to?
What type of linguistic communication relies heavily on shared physical surroundings, like using the word 'jawn'?
How does the Philadelphia word 'jawn' get its specific meaning in a conversation?
What grammatical part of speech is the Philadelphia word 'jawn'?
Why is the Philadelphia word 'jawn' different from a standard pronoun like 'it'?
Which university's linguistics department has famously studied the Philadelphia dialect and the word 'jawn'?
marc French artist Helleu and astrophotographer Harold Jacoby mapped 2,500 stars for Grand Central's turquoise and gold ceiling.
marc To avoid a costly repaint, the Vanderbilts claimed Grand Central's backward ceiling showed the heavens from above.
marc Shortly after Grand Central opened in 1913, commuters noticed the ceiling displayed several constellations backwards.
marc During Grand Central's 1998 restoration, cleaners left one dark patch coated in decades of cigarette smoke.
marc Grand Central Celestial Ceiling
Grand Central's ceiling, quite the view! (Oh-oh!) The stars are painted backward, it's true!
marc The wealthy Vanderbilt family claimed the stars were drawn from God's point of view.
Ceiling light bulbs: The stars on Grand Central's ceiling are lit with individual light bulbs that workers can change from behind the plaster ceiling.
marc The celestial map is painted backward, showing the stars in reverse order.
A band of the sky divided into twelve equal areas or signs, mostly named after constellations. In 1913, commuters noticed that the constellation mural inside Grand Central Terminal was painted in reverse.
What substance caused the dark grime on the Grand Central ceiling before the 1998 restoration?
Would you prefer a perfect ceiling or one with a famous mistake?
Who designed the original celestial ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in 1912?
Why did restorers leave a single dark patch on the Grand Central ceiling?
How did the Vanderbilt family explain the backward stars on the Grand Central ceiling?
In what year did Grand Central Terminal officially open to the public?
Which constellation on the Grand Central ceiling is painted facing the correct direction, unlike the others?
What color is the background of the famous celestial ceiling in Grand Central?
How many stars are depicted in the celestial mural on Grand Central's ceiling?
