Popping off
A few jokes (my apologies), a quiz, statistics and stories related to dads
If you’re afraid of calendars because the days are numbered, you’ve probably heard a few dad jokes. But what makes a good dad joke? Is there such a thing? I know how the moon cuts its hair — eclipse it. Warning! There might be some jokes ahead that make you groan from pun-laden one-liners.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared that the third Sunday in June would be Father’s Day. After making it official one can imagine LBJ joking, “Where did they sign the Declaration of Independence? At the bottom.”
President Richard Nixon made the Father’s Day proclamation permanent in 1972. Nixon may have then asked, “Why can’t a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.”
The first Mother’s Day was celebrated in 1914 and a dad might have said, “Good moms let their kids lick the beaters. Great moms turn them off first.”
The idea for Father’s Day is attributed to Sonora Dodd, who was raised by her father after her mother’s death during childbirth. While listening to a sermon at church on Mother’s Day, she thought about all her father had done for her and her siblings and decided fathers should have a day, too. Because Dodd’s father was born in June, she encouraged churches in her area, Spokane, Washington, to honor fathers that month. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane in 1910 and it’s easy to imagine a dad in Washington saying, “Why did the pine tree get into trouble? It was being knotty.”
Father’s Day is the fourth-largest card-sending holiday in the United States, with 72 million exchanged annually, according to Hallmark.Speaking of cards, did you hear the dad joke about the unstamped letter? You wouldn’t get it.
Blake Roberts of betting.us posted survey results of 1,500 dads and 1,000 moms earlier this month. Some of the results showed the following:
• Dad jokes are most common in Pennsylvania
• “Hi Hungry, I’m Dad” is the most prevalent dad-ism in the U.S.
• 51% of moms secretly enjoy dad jokes
• 1 in 3 dads use dad-isms because it makes their kids laugh
• Napping at inopportune times is the No. 1 most true dad cliché
• You can see what states are the most and least prone for dad jokes here.
Which name is not considered one of the Founding Fathers?
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Paul Revere and James Madison.
Answer: Paul Revere. While there were many others who contributed to the founding of the United States, these seven are considered by most as the Founding Fathers.
How many children did George Washington have?
Answer: None. George Washington did not have any children. He did raise Martha Washington’s two children from a previous marriage, as well as her four grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. Four other presidents never had biological children: James Madison, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and James Buchanan.
How many children did Benjamin Franklin have?
Answer: Three. William, born around 1730, was his illegitimate son with an unknown woman. He was raised by Ben and his wife, Deborah. He remained loyal to the British crown and became royal governor of New Jersey. Ben’s second son, Francis, was born in 1732. He died of smallpox at age 4. Ben’s daughter, Sarah, was born in 1743. She married and had seven children.
What president made the term Founding Father popular?
Warren G. Harding
George Washington
Abe Lincoln
Answer: A: Now a commonly used phrase, the term did not appear widely until after the 29th president, Warren G. Harding, began using it in many of his speeches in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were the second father and son pair to become presidents of the USA. Who were the first?
William Harrison and Benjamin Harrison
Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt
John Adams and John Quincy Adams
Answer: C: John Adams — our nation’s second president and the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States.
Score: It’s all for fun and, as my dad would say, if you eat the exam, sooner or later, you will pass the exam.
Sources: Franklin Institute, Country Living, National Retail Federation, betting.us, Census Bureau
