Holy Cross Historical Trivia

<p>Candlepin bowling was invented in Worcester, Mass. Can you guess the year?</p>

<p>Although there may be some minor differences of opinion, it has generally beem accepted throughout the candlepin bowling industry that the game was introduced sometime between 1885 and 1890. No one knows the exact date,but several references indicate that the game has been in existence for more than 100 years - with Worcester, Massachusetts as its birthplace.</p>

<p>Did you know that Worcester produced the first mass produced American Valentines's Day cards?</p>

<p>Valentine's Day postcards were probably imported into North America in the 19th century by British settlers. In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828-1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. Esther A. Howland, a student at Mount Holyoke College, mass-produced the first American commercial Valentines. Howland's father, a stationer in Worcester, Massachussetts, imported valentine cards annually from England. However, Howland decided to create her own valentine messages. Around 1830, she began to import lace, fine papers and other supplies for the creation of her cards. Employing several assistants and her brothers (thus becoming one of the first individuals to ever use an assembly line), Howland marketed her "Worcester" valentines with a distinguishable little red "H" on the back. The first year in business brought Howland an unexpected $5,000.00 in sales (a princely sum at that time) and her cards (some of which sold for $50.00 each) eliminated the laborious task of making homemade valentines. Larger companies followed her lead almost immediately.</p>

<p>How many daily trains run from Worcester's magnificent refurbished Union Station to Boston' South Station?</p>

<p>10 daily trains. Trip length is approx 90 minutes.</p>

<p>MBTA</a> Commuter Rail > Framingham / Worcester Lines Schedules and Maps</p>

<p>Which recent Holy Cross graduate is the Chief Speechwriter for the Barak Obama US Presidential campaign?</p>

<p>Jon Favreau is the man charged with writing speeches for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is not the actor who played the lovelorn Mike Peters in the movie "Swingers." This Jon Favreau worked a stint as a telemarketer in high school, graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and served as a speechwriter for Kerry in 2004. He signed on to Obama's team after that election and was the architect of Obama's teasing "announcement" during an appearance in December on "Monday Night Football."<br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?_r=1&ref=style&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?_r=1&ref=style&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>What year did Holy Cross start offering free tuition to students of poor families from Worcester?</p>

<p>In January 2008, Holy Cross announced that beginning with the 2008-09 academic year, Worcester residents who are admitted to the College of the Holy Cross and who come from families with incomes below $50,000 will receive four years of free tuition.</p>

<p>The announcement was made today by Holy Cross president Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. “Many low-income families in Worcester do not even consider a private college education for their children because they assume it is out-of-reach,” he said. “Through this new program, we are strengthening our commitment to making a Holy Cross education available to Worcester residents who otherwise would not be able to afford it. We are delighted to extend our many partnerships with Worcester with one that will directly benefit our city’s young people.”</p>

<p>In what year was the yellow "Smiley Face" was invented in Worcester?</p>

<ol>
<li> The Smiley Face was created circa December 1963 for a subsidiary of the State Mutual insurance company by Harvey Ball, a graphic artist in Worcester, Massachusetts. Harvey got the assignment from the company's promotions director, Joy Young, who wanted a smile button for a morale boosting campaign ordered up by her boss. Harvey, not a man to waste ink, initially drew just the smile. Pondering the result, he realized that if you turned the button upside down, it became ... a frown! To head incipient wise-arsedness off at the pass, he added two eyes, which of course you could also turn upside down, but then it meant ... I'm standing on my head!--a more ambiguous sociopolitical message. He made the thing yellow to give it a sunshiny look, and State Mutual, whom nobody would accuse of rashness, printed up 100. The buttons were a big hit, the company began handing them out by the thousands, and the rest you know. Mr. Ball's total take: his $45 art fee. State Mutual, not very quick on the uptake, didn't make any money either.</li>
</ol>

<p>Georgetown, then Mt St Mary in Maryland</p>

<p>Which 1981 Holy Cross graduate was nominated for a Tony in 2005?</p>

<p>In 2005, Bart Sher '81 (pronounced sheer) was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his exquisitely designed, fluidly staged production at the Beaumont of Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s “Light in the Piazza.” Bart Sher, was profiled by The New York Times Magazine on Feb. 24, 2008, while preparing for the opening performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Dedicated, sensitive, hard-working and optimistic, Sher plans to outshine the original performance, which opened in 1949. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/magazine/24sher-t.html?pagewanted=print%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/magazine/24sher-t.html?pagewanted=print&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>What year was the final game of the storied Holy Cross vs. Boston College football rivalry at Holy Cross's historic Fitton Field which attracted a sellout crowd of 23,500 and a national television audience?</p>

<p>November 22, 1986. Aside from Boston College, other great teams to have visited Fitton Field over the years include Syracuse, Penn State, Georgia, Temple, and Mississippi. Legendary players such as Jim Brown, Larry Czonka, Howie Long, and Doug Flutie have played in this legendary stadium.</p>

<p>How many Division 1 NCAA Tournament appearances has the Holy Cross men's basketball team made in its history?</p>

<p>Holy Cross has now made a total of 11 NCAA appearances in its history, including last year in 2007.</p>

<p>More than 10 percent of the 35,000 living alumni of Holy Cross are physicians and dentists.</p>

<p>Famous Premed alums include: Dr. Joseph Murray who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1990 for his pioneering work in transplant surgery. Dr. Murray was the first surgeon to transplant a human organ, a kidney. Dr. James Shannon was Director of the National Institutes of Health and is considered to be the father of the NIH. Dr. Robert Scully is the editor of the Weekly Clinicopathological Exercise from the Mass. General Hospital, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is probably the most widely read regular column in all of medicine. Dr. William Nolen wrote many books on medicine including The Making of a Surgeon and A Surgeon's World. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the head of the Nabonal Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, where he is leading the government's efforts to combat the AIDS virus. Many more have distinguished themselves as deans of medical schools, as researchers, or dedicated and talented practitioners</p>

<p>from: How</a> have alumni done in medicine?</p>