You don't know beans!
Lovers of knowledge,
DID YOU KNOW that beans are absolutely GREAT for brains? You did? That’s why you signed up for this newsletter? Because you’re already big on beans and big of brains? Right. Well, wonderful! Here’s a bit of exercise for that bean-utiful brain of yours. Answers at the bottom of the post!
Moonbeans Trivia, First Edition
- Who is the ancient Greek philosopher who, reflecting on the resemblance of beans to human fetuses, believed beans and humans to be in close relationship and therefore forbade his followers from eating beans? (Hint: he’s more famous for a geometric theorem that he disseminated across the Greek world, but almost certainly did not discover himself).
- What legendary jazz musician and New Orleans native so loved Red Beans & Rice that he often signed his letters "Red Beans and Ricely Yours"? (Hint: he got his big break in 1922 when he joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago).
- How many pounds of red beans and rice can competitive eater Joey Chestnut consume in eight minutes? (Hint: it’s about as much a two-year-old child weighs.)
- Henry David Thoreau cultivated a bean field as part of his experiment in simple living. “I came to love my rows, my beans, though so many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antæus.” After two years at Walden Pond, Thoreau moved in with the family of what other central figure in American Transcendentalism? (Hint: This family’s last name has skyrocketed as a popular first name for girls over the past 20 years.)
- Are coffee beans actually beans? (Hint: this either is or is not a trick question.)
- Are Mexican jumping beans actually beans? (Hint: this is either two trick questions in a row or it’s not.)
- Are Moonbeans actually beans? (No hints.)
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Here they are!
Louis Armstrong’s Love of Red Beans and Rice – Jazz great Louis Armstrong loved red beans and rice so much that he often signed letters with
Woody Guthrie’s "Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" – Folk legend Woody Guthrie sang about simple, hearty meals during the Great Depression, with beans as a staple food.
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau cultivates a bean field as part of his experiment in simple living. He reflects on the philosophical and moral lessons of tending crops.
The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras allegedly forbade his followers from eating or even touching beans. Some sources claim he believed beans contained souls or had mystical properties. Others suggest it was due to their resemblance to human embryos.
Joey Chestnut’s Baked Bean Eating Record – The competitive eating champion once set a record by eating 10.5 lbs of baked beans in 1 minute using only a spoon.
If Jack’s beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk grew exponentially at a rate of doubling every day, in just 10 days, a 1-foot stalk would be over 1,000 feet tall!
Coffee beans aren't beans at all! They're actually seeds from the coffee cherry, but they’re called "beans" due to their resemblance to legumes.
Mexican jumping beans aren’t actually beans! They’re seed pods with a tiny moth larva inside that moves when warmed, making the bean "jump."