This informative post will be published on Saturday in place of my regular one.  You are invited to participate with the opening question.

Brain Teaser Question

A mother and father have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother.  How many people are in the family?

(answer found at the end of this post)

Featured Facts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts became the sixth state to join the American Union on February 6, 1788.  Its roots have been traced back to the earliest of the English colonies in North America.

Here are a few quick facts about Massachusetts:

• Capital City:  Boston (which is also the largest city)
• Nickname:  Bay State (also known as the Old Colony State, the Codfish State, the Baked Bean State)
• State Flower:  Mayflower
• State Bird:  Chickadee, Wild Turkey
• Motto:  Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem (By the Sword We Seek Peace, but Peace Only Under Liberty)

Being one of the original 13 English colonies, Massachusetts played a prominent role in the founding of the United States.  On December 21, 1620, the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock after crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Mayflower.  On March 4, 1628, English King Charles I granted a royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

On September 7, 1630, the city of Boston was founded.  The Boston harbor would later be the site of the infamous Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.  A couple of years later just up the road in April, 1775, the first battles of the Revolutionary War were fought at Lexington and Concord as Massachusetts minutemen militia fired the “Shot Heard Round the World.”

Athletics made an impression in the late 1800s in Massachusetts.  In 1891, James Naismith invented the game of basketball, and the first game was played at the YMCA in Springfield.  In 1895, William G. Morgan invented the game of volleyball.  The game was designed to be less strenuous than basketball, and the first matches were played in Holyoke.

Numerous firsts have been recorded during the course of history in the Commonwealth.  Here is a brief sample:

• The Boston Common became America’s first public park in 1634.
• Harvard University founded as the first college in North American in 1636 at Cambridge.
• The Little Brewster Island Lighthouse became America’s first lighthouse when it began operations on September 14, 1716 in the Boston harbor.
• The first American subway was opened in Boston on September 1, 1897.  It was known as the Tremont Street Line.
• America’s first chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield in 1939.  She began to experiment with adding semi-sweet chocolate pieces to her cookie recipe.  They became a huge hit at her Toll House restaurant in Whitman.

clockwise from top left:  James Naismith holding a basketball with a peach basket (used as a basketball hoop in the early years of the game), modern look of the Little brewster island lighthouse at boston harbor, ruth wakefield (inventor of the chocolate chip cookie), aerial view of the boston common, harvard university campus.  (Images courtesy of Pinterest)

Answer to Brain Teaser Question

Seven (The daughters share their “one” brother)