Zachary Taylor Trivia

This week we salute the 12th president of the United States, Zachary Taylor. He served a short 16-month term from March 1849 to July 1850. As usual, we salute him with a trivia challenge, with bits of trivia I personally culled. However, before we get to that I present our weekly logic puzzle.

Logic Puzzle

You are presented with three boxes, labeled "apples", "oranges", and "mixed." The "mixed" box has half apples and half oranges. You are told none of the labels are on the correct box. You are allowed to see one fruit from one box to determine the contents of all three boxes. What should you do?

Zachary Taylor Trivia

1. • Died 16 months into his term, making his presidency the third shortest in US history.
2. • Third president whose death can be, in large part, blamed on poor sanitation in Washington DC. The other two are William Henry Harrison and James Polk. The specific cause of death is still debated but probably is severe gastroenteritis or cholera.
3. • First president to be elected with no prior political experience. Since then, there have been four others: Grant, Hoover, Eisenhower, and Trump.
4. • Since his death, theories he was poisoned have circulated. As late as 1991 his remains were exhumed to test for arsenic poisoning. A 2010 review of his death concludes, “here is no definitive proof that Taylor was assassinated, nor would it appear that there is definitive proof that he was not.”
5. • Taylor’s presidential pet was a horse named Old Whitey, who was famous for grazing on the White House lawn.
6. • Taylor owned a plantation in Kentucky and was a slave owner.
7. • Taylor’s nickname was “Old Rough and Ready.”
8. • Fourth of 12 generals to become president. Taylor’s specific rank was major general.
9. • Taylor’s son-in-law was Confederate president Jefferson Davis, although Taylor opposed the marriage.
10. • One of four Whig Party presidents. The other three were William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore.
11. • Last Whig Party candidate to be elected president. In fact, the last of any party besides Democratic or Republican.

 

Logic Puzzle Answer

You should pick a fruit from the mixed box. Let’s say, for example, it is an apple. Then the orange box must have the mixed fruit, because only oranges and mixed are left and it has to be something different. That leaves oranges in the apples box.

Likewise, if the mixed box has an orange, then the apples box must be mixed and the orange box must have apples.