Weekly Amusement (25au05)

A history class was studying events of the early 20th Century. The focus of the day was the year 1912.

"What great disaster occurred that year?" asked the teacher.

"Titanic!" instantly shouted Nolan, the class whiz. "Struck an iceberg and sank."

"Where did it happen?" the teacher followed up.

Nolan again, before anyone else had time to answer: "North Atlantic!"

"What season of the year?" pressed the teacher.

"Spring!" hollered Nolan. "April the 12th!"

The bright boy was grating on the teacher's nerves. She threw down the gauntlet. "How many people died?"

Nolan, without a split second's hesitation: "1,517."

He beamed haughtily to his classmates, but his proud smile vanished when she blithely rejoined, "And their names?"