Tuesday, June 21, 2005


Two-Four Tuesday (v.4)

Last week's "Top Five" list of the worldwide "life years" affected by disability generated 1 comment, 1 e-mail, and 1 co-worker popping in and giving his guess in person. Thank you, visitors! According to the Global Burden of Disease study released by Harvard University, the #2 item was tuberculosis (19.7 million DALYs), and the #4 item was alcohol abuse (14.8 million DALYs).

I think several of us would be surprised that HIV/AIDS would not appear on the list. However, this may be due to the fact that victims of the HIV virus actually become incapacitated by and succumb to other diseases. In fact, I read that someone with HIV stands an 800 times greater chance of contracting tuberculosis than a non-HIV counterpart would. Sad and amazing, and probably explains in part why TB was #2 on Harvard's list.

And now, on to today's game. We hope you'll play along again!

I will post the "Top Five" items in a list, except that I'm leaving out the 2nd and the 4th items. Your mission -- comment with your guesses (or "answers", if you're that confident) as to what the missing items are. Don't cheat by looking up the info on the web -- just have fun and take your own guess. I'll give the correct answers the following Tuesday.

Top Five American industries, as listed in the 1860 "Eighth Census of the United States Manufactures".

1. Flour ($250 million)
2. ??
3. Lumber ($105 million)
4. ????
5. Men's clothing ($75 million)

(Your hint: one answer is something that grows in the ground, the other is a manufacturing industry whose current leader appeared as #187 on the 2003 Fortune 500 list!)

4 Comments:

At 4:03 PM, June 21, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay, then......
Cotton is King for no. 2
John Deere? Farming equipment
for no. 4?

 
At 8:31 PM, June 29, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As you say, Greg, the number four
industry in 1860 was the boot and
shoe industry, and not agricultural
machinery, as I had guessed. What I
liked about my John Deere guess is
that JD was founded in 1837 and is
still in existence today (NYSE=DE).
It wouldn't surprise me to learn
that John Deere was the leading
agricultural machinery manufacturer
in 1860. When Nike's swoop falls
out of favor and goes the way of
the Izod alligator, Deere will still be making tractors and mowers.

 
At 5:37 AM, June 30, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

swoosh, not swoop, you say?
My handy Webster Collegiate
Dictionary Fifth Edition,
copyright 1941:

swoop: ....to pounce, in the
manner of a bird of prey

swoosh: (does shown)

 
At 5:39 AM, June 30, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I will get it right yet.

swoosh: (not shown)

 

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