Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 October 29

= October 29 =

Discovery of the Mississippi (October 19)
Paul Hayes' brainteaser on Magic Radio at 12:10 yesterday afternoon was "before Mount Everest was discovered, which was the highest mountain in the world?" (answer at the end). This was the subject of another quiz question on the same radio station a few weeks back - "Which mountain's name is wrongly pronounced?" Answer: Mount Everest. George Everest (after whom the mountain was named) pronounced his name Eve rest. The mountain was, as Jayron points out in the discussion, almost certainly "discovered" in prehistoric times. Answer to brainteaser: Mount Everest, of course! 212.159.12.93 (talk) 09:35, 29 October 2020 (UTC)
 * The Tibetan name for Everest was first recorded by the Chinese in 1721. An incomplete British 1849 survey identified Kangchenjunga as the highest peak, but also noted Everest as 'peak "b"'. In 1852, "Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak". It was known as Peak XV at that time. Alansplodge (talk) 13:27, 29 October 2020 (UTC)
 * "How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?" may be of interest. Matt Deres (talk) 20:31, 29 October 2020 (UTC)