Here are the answers to October's Trivia Questions.

Since NO ONE answered last issue's questions correctly, the prize offered last month will carry over to the November issue questions.

1) Why is it customary to mount a horse from the left side, only?

When man first domesticated the horse, it was quickly determined that this animal was superbly suited for warfare, something that man himself was also well suited to. For thousands of years, a warrior's chief weapon was the sword, which, since most people where right handed, was worn at the left hip. It was quickly discovered that mounting a horse on the right side was impractical while wearing a sword, as the left leg became entangled with the scabbard and the sword then hit the horse's flank as the rider mounted (which didn't please the horse, very much). So, for thousands of years, while riders wore swords, they mounted only from the left, leaving the sword hanging down and out of the way. As swords were phased out, riders still tended to mount a horse from only the left side, because it had become customary to do so and still is.

2) Who was the only man to be both President and Vice-President of the United States, but was never elected to either office?

That man was Gerald Ford. He was 'appointed' to the office of Vice-President by President Richard Nixon when the former Vice-President, Spiro Agnew resigned amid quite a bit of controversy. Some time later, Mr. Ford became President when Richard Nixon stepped down from the Presidency amid scandal and his own controversy. So, while Mr. Ford managed to be both President and Vice-President, during a single term, he was never elected to either office.

3) How did the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs" originate?

In early times, peasants and the generally poor used to roof their huts and hovels with 'thatch', a long-stemmed, grass-like plant that was tied into bunches and laid across a wooden frame to form the roof. This material maintained interior heat from the dwellings surprisingly well and the thatch roof was a favorite place for domesticated animals (especially cats and dogs) to stay warm during winter nights. Unfortunately, rain made the thatch quite slippery and when it rained heavily, the animals that had taken refuge within the thatch tended to slide out from under the roof and hit the ground, along with sheets of water that poured off the thatch. Consequently, whenever it rained hard enough to wash the animals from under the thatch roofs, people began to comment that it was "Raining cats and dogs".

4) How did the custom of shaking hands originate?

Originally, whenever strangers met (in many ancient languages, 'stranger' and 'enemy' were the same word), they would grasp both of the other's forearms with their hands, to make sure that neither of them had a weapon hidden within their sleeves. This was later reduced to just grasping the right forearm, for the same reason and eventually it was reduced further to just grasping the right hand upon meeting. Why the right hand? Because, as most people were (and are) right handed, if you are holding onto a person's right hand, they can't stab you. Now, of course, it is simply 'customary' to shake hands when you meet someone, but what we are really doing is feeling out the person in question.

5) Why do Europeans drive on the left side of the road?