A big hit: The smash pop group...

A big hit: The smash pop group New Kids on the Block has inspired a hearing-impaired toddler to begin speaking this fall, her mother said. Dolores Watts, of Dundee, Md., said her daughter’s hearing had been affected at 11 months by ear infections. “She couldn’t speak in sentences or even say mommy and daddy correctly,” she said. Then the 2-year-old saw a New Kids video at a birthday party. The next morning, she awoke and said her first sentence: “Mommy, I want Joe.” Joe McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Jordan and Jonathan Knight are the band’s members.

Lest We Forget: The now-dead decade gave us this immortal quote from Vice President Dan Quayle: “Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here . . . “

The Royals: For the second year running, Princess Anne topped her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as the goingest member of Britain’s royal family. Anne, 39, who separated from husband Mark Phillips in August, filled 737 official engagements in 1989 for public and private groups. The figures are tallied as a hobby by London insurance broker Tim O’Donovan. The queen came in second place with 592 spots; she was followed by her husband, Prince Philip, who was at 569 events.