Trivia Night: March 2005

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Some more standards

A few more Trivia Standards for you:

How tall is the Gateway Arch in feet?
Who was the first American to walk in space?
What was the name of the US President to serve two non-consecutive terms?
Name the two US Presidents to be impeached.

It's not so much that these are important facts that we should all know, just that if you play at Trivia Nights around town, you will undoubtedly be asked these questions.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Vets demand Bonus

What year did the following three events occur?

Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, the baby son of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped.
The actress Elizabeth Taylor is born in February.
The "Bonus March" boils over in Washington DC where McCarthur, Eisenhower and Patton all take part in putting down the rebellion of the World War I veterans.

Friday, March 25, 2005

What year?

What year did the following three events occur:

Chevy Chase hosted the Academy Awards where "The Last Emporer" won the prize for Best Picture.
On his own televangelism program being taped in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jimmy Swaggart confesses that he is guilty of an unspecified sin and will be temporarily leaving the pulpit.
Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Trivia is a dangerous game

As my last question proves, in Trivia, you better get your facts straight. I apologize.

George C. Marshall was Time's Man of the Year in 1943 and 1947. I've read three different years on the internet in the last 3 minutes. The first one I'd read last week while checking this story said 1948 and I didn't double check it.

The idea of Trivia is not to stump you with trick questions. Although, some questions that are technically "trick questions" have become standards.

For example: What is Harry S Truman's middle name?

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Who am I?

"Who am I" is always a fun way to ask a trivia question. Usually you give three clues, like I was born in such-and-such, and I said this-and-that, etc. You can do the same thing for years, like one of those magazine shows does. You know, "the following 3 things happened in what year?" Here's mine, then you think of one.

I was the General of the Army, Secretary of State and Time's Man of the Year in 1948. Who am I?

King (Norman) Lear

Counting spin-offs of spin-offs, there were 7 TV series to spin-off of "All in the Family." Name 4 of them.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Trivia Standards

Some questions are standard. It kind of reminds me of scrabble. There are just some words you have to know if you're going to win in scrabble. Or crosswords too. There are standard words that you see over and over. You get to know them after awhile.

Standard question #1: Who was on the cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine?

Secretary Bryant

Under which US President did William Jennings Bryant serve as Secretary of State?

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Who wasn't in The Longest Day?

One of these actors was not in the 1962 Motion Picture, The Longest Day. Which one?

Eddie Albert
Paul Anka
Richard Burton
Red Buttons
Sean Connery
Ray Danton
Fabian
Mel Ferrer
Henry Fonda
Peter Lawford
Roddy McDowall
Sal Mineo
Robert Mitchum
Jason Robards
George Segal
Rod Steiger
Robert Wagner
John Wayne

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Middle aged color

During the Middle Ages, almost every color could be made from plant material except one. Which one? (Thanks to Jen for the question.)

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Before they were Cardinals

Before they were named the Cardinals they were the Perfectos. Before that they were the Browns and before that they were the Brown Stockings.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Take me out to the ballgame

1.) In baseball, there are seven ways that a batter can reach first base. Name or describe them.

2.) Actor Tom Selleck often wore a baseball cap in his title role on Magnum, P.I. on television. What team was it from?

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Geography, eh?

What country has the longest coastline?

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Space Family Robinson

Name at least 4 of the 7 regular actors from the 1965 TV series Lost In Space.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Lots of people with big ears are famous!

In December 1941, Time magazine planned to have this Disney character on its cover to commemorate its success, but it was dropped due to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Who was it?

Name the only Disney animated feature film that has a title character who doesn't speak.

Friday, March 04, 2005

One answer, many questions

Often times a question can be formulated in more than one way. This serves as a way taking a bit of Cultural Trivia and using it more than once. For example:

Q: In Sept. of 1952, the Richard Nixon family had a cocker spaniel dog. What was it's name?
Q: In Sept. of 1952, Richard Nixon said on national TV, "...I want to say right now that regardless of what they say, we're going to keep it." What was he refering to?
Q: In Sept. of 1952, Richard Nixon gave his famous "Checkers Speech." Who are what was "Checkers?"

Most any question in the Cultuaral Literacy catagory can be manipulated this way. Now you try it.

Question #00001

What do the following people have in common?: Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Streisand, Burt Bacharach, Burt Reynolds, and Bobby Darin.

Each of the persons named have the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award. Oprah Winfrey - Best Supporting Actress (The Color Purple), Barbra Streisand - Best Actress (Funny Girl), Burt Bacharach -Best Song (Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head), Burt Reynolds - Best Supporting Actor (Boogie Nights), and Bobby Darin - Best Supporting Actor (Captain Newman, M.D.).

Thanks Rob.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Rob's question

In honor of Rob, I'm using his question from the SouthCity Blog to kick off this new blog. His question is:

What do the following people have in common?: Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Streisand, Burt Bacharach, Burt Reynolds, and Bobby Darin.

Some of the guesses so far: They all worked with Quincy Jones, they were all born illegitimate, or they all won an Oscar of some sort. We're still thinking...

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

What is Trivia?

What is Trivia anyway? It's a generic term we use for "trivial" facts. But, instead of "trivial" meaning "meaningless" or "unimportant," we mean "small," as in "a small fact." A fact within a fact.

The fact within a larger fact has to framed for context; for meaning. So, for example, if I'm writing for in a general trivia night contest, and I want a question about the Beatles, I may ask, "What was Ringo Starr's real name?" But, if I'm writing for a "Beatles Trivia," then that question is far too easy. A question such as, "What was Brian Epstein's Mother's name?" would be more suitable. And, likewise, in the general trivia night, that question would be considered obtuse. In Trivia, context is everything.

Trivia Night