Trivia Night

Name the Beatles

2005-12-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

In August of 1960, the Beatles played under that name for the first time. There were 5 members in the band. What were their names?

So long to Busch Stadium

2005-10-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Who was the first batter in Busch Stadium (1966)?

And now, sadly, a trivia question destined for the ages: Who was the last batter at Busch Stadium (2005)?

A Gem

2005-10-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

It is beautiful, isn't it? Maybe it's just the romantic in me, but why lose such a beautiful building?

Anyway, here's some Busch Stadium trivia:

What was the name of the park where the Cardinals played just before this one?
Did this one start with grass or Astro-turf?
Name any of the other numerous acts to play before the Beatles headlined here.
Was there ever an All-Star game played here?
Are you sad to see it go?

So long Gilligan!

2005-09-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

So long, Gilligan, you’ve finally gotten off the island.

Certainly a TV career like that of Bob Denver’s deserves a hallowed spot here on Trivia Night. There are certain classes of questions that are standards in trivia and Gilligan’s Island is certainly on of those.

Here are some classics:

What was the character of The Skipper’s actual name? (not the actor's name, the Skipper's name.)

What was the character of The Professor’s actaul name?

What was Ginger’s last name?

What was Mary Ann’s last name?

A question that doesn’t belong in a Trivia Night because of its uncertain and obscure origin: What was Gilligan’s first name?

Name all the actor’s real names:

How many years did Gilligan’s Island run?

What was the name of the actor that played Dobie Gillis?

Somebody stop me!

You think of some now

Yes, a question from Colorado?

2005-08-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

What's the only flag that pictures the outline of the country it represents?

Tony LaRussa

2005-08-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa won game # 2,195 tonight. It’s hard, but I’ve got to give it to him. He certainly ranks with the all-time great Cardinal skippers. We St. Louisans just get spoiled, that’s all. You should hear people complaining about him. Through the ’04 season, he’s gotten us to first place in 5 of the 9 years he was here! You can’t complain about that. Well, OK you can complain if they don’t win the World Series this year. It’s looking like it may be the White Sox this year, so here’s your trivia:

Has a team from Chicago ever played a team from St. Louis in a World Series?

Eric von Zipper

2005-08-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Name the actor who play Eric von Zipper in the Beach movies. Or, name another movie he played in.

Prince Albert

2005-08-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here in St. Louis, we've been quietly gazing in awe at the first 5 seasons of Albert Pujols, the Cardinal's 1st-baseman. Tonight; another milestone for young Albert. He became the first player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in each of his first five seasons. [Read more from the Post-Dispatch] I've heard Tony LaRussa describe him as the most "natural" player on the field today. Take a look at Baseball Reference here. One of the ways it compares players is "most similar by age." In other words, who had similar statistics when they were at this or that particular age. For Albert, at age 21, 22, 23, and 24 his most similar player is the same for each year. It's Joe DiMaggio. And just take a look at those similar batters through age 24. Wow! In addition to DiMaggio, how about Ted Williams, Frank Robinson or Hank Aaron! Because he's so young, you've got to temper your enthusiasm just a bit, but you can't take away what he's done tonight. First player, ever.

OK, for your trivia tonight, a question that you must have memorized if you're going to play trivia in St. Louis: What was Stan Musial's lifetime batting average?

2005-08-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today, it was announced that starting next year, the St. Louis Cardinals will no longer be heard on KMOX, a station they've been with for 52 years. Read the story. This is a big shake-up. It's hard for us to even imagine the games not being on KMOX. There is much gnashing of teeth tonight in St. Louis. To mark this historic event, let's have some trivia!

What year did Harry Caray leave the Cardinal broadcast booth?

August 1st

2005-08-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

There are two entertainment anniversaries today. On this date (8/1), MTV made its debut and Rush Limbaugh hit it big with national syndication. MTV in 1981 and Rush in 1988.

1.) What was the first video played on MTV?
2.) What city was Rush born in?

Marty may not answer question #2.

UPDATE: I just learned that there are two acceptable answers to the MTV question. One for the US and one for Europe. They're two different answers and either will qualify you for a free soft drink from the bar.

Rock n Roll History

2005-07-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1986. Who was its first inductee?

Premier Soviets

2005-07-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

List the following Soviet Leaders in the chronological order in which they served:

a.) Georgy Malenkov
b.) Joseph Stalin
c.) Konstantin Chernenko
d.) Nikita Khrushchev

e.) Mikhail Gorbachev

f.) Yuri Andropov
g.) Leonid Brezhnev

Whitey's way

2005-07-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

NAME	GW	GL	TOTAL	WL%
JOHN TUDOR	65	26	91	0.714
DIZZY DEAN	134	74	208	0.644
GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER	55	34	89	0.618
BOB GIBSON	251	174	425	0.591
STEVE CARLTON	77	62	139	0.554

As you can see, Gibson is by far the "winningest" Cardinal pitcher. But ranked in order of this WL%, Tudor comes out on top. I don't think the question is a good one though. A simple question about the winningest pitcher would be OK, but I'm sure most people would guess Gibson. A decent question might be: Who's the second-most winningest Cardinal pitcher? Dizzy wins that one.

If at first you don't succeed

2005-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

OK, let me try this again. The term "winningest" is a term used by baseball folks to mean "the most wins." But it is also used now and then to mean the best ratio of wins/total games. Because of this ambiguity, I should not have used this term.

My question relates to the Win/Loss ratio. It's calculated like this: Bob Gibson had 251 wins and 174 losses. That's a total of 425 games that he had a decision in. 251 divided by 425 is .590. Gibson's lifetime WL% is .590. (Usually listed as .591.) I constructed this question after listening to Whitey Herzog talk about a particular pitcher and his WL% as a Cardinal. I didn't believe it, and I've looked everywhere for some verification without any luck. I also didn't think Whitey would just say something like that without it being true, so I tried to construct a question so the answer would be this fellow Whitey was talking about.

So, of pitchers with over 50 games as a Cardinal, who has the best franchise WL%?

I'm still not sure if that the exact phrasing I should use. Here are some questions that are not this one:

Of pitchers with over 50 games as a Cardinal, who has the best lifetime WL%?
Of pitchers with over 50 games as a Cardinal, who has the most wins?

I'll publish the answers to all of the questions after a little more research.

Winningest Cardinal Pitcher

2005-07-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

OK, this is one for the Baseball purists out there. (Rob) Of pitchers with over 50 games as a St. Louis Cardinal, who is the winningest? (who has the best won/lost ratio?) I've researched this one tirelessly and I think I'm right. What do you think?

G8 Trivia

2005-07-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

What does the "G" in G8 stand for? And, can you name the countries that belong to the G?

In what year?

2005-07-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

In what year did the following 3 events take place?

In the US, a ban on TV cigarrette commercials starts
Apollo 14 lands on the moon
The voting age in the US goes from 21 to 18

2005-05-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2005

A question from Hollywood

2005-04-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Name at least two people who accomplished the triple feat of starring in, directing, and composing the title music for a major motion picture. (Question courtesy of Rob)

Doolittles

2005-04-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Name the two actors who portrayed Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle. One in 1944 and the other in 2001.

Follow-up Iceland question

2005-04-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

In 1986, another big "match" that the world came to watch took place in Reykjavik. Who were the players in this one?

World Champion

2005-04-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

In 1972, Bobby Fischer became the one and only American to become the World Chess Champion. Who was his opponent and where did they play the match?

Some Papal Trivia

2005-04-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

What year was the assasination attempt on PJP II by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square?
In 1992 PJP II apologized for the 1633 trial of this Italian scientist. Who was he?
What's the smallest country in the world, both in area and in population?
How long did Pope John Paul I, JP II's predecessor, serve as Pope?

Non-incumbent elections! How exciting!

2005-04-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Assuming that George W. Bush, who was re-elected in 2004, remains in office through 2008, then the 2008 race will be a non-incumbent election. Furthermore, the 2008 race will apparently be one in which neither the sitting president nor the sitting vice-president is a candidate for president. When was the last time this happened?

Top Movie Song

2005-04-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

According to the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Songs," what is the #1 "song from a movie?"

If you're feeling lucky, guess 5 out of the top 10 before you look it up. I added a link to the AFI over there on the right side.

Some more standards

2005-03-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Vets demand Bonus

2005-03-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

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.

What year?

2005-03-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Trivia is a dangerous game

2005-03-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

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?

Who am I?

2005-03-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

"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

2005-03-23T08:26:00.000-08:00

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

Trivia Standards

2005-03-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

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

Who wasn't in The Longest Day?

2005-03-19T22:39:00.000-08:00

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

Middle aged color

2005-03-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

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

Before they were Cardinals

2005-03-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

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

Take me out to the ballgame

2005-03-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

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?

Geography, eh?

2005-03-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

What country has the longest coastline?

Space Family Robinson

2005-03-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

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

Lots of people with big ears are famous!

2005-03-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

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.

One answer, many questions

2005-03-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Rob's question

2005-03-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

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...

What is Trivia?

2005-03-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

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.