Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Originally, what were the New York Yankees' name and original city?

2) What does OPEC actually stand for?

Answers:

1) The Yankees used to be the Baltimore Orioles until 1903, which begs the question who did the Baltimore Orioles used to be?! (so confusing!) So here's that scoop, from Wikipedia: [The Baltimore Orioles was] "one of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901; it spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns."

2) Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) To make one tablespoon of honey, bees need to collect nectar from how many flowers?

2) Which religious denomination is also known as the "Society of Friends"?

3) Which state was originally named "Kanawha"?

Answers:

1) 2,000 flowers

2) The Quakers

3) West Virginia

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Actor James Arness got the part of Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon after the part was turned down by what actor?

2) Who was the first president to have died in office?

3) Which USO entertainer was nicknamed "Colonel Maggie"?

4) Which war resulted in establishing the Memorial Day holiday?

Answers:

1) John Wayne

2) William Henry Harrison contracted pneumonia during his cold and rainy inauguration and died one month later.

3) Martha Raye

4) The Civil War. In the South, after the war, both Confederate and Union soldiers' graves were decorated.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Who invented bifocal lenses?

2) Which state is nicknamed the "Treasure State"?

3) How many military academies are there and what are their names?

4) Which bird is the only one with the ability to fly backward?

Answers:

1) Benjamin Franklin

2) Montana

3) Five: U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

4) the hummingbird

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) What is the world's smallest republic? Clue: It's 24 square miles and joined the United Nations only recently, in 1992. This little country is in northeastern Italy, and may be, according to The New American Desk Encyclopedia, the oldest state in Europe.

2) What horror story did Bram Stoker write?

3) What was the title of the 1942 biopic about the life of George M. Cohan?

Answers:

1) The Republic of San Marino.

2) Dracula

3) Yankee Doodle Dandy

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Which American sports association was formed on this day in 1881?

2) Today is Lawrence Tero's birthday. We know him better as who?

Answers:

1) U.S. Lawn Tennis Association

2) Mr. T

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Cher was born on this day in 1946. She and Sonny Bono had a daughter. What was her name?

2) What is a "pullet"?

3) What are the top five languages, measured by number of native speakers?

Answers:

1) Chastity

2) A pullet is a young hen.

3) In order they are: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Who was the first Democrat candidate to use the donkey as an image on campaign posters?

2) Who was the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answers:

1) Andrew Jackson, in his 1828 presidential campaign.

2) President Theodore Roosevelt was so honored in 1906.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) What are the two later additions to the English alphabet?

2) Who is the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 batters?

3) Where can you see the original Declaration of Independence?

Answers:

1) The English alphabet originally had only 24 letters. The letter "J" was the last to be added to the alphabet; the other latecomer was "U."

2) On May 18, 2004, at age 40, Randy Johnson led the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.

3) At the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Which former U.S. president worked as a radio announcer?

2) According to the 2010 Farmer's Almanac, what language, measured by number of people who speak it, is the most widely used?

3) What is Europe's largest mountain range?

Answers:

1) Ronald Reagan. He auditioned to be a sports announcer at WOC in Davenport, Iowa.

2) Chinese (Mandarin)

3) The Alps.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) The Olympic Games were revived in modern times on this date in 1904. These first games were held in the U.S. in what city?

2) Born this date in 1936, this Bronx-born singer's birth name was Walden Cassotto. Who do we know him as?

Answers:

1) St. Louis, MO

2) Bobby Darin

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Who was the first president to have a typewriter in the White House?

2) Of all vegetables, only two can live top produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables have to be replanted every year. What are the two perennials?

3) In many liquor stores you can buy a pear brandy with a real pear in the bottle. The pear is whole and genuine and so is the bottle, meaning it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

4) Mary Pickersgill, a seamstress from Baltimore, is famous for what?

Answers:

1) Rutherford B. Hayes

2) Asparagus and rhubarb are the two perennials.

3) The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

4) Pickersgill sewed the flag honored in Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) How many Oscars did Katharine Hepburn win?

2) On this day in 1932, a new Disney character, "Dippy Dawg," appeared in the cartoon, "Mickey's Revue." Dippy's name was later changed to what?

3) Florence Nightingale was born on this date in 1820. She was called "the lady with the lamp." Why?

Answers:

1) Four. Morning Glory, 1933; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, 1967; The Lion in Winter, 1968; and On Golden Pond in 1981. In addition to those wins, she was nominated for Best Actress in eight other films. She also picked up an Emmy for Best Actress for her role in Love Among the Ruins, which aired in 1975.

2) Goofy

3) She got the nickname because she carried a pet owl with her everywhere.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) The automobile was first invented in what country?

2) What was the first novel to have been written on a typewriter?

3) What was the name of the sorcerer who had Mickey Mouse as his apprentice?

4) On this date in 1997, a computer managed to do something it had never done before. What was it?

Answers:

1) France. The U.S. went on to create, thanks to Henry Ford, the assembly line method of manufacturing automobiles.

2) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.

3) In the final credits, the sorcerer's name is given as "Yensid," which is Disney spelled backwards.

4) IBM's Deep Blue super computer beat world champion chess play, Gary Kasparov.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) There are very few English words that begin with "dw." Name three.

2) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

3) Which famous North American landmark is constantly receding?

Answers:

1) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle are pretty much it, unless you count "dweeb," which has been accepted by Merriam-Webster.

2) strawberries

3) Niagara Falls. Its rim is worn down about two and a half feet every year as a result of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Which major league pitcher struck out five batters in one inning?

2) President William McKinley signed for the annexation of this land on this date in 1898. What land was it?

3) What was the name of the airplane Charles Lindbergh flew in his famous 1927 transatlantic flight?

Answers:

1) Joe Niekro, of the Houston Astros struck out five batters in a 1977 exhibition game.

2) That was the day Hawaii was annexed to the U.S.

3) The Spirit of St. Louis

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) On this date in 1954, Roger Bannister was the first to do this. What?

2) George Clooney pursued acting after not getting to do what?

3) This famous tourist destination first became open to the public on this date in 1889. What is it?

4) Sigmund Freud was born on this date in 1856. He had a phobia - what was it?

Answers:

1) Bannister was the first to run a mile in under four minutes.

2) He had hoped for a career in major league baseball. He tried out for center field position with the Cincinnati Reds, but was not accepted.

3) The Eiffel Tower

4) He had a morbid fear of ferns.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) What university was the first to award athletic scholarships for women?

2) Who was the first American in outer space?

3) On The Brady Bunch, what part did Ann B. Davis portray?

Answers:

1) The University of Miami was the first to do so, and it was on today's date in 1973.

2) On this date in 1961, Alan Shepard was the first American in space. The entire flight lasted a mere fifteen minutes.

3) She played "Alice," the family's live-in maid.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Who was the first U.S. president to have been inaugurated in Washington, D.C.?

2) Who was the first British monarch to live in Buckingham Palace?

3) Lucy Hobbs Taylor was the first woman to do what?

4) Who was the first U.S. president to have been born west of the Mississippi?

Answers:

1) Thomas Jefferson in 1801.

2) Queen Victoria

3) She was the first woman to become a certified dentist, graduating from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery.

4) Herbert Hoover

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1) Today is Bing Crosby's birthday. He sang four Academy Award winning songs: "Sweet Leilani" (1937), "White Christmas" (1942), "Swinging on a Star" (1944), and "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (1951). He also won the Academy Award for Best Actor in what 1944 film?

2) Can you name the three sisters who recorded more than 100 songs, selling more than 90 million records, with a strong series of appearances to troops in WWII?

3) Who was the only athlete to win gold in both the pentathlon and the decathlon in the Olympics? For bragging rights, name the year he set this record.

Answers:

1) Going My Way.

2) They were LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty -- The Andrews Sisters.

3) Jim Thorpe, in 1912.