Friday, August 31, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Richard Gere's first three movie roles were all first turned down by this actor.

2)  Peggy Lee was nominated for an Oscar for what film?

3)  On this date in 1941, this program began airing on NBC radio as a spin-off from Fibber McGee and Molly.

Answers:

1)  The lead roles in Days of Heaven, American Gigolo and An Officer and a Gentleman were all first offered to John Travolta.

2)  Pete Kelly's Blues

3)  The Great Gildersleeve

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  He played the saxophone solo on Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are."

2)  This Irish actor got his break playing the male lead on Remington Steele.

3)  The Galapagos Islands are part  of which country?

4)  What is the most popular game in Las Vegas?

Answers:

1)  Phil Woods

2)  Pierce Brosnan

3)  Ecuador

4)  While slot machines may be the most popular gambling activity, Blackjack is the most popular game in Vegas.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  On this date in 1958, 15 year-old George Harrison joined John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ken Brown in a group that called themselves what?

2)  Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter formed Weather Report in 1970. They are also alumni of this jazz great, one of the first to venture into jazz fusion.

3)  This precious gemstone is regarded as a symbol of success.

4)  The smooth jazz group "Fourplay" had a hit in 1991 with a cover of Marvin Gaye's "After the Dance" (El DeBarge on lead vocal).  Who was the group's keyboardist?

Answers:

1)  The Quarrymen

2)  Miles Davis

3)  The emerald.

4)  Bob James


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  About how large is the Mars Rover, "Curiosity"?

2)  In Belgium, which language is most widely spoken?

3)  On this date in 1907, two Seattle teenagers started a local delivery service called the American Messenger Service.  It is still in business.  What's the current name of this delivery service?

4)  On this date in 1922, the first radio commercial aired on New York City's WEAF. What was the product?

Answers:

1)  Curiosity is roughly the size of a car.




2)  Dutch

3)  The American Messenger Service ultimately became UPS - United Parcel Service.




4)  The Queensboro Realty Company paid $100 for 10 minutes of airtime.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)   Brass is comprised of these two metals.

2)   This gas makes up 78% of the earth's atmosphere.

3)   He was the author of On the Road.

4)   The Society of Friends are more commonly known as what?

Answers:

1)  Copper and zinc

2)  Nitrogen

3)  Jack Kerouac

4)  Quakers


Friday, August 24, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What color is a polar bear's skin?



2)  How many compartments does a cow's stomach have?

3)  A nephrectomy is the surgical removal of which organ?

4)  Who was regarded as the "James Dean of Jazz" in the 1950s?

Answers:

1)  black

2)  4

3)  kidney

4)  Chet Baker


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions: 

1)  Who was first to put together a jazz trio of piano, guitar and bass?

2)  What iconic car was featured in Back to the Future?

3)  He was Captain Midnight's mechanic in the 1940's radio program.

4)  Wes Montgomery taught himself to play guitar while still a teenager and consequently developed an interesting playing style. What was unique about it?

Answers:

1)  Nat King Cole



2)  The DeLorean



3)  Ichabod, "Icky" Mudd.

4) He played with his thumb.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  This U.S. President was the first to ride in an automobile.

2)  These two U.S. cities are known for producing some of the best thoroughbred horses in the world.

3)  Which blood type is the most rare?

4)  In the comic strip, B.C., what purpose do the talking clams serve?



Answers:


1)  President Theodore Roosevelt

2)  Lexington, KY and Ocala, FL

3)  Type AB

4)  Clams are used for money.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  On this date in 1935, this band leader introduced a new "big band" jazz style at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles and was thereafter hailed as the "King of Swing."

2)  What kind of doctor was Bill Cosby's character, Cliff Huxtable?

3)  How many bees, working their entire lifetimes, does it take to make a single tablespoon of honey?

4)  In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, what was the city Ferris and his friends go to for their fun-filled day?

Answers:

1)  Benny Goodman
















2)  Dr. Huxtable was a pediatrician.



3)  It takes 12 bees to make one tablespoon of honey.

4)  Chicago



Monday, August 20, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  In which film did singer Connie Francis make her acting debut?

2)  Which cola was so named in recognition of its energy-giving and digestion-aiding properties?

3) According to the American Kennel Club, this breed was the most popular of pedigreed dogs in the U.S. in 2011.

4)  What was the Rolling Stone's first number one song in the U.S.?

Answers:

1) Although the New Jersey native songstress provided vocal tracks for Rock Rock Rock! and The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (where she provided the singing voice for Jayne Mansfield) Where the Boys Are was her first acting role.



2)  Pepsi Cola



3)  Labrador was the number one choice, followed by, in order: Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Poodle, Beagle, Dachsund, Cocker Spaniel, Yorkie and Pomeranian.

4)  "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" reached the number one spot on this date in 1965. Forty-seven years later, it still holds up.







Friday, August 17, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  How many different animal shapes do Animal Crackers offer?

2)  On this date in 1994, David Caruso quit the gritty cop drama, NYPD Blue.  He joined the show just one year earlier and after just one season, Caruso reportedly demanded a huge pay increase. The New York City tabloids treated the gossip of the increasingly contentious contract negotiations like a sub-plot in the ongoing drama. Four episodes into the second season, Caruso left to pursue what turned out to be an ill-considered movie career (Time.com). Who replaced him on NYPD Blue?

3)  What is the periodic table's symbol for mercury?

4)   Mars is the name of the Roman god for what?


Answers:

1)  18

2)   Jimmy Smits

3)   Hg

4)   war

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What is the approximate percentage of oxygen in the air we breathe?

2)  What was the name of Tarzan's chimpanzee companion?

3)  Which U.S. county occupies the smallest area?

Answers:

1)  21%

2)  "Cheetah"

















3)  New York County, also known as the borough of Manhattan.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  In terms of mass, which country is second largest?

2)  How many humps does a dromedary camel have?

3)  In Greek mythology, a minotaur has the body of a man and the head of what?

4)  Which two states have the highest speed limits?

Answers:

1)  Canada is second to Russia


2)   One

3)  bull















4)  Utah and Texas both have stretches of highway that allow drivers to go 80 mph.


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)   It's the 9th astrological sign in the zodiac, and those born under it are said to be unusually adaptable.

2)   The first encyclopaedias came from this ancient civilization.

3)   The BBC's audio recording of this event became the number one album in Great Britain in 1981.

Answers:

1)  Sagittarius

2)  Ancient Greece

3)  The Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana


Monday, August 13, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  A living situation where two people marry and leave their respective parents in order to live together is referred to as what?

2)  The island of Ceylon is now called what?

3)  Where was the site of the first hostile action in the Civil War?

Answers:

1)  "neolocal"

2)  Sri Lanka



3)  Fort Sumter, SC


Friday, August 10, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Who was the first to wear a white bridal gown?

2)  On this date in 1776, Ben Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson suggested the United States adopt "E pluribus unum" for its motto. This Latin phrase means what?

3)  This U.S. Senator was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.

4)  On this date in 1996, Senator Bob Dole chose this former congressman, Cabinet secretary and NFL quarterback to be his running mate in that year's presidential campaign in an attempt to unseat President Clinton.

Answers:

1)  In ancient times, the traditional color of bridal gowns was red. Napolean III's bride broke with tradition and wore white. Brides have been wearing white gowns (that were to be worn only once) as a symbol of wealth.

2)  Out of many, one.

3)  Senator Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky



4)  Jack Kemp


Thursday, August 09, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Where was Interpol founded?

2)  What was Victoria's first act as Queen?

3)  Musophobia is an irrational fear of what?

Answers:

1)  Vienna, Austria

2)  She had her bed moved from her mother's room to a room of her own.

3)   It should be "mice-a-phobia" because it's the fear of mice and rats.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Whether or not English was a second language for Queen Victoria is the cause for much debate.  Why the controversy?

2)  Chicago's Wrigley Field experienced this first back on this date in 1988.

3)  What does a Jeroboam contain?

4)  A 19th-century entrepreneur started out with a ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan. Who was he?

Answers:

1)  According to UK/Irish History, during her infancy, Victoria said that she spoke nothing but German, but at the age of three, her mother decided that is was imperative that her daughter must not turn out like the senior members of the royal family whose English was engulfed by their guttural Germanic accents. From that age she was permitted to read but not speak German, and she was taught English - the language of her nation and French - the language of the courts, with some Italian and Latin instruction. Though she ruled England for 64 years, she was never able to speak English perfectly.

2)  39,012 fans were in attendance for Wrigley Field's very first night game.

3)  A Jeroboam is a double magnum-sized bottle containing champagne or wine. As the picture (courtesy of Wikipedia - public domain) shows, the bottles are named after Biblical kings.

Side-by-side comparison of champagne bottles (left to right), on the ladder: magnum, full, half and quarter; on the floor: Balthazar, Salmanazar, Methuselah and Jeroboam

4)  Cornelius Vanderbilt, Sr.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  According to the U.S. flag code, no flag may fly higher than the U.S. flag. What is the one exception to this rule?

2)  Of all vegetables, these are the only two that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. Other vegetables have to be replanted every season.

3)  Which appliance consumes the most energy per hour of use?

 Answers:



1)  The U.N. building

2)  asparagus and rhubarb

3) the lowly toaster


Monday, August 06, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Who was the first woman to swim the English Channel?

2)   This track star won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics.

3)  When did the first income tax law become effective?

4)  Mesothelioma is thought to be caused by what?


Answers:

1)  Gertrude Ederle forever disproved the popular notion that women couldn't swim the  English Channel when she completed the swim on August 7, 1926.

2)   Jesse Owens won the four gold medals, greatly upsetting Hitler, who was hoping to prove his theory of a "superior" Aryan race.

3)  Abraham Lincoln signed into law a 3% tax on incomes exceeding $800, which became effective January 1, 1861. It was rescinded in 1872.

4)  Asbestos inhalation

Friday, August 03, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

!)  This river is the longest river in Europe.

2)  What do the Roman numerals "XC" stand for?

3)  Who was the first American to win gold in Olympic Women's Gymnastics competition?

4)  Who wrote the song, "Tuxedo Junction"?

Answers:

1)  the Volga.

2)  90 (C = 100; X = 10; the X before the C means less than)

3)  Mary Lou Retton edged past the Romanian gymnast, Ekaterina Szabo on this date in 1984.

4)  Erskine Hawkins

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Michael Phelps' medal count makes him the most decorated Olympian ever. This has to be the easiest trivia question ever: how many Olympic medals as of August 1, 2012, does Phelps have?

2)  What does the "DC" in DC Comics stand for?

3)  Which comic strip was the first to appear in 2,000 newspapers?

4)  What was the name of the musical group Roy Rogers performed with?

Answers:

1) As of 3:50 PM, ET, 20! Update 8/6/12: Phelps finished his Olympic career with 22 medals, 18 of which were gold, making him the most awarded Olympian in modern times.

2)  Detective Comics





















3)  Peanuts

4)  Sons of the Pioneers

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:


1)  What is the name of the trophy given to the winning team of the NBA Finals?

2)  On this date in 1964, Hasbro Toys introduced an action figure based on a 1945 movie. What was the action figure's and the movie's name?

3)  On this date in 1790, the first U.S. census was completed. What was the population then?

4)  On The Garry Moore Show, Dom DeLuise became popular as the recurring character, Dominic the Great. What was the bit?

Answers:

1)  The Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy - here with Julius Irving:









 
2)  G.I. Joe



3)  The U.S. population in 1790 was reported as being just under 4 million people.

4)  DeLuise played a terribly inept magician, to great comical effect.