Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: When was Memorial Day first celebrated?  

A: Memorial day was first celebrated on May 30, 1868. It was observed by placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers during the first national celebration. Gen. James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which around 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.

Q:Why is Memorial Day celebrated on May 30? 

A: three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. This date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

Q: Who started the custom of wearing red poppies?  

A: In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem. She then came up with an idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

Q: Why was Memorial Day first called “Decoration Day”?  

A: because of the practice of decorating soldier’s graves with flowers

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: What was Public television’s longest running children’s program?  

A: "Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood" premiered on PBS May 21, 1967, featuring Rev. Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister from Pittsburgh.PAMore than 870 episodes.

Q: In horse racing the term ‘maiden’ applies to a horse which has yet to do what? 

A: Win a race

Q: Who originally recorded the song, ‘A Horse With No Name’? 

A: America

Q: What is the name of the Greek goddess of victory? 

A: Nike

Fun Fact: To improve her memory, Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate-covered garlic balls every day of her adult life.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: The Singing cowboy’s horse was born on MAY 21, 1927. They called him "the Wonder Horse" because he never whinnied while the cowboy was singing. Can you name the cowboy and the horse?  

A:  Gene Autry and Champion

Q: Clara Barton organized what organization on May 21, 1881?  

A: The American Red Cross And since that day, Americans have not had to suffer through a single major disaster without coffee and doughnuts. Today's awesome Clara Barton trivia question: Why was Clara Barton called the "Angel of the Battlefield?" During the U.S. Civil War, Clara established a supply service for the troops, making sure our fighting men had everything they needed to make war more enjoyable -- soap, razor blades, and most important, cologne for their horses.

Q: On May 21, 1904 what jazz pianist was born? He was famous for the song "I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter." Today, a more likely title would be "I’m Gonna Log Right On And Download Myself Some Junk E-Mail." 

A: Fats Waller

Q: What is 50 in Roman numerals? 

A: L

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q:On MAY 14, 1904 the Olympic Games opened. The first games to be held in the United States.  In which city?  

A: St Louis, MO.

Q:MAY 14, 1936, Walden Cassotto was born in the Bronx. We knew him as?  

A: Singer, Bobby Darin, his hits were "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," and "Mack the Knife." His first recording, "Early in the Morning," was released twice, using the group names the Ding Dongs and the Rinky Dinks.

Q:West Side Story is based on which Shakespeare play? 

A: Romeo and Juliet.

Q:Numismatics specifically refers to the study of what?  

A: Currency

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: When did Mother’s day become an OFFICIAL National Holiday? 

A: In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

Q:The age of histories youngest mother was?  

A: The youngest mother whose history is authenticated is Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at an age of 5 years and 7 months. The child was raised as her brother and only discovered that Lina was his mother when he was 10.

Q: The age of the oldest mother? 

A: On April 9, 2003, Satyabhama Mahapatra, a 65-year-old retired schoolteacher in India, became the world's oldest mother when she gave birth to a baby boy. Satyabhama and her husband had been married 50 years, but this is their first child. The baby was conceived through artificial insemination using eggs from the woman's 26-year-old niece, Veenarani Mahapatra, and the sperm of Veenarani's husband.

Q: What is the record for the most surviving children from a single birth?  

A: ABobbie McCaughey is the mother who holds the record for the most surviving children from a single birth. She gave birth to the first set of surviving septuplets - four boys and three girls -on November 19, 1997, at the University Hospital, Iowa, US. Conceived by in vitro fertilization, the babies were delivered after 31 weeks by cesarean in the space of 16 minutes.

Most Kids: Mrs. Vassilyev of Russia gave birth to 69 children between 1725 and 1765

Heaviest Newborn: Signora Carmelina Fedele gave birth to a 22 lb 8 oz boy in Italy in 1955

Alan Rock's trivia

Q: What is the traditional beverage of the Kentucky Derby?

A: The Mint Julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and a sugar syrup.

Q:How many fillies have won the Derby? 

A: Three, Regret in 1915, Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors in 1988.

Q:Which jockey has ridden in the most Kentucky Derbys?

A.  Bill Shoemaker 26 times  and won 4 times. Eddie Arcaro rode in the Kentucky Derby 21 times, his last in 1961, and won with five of them, and Bill Hartack got his five Kentucky Derby winner from only 12 tries.

Q:What year was the first Kentucky Derby ran? 

A: 1875. The first Kentucky Derby was won by Aristides who was also the favorite to win the race.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: On May 1, 1970, who became the first woman jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby?  

A: Diane Crump. She was as good as the men, except at parallel parking.

Q:What famous celebrity retired on May 1, 1975 and is the only American ever to have his own personal zip code?
 

A: Smokey the Bear, Washington DC 20252.
Of course, after Smokey retired he didn't get as much mail as he did during the 25 years he served as spokesbear for the U.S. Forest Service. In fact, in his golden years about the only mail Smokey received was a letter now and then from other old celebrities offering him a valuable Medicare Supplement that would pay directly to Smokey when he was in the hospital.

Q: What is the birthstone and flower for May?  

A: The emerald. May's flower: lily of the valley or hawthorn.

Q: How many zeros are there in a billion? 

A: 9

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: On April 30, 1952, the first toy was advertised on TV. What was it? 

A: Mr. Potato Head.

Q:What first name was Tiger Woods given at birth by his parents? 

A: Eldrick

Q: What is the only word in the English language that ends with the letters ‘mt’?   

A:The answer is dreamt, a variant spelling of dreamed (past tense and past participle of the verb dream), that's used in British English.

Q: What four English words end in  ‘dous’?  

A: The four words in common use are tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. There's also the specialist zoological term apodous, which means 'without feet'.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: The Barbie doll got her first car in 1962. What make was it?  

A: A coral Austin Healy made by the Irwin Corporation for Mattel.

Q: Who was the only U.S. President to have a PH.d. in political science? 

A: Woodrow Wilson

Q: Who was the first big band to bring the music of George Gershwin  to a mass audience? 

A: Paul Whiteman. He also help launch the careers of singers Bing Crosby, Paul Robson, and Billie Holiday and musicians Bex Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden and Bunny Berigan.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q:Who was the only U.S. president who never married? 

A: James Buchanan, the 15th U.S. president, was born on Apr. 23, 1791. Buchanan's hobby was crocheting, but he tried to keep it a secret. He figured if word got out that the President crocheted, everybody'd want an afghan.  So, with no wife in the White House, who do you suppose ran the country?

Q:On April 23, 1975, B.J. Thomas scored with the longest song title to hit #1 on Billboard’s pop music chart: Do you remember the name of the song? 

A: "(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song." It stayed #1 for one week.

Q:What is the southernmost capital in the world? 

A: Wellington (second most populous urban area of New Zealand.)

Q: What can coconut water be used for as a substitute in an emergency? 

A: Blood Plasma

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: Ford unveiled this at the New York World Fair on April 17, 1964. What was it? A: The Mustang. It became one of the most popular cars in North America.

Q: Which Apollo craft miraculously returned home on April 17, 1970, after a major malfunction on its way to the moon? 

A: Apollo 13. An oxygen tank exploded and they had to abort their planned moon landing.

Q: Who was the first woman to complete her solo circumnavigation the earth by air on April 17, 1964?  

A: Jerrie Mock. It took her 291 days, 21 stopovers, and she covered about 50,300 km. Born in Ohio in 1925, she called her relatively light aircraft (with a wing-span of just under 11m) the "Spirit of Columbus".

Q: Which Elvis song contains lines from Shakespear? 

A: Are You Lonesome Tonight

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: The Golf Hall of Fame opened on Apr. 9, 1974. In what city?  

A Pine Hurst, North Carolina. It takes a lot of dedication to play golf in all kinds of weather, in the heat and cold, the wind and rain. And there's a special name for these people -- doctors.

Q: What famous baseball park was open on April 9, 1913? Here’s a clue: The fans had to wait an hour to get in because nobody brought the key. Then there was no flag to salute for The National Anthem. Then the home team lost to Philadelphia 1-0.  

A: Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Q: Where was baseball’s first indoor game played on April 9, 1965?  

A: Houston Astrodome. President Lyndon Johnson was there, but Texas governor John Connally threw out the first ball. In an exhibition game the Houston Colt-45’s beat the New York Yankees 2-1.

Q: Which album by the Beatles was commonly known as The White Album?  

A: The Beatles

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: For which of her films did actress Doris Day also write the music and lyrics?  

A: "Please Don’t Eat the Daisies" in 1960.

Q: In 1960, The Paul Winchell Show last aired on ABC-TV. The ventriloquist’s dummy partner’s name was Jerry Mahoney. Later, Winchell invented something; what was it?  

A: history’s first artificial heart.

Q: Which television show does 'The Itchy & Scratchy Show' feature on? 

A: The Simpsons

Q: What does a tintometer measure? 

A: Colors

Alan Rock's Trivia

Q: What is the most popular symbol on Hallmark's Easter cards?  

A:Eggs

Q: How much do Americans spend on Easter candy per year?  

A: $2 billion

Q: How do the majority of young children prefer to eat their jellybeans?  

A: One at a time

Q: What is the most popular Easter candy? 

A: Chocolate eggs