Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  When asked if there was anything she didn't play, which female athlete replied, "Yeah, dolls."?

2)  The founders of Portland, Oregon chose the name by flipping a coin.  If the coin had come up on the other side, what would Portland be named?

3)  Where would you find a tonsure?

4)  Roughly what percent of a person's body weight is blood?


Answers:

1)  Babe Didrikson.

2)  Boston.

3)  On a Monk's head.










4)  Seven to eight percent.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  What airline was the first to have regularly scheduled commercial transatlantic service from New York to Europe?

2)  Which U.S. president declared Labor Day a federal holiday to be celebrated on the first Monday in September?

3)  What was the number on Ty Cobb's baseball uniform?

4)  On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. What did it do?


Answers:

1)  Pan American, which began on June 28, 1939.

2)  Grover Cleveland, on June 28, 1894.

3)  Major League baseball clubs didn't start putting numbers on uniforms until the 1930s.  As a result, Ty Cobb, who broke many batting and base-stealing records while playing with the Detroit Tigers (1905-1926), didn't have his uniform number retired.  This was, simply, because Cobb never was issued a number.

4)  The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  Sam Malone, Cliff Calvin, and Norm Peterson were all characters on which TV show?

2)  How many megabytes make a gigabyte?

3)  Where does the dish "goulash" come from?

4)  On June 27, 1950, an 8-pound bear cub that had been seriously burned three weeks earlier in a New Mexico forest fire left for the National Zoo in Washington where he lived to the ripe old bear age of 26.  Originally named Hot Foot Teddy by the firemen who saved his life, he became better known by what name?


Answers:

1)  Cheers

2)  1024.

3)  Hungary

4)  Smokey the Bear

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  Perhaps the most popular of jazz tunes, "Take Five" was written by whom?

2)  As a teenager, Miles Davis got his first big break playing gigs with what giant?

3)  Who was the longest serving senator in U.S. history?

4)  On June 26, 1980, Frances Haskell died at age 89.  In 1930 she was the first female to be a part of what organization?


Answers:

1)  Paul Desmond.

2)  Charlie Parker.

3)  Strom Thurmond.  He died on June 26, 2003 at age 100 after serving 47 years as a U.S. senator.

4)  The Texas Rangers.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  On June 25, 1973, who announced on national television that President Nixon, his staff, and the Justice Department conspired to cover up Watergate?

2)  At his heaviest, what did U.S. President James Madison weigh?

3)  In the film Blazing Saddles, what pianist was shown playing April in Paris?

4)  One of the most influential persons to popularize jazz was Louis Armstrong.  He played trumpet and cornet, and sang with many bands over his career.  His large mouth was responsible for his nickname.  What was it?


Answers:

1)  John Dean.

2)  98 pounds.

3)  Count Basie.

4)  Satchmo, a shortened version of "Satchelmouth"!

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1) On June 22, 1937, Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, knocked out which fighter in the 8th round of a boxing match in Chicago to become the world heavyweight champion?

2) M&M's is the American version of which candy created in Great Britain?

3) Nicknames are fun.  Who was Leo the Lip?


Answers:

1) Jim Braddock.

2) Smarties.

3) Leo Ernest Dorocher (1905-1991), nicknamed Leo the Lip because he always had something to say, was a great American infielder (shortstop) and manager in major league baseball.

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1)  What was the theme song of the Glenn Miller Orchestra?

2)  Which U.S. President was known as Old Sink or Swim?

3)  What do stars Merv Griffin, Ted Knight, Soupy Sales, Adam West, and Ernest Borgnine have in common?

4)  Which famous author once said of Huckleberry Finn, "All American writing comes from that.  There was nothing before.  There has been nothing as good since."?


Answers:

1)  "Moonlight Serenade"  A band's theme song is its signature tune.  Miller wrote the song in 1923, long before he formed his own band.  Moonlight Serenade is not as well known as Miller's hits like In The Mood, Little Brown Jug, or Pennsylvania 6-5000, but it does have that distinctive Miller sound.

2)  John Adams.

3)  They all started their careers as local children's television hosts.

4)  Ernest Hemingway.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  These two signers of the Constitution later went on to become president.

2)  How many people signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States?

3)  Glenn Miller co-wrote "Room 1411" with what other Big Band leader?

4)  This newspaper is the oldest, continuously published daily American paper still in circulation.

Answers:

1)  George Washington and James Madison

2)  6 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence also signed the Constitution.

3)  Benny Goodman

4)  Though the Hartford Courant was founded in 1756, it was published as a semi-weekly paper and did not go to a daily schedule until 1836. The New York Post then is able to boast that it has been in continuous daily publication since November 16, 1801.

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  This holiday was celebrated for the first time in Spokane, Washington, on this date back in 2010.

2)  Warren G. Harding played this game almost daily.

3)  Who draws the comic strip, Dilbert?

Answers:

1)  Father's Day

2)  Table Tennis

3)  Scott Adams

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What is the last name of Charles Schulz's character, "Lucy"?

2)  This was the first time two Wimbledon competitors shared the #1 seed ranking.

3)  On this date in 1983, she became the first woman to go into space.


 Answers:

1) "van Pelt"

2)  Chris Evert and Martina Navritilova shared the #1 spot on this date in 1985.


3)  Sally Ride

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Who was the first Speaker of the House to go on to become President?

2)  For what purpose was the screwdriver first used?

3)  What is the minimum age requirement for a person to have a Facebook account?

4)  Tim Berners-Lee was awarded the prestigious Millennium Technology Prize in 2002 for having come up with this innovation, now used regularly by billions of people.

Answers:

1)   James K. Polk is the only president who was once the Speaker of the House before becoming President of the United States. 

 2)  The first documentation of the tool is in The Medieval Housebook of Wolfegg Castle, a manuscript written sometime between 1475 and 1490. These earliest screwdrivers had pear-shaped handles and were made for slotted screws (diversification of the many types of screwdrivers did not emerge until the Gilded Age). The screwdriver remained inconspicuous, however, as evidence of its existence throughout the next 300 years was based primarily on the presence of screws. Screws were used in the 15th century for constructing screw-cutting lathes, for securing breastplates, backplates, and helmets on medieval jousting armor, and eventually for multiple parts of the emerging firearms, particularly the matchlock. Screws, hence screwdrivers, were not used in full combat armor, most likely to give the wearer freedom of movement.


3)  You have to be at least 13 to create a Facebook account.

4)  Berners-Lee hit upon the notion of joining hypertext with the Internet.  He says, "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the Transmission Control Protocol and domain name system ideas and—ta-da!—the World Wide Web."

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  This was the first American novel to have sold 1 million copies.

2)  Who was the first president to broadcast a message over the radio?

3)  How many top best-selling children's books were written by Dr. Seuss?

4)  On this date in 1983, this man-made object was the first to go beyond our solar system.

Answers: 

1)  Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

2)  Warren G. Harding broadcast a message dedicating the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore on this date in 1922.

3)  Four: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, and One Fish, Two Fish Red Fish, Blue Fish.

4)  Pioneer 10

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  Of all the contributing factors, this event is considered to be the first that led to the decline of Big Band era.

2)  Stan Kenton was known for being an especially creative and experimental band leader. Nonetheless, he maintained the Big Band tradition of having a theme song as a signature. What was his band's theme song?

3)  This bandleader was probably the most respected of all. He was the total package: a musician, composer and arranger who elevated the genre with multiple performances at Carnegie Hall. He even was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a limited edition series of stamps bearing his profile. Who was he?

4)  Who invented scissors?

Answers:

1)  Most consider the nail in the coffin to be the musician strikes, but by that time much of the permanent damage had already been done. Large numbers of musicians had been drafted to serve in WWII, gas rationing made touring difficult for both the bands and those attending shows.  Also there was a 20% tax on entertainment which discouraged dancing. A postwar recession kept many people, who also were beginning to raise families, at home.  Eventually maintaining a Big Band became impossible; they were priced out of the market (http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2011/10/big-band-renaissance.html).

2)  "Artistry in Rhythm"

3)  Duke Ellington

4)  Leonardo Da Vinci

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  In the cartoon series Mighty Mouse, what were the names of Mighty Mouse's girlfiriend and his arch-enemy?

2)  He is often referred to as the "father of the jazz saxophone."

3)  He was the vibraphonist in the Modern Jazz Quartet.

4)  Someone with ambulophobia has a fear of doing this.

Answers:

1)  Pearl Pureheart and Oil Can Harry

2)  Coleman Hawkins

3)  Milt jackson

4)  Walking

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  American Idol debuted on this day in 2002. Who was the first Idol?

2)  On this day in 1982, Spielberg's beloved E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial premiered. Who was the voice of E.T.?

3)  Which NFL quarterbacks have four championship rings for winning four Superbowls?

4)  This musician and recording effects innovator is best known for designing the first solid-body electric guitars.

Answers:

1)  Kelly Clarkson

2)  Debra Winger

3)  Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana have four championship rings. Dan Rooney, Dick Hoak, Joe Greene, Charles Haley, Chuck Noll, Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel have five; Mike Woicik has six and Neal Dahlen has seven!

4)  Les Paul

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What country was first to give women the vote?

2)  This band leader helped bring the improvisational Dixieland style.

3)  Which pizza topping is the least favorite?

4)  What weather-related experience can, in actual fact, "knock one's socks off"?

Answers:

1)  New Zealand

2)  Paul Whiteman

3)  anchovies

4)  being struck by lightning

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What three horse races make up the Triple Crown?

2)  Before she became a successful comedienne, Ellen DeGeneres wanted to pursue another career as what?

3)  On this date in 1955, the "isolation booth" became a featured part of the game show The $64,000 Question. A contestant would be placed in the sound-proof booth as a visible sign to the audience that he or she was in no way coached or provided any answers for the final round of questions. Who was the show's host?

4)  In 1976, 155 women were admitted into this heretofore all-male military academy, becoming the first of the nation's military academies to admit women.  Which academy was it?


Answers:

1)  The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

2)  She wanted to play professional golf

3)  Hal March

4)  The U.S. Air Force Academy

Alan Rock"s Trivia!

Questions:  

1)   What is the only mammal that has four knees?

2)  What is the largest plant to not have a wooden stem?

3)  What nation was the first to use an airplane in warfare?

Answers:

1)  the elephant











2)  the banana plant

3)  Italy

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)   In the song "Candy Man," what did the Candy Man mix with the candy to make the world taste good?


2)  Who was the first female jockey to win a leg of the Triple Crown?


3)  Who was the youngest college graduate?

4)  If you're prone to motion sickness, it's best to sit in this seat location on the plane.


Answers:

1)  love

2)  Julie Krone won at Belmont in 1993.

3)  Michael Kearney was 10 when he earned his B.A. from University of  South Alabama.

4)  over the wing

Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1) On June 4, 1937, grocery chain owner Sylvan Goldman introduced something new to his Humpty Dumpty store in Oklahoma City.  What was it?

2) On June 4, 1896, Henry Ford took his first car for a night-time drive in Detroit.  The test was delayed briefly because the car was wider than the door of the shed in which it was built.  What did he call his first car?

3) Who was the first author in history to have both the #1 and #2 books on the New York Times best-seller list?


Answers:

1) The first shopping cart, which involved merely installing wheels and a basket on a folding chair.

2) Ford called his first car a quadricycle.  It was steered with a rudder and had no reverse.

3) Robert Fulghum in 1989.  The books were "It was On Fire When I Lay Down On It" (#2) and "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."

Alan Rock's Trivia!

Questions:

1)  What is the only sovereign state not recognized by the United Nations?

2)  He was the first President to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

3)  According tho the National Climatic Data Center, this city is actually the windiest in the U.S.

4)  What is the highest elevation in the United States?


Answers:

1)  Vatican City

2)  Franklin D. Roosevelt

3)  Dodge City. Even though it's called the "Windy City," Chicago ranks 53rd.

4)  Alaska's Mount McKinley is highest at 20,320 ft.