Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - February 11
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. The father of actor Mark Harmon became, in 1940, the sixth person to win what? The Heisman Trophy. Tom Harmon was the 1st winner from the University of Michigan. Go Blue!
2. What country's 38th prime minister, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and executed by revolutionaries in 1978? Italy
3. Peridot is one of the few precious gems that comes in only one color. What color is peridot? blue?
4. In one of the most influential magazine profiles in history, Gay Talese wrote in 1966 that what famous man "Has a Cold"? Truman Capote (who had just published In Cold Blood)?
5. The operas Aïda and Thaïs have something in common besides their diacritical dots. Both are set in what country? Egypt
6. Yellowstone National Park includes part of three U.S. states, but 96 percent of it lies within what state? Wyoming
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these countries, listed in this order? Australia, Japan, Tanzania, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, France, China, Italy, Peru, Ireland, Israel. Is this a book or movie that visits locations in these countries?
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. In 1917, what country was rocked by a February Revolution and an October Revolution? Russia, soon to be the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. correct
2. By Forbes's reckoning, who is America's only black billionaire? Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.8 billion...and she's still only the world's 503rd richest person, according to Forbes. (Gayle King: not on the list.) correct
3. Who wrote the poems in Drum-Taps and the memoir Specimen Days, both inspired by his work in a Civil War military hospital? Walt Whitman was a volunteer nurse during the war, which inspired some of his best poems. I should have gotten this one.
4. The Doors, the White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are notable for being bands that are all missing what traditional rock instrument? None had a bassist. In the Doors, Ray Manzarek would often play the bass part in the left hand of his keyboards, and think about how he would spend the last forty years of his life reminiscing about Jim Morrison. correct
5. The body's T cells, which help provide immunity, are so named because they originate in what small organ of the chest? They're named for the thymus. I have no joke about the thymus to go in this space. The thymus. correct
6. Sephora and Ulta are retail chains that specialize in selling what? A ridiculously idealized, time-consuming, and expensive standard of feminine beauty! Oops, makeup. I meant makeup. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these chemical elements, and no others? Bismuth, cesium, chlorine, indium, iodine, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, and (arguably) thallium and zirconium. These are all the elements that are named for specific colors. (I left off chromium and iridium, two elements named for their general colorful-ness. But I did include thallium, named for a Greek word for a green shoot or young twig, and zirconium, which is named for the mineral zircon, which in turn comes from a Persian word for "golden-colored." It gets complicated.) correct!
1. The father of actor Mark Harmon became, in 1940, the sixth person to win what? The Heisman Trophy. Tom Harmon was the 1st winner from the University of Michigan. Go Blue!
2. What country's 38th prime minister, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and executed by revolutionaries in 1978? Italy
3. Peridot is one of the few precious gems that comes in only one color. What color is peridot? blue?
4. In one of the most influential magazine profiles in history, Gay Talese wrote in 1966 that what famous man "Has a Cold"? Truman Capote (who had just published In Cold Blood)?
5. The operas Aïda and Thaïs have something in common besides their diacritical dots. Both are set in what country? Egypt
6. Yellowstone National Park includes part of three U.S. states, but 96 percent of it lies within what state? Wyoming
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these countries, listed in this order? Australia, Japan, Tanzania, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, France, China, Italy, Peru, Ireland, Israel. Is this a book or movie that visits locations in these countries?
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. In 1917, what country was rocked by a February Revolution and an October Revolution? Russia, soon to be the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. correct
2. By Forbes's reckoning, who is America's only black billionaire? Oprah Winfrey is worth $2.8 billion...and she's still only the world's 503rd richest person, according to Forbes. (Gayle King: not on the list.) correct
3. Who wrote the poems in Drum-Taps and the memoir Specimen Days, both inspired by his work in a Civil War military hospital? Walt Whitman was a volunteer nurse during the war, which inspired some of his best poems. I should have gotten this one.
4. The Doors, the White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are notable for being bands that are all missing what traditional rock instrument? None had a bassist. In the Doors, Ray Manzarek would often play the bass part in the left hand of his keyboards, and think about how he would spend the last forty years of his life reminiscing about Jim Morrison. correct
5. The body's T cells, which help provide immunity, are so named because they originate in what small organ of the chest? They're named for the thymus. I have no joke about the thymus to go in this space. The thymus. correct
6. Sephora and Ulta are retail chains that specialize in selling what? A ridiculously idealized, time-consuming, and expensive standard of feminine beauty! Oops, makeup. I meant makeup. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these chemical elements, and no others? Bismuth, cesium, chlorine, indium, iodine, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, and (arguably) thallium and zirconium. These are all the elements that are named for specific colors. (I left off chromium and iridium, two elements named for their general colorful-ness. But I did include thallium, named for a Greek word for a green shoot or young twig, and zirconium, which is named for the mineral zircon, which in turn comes from a Persian word for "golden-colored." It gets complicated.) correct!
