Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (101 page)

JUNE 20

1942
B
RIAN
W
ILSON IS BORN
in Hawthorne, California. His father (and future Beach Boys manager) is Murry Wilson, a machinist whose part-time songwriting career led to one minor hit, “Two-Step Side-Step,” which Lawrence Welk played on his radio show.

I KNOW THERE’S AN ANSWER

Answer these questions with the titles of Beach Boys songs.

1.
What takes exactly eight minutes and twenty seconds to reach the earth?

2.
What was the nickname of Ohio restaurateur Dave Thomas’s second daughter, red-headed Melinda Lou Thomas?

3.
According to the name of the short story that inspired Steven Spielberg’s
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,
how long do “Super-Toys Last”?

4.
What Clorox “Formula” was named in honor of its inventor’s birthday, April 9?

5.
What Indiana city is named for a legendary Indian chief whose name is Miami for “Black Walnut”?

6.
What sitcom was almost titled “Six of One” or “Across the Hall”?

7.
What animated film begins in Shiverpool, Antarctica?

8.
John the Baptist survived in the wilderness by eating locusts and what other food?

9.
Before he turned to acting, what was Marky Mark’s only number one song?

10.
If not for Marseille, what would be the largest French city on the Mediterranean?

1963
T
HE RED-TELEPHONE “HOTLINE
” between the White House and the Kremlin is established.

HOT STUFF

1.
What reality show gave America the beloved catchphrase “That’s hot”?

2.
What American spot hit a world-record 134° F in July 1913?

3.
What was the subtitle of the 1993 sequel to
Hot Shots!
?

4.
What U.S. president was raised in a spa town called Hot Springs?

5.
What company now owns both the Hot Wheels
and
Matchbox brands?

6.
What jazzman’s first recording band was the Hot Five?

7.
What are made hot by capsaicin?

8.
What
SNL
cast member voiced “Waldo” in Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” video?

9.
What talk show opens with the “Hot Topics” rundown?

10.
What natural phenomenon can reach a temperature of 50,000° F, five times hotter than the surface of the sun?

2006
J
ON
H
EIN SELLS
his website, jumptheshark.com, to
TV Guide
for more than $ 1 million. You now have one minute to feel bad about every half-stoned conversation you had with your college roommates that
didn’t
make you a million dollars. Go.

SHARK WEEK

According to Hein, who or what “jumped the shark” at these precise moments?

1.
“The birth of Mearth”

2.
“Terry Kath dies and the band forgets about the numbers”

3.
“The tank”

4.
“He became Yusuf Islam”

5.
“At the Oscars—channeling to Tibet”

6.
“Junior sings at Jackie Jr.’s wake”

7.
“Scott Norwood hooks it wide right in Tampa”

8.
“One from the Heart”

9.
“Tawana Brawley”

10.
“Riley and the Initiative”

JUNE 21

1947
A
CTOR
M
ICHAEL
G
ROSS
is born in Chicago. By an astounding coincidence, Gross’s
Family Ties
wife-to-be, Meredith Baxter, is born on the very same day, in Pasadena.

NON-FAMILY TIES

They don’t share a birthday, but what do these odd groups of people have in common?

1.
Kofi Annan, John Elway, Linda Hamilton, Elvis Presley, Kiefer Sutherland

2.
Lewis Carroll, Sonny Liston, Karl Marx, Tom Mix, Mae West

3.
Matthew Broderick, Laura Bush, William Holden, Barbara Mandrell, Craig MacTavish

4.
Lucille Ball, Joseph G. Cannon, John Lennon, Eddie Mathews, Marilyn Monroe

5.
David Bowie, Albert Brooks, Ray Charles, Stewart Granger, Michael Keaton

6.
James Arness, Michael Crichton, John Kenneth Galbraith, Krist Novoselic, Peter the Great

7.
Jose Canseco, Patrick Ewing, Kelsey Grammer, Alexander Hamilton, Empress Josephine

8.
Art Buchwald, Ella Fitzgerald, Frida Kahlo, Cole Porter, Santa Anna

9.
Otto von Bismarck, Kit Carson, Christopher Columbus, James Madison, the Apostle Paul

10.
Lauren Ambrose, Erskine Caldwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul McCartney, Kurt Vonnegut

2005
C
ROATIAN TENNIS STAR
Ivo Karlovic uses his 6-foot, 10-inch height to serve a record 51 aces in a Wimbledon match against Daniele Bracciali—but still loses the match.

ACE IN THE HOLE

Here are ten
more
aces to consider.

1.
Besides aces, what was the other pair in Wild Bill Hickok’s famous “dead man’s hand”?

2.
Ironically, who played an inexperienced young physician named Ace on the 1984 sitcom
E/R
?

3.
Who fights crime alongside a German shepherd named Ace?

4.
How many enemy planes must a pilot shoot down to be called an ace?

5.
Chess, backgammon, or cribbage—what game’s equipment is used to play acey-deucey?

6.
What kind of animal’s kidnapping is solved by
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
?

7.
What ace of the 1961 Yankees team won twenty-five games and the Cy Young Award, but was overshadowed by the Mantle-Maris home run chase?

8.
According to the Ace of Base song “All That She Wants,” what
is
all she wants?

9.
What is the lowest-ranking ace in bridge?

10.
What other singer’s death inspired Paul Simon to write “The Late Great Johnny Ace”?