Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (105 page)

JUNE 28

1846
B
ELGIAN FLAUTIST
Adolphe Sax is granted a patent for his new single-reed woodwind, which he calls the saxophone.

BLOW ME

1.
What’s the first instrument that listeners hear at a performance of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”?

2.
What is this instrument, called
il fagotto
in Italian?

3.
What trumpetlike horn is jazzman Chuck Mangione’s instrument?

4.
What instrument do Australian Aborigines traditionally make from termite-hollowed eucalyptus trees?

5.
What brand of cough drops uses an alphorn in its commercials?

6.
The sousaphone is a marching-band version of what symphony instrument?

7.
What’s the most common “singing membranophone”?

8.
Because of an unfortunate incident in Exodus, what animal’s horns are expressly forbidden from being used to make a Jewish shofar?

9.
Which modern instrument was called the sackbut until the nineteenth century?

10.
What instrument, familiar to
Legend of Zelda
players, is used to play the famous theme from
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
?

1876
T
WO DAYS AFTER
the Battle of Little Bighorn, a burial party finds Captain Myles Keogh’s horse Comanche in a thicket, wounded by seven arrows but still alive. Comanche becomes famous as the only survivor of “Custer’s Last Stand.”

MY LITTLE PONY

Name the famous horse that belonged to…

Easy

1.
The Lone Ranger

2.
Gumby

3.
Wilbur Post

4.
Roy Rogers

5.
Dudley Do-Right

Harder

1.
Robert E. Lee

2.
Don Quixote

3.
Tom Mix

4.
Alexander the Great

5.
Tonto

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Caligula

2.
Ichabod Crane

3.
Napoleon

4.
Gandalf

5.
Zorro

1935
W
AIKIKI MERCHANT
E
LLERY
C
HUN
first advertises his new “Aloha shirts,” which he’s created to use up leftover kimono fabric he couldn’t get rid of. They’re a smash with tourists.

LEI LADY LEI

1.
What’s the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands?

2.
What iconic Hawaiian object was based on the Portuguese
braguinha
?

3.
What Olympic champ was sheriff of Honolulu from 1932 to 1961?

4.
The name of what other U.S. state titles a national memorial in Hawaii?

5.
What word did the University of Hawaii Warriors drop from their team name in 2001?

JUNE 29

1888
T
HE FIRST KNOWN RECORDING
of classical music is made in London’s Crystal Palace, when George Gouraud performs Handel’s
Israel in Egypt
for Edison’s wax cylinder.

HOOKED ON CLASSICS

1.
Whose Adagio for Strings is best known as the theme from the movie
Platoon
?

2.
Who wrote sonnets called “La primavera,” “L’estate,” “L’autunno,” and “L’inverno,” to be read with the movements of his most famous work?

3.
What river provided the water for which Handel wrote
Water Music
?

4.
What famous name in opera was the son-in-law of composer Franz Liszt?

5.
What’s the name of the mystery woman “Für” whom Beethoven wrote his well-known Bagatelle in A Minor?

1956
P
RESIDENT
E
ISENHOWER CREATES
the Interstate Highway System, arguing that better roads between American cities are needed for civil defense.

ROADS SCHOLARS

In what state are state highways marked with these symbols?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.