Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (110 page)

JULY 3

1844
T
HE LAST NESTING PAIR
of great auks is shot by sailors on the Icelandic island of Eldey. They also crush the pair’s egg.

WELL, THAT’S JUST GREAT

1.
What two “Great” lakes are the largest two lakes entirely within Canada?

2.
Who’s the palindromic protagonist of Dickens’s
Great Expectations
?

3.
What comedy hit was produced under the working title
East Great Falls High
?

4.
What president proposed the Great Society?

5.
Radio’s first spin-off,
The Great Gildersleeve,
originated from what other comedy series?

6.
The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle
is a mockumentary about what band?

7.
What phrase from Virgil, meaning “Providence has favored our undertakings,” appears on the back of the Great Seal of the United States?

8.
The Great Barrier Reef sits off the coast of what Australian state?

9.
The Great White Hope
is a fictionalized account of what first black heavyweight boxing champ?

10.
What day of the week was the initial October 24, 1929, crash that kicked off the Great Depression?

1863
T
HE DISASTROUS BLOODBATH
of Pickett’s Charge marks the end of the battle of Gettysburg and the “high-water mark of the Confederacy.” It will be seen as the turning point of the Civil War.

NORTH AND SOUTH

The Union and Confederacy couldn’t even agree on what to call their battlegrounds. Can you match up
these northern and southern names for the same engagement?

1971
This is the end, beautiful friend: J
IM
M
ORRISON’S BODY
is found in a Paris bathtub dead of a heroin overdose.

BEFORE I GET OLD

Given a musical group, name the band member who OD’d young.

Easy

1.
Big Brother and the Holding Company

2.
The Sex Pistols

3.
The Byrds

4.
The Blues Brothers

5.
The Who

Harder

1.
Blind Melon

2.
The Wu-Tang Clan

3.
Milli Vanilli

4.
Thin Lizzy

5.
Alice in Chains

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Mother Love Bone

2.
Red Hot Chili Peppers

3.
Hole

4.
The Germs

5.
Sublime

JULY 4

1826
O
N THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, two of the three surviving signers die within hours of each other: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

FOUNDING FATHERS

1.
Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware was en route to what Revolutionary War battle?

2.
Who said “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!”?

3.
Under what Roman pseudonym were the Federalist Papers written?

4.
Who was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence?

5.
Who was the only slave ever known to have stayed in John Adams’s household?

1924
A
N
I
NDEPENDENCE
D
AY CUSTOMER RUSH
depletes Tijuana chef Caesar Cardini’s supply of salad ingredients, so he whips up a new concoction tableside. The Caesar salad is born.

HAIL CAESAR

1.
Julius Caesar was killed on the fifteenth day of March, but during most months, the Roman ides actually fell on a different date. Which?

2.
What politician, a U.S. congressman until 2003, was named for Julius Caesar?

3.
What’s the protagonist’s name—and the last word of the film—in 1931’s
Little Caesar
?

4.
What Shakespearean title character is killed, as prophesied, by an enemy who was born via cesarean section?

5.
In what movie does Sid Caesar cameo as football coach Calhoun?

1991
M
INNEAPOLIS ALT-ROCK BAND
The Replacements officially breaks up, after their famous “It Ain’t Over ’Til the Fat Roadie Plays” farewell performance at Chicago’s Grant Park. One by one, the band members hand off their equipment to their road crew toward the end of the concert, so the show ends with the roadies “replacing” the Replacements.

THE REPLACEMENTS

1.
What color M&M was retired to make way for blue M&Ms in 1995?

2.
At the start of what movie does the star deadpan to the camera, “This never happened to the other fellow”?

3.
In the Bible, who did Matthias replace?

4.
What is Ryan Minor’s claim to (very limited) sports fame?

5.
What were the names of the “scab” Duke cousins who took over
The Dukes of Hazzard
during John Schneider and Tom Wopat’s 1982 contract dispute?

6.
When the Eiffel Tower was completed, it replaced what American building as the world’s tallest structure?

7.
In 2001, what surpassed tuna as America’s most eaten seafood?

8.
What bird did Ben Franklin suggest replace the bald eagle as a national emblem?

9.
Steven Hill was replaced as TD Waterhouse’s TV pitchman by which of his
Law & Order
cast mates?

10.
What was the capital of Brazil until Brasilia was completed?