Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (191 page)

1981
T
HE
S
TEELER AND THE
P
ITTSBURGH
K
ID,
perhaps the only movie ever based on a TV ad, airs on NBC. “Mean” Joe Greene reprises his role as the jersey-throwing Steeler; a pre
-E.T.
Henry Thomas makes his TV debut as the Coke-offering kid.

MEAN STREAK

1.
What
SNL
alum plays the high school principal in the movie
Mean Girls
?

2.
Apart from the British Isles, what are the only two European countries on Greenwich Mean Time?

3.
Who is the archenemy of Bugs Meany and his gang, the Tigers?

4.
What Greek letter is used to represent the number 1.618…, the “golden mean”?

5.
What Beatles title character is Mean Mr. Mustard’s sister?

1994
B
RIT JOURNALIST
M
ARK
S
IMPSON
coins the word “metrosexual” in an article titled “Here Come the Mirror Men” in
The Independent.

TRANSMETROPOLITAN

Match these crime fighters to the cities they protect.

NOVEMBER 16

1906
W
HILE
T
EDDY
R
OOSEVELT
is visiting the Panama Canal (the first foreign trip by a sitting president, by the way), a photograph is taken of the president in a black-banded straw hat. This helps cement in the public mind the idea that this type of Ecuadorian-made hat is, in fact, a “Panama hat.”

OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD

1.
Whose hat bears a slip of paper reading “In this style 10/6”?

2.
What signature salad was invented at Hollywood’s Brown Derby restaurant in 1937?

3.
In 2002, what city dedicated a bronze statue of a young woman tossing a tam-o’-shanter into the air at the corner of Seventh Street and Nicollet Mall?

4.
What type of paper got its name from a seventeenth-century watermark of a belled jester’s hat?

5.
In addition to being a hat, “Fez” is also the third largest city of what country?

6.
How many rays are there on the Statue of Liberty’s crown?

7.
What are the only two NFL teams with football helmets pictured on their helmet logos?

8.
Who wears a red
zucchetto
hat?

9.
From what sport did hockey borrow the term “hat trick,” for a trio of goals?

10.
In a 1985 hit song, what does a girl wear into Mr. McGee’s five-and-dime store?

1959
T
HE
S
OUND OF
M
USIC
opens on Broadway. Jon Voight is an understudy for the part of Nazi bicycle messenger Rolf, and he ends up marrying Lauri Peters, his Liesl.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

1.
What hill in Somerset, England, was immortalized in 1977 by Peter Gabriel, who used to jog there?

2.
What nickname did Dong Ap Bia receive in 1969 from all the U.S. soldiers who were “chewed up” there?

3.
What Caribbean island was largely evacuated in 1995 when the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted?

4.
What’s the mascot of the basketball team on TV’s
One Tree Hill
?

5.
What historical event actually happened, for the most part, on nearby Breed’s Hill?

1981
G
UEST STAR
E
LIZABETH
T
AYLOR
is on hand when Luke and Laura get married on
General Hospital,
still the highest-rated hour of daytime television ever.

VERY SPECIAL EPISODES

What TV characters married these characters on-screen?

Easy

1.
Mindy McConnell

2.
Daphne Moon

3.
Chandler Bing

4.
Agent 99

5.
Simka Dahblitz

Harder

1.
Joe Gerard

2.
Byron Sully

3.
Carol Martin

4.
Luka Kovac

5.
Brenda Chenoweth

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Steve Brady

2.
Connie McDowell

3.
Joy Darville

4.
Lee Stetson

5.
Martha Hale