Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (215 page)

DECEMBER 28

1869
W
ILLIAM
S
EMPLE RECEIVES
the first patent for chewing gum.

ON THE BUBBLE

1.
What kind of bubbles in the bloodstream can cause “the bends”?

2.
What color is Mr. Bubble?

3.
What kind of animal is Michael Jackson’s beloved Bubbles?

4.
What’s the answer to the disputed Trivial Pursuit question in the
Seinfeld
episode “The Bubble Boy”?

5.
In parts of New England and Wisconsin, what do residents call a “bubbler”?

6.
Who are Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup?

7.
What material’s name is actually a registered trademark of the Sealed Air Corporation?

8.
The first of whose famous bubble machines was improvised using a bread pan, a clock motor, and a fan?

9.
What famous seventeenth-century economic bubble saw a prized “Semper Augustus” bulb being sold for 6,000 florins?

10.
The Model 1015, or “Bubbler,” from 1946, is still the most iconic design of what object?

1917
H. L. M
ENCKEN
publishes his famous hoax “A Neglected Anniversary,” a fictional history of the bathtub. Many still believe Mencken’s (made-up) claim that Americans were vehemently antibathtub until Millard Fillmore installed one in the White House in 1850.

SPLISH SPLASH

1.
The Trevi Fountain in Rome was wrapped in black crepe in 1996 to mourn the death of what actor?

2.
Who beat the USSR in the violent “Blood in the Water” Olympic water polo showdown of 1956?

3.
According to Mikmaq Indian legend, what bay’s powerful tides are the result of a giant whale splashing its tail?

4.
Who likes to go swimming with his friends at Goo Lagoon?

5.
Who named his Gemini capsule
Molly Brown,
in response to the 1961 sinking of his
Liberty Bell
capsule at splashdown?

1985
E
DDIE
M
URPHY’S
R
ICK
J
AMES
–produced single “Party All the Time,” later judged by
Blender
magazine to be the eighth “Worst Song Ever,” peaks at number two on the
Billboard
charts. Only the tyranny of Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me” in the top spot saves America from the ignominy of an Eddie Murphy number one.

TOWER OF DABBLE

Match these actors to their ill-conceived vanity bands. (Kidding, Russell—put the phone down…)

DECEMBER 29

1721
M
ADAME DE
P
OMPADOUR
is born in Paris. She will grow up to become King Louis XV’s favorite mistress despite—I can only assume—a namesake haircut that makes her look like Little Richard.

LEGENDS OF THE FOLLICLES

Match these famous names with their characteristic haircuts.

1806
P
ANTOMIME CLOWN
J
OSEPH
G
RIMALDI,
the “father of modern clowning,” makes his Covent Garden debut. Grimaldi is so innovative and celebrated a performer that clowns are called “joeys” for decades.

BOY, IS MY NOSE RED

1.
For what musical did Stephen Sondheim write “Send in the Clowns”?

2.
Clownfish can survive in coral reefs because they’re immune to what predator?

3.
What future weatherman was also, in 1963, TV’s first Ronald McDonald?

4.
What kind of clown is a “barrel man”?

5.
What opera is mentioned in Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown”?

6.
What comedian made his directorial debut with
Shakes the Clown
?

7.
What two Disney dogs were voiced by Pinto Colvig, the original Bozo the Clown?

8.
What TV clown once boasted that he made $2.5 million a year from lithographs of his clown paintings?

9.
What face-painted group are “Juggalos” devoted fans of?

10.
What novel features Penny-wise the Dancing Clown?