Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (23 page)

FEBRUARY 7

1960
F
RANK
S
INATRA INTRODUCES
his paramour Judith Campbell to Senator John F. Kennedy. She will become JFK’s mistress and the “close friend” with Mob ties discreetly referred to in a 1975 Senate investigation.

TRAIL TO THE CHIEF

Which U.S. president was (or is) a personal friend of these famous names?

1.
John Kenneth Galbraith

2.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

3.
Sam Houston

4.
Rock Hudson

5.
Bat Masterson

6.
Jim Nantz

7.
Thomas Nast

8.
Willie Nelson

9.
Joseph Priestley

10.
Kevin Spacey

1974
T
HE
S
YMBIONESE
L
IBERATION
A
RMY
announces that they’ve kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. How come none of
today’s
really annoying heiresses becomes a political prisoner?

ARMY OF DORKNESS

1.
What army was founded by “General” William Booth?

2.
What man, golf’s first millionaire, was followed by an eponymous Army of fans?

3.
A Chinese man digging a well in March 1979 discovered an 8,000-man “army” made of what?

4.
What singer’s “Army of Me” video was the first ever to use the “bullet-time” special effect later made famous by
The Matrix
?

5.
What must be manufactured by Victorinox or Wenger to be official?

1984
C
HALLENGER
ASTRONAUT
Bruce McCandless II becomes the earth’s first human satellite, as he’s the first person ever to go for an untethered space walk.

CUT LOOSE

1.
What CEO bounced back after being fired by Henry Ford II in 1978?

2.
Lou Barlow formed Sebadoh after J Mascis booted him from what other band?

3.
Why did Aaron Spelling fire actress Hunter Tylo from
Melrose Place,
leading to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit?

4.
What fired general later ran against Lincoln in the 1864 election?

5.
Who did the Chicago Bears fire in 1992, just four years after he was the NFL Coach of the Year?

FEBRUARY 8

1855
I
N
D
EVON,
E
NGLAND,
a hundred-mile path of hoofprints mysteriously appears overnight in lightly fallen snow. Since the marks appear to cross obstacles like houses, rivers, and walls with no difficulty, the phenomenon becomes known as “the Devil’s Footprints.”

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS

1.
What musical talent does the Devil display in the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”?

2.
Before they moved to Newark, the New Jersey Devils had the same name as what current baseball team?

3.
What author’s version of the Devil calls himself “Memnoch”?

4.
What occupation traditionally referred to its apprentices as “devils”?

5.
What kind of fur coat does Cruella De Vil covet?

6.
What miraculous transformation does the Devil first tempt Jesus to try in the wilderness?

7.
Al Pacino’s satanic character in
The Devil’s Advocate
is named for what author?

8.
The former penal colony of Devil’s Island is located off the coast of what country?

9.
What bread’s name may come from German words meaning “devil’s fart”?

10.
What Australian city’s pro basketball team was called the Devils?

1958
J
OSEPH
M
ANKIEWICZ’S WHITEWASHED FILM
version of Graham Greene’s
The Quiet American
hits screens. Greene is incensed that the novel’s whole point has been turned upside-down, by making Communists the villains and dedicating the film to Ngo Dinh Diem, and he angrily repudiates the movie.

ADAPTIVE PARENTS

What original literary work were these retitled movies based on?

Easy

1.
Nosferatu

2.
Manhunter

3.
Charly

4.
Jackie Brown

5.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Harder

1.
The Heiress

2.
A Place in the Sun

3.
The Innocents

4.
Gettysburg

5.
Christmas with the Kranks

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
The Door in the Floor

2.
Eyes Wide Shut

3.
Sabotage

4.
Ossessione

5.
Die Hard 2

1968
W
HATCHU CRYIN’ ABOUT,
A
RNOLD?
Gary Coleman is born in Zion, Illinois.

DIFF’RENT STROKES

Swimming strokes, that is.

1.
Which stroke is swum first in a “medley” swimming event?

2.
What hero of 1926 played herself in the 1927 film
Swim, Girl, Swim
?

3.
Who’s the only founding member of both the International Surfing and Swimming Halls of Fame?

4.
Who outgrew a childhood chlorine allergy to become the biggest Olympic medal winner in Australian history?

5.
What fictional polo player was first played on screen by swimmer Buster Crabbe?