Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (46 page)

MARCH 18

1918
T
HE FIRST OCEANGOING SHIP
made of cement, a $ 750, 000 pet project of San Francisco shipbuilder Leslie Comyn, is launched. It’s christened the SS
Faith,
possibly because that’s what you’d need a lot of in order to board a concrete ship.

FAITH NO MORE!

Who recorded the album called
Faith
that featured these songs?

1.
“Primary” (1981)

2.
“Father Figure” (1987)

3.
“Soon as I Get Home” (1995)

4.
“This Kiss” (1998)

1922
A
T THE URGING OF HER RABBI FATHER,
Judith Kaplan becomes the first Jewish girl ever to read from the Torah in a public Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

DAUGHTERS OF THE COVENANT

1.
For whom is Hadassah, the Jewish women’s organization, named?

2.
What artist sang with Barbra Streisand in her Brooklyn high school choir and later sang with her again in a number one hit duet?

3.
What U.S. state is represented in the Senate entirely by Jewish women?

4.
What war led to Golda Meir’s resignation as prime minister of Israel?

5.
What director is engaged to actress Rachel Weisz?

6.
Who was the first Jewish Miss America and, later, the unofficial “First Lady of New York City”?

7.
Who was the last American to win an Olympic gold for figure skating?

8.
Who was the only woman to hold the title office in the Book of Judges?

9.
Philosopher Hannah Arendt’s most famous book is named for what man “in Jerusalem”?

10.
What element of the periodic table is named for a Jewish woman?

1931
T
HE FIRST ELECTRIC SHAVER
hits shelves, courtesy of Schick, Inc.

HOLLYWOOD BUZZ

What actress shaved her head for her role in these movies?

Easy

1.
G. I. Jane

2.
V for Vendetta

3.
Alien
³

4.
Minority Report

5.
Anna and the King

Harder

1.
Heaven

2.
Empire Records

3.
Dragonfly

4.
Tank Girl

5.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
The Passion of Joan of Arc

2.
The Naked Kiss

3.
Caged

4.
The Girl in the Kremlin

5.
THX 1138

MARCH 19

1979
C-SPAN
GOES ON THE AIR,
with live coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives. Its very first proceeding is a speech by then-congressman Al Gore—a sure sign of many gripping hours of programming to come!

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

1.
What famous diplomat represented France at the Congress of Vienna in 1814?

2.
Whose personal library formed the basis of the Library of Congress after the British burned the original collection during the War of 1812?

3.
What organization’s flag is a black stripe for the people, a green stripe for the land, and a yellow stripe for riches?

4.
In what city did the First and Second Continental Congresses meet?

5.
What nation was led by the Congress Party from 1947 to 1996 almost uninterrupted?

1983
A
MERICA’S DRUG PROBLEM
is permanently solved when First Lady Nancy Reagan guests on a very,
very
special episode of
Diff’rent Strokes
to tout her “Just Say No” campaign.

NEGATIVLAND

In fond memory of “Just Say No,” here’s an unusually negative quiz.

1.
What negatively charged particle is the antiparticle of the positron?

2.
What oddly worded catchphrase earned Whitney Houston a “Big Quote” nomination from VH-1 in 2005?

3.
What vice president referred to his critics as “nattering nabobs of negativism”?

4.
What is 007 enemy Dr. No’s first name?

5.
What Herman Melville character always answers “I would prefer not to,” whenever his boss asks him to work?

6.
Whose presidential campaign was targeted by the famous “Daisy Girl” negative TV ad?

7.
What hip-hop artist is featured on Destiny’s Child’s first single, “No, No, No”?

8.
What “imaginary” number is defined as the square root of-1?

9.
What famous double negative is the first line in Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)”?

10.
What is absent in “negative” blood types like O negative and AB negative?

1994
A
RECORD-BREAKING OMELET
is made in Yokohama, Japan. You know what they say—you can’t make the world’s largest omelet without breaking 150,000 eggs.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

1.
What was the first nonoriginal color of cereal pieces added to Trix, in 1980?

2.
What breakfast item is the waitress serving on the cover of Super-tramp’s
Breakfast in America
album?

3.
What’s the meat in McDonald’s original recipe for Egg McMuffins?

4.
What American literary character’s real name is Lula Mae Barnes?

5.
In 1934, five years before his retirement, who became the first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box?

6.
Emilio Estevez was originally cast in what other actor’s role in
The Breakfast Club
?

7.
In France, what’s called
pain perdu,
or “lost bread”?

8.
Corn Flakes, Grape Nuts, or Post Toasties—what cereal was called Elijah’s Manna until 1908, when the Bible Belt branded that name as sacrilegious?

9.
What nation is the world’s largest exporter of coffee?

10.
Who was the only
Star Wars
character honored with his own breakfast cereal?