Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (60 page)

APRIL 10

1896
G
REEK WATER CARRIER
S
PIRIDON
L
OUIS
becomes a hero in Athens when he wins the first track and field Olympic gold for his homeland by winning the marathon, a race designed to commemorate the Athenian victory of the 490
B.C.
Battle of Marathon.

MY BIG FAT GREEK ALPHABET

1.
Who played the title character in the film
The Omega Man
?

2.
What film introduced the fraternity Lambda Lambda Lambda?

3.
Horse, tiger, or wolf—what kind of animal is Pi Patel’s lifeboat companion for seven months in the novel
Life of Pi
?

4.
At the delta of the Danube River, what body of water does it flow into?

5.
What short-lived 1970s TV series was set on Moonbase Alpha?

1921
C
OUNTRY SINGER AND CHARACTER ACTOR
Sheb Wooley is born in Oklahoma. Wooley’s biggest hit was his novelty number “Purple People Eater,” but movie buffs know him as the screamer behind the “Wilhelm scream,” a ubiquitous Hollywood sound effect that’s been heard in everything from
A Star Is Born
to
Star Wars.

IN A MANNER OF SHRIEKING

1.
What working title for the movie
Scream
later named a hit 2000 film?

2.
Whose campaign was hurt by the so-called I Have a Scream speech he gave after the 2004 Iowa caucus?

3.
On January 22, 1892, what artist wrote in his diary that while out walking with friends, he “sensed an infinite scream passing through nature”?

4.
The U.S. Army’s elite 101st Airborne Division is known as the “Screaming” what?

5.
What Screamin’ Jay Hawkins hit was banned by many radio stations, which called its grunts and groans “cannibalistic”?

1939
E
DUCATOR
F
RANK
W. C
YR
holds a conference at Columbia University’s Teachers College with the aim of improving school bus safety. The result of the conference: a glossy yellow color called “National Chrome” is chosen as the American school bus standard. For the rest of his life, Cyr will be known as the “Father of the Yellow School Bus.”

THEY WERE ALL YELLOW

1.
What army is invading Pepper-land in the Beatles film
Yellow Submarine
?

2.
The 3,400-mile Yellow River is what country’s second longest?

3.
Why was paradise paved over, according to Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”?

4.
Health problems in 2006 led Greg Page to quit as the “Yellow” member of what Australian group?

5.
Which Yellowstone geyser, with eruptions 100 feet taller than Old Faithful’s, is the world’s tallest?

6.
In soccer, how many yellow cards lead to a player’s disqualification?

7.
Which chemical element is a bright yellow solid at room temperature?

8.
What Hungarian-born newspaperman’s
New York World
was in the vanguard of “yellow journalism” during the 1890s?

9.
Which Scandinavian nation has a yellow cross on its flag?

10.
Who appears on the cover of the
Pokémon Yellow
video game?

APRIL 11

1849
W
ALTER
H
UNT RECEIVES
a patent for a single piece of wire, which he’s twisted cleverly into the first modern safety pin.

SAFETY DANCE

1.
By U.S. law, exit signs in buildings must be one of what two colors?

2.
Sodium azide, a highly toxic chemical, is best-known for being used to develop what lifesaving devices?

3.
What actor campaigned against helmet laws until he was almost killed in a helmetless 1988 motorcycle accident?

4.
Because her name became a slang term for a life preserver, who is the only actress whose name is an entry in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary?

5.
What L.A. Ram and future TV cop is the only player in NFL history ever to record two safeties in a single game?

2003
I
N A WEIRD CASE
of NBA Stockholm Syndrome, the Miami Heat retire Michael Jordan’s number 23 jersey, even though he never played for the team—and, in fact, booted them from the playoffs three times in the 1990s.

JERSEY CITY

Can you match up the athletes who memorably wore the same number and name that number? (Hint: the athletes at left are listed in ascending order.)

2007
T
HE
U.S. P
OST
O
FFICE
sells its first “forever stamps,” which will always be good no matter how much stamp prices rise.

FOREVER AND A DAY

1.
Who played the Dark Knight for the only time in
Batman Forever
?

2.
Fans of what first-person shooter video game franchise have been waiting more than a decade for its fourth installment, ironically subtitled
Forever
?

3.
What Hobbity actor has “Living is easy with eyes closed,” from “Strawberry Fields Forever,” tattooed on his left arm?

4.
What company coined the influential ad slogan “A diamond is forever”?

5.
1975’s
Forever…
was billed as what author’s first novel for adults?