Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (67 page)

APRIL 24

387
T
WO FAMOUS CHURCH FATHERS
meet for a quick dip: the night before Easter, Augustine of Hippo is baptized by Ambrose of Milan.

CHURCH FATHERS

Name the dads who begat these biblical folks.

Easy

1.
Solomon

2.
Joseph

3.
John the Baptist

4.
Isaac

5.
Ham, Shem, and Japheth

Harder

1.
Seth

2.
David

3.
James and John

4.
Jonathan

5.
Maher-shalal-hash-baz

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Samson

2.
Moses

3.
Methuselah

4.
Peter and Andrew

5.
Joshua

1903
I
N A
M
ASONIC CEREMONY,
Teddy Roosevelt lays the cornerstone for the north gate of Yellowstone National Park, today called Roosevelt Arch. A Masonic ceremony?! Wow, maybe
National Treasure
was right.

STATE OF THE ARCH

1.
What come in three basic patterns: arches, loops, and whorls?

2.
St. Louis’s Gateway Arch is officially named for what U.S. president?

3.
What company lost more than $300 million on the failed Arch Deluxe?

4.
What state depicts Delicate Arch on its license plates?

5.
What would a doctor call
pes planus
?

1915
A
T THE SECOND BATTLE OF
Y
PRES,
the Germans bombard the Canadian troops with poison gas. The Canadians bravely hold their positions, having discovered that they can make gas masks by peeing into their hankies! (The ammonia in the urine neutralizes the chlorine.) I hope each and every one of those brave men received the Purple Bladder.

PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS

In what part of the body would you find these secretions?

1.
Chyme

2.
Amniotic fluid

3.
Sebum

4.
Cowper’s fluid

5.
Aqueous humor

APRIL 25

1792
C
LAUDE
R
OUGET DE
L
ISLE
composes a marching song for the Army of the Rhine. When soldiers from Marseille first introduce it to Paris during the French Revolution, it becomes known as “La Marseillaise.”

GALLIC SYMBOLS

1.
A magician, a figure skater, or a pickpocket—who would use the French drop, the double lift, and the DeManche change?

2.
What spice is named for the capital of French Guiana?

3.
Which Beatles song has a French horn solo?

4.
What do most tourists call the Vieux Carré?

5.
What pioneering fighter pilot of World War I is remembered today mostly by tennis fans at the French Open?

6.
What do the British call a “French letter”?

7.
What athlete was born in French Lick, Indiana, in December 1956?

8.
Gene Hackman’s
French Connection
cop is nicknamed for what cartoon character?

9.
What Daniel French sculpture is seen by 3.4 million visitors every year?

10.
Sarah Woodruff is the title character of what 1969 novel?

1940
A
MONUMENT IS ERECTED
two miles northwest of Lebanon, Kansas, pinpointing the exact geographic center of the United States. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey’s math may be a little off, however, since its methodology involved—no lie—cutting a map of the United States out of cardboard and then balancing it on a pin.

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?

1.
What famous name is the only Kansas basketball coach to have a losing record during his tenure?

2.
“Project Kansas” was the name for the top secret 1985 attempt to revamp what product?

3.
What forms the only part of the Kansas border, a seventy-five-mile stretch, that’s not drawn with a straight-edge?

4.
What Kansas song does Keanu Reeves use to wow Socrates in
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
?

5.
Charles Dawes, Charles Curtis, or Charles Evans Hughes—what Kansan was the only Native American ever to serve as U.S. vice president?

1972
A
CTOR
G
EORGE
S
ANDERS
(Addison DeWitt in
All About Eve
and Mr. Freeze on
Batman
) kills himself in Spain. The suicide note begins, “Dear world, I am leaving because I am bored.”

SUICIDE IS PAINLESS

What regular on each of these shows ended up taking his or her own life?

Easy

1.
Fantasy Island

2.
The Adventures of Superman

3.
Chico and the Man

4.
Family Feud

Harder

1.
St. Elsewhere

2.
Suddenly Susan

3.
The Today Show

4.
Family Affair

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Saturday Night Live

2.
The Farmer’s Daughter

3.
Make Room for Daddy

4.
Gibbsville