Sport's trivia day

Been lax this month. No excuse. I just didn't think the things I was thinking about would interest anyone. And, please don't comment that they are never interesting to anyone else. These are just some sport's trivia questions that I liked. Not that I'm some kind of sport's trivia expert at all, and I had to look up the answers to some of which I only had a general idea. The answer key is at the end so jot down your answers as you go, or you'll see all the answers when you check one.




1. There has been only one successful drop kick in the NFL since the 1940s, and it was made on the very last play of this player's career.

a. Doug Flutie  b. Archie Manning  c. Jan Stenerud  d. James Brown

2.  One of these Yankees did not win the MVP award three times.

a. Yogi Berra  b. Joe DiMaggio  c. Lou Gehrig  d. Mickey Mantle

3. The last commissioner of the ABA was -

a. Willis Reed  b. Dave DeBusschere  c. Red Holtzman  D. George Mikan

4. The '76 U.S. Hockey Team won the Olympic Gold medal by beating -

a. Finland  b. USSR   c. Sweden  d. Czechoslovakia

5. Secretariat has since 1973 held the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes records. Who has the record for the Preakness?

a. Affirmed   b. Seattle Slew   c. Curlin  d. Secretariat

6. The incredible Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewicz - We use her Americanized name) was the 1932 Olympic women's 100 meter champion for the Polish team.  One little problem discovered in 1980 has resulted in a bit of a controversy, yet unresolved.

a. Finding an old film no one had watched, a journalist noticed her getting a ridiculous false start lead not picked up in the days before instant replay until then.  b. She was the first Olympic athlete to admit using a then-new training technique - anabolic steroids  c.  Hanna Suchocka did not qualify for the team, but came along with her girlfriend, Stella; when Stella hurt herself tripping over her trunk, they looked enough alike for Hanna to step in. No one noticed until Hanna died and Stella came forth.   d. She was a man, baby. 

7. The great boxer Joe Louis did not lose to -

a. Ezzard Charles.  b. Jersey Joe Walcott  c. Rocky Marciano  d. Max Schmeling

8. He is the all-time Boston Celtic leader in points scored, games and minutes played, field goals attempted and made among others, including personal fouls. He was second in free throws attempted and made.

a. Paul Pierce  b. John Havlicek  c. Larry Bird  d. Robert Parrish

9.  He won more Grand Slam singles championships in the 1960s than any other men's tennis player.

a. Rod Laver  b. Ken Rosewall  c. Roy Emerson  d. John Newcombe

10. How far do they actually ski jump? The current world record is -

a. 550 feet    b. 700 feet  c. 825 feet  d. 1025 feet

Answers below

 ANSWERS

1. a. Doug Flutie, NE Patriots, Jan. 1, 2006, age 43.

2. c. Lou Gehrig only won twice. 

3. b. Dave DeBusschere made the jump from the Knicks' management.  Mikan was the league's first commissioner.

4.  No, not the USSR.  The answer is a.  Finland.  The Miracle on Ice against the USSR had already happened earlier in the medal round.

5.  d. Secretariat. Although he set the record in 1973, of course, it was not recognized by the Maryland Racing Commission until 2012. It was always known that Secretariat's electronically recorded time made no sense, but it wasn't until three years ago the commission held a hearing and was convinced by the evidence using modern technology that he had run faster than Curlin in 2007 and two other horses before him.

6. d. She was a man, baby. Sort of, anyway.  It was learned in her 1980 autopsy (killed during a robbery) that she had genital characteristics for both sexes and almost an equal number of male/female chromosomes. BTW, Hanna Suchocka is the name of the first female Polish Prime Minister in the 1990s.  Anyway, back to Stella, it may explain her 18 world records and the fact that she was also great at hurling the discus.

7.  b.  Jersey Joe was actually the last man Louis beat in his last championship defense.  Schmeling beat him before he was champ, and Charles and Marciano beat him a couple of years after he retired and tried to come back - almost always a bad idea.

8. b.  Hondo, John Havlicek.  Bird and Pierce are up there with him in most of these categories.

9. c. Actually, Roy Emerson, though you'd probably guess Rod Laver (he won 11). Laver was nevertheless the greatest player of his era. In fact, Laver won 48 of their 66 matches and 7 of 9 of their Grand Slam matches.   

10. c. 825 feet.  When you realize that's over 2 1/2 football fields including the end zones and visualize it - - yikes!

Trivia VI, the family edition

More of the greatest running trivia game since Trivial Pursuit. There is no point in googling. Just guess. This one is all about families.

1. Who are Gershom and Elizier?
a. The sons of Elrond.
b. The sons of Moses.
c. The sons of Alexander the Great.
d. The sons of Saddam Hussein.

2. Who were Magni and Modi?
a. The sons of the Norse god Thor.
b. The first legendary tiger tamers in Ringling Bros. circus.
c. The sons of Jack Dempsey.
d. The only brothers (Gustaffson) ever to win NCAA wrestling championships in the same year.

3. Wendy, Michael and John’s parents were . . .
a. George and Mary Darling.
b. Bryce and Emma Darling.
c. John and Mary Darling.
d. Michael and Nanna Darling.

4. Peter Pan grew up in . . .
a. Hyde Park.
b. Kensington Gardens.
c. London Tower.
d. St. James Park.

5. These brothers have more home runs than any other brothers in baseball history.
a. Lloyd and Paul Waner.
b. Felipe, Matty and Jesus Alou.
c. Hank and Tommie Aaron.
d. Dick, Hank and Ron Allen.

6. Abraham, Sarah and Thomas were . . .
a. the patriarch, his wife and brother.
b. three first disciples to join the 11 after after Jesus’ death.
c. Martha Washington’s 3 children from her first marriage.
d. Lincoln, his sister and brother.

7. They are siblings.
a. Albert Brooks and Super Dave.
b. Scott Baio and Vampirella.
c. Angela Basset and Laurence Fishburne.
d. Rachel McAdams and Amy Adams.

8. They share a pedigree.
a. Seattle Slew and Barbaro.
b. Secretariat and Seabisquit.
c. Affirmed and Man o’ War.
d. Alydar and Affirmed.

9. These two were also related.
a. The Green Lantern and the Green Arrow.
b. Mr. Fantastic and Bruce Banner.
c. Caspar and Richie Rich.
d. The Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet.

10. They were cousins.
a. Zachary Taylor and James Madison.
b. Warren Harding and Grover Cleveland.
c. George Bush and LBJ.
d. James Monroe and Martin van Buren.

11. Julius, Adolph and Leonard were . . .
a. The real names of the Three Stooges.
b. The real names of the Ritz Bros.
c. The real names of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.
d. The real name of the Marx Bros.

12. Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia were . . .
a. The four daughters of Czar Nicholas II.
b. The four original female Flying Wallendas.
c. The four names assigned to positions in Mah Jong.
d. The four daughters in the 1938 movie The Four Daughters.

13. Jackie Gleason’s grandchild is . . .
a. Kiefer Sutherland.
b. Jason Patric.
c. Carrie Ann Moss.
d. Edward Norton.

14. This president’s son died in an accident on their way to his inauguration.
a. John Adams.
b. Abraham Lincoln.
c. Calvin Coolidge.
d. Franklin Pierce.

15. Presidents Jackson, Tyler, Benjamin Harrison and Wilson all . . .
a. Had no children.
b. Had a younger relative in congress while serving.
c. Had their wife die after they were elected.
d. Married after they were elected.

16. Agamemnon and Menelaos were brothers from this story.
a. The Iliad.
b. The story of Purim.
c. Brer Rabbit.
d. Egyptian Book of the Dead.

17. These actors are not siblings.
a. James Arness and Peter Graves.
b. Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine.
c. Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty.
d. Beau Bridges and Dennis Quaid.

18. This president had ten brothers and sisters.
a. James Madison.
b. James Monroe.
c. James Polk.
d. James Buchanan.

19. Perhaps the literary prototype of modern television show relatives who like to get others in trouble, Sid was the half-brother to . . .
a. David Copperfield.
b. Tom Sawyer.
c. Sherlock Holmes.
d. Alice (in Wonderland).

20. This Biblical hero’s daughters seduced him when he was drunk so that they could have children by him.
a. Moses.
b. Jacob.
c. David.
d. Lot.

1-b. Moses had kids? Yes, he did and those are their names. I couldn’t remember them and had to look in the Bible, so don’t feel bad. Elrond’s sons were Elladan and Elrohir. Alexander the Great had Herakles (no, not the mythological hero) and Alexander IV. Saddam’s sons were Uday and Qusay, killed together during the war.

2-a. Thor’s kids, both who survive Ragnarök, the final battle of the gods. B and d are made up. D is only half made up; Dempsey had kids, but I have no idea what there names were.

3-a George and Mary Darling.

4-b Kensington Park as we learn in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.

5-c Hank and Tommie. No one even close.

6-d Lincoln and siblings. The patriarch’s brothers were Nahor and Haran. Martha Custis (Washington) had 4 children, but none with those names.

7-a Albert and Dave. The other three are just as likely, but they aren’t related. Super Dave’s and Albert’s real last name is Einstein. That’s right. Albert Brooks is really named Albert Einstein.

8-c Man o’ War was Affirmed’s great great great grandfather and War Admiral was his great great grandfather. Alydar and Affirmed was probably the greatest racehorse rivalry of all time. Affirmed was just consistently a little better. He beat Alydar in the three Triple Crown races, but all together by less than two lengths. But, here’s what you might not know even if you are a fan. Alydar was the favorite going into the Kentucky Derby and he actually beat Affirmed 3 times in their 10 races, including the very last one.

9-d I always imagined that Casper was Richie Rich’s ghost, but no. The Lone Ranger was created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. The hero was a Texas Ranger left for dead whose name was John Reid. Jon’s brother, who died in the same ambush, was Dan, whose son Dan was Britt Reid’s father. Britt Reid was, of course, the Green Hornet. How can they just say that? Well, the Green Hornet was also created by Trendle and Striker, so they could do whatever they wanted. Radio-wise, the Ranger is only 3 years older than the Hornet even though fictionally, he was two generations earlier. Hi-yo Silver, Away!

10-a Zach and James were 2d cousins, much closer related than FDR and Teddy Roosevelt. The others listed – no. I’ve given this one before, but it fit the category.

11-d Groucho was Julius, Harpo was Adolph (then Arthur) and Chico was Leonard.

12-a The Czar’s little girls. Come on – Anastasia! How big of a hint can I give you?

13-b Jason Patric. Not a great actor, but a great lineage. Do you remember when Julia Roberts dumped Kiefer Sutherland just before they got married (supposedly he cheated, but who knows) and she ran away with Jason, Kiefer’s close friend. It was a long time ago, but according to one interview with Kiefer, who had serious addiction problems, he forgives Julia, but not Jason. I can understand that. Guys have a code, or, at least they are supposed to have one.

14-d Pierce was on his way to Washington when their train derailed and his last living child died. However, the others all lost children while president. Adams was estranged from his grown son. Lincoln’s son was very young when he died and Coolidge’s son got a blister playing tennis which ended in blood poisoning.

15-c All of them.

16-a The sons of Atreus were Greek conquerors of Troy, of course, but their names do sound a little Egyptian, don’t they?

17-d This was an easy one. Dennis Quaid’s brother is Randy and Beau Bridges’ brother is Jeff. Who got that wrong? 'Fess up.

18-d But, only one of Pres. Buchanan’s brothers and sisters was alive by the time he got to the White House.
19-b Confession. I have never actually read any of the Tom Sawyer novels and don’t even know how I knew that.

20-d Lot’s daughters did this after they fled with their father and his wife had been turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at Sodom, which, if you recall, Jehovah had nuked in a snit. To be fair to his daughters, they were trying to keep the bloodline going, but it's one of the more disturbing non-fatal moments in the Bible.

Who Said it V?

Time for another Who said it?, the world’s second most popular trivia game. There are one and a half rules but they are for me, not you. One, the quote has to be found in my own library and, two, it (usually) has to be someone that most people who like history or politics or literature would have heard about. In one case below the person the quote is from the wife of a famous person about him. Nine of the ten are Americans and the other one an Englishman speaking about Americans.

1) When I was a little fellow, as long as I can remember, I would go into a panic if I heard strange voices in the house. I felt I just couldn’t meet people, and shake hands with them. Most of the visitors would sit with mother and father in the kitchen, and it was the hardest thing in the world to have to go through the kitchen door and give them a greeting. I was almost ten before I realized I couldn’t go on that way. And by fighting hard I used to manage to get through that door. I’m all right with old friends, but every time I meet a stranger, I’ve got to go through the old kitchen door, back home, and it’s not easy.

That’s from President Calvin Coolidge, sometimes known as Silent Cal. Despite his name, his speeches and press conferences were quite frequent and lengthy. He also was a prolific author, but he was shy and quiet in company. If we can believe the story, at a party he was seated next to a woman who said she had heard about his reputation for not talking much and that she had bet someone that she could get three words out of him. He replied – ‘You lose.”

2) Nothing has ever hurt me so much and affected me with such keen sensations as to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up arms against me, in a cause wherein my good fame, fortune and life were all at stake.

* * *

I have made a rule, whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprentice hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern was to have a handsome signboard, with a proper inscription. He composed it in these words, 'John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money,' with a figure of a hat subjoined. But thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first he showed it to thought the word 'Hatter' tautologous, because followed by the words 'makes hats,' which showed he was a hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word 'makes' might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats. If good and to their mind, they would buy them, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words 'for ready money' were useless, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Every one who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood, 'John Thompson sells hats.' 'Sells hats!' says the next friend. 'Why, nobody will expect you to give them away. What then is the use of that word?' It was stricken out, and 'hats' followed it, the rather as there was one painted on the board. So the inscription was reduced ultimately to 'John Thompson,' with the figure of a hat subjoined.

Ben Franklin is my favorite founder, bar none. The first quote is from a letter to his son William, the governor of New Jersey when the revolution broke out and an unrepentant tory. Dad wrote him off, and if I recall correctly, saw him only once more in his life, never forgiving him.

The second, one of my favorites, is actually told by Thomas Jefferson, and relates how Franklin tried to comfort him when congress was picking apart his original draft of the declaration of independence. Cynic though I am, and always suspicious of Jefferson, I hope there is more Franklin in it and less Jefferson. It sounds like the type of story Old Ben would tell.

3) Assassination is not an American practice or habit, and one so vicious and so desperate cannot be engrafted into our political system. This conviction of mine has steadily gained strength since the Civil War began. Every day's experience confirms it. The President, during the heated season, occupies a country house near the Soldiers' Home, two or three miles from the city. He goes to and from that place on horseback, night and morning, unguarded. I go there unattended at all hours, by daylight and moonlight, by starlight and without any light.

Lincoln’s secretary of state, William Seward, showing why he was not famous for his prophetic powers. It is sometimes forgotten that he was nearly assassinated himself the same night as Lincoln. Booth’s confederate Lewis Powell chose a knife instead of a gun and did not finish the job, but the recovery was long and the scars endured.

4) After being hunted like a dog through swamps, woods, and last night being chased by gun boats till I was forced to return wet cold and starving, with every man’s hand against me, I am here in despair. And why; For doing what Brutus was honored for, what made Tell a Hero. And yet I for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew am looked upon as a common cutthroat. My action was purer than either of theirs. One hoped to be great himself. The other had not only his country’s but his own wrongs to avenge. I hoped for no gain. I knew no private wrong. I struck for my country and that alone. A country groaned beneath this tyranny and prayed for this end. Yet now behold the cold hand they extend to me. God cannot pardon me if I have done wrong. Yet I cannot see any wrong except in serving a degenerate people.

That is from the diary of John Wilkes Booth, kept while he was on the run after the assassination. There are some pages missing and that fact has raised not a few eyebrows as to who he might have implicated.

5) Being more than usually pale, I ventured to put on a little rouge, which I found relieved the black and made me quite beautiful. Wishing to evade Mr. [A. . . ‘s] observation, I hurried through the room telling him to put the lights out and follow me down. This excited his curiosity and he started up and led me to the table and then declared that unless I allowed him to wash my face he would not go. He took a towel and drew me on his knee and all my beauty was clean washed away, and a kiss made a peace, and we drove off.

* * *

One evening, when I had dressed to go to Court, the everlasting teasing about my pale face induced me to make another trial of a little rouge, and contrary to my first proceeding, I walked boldly forward to meet Mr. [A. . . ]. As soon as he saw me, he requested me to wash it off, which I with some temper refused, upon which he ran down and jumped in the carriage and left me planté là, even to myself appearing like a fool, crying with vexation.

Ah, the rouge wars of the Adams' clan. These descriptions of life with John Quincy Adams make you wonder why his wife Louisa didn’t do away with herself. Between her depressing and arrogant husband and her opinionated and overbearing mother-in-law (Abigail was not so wonderful from Louisa’s viewpoint as history makes her out to be), she did not enjoy much of her life. At one point poor Louisa bought Abigail a ring only to have John Q. refuse to let her send it, and then telling his mother that he refused because it was too showy.

6) I have sustained a continual Bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the wall. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due his honor or that of his country. VICTORY or DEATH.

* * *

I look to the colonies alone for aid; unless it arrives soon, I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms. I will, however, do the best I can under the circumstances; and I feel confident that the determined valor and desperate courage heretofore exhibited by my men will not fail them in the last struggle; and although they may be sacrificed to the vengeance of a Gothic enemy, the victory will cost the enemy so dear, that it will be worse to him than a defeat. I hope your honorable body will hasten on reinforcements ammunition, and provisions to our aid as soon as possible. We have provisions for twenty days for the men we have. Our supply of ammunition is limited. At least five hundred pounds of cannon powder, and two hundred rounds of six., nine, twelve and eighteen pound balls, ten kegs of rifle powder and a supply of lead, should be sent to the place without delay under a sufficient guard. If these things are promptly sent, and large reinforcements are hastened to this frontier, this neighborhood will be the great and decisive ground.

This first quote is from the letter addressed to all Texans and all Americans in the world from Lt. Col. William Travis as he and his men approached destiny at the Alamo at the hands of the Mexican general Santa Anna. The second quote is from a little more than a week later, still trying to sound confident, but with reality creeping in. The courier John W. Smith brought it out, the last man to leave the Alamo alive.

7) The Americans will have no interest contrary to the grandeur and glory of England, when they are not oppressed by the weight of it; and they will neither be inclined to respect the acts of a superintending legislature, when they see them the acts of that power which is itself the security, not the rival of their secondary importance. In this assurance my mind most perfectly acquiesces, and I confess I feel not the least alarm from the discontents which are to arise from putting people at their ease; nor do I apprehend the destruction of this empire from giving, by an act of free grace and indulgence, to two millions of my fellow citizens, some share of those rights upon which I have always been taught to value myself.

This is from a speech by Edmund Burke to parliament in 1775, when a declaration of independence was still a year away, but hostilities were already joined. Burke is rightly celebrated as a great friend of America, liberty and democracy, but his predictions about America, which would declare independence be a great rival and sometimes enemy of Britain for over a century afterwards, shows that even someone who others put forth as the great man (Dr. Samuel Johnson, for one), cannot see the future.

8) My friends, we declare that this nation is able to legislate for its own people on every question, without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation on earth; and upon that issue we expect to carry every state in the Union. I shall not slander the inhabitants of the fair state of Massachusetts nor the inhabitants of the state of New York by saying that, when they are confronted with the proposition, they will declare that this nation is not able to attend to its own business. It is the issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when but three millions in number, had the courage to declare their political independence of every other nation, shall we, their descendents, when we have grown to seventy millions, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers?

This is a question that is probably worth asking every generation. We are now 300 million and the pressure to meld into some sort of world government or give away sovereignty always grows. Recently, listening to the physicist Michio Kaku discuss mankind’s evolution into what is called a type one civilization – that is, mastery of the resources of a home planet (this is actually called the Kardashev scale - we are now a type zero civilization), he suggested that as part of reaching that goal in the future we will have a world government. I emailed his blog and asked him if that didn’t show a political bias, and that maybe advancement to a type one civilization could involve the end of government, rather than what sounds like must be prototypical Platonic global tyranny to me. No answer, of course. The quote above though is from William Jennings Bryant famous Cross of Gold speech in 1896. He was focused on the issue of bimetallism – gold and silver. This is a very difficult subject to get our heads around now when we do not have a metal standard at all, but at the end of the 19th century it was quite the big deal.

9) First he expressed his condolences. Then he said . . . this might be part of a worldwide plot, which I didn’t understand, and he said a lot of people down here think I should be sworn in right away. Do you have any objection to it? And – well, I was sort of taken aback at the moment because it was just an hour after . . . the President had been shot and I didn’t think – see what the rush was. And I thought, I suppose at the time, at least, I thought it would be nice if the President came back to Washington – President Kennedy . . . . But I suppose that was all personal . . . . he said, who could swear me in? I said, I’d be glad to find out and I’ll call you back.

This quote is taken from Arthur M. Schleshinger, Jr.’s Robert Kennedy and His Times and is somewhat eerie for a number of reasons. The speaker is Bobby Kennedy, brother of the assassinated president, JFK. He was relaxing by his pool with his wife and some co-workers during a break in a Justice Department conference on organized crime when he learns that his brother had been shot and then that he was dead. The caller in this case was LBJ, who some conspiracy theorists like to think had a hand in it. If you’ve read the first three volumes of Robert Caro’s awe inspiring biography of LBJ, you might just think he had the sociopathic personality for it, although I have never read anywhere any reliable evidence to support it (hearsay evidence has it that LBJ thought the CIA was involved). However, I look forward to Caro’s last installment (he says in 2012), which will cover this period of time, with great eagerness. The phone call had to be difficult for many reasons – Johnson and RFK were not admirers, in fact they were antagonists, and LBJ is calling right after RFK learns of his brother’s assassination, mostly because RFK is the attorney general. Johnson was right, of course – he should have been sworn in immediately, and RFK acknowledges his reluctance was probably personal. It also is a little weird that he refers to his brother as “the President,” rather than Jack or “my brother”. But, it is easy to understand how RFK might feel affronted by a call like this from his brother’s main opposition in their own party who will now replace him in the presidency so soon after his death. According to Schleshinger, JFK only asked LBJ if he wanted the VP job out of propriety and was shocked when he accepted, or he wanted him as VP so that he wouldn’t be majority leader in the senate anymore and would be gotten out of the way.

10) The Jew waited until I paid him before he laid the watch on the counter. He gave his signal -- and this other fellow suddenly appeared, from the back, walking toward me.

One hand was in his pocket. I knew he was a cop.

He said, quietly, “Step into the back.”

Just as I started back there, an innocent Negro walked into the shop. I remember later hearing that just that day he had gotten out of the military. The detective, thinking he was with me, turned to him.

There I was, wearing my gun, and the detective talking to that Negro with his back to me. Today I believe that Allah was with me even then. I didn’t try to shoot him. And that saved my life.

I remember that his name was Detective Slack.

I raised my arm, and motioned to him. “Here, take my gun.”

I saw his face when he took it. He was shocked. Because of the sudden appearance of the other Negro, he had never thought about a gun. It really moved him that I hadn’t tried to kill him.

Sounds like a detective novel, doesn’t it? It has the tone of a Walter Mosely Easy Rawlins’ mystery. But, it is from the Autobiography of Malcolm X, which I recall reading during law school for some reason and found fascinating.

I am aware that there is a claim that at least some of the episodes described in the autobiography were manufactured, but have never looked into it myself. It still makes for arresting reading. Alex Haley, later the author of Roots collaborated on it based on his interviews, and it was brought out after X’s assassination. Haley supposedly had an important role in toning down the anti-semitism which would have made it less appealing to many audiences. At the same time that I read X’s autobiography, I also read that of Patrick Buchanan. Both grew up in Washington, D.C., one a privileged white kid and the other a poor black one. Their perspectives about blacks made for quite an interesting juxtaposition.

Okay, all done. As usual, this is really just an excuse for my ruminating about history.

Trivia II

After my first trivia post (4/25/08), a second round was demanded by popular acclaim (actually it was only one guy, but he might have been enthusiastic). Like the last one, these represent some of my favorite trivia questions, and nothing more. If you don't have the same interests I do, you will do miserably.

QUESTIONS

1. Which of our presidents was a citizen of France? (not kidding)
2. It is well known that Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton were our youngest presidents. Who was next youngest?
3. In 1952 Puerto Rican citizens started a gun fight in Washington D.C. involving 8 people that lasted about 40 seconds during which 30 shots were fired and two people died (eerily comparable to the O.K. Corral gunfight). What was the fight about?
4. Samuel Sewall was one of the first American writers on abolition (1700) and women’s rights (1725). But, before that, he apologized for his role in a sad episode in American history? What was it?
5. What were used as moving targets in one of the shooting events in the 1900 Paris Olympics?
6. How many gold medals were awarded at the first modern Olympics in 1896?
7. Jesse Owens 1936 Olympic victories are the stuff of legends. But, in the 200 meters he narrowly beat a teammate whose little brother is even more famous than Owens. Who’d he beat?
8. Which one of these smart guys was also an Olympic champion: Socrates, Plato, Einstein, von Braun or Sartre?
9. Which of these was an early and short lived Olympic sport? The standing pole vault, the standing long jump, the standing javelin throw or the standing high jump?
10. This famous athlete/actor, and childhood hero of mine, was on the University of Southern California team that set a world record in the 4x110 yard relay in the late 1960s.
11. Who's older -- Popeye, Olive Oil or John McCain?
12. Hamlet famously suggests that two of his adversary’s will be “hoisted by their own petard”. What the hell is a petard?
13. Hamlet also says to Orphelia “Get thee to a nunnery.” What was he suggesting?
14. During the Civil War the president’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, managed to slip at a Northern train station so that both legs were caught in the gap between the train and the station, risking his life. He was rescued by a celebrity who yanked him free. Who was that celebrity?
15. The vice president of the confederacy stood out from the other high officials on either side because of what characteristic?
16. The biggest battles of World War II were all fought where?
17. Gandhi is actually a common name in India and means what?
18. It is well known that the oldest man in the Bible was Methuselah, who lived to 969 years. The Bible doesn’t say how he died, but you can figure it out. So, how?
19. Actor Albert Brooks real name is much more famous than his stage name. What is it?
20. Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert were the co-authors of the John Denver hit “Country Roads, Take me home” (Denver only tinkered with it) which reached number 2 on Billboard. But later they performed their own pop classic which was a number one 70s hit which you almost certainly have heard. What was it?
21. The 67 highest mountains in the world are in Asia. What country has the next highest?
22. If you thought “boondocks” as in “I live in the boondocks” was a Southern expression, you are dead wrong. It means mountains, and derives from what language?
23. British actor Stanley Jefferson’s stage name was? How did he get it?
24. Other than the obvious, Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphreys, Jack Kennedy, George H. W. Bush have what in common?
25. He pardoned Robert E. Lee.
26. Who was the first Vice President to be called “Veep”?
27. Which Big Band leader gave Sinatra his big break?
28. In Tolkien’s first draft of what became The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn was not a man. What was he?
29. Which three angels are named in the canonical Bible?
20. He stole home plate 50 times in his career. Home plate! Blows my mind. Who was it?

ANSWERS

1. Believe it or not, George Washington was given citizenship in France. Not that he ever lived or visited there. They made Hamilton one too.
2. Ulysses Grant.
3. The two gunmen were trying to assassinate President Truman at the Blair House. The other combatants were assigned to protect him.
4. He was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials.
5. Poor little pigeons. Can you imagine that today?
6. None. The winners got Silver medals.
7. Matthew (Mack) Robinson, whose little brother Jackie you probably heard about.
8. Apparently, Plato, if history can be believed.
9. The standing long jump, won by Ray Ewry, a standout in two Olympics.
10. O.J. Simpson. Most of my other childhood heroes ended up better.
11. Olive Oyl was created in 1919, ten years before Popeye. She was seventeen when McCain was born (1936).
12. A petard was a new fangled bomb at the time.
13. A nunnery was slang for a whorehouse.
14. This is one of history’s great coincidences. John Wilkes Booth’s older and more famous brother, Edwin Booth, who lived in and supported the North, saved Lincoln’s only surviving child. This sounds like a myth, but its not. Both Booth and Lincoln acknowledged it during their lives and there were other witnesses.
15. Judah Benjamin was Jewish.
16. In the Soviet Union against the Germans.
17. It means grocer.
18. If you do the math (I did personally), he almost certainly drowned during the great flood which only Noah and family survived. I suppose he could have died earlier that year of old age, but I’m going with it.
19. Albert Einstein. Can’t imagine why he needed a stage name.
20. Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band). Who could forget that song?
21. Argentina has number 68. I never remember its name so I won’t include it.
22. The language is Tagalog, spoken in the Philippine Islands. The expression was picked up by Americans during our occupation of the islands.
23. Stan Laurel. He picked laurel by opening the dictionary to a random page, supposedly to a picture of one my favorite Romans, Scipio Africanus, who was wearing a laurel leaf crown.
24. They all fought in WWII. I left Eisenhower out so as not to make it too obvious.
25. Gerald Ford got around to it in 1975. When Andrew Johnson gave a general amnesty, Lee and other confederate leaders had to make special application to the president. For some reason, Lee’s application was put aside or given away by Secretary of State, William Seward, probably by accident.
26. Alben Barkley, the now forgotten VP during the Truman administration. According to Barkley, his grandson came up with it.
27. Harry James had him before Tommy Dorsey, with whom his career really took off.
28. Actually, he was a hobbit. Would have been a different book, no?
29. Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer.
30. If you guessed Rod Carew, you are wrong. He did it 17 times in the 60s and maybe 70s, 7 times in one year (the record) which I consider underappreciated. But, it was Ty Cobb who had 50 in his career way back when.

Trivia

I know I just did a trivia post two weeks ago, but these are some of my personal favorite trivia questions. Now I have it out of my system. Answers below.

1. How many states have a point further north than the southernmost point of Canada?

2. Not counting islands, which two states are physically split into two parts?

3. It is common knowledge that Greenland is the largest island (not counting the continent Australia). What are numbers two and three?

4) What is the easternmost state?

5) What is the most popular religion in South Korea?

6) Who is the only president with the first name Stephen?

7) Which vice president of the United States was also a member of the Confederate cabinet and rebel general?

8) How far is the nearest star from us?

9) The highest rated single television episode is still . . . .?

10) By far, the country with the highest per capita GNP in the world is . . . ?

11) Which states (there are three) touch the most other states?

12) When did the Supreme Court of the United States determine that it was illegal for a state to forbid racial intermarriage?

13) How many of our presidents went to school at either Harvard or Yale (or both)?

14) Which was the last president and vice president team of which neither was elected?

15) Two tiny independent states are found within the boundaries of the country of Italy. What are they?

16) Which of our presidents survived assassination attempts?

17) Leaving aside the Adamses and Bushes (father/son) and the Harrisons (grandfather/grandson), the Roosevelts are usually reported as the next closest relations among presidents, but they were only fifth cousins. Which two were second cousins?

18) How many states have less people than New York City?

19) What was Clarence’s last name in It’s a Wonderful Life?

20) Jackie Gleason’s real first name was?

21) How do you get to Neverland?

22) When was the Declaration of Independence not signed?

23) Which planet has a moon bigger than two planets?

24) A flock of crows is called a . . . ?

25) At least proverbially, Wild Bill Hickock was killed while holding what poker hand?

26) During WWII UFOs were known to the Allies as . . . ?

27) What was the name of the little girl who was Magilla Gorilla’s friend?

28) John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th, 1826, considered an extraordinary coincidence. But another president died on the Fourth of July too, in another year. Who was it?

29) Who served the longest as either president, vice president or both?

30) Indians who lived in Tallahassee (“Old Town”), Florida were relocated west and gave their new residence a corrupted form of the same name, which we know as what present day city?

31) Joe Louis lost only three times, twice at the end of his career when he was in his late thirties, and once, famously, in his prime, to Max Schmeling, which he revenged. But he was also knocked out of the ring in his prime by the brother of a more famous fighter. Who was it?

32) Who was the five time presidential candidate who won 3.4% of the popular vote from prison?

33) If Barack Hussein Obama becomes president, he will be the second, not the first, to have to have a middle eastern name. Who was the first?

1) Twenty-six. Believe it. I personally counted them.
2) Michigan and Virginia.
3) New Guinea and Borneo.
4) Alaska. The Aleutian Islands stretch to the westernmost part and over into the easternmost part. Near the poles, longitude lines are close together. It is also the westernmost, and, of course, northernmost state.
5) Neither Buddhism or Shinto. It’s Christianity and it arrived there in the late 1700s.
6) Stephen Grover Cleveland.
7) John C. Breckenridge (Buchanan’s VP) was Jefferson Davis’ Secretary of War.
8) About 4.3 light years or 25,260,787,199,705,600 miles (don’t check my math please). Actually, Alpha Centauri is three stars in a system, but who cares?
9) The final episode of M.A.S.H. (1983).
10) Itsy bitsy Luxembourg.
11) Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, all which touch each other.
12) Hard to believe, but not until 1967.
13) Ten of them – almost 1 in 4.
14) Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller from 1973-1977.
15) One is pretty easy, Vatican City, but the second, is the oldest surviving constitutional republic in the world – San Marino – and under 40 square miles.
16) Jackson, T. Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, Ford, Reagan.
17) James Madison and Zachary Taylor.
18) 39 of 50 of them.
19) Oddbody.
20) Herbert.
21) Second (star) to the right and straight on till morning.
22) It is arguable when it was signed, and it was on different days by different signers (some not even there when it passed), but definitely not on July 4th. It wasn’t ready to be signed yet.
23) Jupiter. The moon is Ganymede. And don’t tell me Pluto isn’t a planet.
24) A “murder”.
25) A pair of aces and a pair of 8s – a dead man’s hand.
26) Foo fighters. It was thought they were Japanese secret weapons. We still don’t know what they were.
27) Oh Gee.
28) James Monroe in 1831, five years after the other two.
29) Surprisingly, Richard M. Nixon, who resigned about 2 ½ years into his second term as president, and two earlier terms as VP has the most time in. FDR was elected four times but died in his fourth month after inaugurated the last time. No one else has been elected four times.
30) Tulsa (originally “Tulsey Town”), Oklahoma.
31) Max Baer’s huge brother, Buddy (6’ 6” 230-250), was also an excellent fighter who fought Louis for the championship twice. Although Louis beat him both times, the first time the big man knocked him right out of the ring.
32) Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned for making speeches during WWI which were found to have encouraged resistance to the draft. Warren Harding, who won the election, commuted the sentence after more than 2 ½ years served.
33) Warren Gamaliel Harding. Gamaliel means benefit (or reward or recompense) of God.