1. From what sport do we get the
phrase "start the ball rolling?
ANS: croquet
Source: Why You Say It by Webb Garrison
2. What animal is Australia's
most endangered mammal?
ANS: the wombat
http://home.mira.net/~areadman/wombat.htm
3. A man named Guy Grundy,
wearing motorcycle leathers and a crash jacket, set a
speed record as he hit 68 mph on an Anaheim Hills'
street.... using what mode of transportation?
ANS: A skateboard
http://www.discovery.com/stories/history/toys/SKATEBOARD/shoulda.html
4. When the Norse God Loki shot
and killed the god Balder, what kind of arrow did he
use?
ANS: Mistletoe
Source: Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday
Things
5. What was designer
"Coco" Chanel's first name?
ANS: Gabrielle
http://www.tchs.org/Coco%20Chanel's%20Page%202
6. In the world of baseball,
what was Elmer Smith's claim to fame?
ANS: He hit the first Grand Slam in World Series
history.
http://www.trms.k12.fulton.ga.net/~jtucker/lessons/sc/curveball/365days.htm
7. If you were paying for
something in "obols," where and when would
you be?
ANS: Ancient Greece
http://devlab.dartmouth.edu/olympic/glossary/
8. What solar system object
spins fastest?
ANS: An asteroid.. specifically one called 1998 KY26
http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/07/24a.html
9. What's the longest serving
combat aircraft?
ANS: The B-52 Stratofortress
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b52/index.html
10. What TV female private eye
had a pet ocelot named Bruce?
ANS: Honey West
Source: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network
and Cable TV Shows
11. It's well known that Wrigley
field was the last to finally hold night games, but
which ballpark was second to last when the lights
went on, the night of June 15, 1948?
ANS: Tiger Stadium
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/tigers.htm
12. In what movie will you hear
the following quote? "No. Try not. Do or do not.
There is no try."
ANS: The Empire Strikes Back
http://homepages.go.com/~starwarsgrl/esball.html
13. What TV show starring two
real life friends won a Golden Globe award as best
show in 1967?
ANS: I Spy, with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby
http://us.imdb.com/Tawards?0058816
14. A group of geese on the
ground is a gaggle, but what do you call a group of
geese in the air?
ANS: Skein
http://www.smallpond.u-net.com/fullgoat/j0008.htm
15. Where did the rhubarb plant
get its name?
ANS: From a combination of the Greek word Rha for the
Volga River, and the Latin word barbarum, for the
region of the Rha River inhabited by non-Romans. The
rhubarb is a wild plant along the Volga River.
http://homecooking.miningco.com/home/food/homecooking/library/weekly/aa051898.htm
16. Who is the only baseball
player to have led his team in total homeruns 18
years in a row?
ANS: Mel Ott with the New York Giants
http://www.totalbaseball.com/player/o/ott_m101/ott_m101.html
17. When discussing Love Waves
and Rayleigh Waves, what phenomenom is being
referenced?
ANS: Earthquakes
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/INFO_GENERAL/NQT/glossary.html
18. Who once had 'special'
cigars made out of cabbage leaves instead of tobacco
to discourage his visitors from taking all of his
stogies?
ANS: Thomas Edison
http://sermonillustrations.com/newpage158.htm
19. Who sings the song
"Through the Eyes of a Child" in the
closing credits of the movie South Park: Bigger,
Longer, and Uncut?
ANS: Michael McDonald
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/TMOD2/southpark.html
20. What is significant to
airplanes in the Eisenhower Interstate System
requirements?
ANS: One mile in every five must be straight to allow
emergency landing of aircraft
http://labmed.ucsf.edu/~terrazas/Jokes/Interesting_Facts.html
21. What state's motto, in
Spanish, means "Gold and\par Silver?
ANS: Montana
http://www.imagesoft.net/flags/i-flag/usa-mt.html
22. What actor had one of his
nipples bitten off by an alligator while he hosted a
wildlife show?
ANS: Lorne Greene
http://jayp.1st.net/trivia/entert01.htm
23. Crompton and Co is given the
credit for inventing what appliance?
ANS: Electric Toaster
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Library/kidstuff/inventor.html
24. Who was the first king of
Sweden to have the name Charles?
ANS:Sweden has never had a king named Charles.
They've had Olafs and Gustavs, but no Charles.
25. In the film "The Right
Stuff," who is credited in the movie as
"fred" and plays a bartender listening to
Jeff Goldblum talking about test pilots in a bar in
California?
ANS: General Chuck Yeager
http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0086197
26. Demi Moore has been in four
movies that were based on novels. Can you name two of
those novels with their authors?
ANS: The Juror by George Dawes Green
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Striptease by Carl Hiassen
http://www.amazon.com
27. Carter lusted in his heart,
Clinton never inhaled, but who withdrew his
nomination to the Supreme Court because he admitted
to smoking pot in the 60s and 70s while a student,
then a law professor at Harvard?
ANS: Douglas Ginsburg
http://www.a-s.clayton.edu/trachtenberg/p1101l14.htm
28. What female athlete retired
and said "I'm on top, I'm 35 years old, and I
don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to get
hurt anymore, and I've got nothing left to
prove?"
ANS: Jockey Julie Krone
http://www.cnnsi.com/more/horseracing/news/1999/04/08/krone_retirement/
29. Not since Barbara Eden's
navel coverup has so much flack been made about a
bare midriff. What singer took the heat for her bare
belly?
ANS: Shania Twain
http://www.wallofsound.go.com/artists/shaniatwain/home.html
30. What country music star had
a surprise crossover Disco hit in 1979?
ANS: Dolly Parton...Baby I'm Burnin'
http://www.discomagic.org/playlist/03-12-99.htm
31. In what country is
"Reversing Falls?"
ANS: Canada...where the St. John River flows into the
Bay of Fundy at St. John, New Brunswick. The rapids
at this juncture flows normally at low
tide...backwards at high tide. Between tides there is
a 20-minute period in which the river is placid and
boaters sail by...quickly.
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/1634/rfalls.html
32. Who was the only President
of the United States to also hold the title Chief
Justice? (independant of the Presidency)
ANS: William Howard Taft...The US Supreme Court
appointment came second and was a job Taft enjoyed
much more than the presidency.
http://www.uofdhigh.k12.mi.us/library/ptafr.html
33. Who was
Sweden's longest-reigning monarch? (be specific)
ANS: King Gustav the Fifth...he was in power from
1907 through 1950.
http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq731.html
34. When did the nation of Yemen
merge? (month, day and year)
ANS: May 22nd, 1990.
http://www.eng.morgan.edu/~eshaq/yemen.html
35. What key ingredient, once
common in religion, is absent from Christianity,
Judaism and Buddhism?
ANS: Multiple gods...Buddhists can be loosely
described as atheists, in that they believe Buddha
isn't actually a God but rather a representation of
their own inner self. Another notable item, once
common but, missing from these 3 religions is human
sacrifice.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0113529.html
36. What scientific conclusion
did both John Couch Adams and Urbain Leverrier come
to, one year apart and independent of each other?
ANS: Both predicted there was another planet beyond
Uranus based on celestial mechanics calculations.
Neptune was found the following year just where both
of them said it would be.
http://aurora.phys.utk.edu/~daunt/study_guides/Neptune.html
37. At this moment, what is the
most remote planet from the sun?
ANS: Pluto...all the planets circle the sun within a
few degrees of the same plane, except Pluto. Pluto is
way off on a tangent. Result - although it is USUALLY
the most distant planet, sometimes it's closer to the
sun than Neptune. However, on Feb. 11, 1999, Pluto
reclaimed its title as the most distant planet from
the sun.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planets/plutopage.html
38. Who was the first man to
record the song "The Twist?"
ANS: Hank Ballard...wrote and recorded "The
Twist" with the Midnighters in 1958, but their
record label relegated it to a B side, leaving it to
Chubby Checker to take "The Twist" to
Number One not once but two times, in 1960 and 1962.
http://www.rockhall.com/induct/ballhank.html
39. In the 1600s, a blind
Benedictine monk departed from the usual\par practice
of sealing wine bottles with cloth, thus creating a
new product. What did he create?
ANS: Champagne
http://www.intowine.com/Chmpn.html#history
40. What was the name of the
blind Benedictine monk in BLITZ question #39?
ANS: Dom Perignon
http://members.theglobe.com/algis/1000_1699.html
41. Which 2 planets (of the 9)
aren't included in composer Gustav Holst's classical
suite "The Planets?"
ANS: Pluto and Earth
http://www.best.com./~nebulosa/holst.html
42. Who first wrote,
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?"
ANS: Author Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, who sometimes
wrote under the name "The Duchess," in her
novel "Molly Bawn"
http://www.azstarnet.com/~dawnser/article/art07.htm
43. "The Bat Lizard",
"Star Child", "Space Man", and
"The Cat" were collectively known as?
ANS: KISS
http://www.roths-rendezvous.simplenet.com/goldmine.html
44. Where was Chinese leader Mao
Tse-Tung buried?
ANS: He wasn't buried. Mao's flag-draped
body, encased in crystal, has been on display in
Memorial Hall in Beijing's Tiananmen Square since
September 9th, 1977, the first anniversary of his
death.
http://www.celebritymorgue.com/chairman-mao/
45. Name the man who served as
President of the United States for one day.
ANS: Missouri's David Atchison...who, as president
pro tempore of the Senate in 1849, was President for
one day (Sunday, March 4th) pending the inauguration
of President-elect Zachary Taylor on Monday, March
5th.
http://www.house.state.mo.us/famous/atchison.htm
46. What was the first man-made
element?
ANS: Technetium (Tc)...from technetos, or artificial.
Atomic number 43 was discovered by Emilio Gino Segre
and Carlo Perrier
http://web.mit.edu/chichest/www/wheretc.html
47. When was the man-made
element, mentioned in #46, first weighed? (month, day
and year)
ANS: 1937...since the original source for this
question went *poof* we're going to accept just the
year. Techtenium has an atomic weight of 96.9062
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/nph-pertab/tab/element/Tc
48. Which musician was known as
"Mr. Five-by-five?"
ANS: Jimmy Rushing...because he was so wide. He was
Count Basie's featured vocalist from 1935 to 1948.
http://www.rundnaund.ch/songs/mr.htm
49. What is the full name of the
city of Los Angeles? (12 words)
ANS: El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los
Angeles de Porciuncula...translated from the Spanish:
The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of
Porciuncula.
http://www.virtualvoyages.com/usa/ca/l_a/l_a.sht
50. Who was known as the
"First Black Man of Science?"
ANS: Benjamin Banneker...American astronomer,
mathematician, clockmaker, surveyor and almanac
editor. Banneker took part in the original survey of
Washington, D.C. His almanac was published from 1792
to 1797.
http://www.co.ba.md.us/bacoweb/news/home/news/html/banneker.htm
51. What anthology TV series ran
from March to May of 1959 and presented live plays in
which a musical element was woven into the
storylines?
ANS: Oldsmobile Music Theater
Source: Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and
Cable TV Shows
52. The fairy tales "Puss
in Boots," "Little Red Ridinghood,"
"Cinderella," and many others were first
written down by Charles Perrault.. what famous
building did he help to design?
ANS: The Louvre
Source: Fascinating Facts: More than 1,200 Intriguing
Facts on Just About Everything by David Louis
53. Why is Executive Order 9066
referred to as "the shame of the nation"
and who was responsible for it?
ANS: It allowed the relocation of Japanese-Americans
to concentration camps. General DeWitt advised
President Franklin D. Roosevelt that internment was a
"military necessity."
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~soeda/9066.html
54. What is the name of the TY
Beany Baby Dragon born on July 31, 1988?
ANS: Scorch
http://www.beaniemania.com/beanies/bbbday.html
55. What is the name of the
Warner Brothers' sheepdog that protects his sheep
from the wolf, Ralph?
ANS: Sam
http://www.evl.uic.edu/caylor/DOGSTUFF/dogindex-S-Z.html
56. From where do we get the
meaning that a sure thing is a "cinch?"
ANS: From the Spanish "cincha" meaning
horse's saddle straps
Source: A Dictionary of Americanisms by Mitford M.
Mathews, ed.
57. Pokemon is the newest
children's fad.. what does Pokemon stand for?
ANS: Pocket Monsters
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5332/ring2.html
58. What is the bending of an
Aircraft's wings called?
ANS: Divergence
Source: Trivia Fever Book of Questions and Answers
59. From what form of
entertainment did we get the word "geek?"
ANS: Circus or carnival
Source: Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias
by C. Panati
60. Before they were the
"Raelettes" what was the name of Ray
Charles' female vocal backup group?
ANS: The Cookies
Source: Whitburn's Billboard Top 40 Hits
61. A 1955 Congressional vote
and order required that all United States coins bear
what?
ANS: The motto "In God We Trust"
http://www.maple-valley.k12.ia.us/htmlpages/mvsd/alumni/C1955/year.html
62. What was the name of the
United States Navy's first aircraft carrier,
commissioned in March of 1922?
ANS: USS Langley...On Mar. 20, 1922 the USS Langley,
converted from the collier USS Jupiter, was placed in
commission at Norfolk, Va. The ship's executive
officer, Cmdr. Kenneth Whiting, was in command.
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/cv-hist1.html
63. What disaster, called the
second worst in California history, hit at three
minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928?
ANS: The St. Francis Dam burst, sending a
180-foot-high wall of water crashing down San
Francisquito Canyon and claiming approximately 470
lives by the time the floodwaters reached the Pacific
Ocean at Ventura.
http://www.scvleon.com/scvhistory/gr0841.htm
64. In September 1964, The
Beatles performed on the same bill as what husband
and wife singing team at New York's Paramount
Theater?
ANS: Steve and Eydie Gorme
http://www.slip.net/~scmetro/sixties.htm
65. What American is the only
Olympic athlete to win gold medals in both the Summer
and Winter Olympics?
ANS: Eddie Eagan...won a gold in four-man bobsledding
in 1920 and another in boxing in 1932
http://www.venus.net/~nwashel2/famous.olympians.html
66. In which two prisons did
Johnny Cash record two of his most successful albums?
ANS: Folsom and San Quentin
http://www.rockhall.com/induct/cashjohn.html
67. Cecil B. DeMille claimed his
legendary Hollywood career was inspired by his father
who left what profession to become a Broadway
producer?
ANS: The priesthood
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/BTC/direct22.htm
68. What city was paralyzed at
5:16 pm on November 9, 1965?
ANS: New York City due to a blackout
http://home.earthlink.net/~wroush/disasters/black2.html
69. What unlikely rhinestone
cowboy has a picture of a dagger tatooed on his arm?
ANS: Glen Campbell
http://www.glencampbellshow.com/wwwboard/messages/5893.html
70. What science fiction writer
is credited with playing a part in the development of
radar?
ANS: Arthur C. Clarke...During World War II, as a RAF
officer, he was in charge of the first radar
talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach,
during its experimental trials. His only
non-science-fiction novel, Glide Path, is based on
this work.
http://www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke/ACC.Biography.html
71. Who won the 1993 Templeton
Prize for Progress in Religion?
ANS: Charles W. Colson
Source: The Cambridge Factfinder by David Crystal
72. Who was known as "the
player who could speak nine languages and couldn't
hit a curve ball in any of them?"
ANS: Moe Berg
Source: The Nostalgia Quiz Book #3 by Martin A. Gross
73. In what country would you
find the huge pine forest that makes up a quarter of
all the world's forests?
ANS: East Siberia, Russia
Source: Highlights Top Secret Guide to Russia
74. Known as "The Black
Babe Ruth," who was the greatest hitter of the
Negro National League, making about 800 home runs in
his 17-year career? 75 of them in a single season?
(1931)
ANS: Josh Gibson
Source: NY Public Library Book of Popular Americana
by Tad Tuleja
75. What newspaper scoffed at
crossword puzzles as "a primitive form of mental
exercise" in a 1924 editorial, and refused to
print them?
ANS: NY Times
Source: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader
76. What "phobia" is a
physical disease and not merely a state of mind?
ANS: Hydrophobia, or rabies
Source: Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts
77. Name the movie from it's
description:\par "Two criminals make hostages
out of a preacher and his kids, and drag them into a
Mexican tavern crawling with vampires. 1996
(R)."
ANS: From Dusk Til Dawn
Source: Blockbuster All-Time Favorite Movies and
Music
78. What author turned down the
Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1958?
ANS: Boris Pasternak for Dr. Zhivago
Source: The Twentieth Century Year by Year by Fiona
Courtney-Thompson and Kate Phelps
79. What product used the slogan
"Ancient Chinese Secret, huh?"
ANS: Calgon Detergent
http://www.rt66.com/dthomas/70s/adulttv/quiz51-100.html
80. What race of Aliens'
homeworld is Qo'noS?
ANS: The Klingons
Source: Star Trek Encyclopedia
81. What toy company
manufactured the "Chubby Checker Limbo under the
Bar" dance kit, complete with record and limbo
bar?
ANS: Wham-O in 1961
http://www.ampop.com/singlewin.html
82. What dance show actually had
offical cufflinks and tieclasps designed for it by
the Celebrity Jewelery Company?\par ANS:
Dick Clark's American Bandstand\par
http://www.ampop.com/singlewin.html\par SCORES: 2/
Hawk; 1/ Amazing, Erin\par \par
83. The cover of this Dell comic
book touts "His mighty arms destroyed a throne
and launched the quest for the Golden Fleece."
Who was the star of this comic?
ANS: Hercules
http://www.ampop.com/singlewin.html
84. In a 1965 'spy' movie, a
bikini machine had two buttons, a kiss button and a
kill button. What is the character name who created
the bikini machine, and what actor played him?
ANS: Dr. Goldfoot, Vincent Price....in Dr. Goldfoot
and the Bikini Machine
http://www.gynoid.com/wildfoot.htm
85. How many years of his
10-year sentence did Gary Powers serve in Russia
before he was swapped for spy Rudolf Abel?
ANS: 2...On May 1, 1960 Powers was flying on a
reconnaissance mission over the western part of
Russia when he was shot down.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9307/
86. What two brothers, who were
also priests, participated in the burning of Secret
Service records in 1968?
ANS: Father Philip Berrigan (a Josephine priest and
WWII vet) and Daniel Berrigan (Jesuit priest) along
with seven other people were arrested and became the
"Catonsville Nine." They went into a draft
board office in Catonsville, Maryland, removed
records, and set them on fire outside in the presence
of reporters and onlookers.
http://www.oz.net/~vvawai/sw/sw31/pgs_35-44/catonsville9.html
87. Whose hypnotic sessions led
to the publication of the book "The Search for
Bridey Murphy?"
ANS: Virginia Tighe, who was hypnotized by Morey
Bernstein. Their reincarnation hoax was exposed when
it was discovered the woman across the street from
Virginia was an Irish lass named Bridey Murphy.
http://www.skepdic.com/bridey.html
88. What was Hailey, Idaho
native and legendary American poet Ezra Pound
indicted for?
ANS: Treason
http://www.iuav.unive.it/~juli/pound.html
89. What WWI hero was later
court-martialled in 1925 for criticizing American air
power?
ANS: Brigadier General William Mitchell
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmitchell.htm
90. After only one year, 1929,
what Academy Award category was abolished?
ANS: Both "Engineering Effects" and
"Unique and Artistic Picture" were
completely eliminated. A few other awards were
combined under one category the second year.
http://www.oscars.org/database/index_frame.html
91. What was the name of the
registered white poodle Frank Sinatra gave to Marilyn
Monroe?
ANS: Mafia
http://www.nerosoft.com/Freethinkers/980313.html
92. What is the middle name of
former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara?
ANS: Strange
http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mcmur-mcphe.html#RH70TIL7I
93. Name the American poet of
these lines on beauty and womanhood: "Pretty
women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or
built to suit a fashion model's size."
ANS: Maya Angelou...the line is from her
poem "Pretty Women"
http://www.alanofdale.com/mayaangelou/
94. What common element makes up
the molecule Fullerene?
ANS: Carbon
http://flex.ee.uec.ac.jp/japanese/rsaito/fullerene.html
95. Name the show that sparked
the careers of such stars as Martin Mull and Mary Kay
Place.
ANS: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0074021
96. The Texas City, Texas,
disaster of April 16 & 17, 1947 was a result of
explosions aboard two ships carrying what material?
ANS: Ammonium nitrate fertilizer...The "Grand
Camp" caught fire and exploded first, triggering
an explosion at the nearby Monsanto Chemical Plant.
The next day, the "High Flyer" exploded,
taking with it another ship, the "Wilson B.
Keene." The ammonium nitrate created a highly
explosive cloud of orange smoke that triggered a
chain reaction of additional fires and explosions.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7651/
97. In May of 1922, Mayor Hylan
closed the streets of New York City for the building
of what landmark?
ANS: Yankee Stadium
http://www.vaxxine.com/mgdsite/year/1922.htm
98. What author attended the
University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship
and holds 10 world records for large gamefish?
ANS: Zane Grey
http://www.nps.gov/upde/zgmuseum.htm
99. On July 22, 1967, Jimi
Hendrix quit as the opening act for what popular
band?
ANS: The Monkees
http://www.jimi-hendrix.com/magazine/issue3/page6.asp
100. Which Southern Senator
completed a twenty-four hour filibuster against civil
rights on August 29, 1957?
ANS: Strom Thurmond
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~wcarpent/articles/filibuster/1957.html
