Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (166 page)

OCTOBER 2

1871
M
ORMON
L
EADER
B
RIGHAM
Y
OUNG
surrenders to federal authorities on bigamy charges. Actually, he got off easy—with fifty-two wives, I guess there could have been as many as fifty-one (or would it be twenty-six?) bigamy charges.

I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO…

Which spouse did these much-married people have in common?

1.
Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra

2.
John Phillips and Dennis Hopper

3.
Arlene Dahl and Lana Turner

4.
John Huston and Artie Shaw

5.
Zsa Zsa Gabor and Magda Gabor

1955
A
LFRED
H
ITCHCOCK DIRECTS
and introduces the first episode of his CBS anthology
Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
The star, Vera Miles, is at the time one of Hitch’s favorites, but he will never quite forgive her for getting pregnant and dropping out of a film of his two years from now.

M
C
GUFFIN READERS

Which Hitchcock movie has the famous set piece involving…

Easy

1.
A crop duster

2.
The Golden Gate Bridge

3.
A motel shower

4.
A jungle gym

Harder

1.
A pair of scissors

2.
A wine cellar key

3.
A cymbal crash

4.
A tennis match

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
The Statue of Liberty

2.
A potato truck

3.
Windmills

4.
A poisoned glass of milk

1996
L
ANCE
A
RMSTRONG IS DIAGNOSED
with late-stage testicular cancer. Doctors give him only a 3 percent chance of surviving, but he’ll go on to beat the cancer with chemotherapy and win seven straight Tours de France.

GO, LANCE, GO

1.
What’s the only U.S. military branch with the rank of lance corporal?

2.
Winston Churchill’s World War II plane
Ascalon
was named for whose legendary lance?

3.
What makes the Holy Lance, or Spear of Destiny, so holy?

4.
What war saw the Light Brigade’s infamous lance charge?

5.
What U.S. state’s official sport, in line with its heraldic-looking flag, is jousting?

OCTOBER 3

1357
K
ING
D
AVID
II is released from prison under the Treaty of Berwick, ending the Wars of Scottish Independence.

GREAT SCOTT!

1.
What 1975 novel begins, appropriately, with a quote from Scott Joplin?

2.
According to Scott Baio’s memoir, he lost his virginity to what costar?

3.
What band did Scott Weiland join after the breakup of Stone Temple Pilots?

4.
The Sharks, the Kings, or the Ducks—longtime Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer ended his career captaining what NHL team?

5.
What Fox News pundit replaced Scott McLellan as White House press secretary?

1773
C
APTAIN
C
OOK IS WELCOMED
so warmly upon his first visit to the islands of Tonga that he names them the Friendly Islands. A writer who will live in Tonga some decades later will discover that Cook’s “friendly reception” was just part of a local festival and that the chiefs spent most of the feast discussing how they would kill him.

CAN YOU BE MORE PACIFIC?

1.
What Pacific country is named after a region of Africa?

2.
Which of the Solomon Islands was the site of the 1942-43 military campaign that became a turning point of World War II?

3.
What root is the Polynesian staple poi made from?

4.
On what South Pacific island would you find Bounty Bay?

5.
Papeari, Tahiti, is home to a museum named for what painter?

6.
The modern plight of what people was explored in the novel and movie
Once Were Warriors
?

7.
New Caledonia is found in Melanesia. What is “old” Caledonia?

8.
An award for the best special teams player in college football is named for what Samoan running back?

9.
What South Pacific island is called Rapa Nui in its own language?

10.
Who wrote the short stories upon which the musical
South Pacific
was based?

1951
S
ONNY
C
ORLEONE IS VICIOUSLY
gunned down at a tollbooth in
The Godfather.
(We know the exact date because of the baseball pennant game on the radio.)

DIE ANOTHER WAY

Give the cause of these memorable movie deaths.

Easy

1.
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Titanic

2.
Kirk Douglas,
Spartacus

3.
Margaret Hamilton,
The Wizard of Oz

4.
Debra Winger,
Terms of Endearment

5.
Slim Pickens,
Dr. Strangelove

Harder

1.
Wallace Shawn,
The Princess Bride

2.
Steve Buscemi,
Fargo

3.
Samuel Jackson,
Deep Blue Sea

4.
Graham Chapman,
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life

5.
Jack Nicholson,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Susan Hayward,
I Want to Live!

2.
David Warner,
The Omen

3.
Yaphet Kotto,
Live and Let Die

4.
Vera Clouzot,
Les Diaboliques

5.
Dan Hedaya,
Blood Simple