Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (59 page)

APRIL 8

1630
J
OHN
W
INTHROP IS ELECTED
governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Today, he’s best remembered for his sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” in which he compared America to a “city upon a hill.”

A CITY ON A HILL

1.
What Notting Hill road is home to London’s most famous antique market?

2.
Until 1790, what was known as Jenkins Hill?

3.
What island, whose name means “island of many hills,” is home to Murray Hill, Lenox Hill, Marble Hill, and Rose Hill?

4.
What San Francisco hill is home to a famous colony of wild parrots?

5.
According to legend, what city was founded on Palatine Hill?

1966
“I
S
G
OD
D
EAD
?” asks
Time
magazine on a surprisingly goth all-black cover.

PUTTING THE “MORTAL” BACK IN “IMMORTAL”

Answer these questions about dead gods.

1.
What Egyptian god was dismembered by his brother Set and then rebuilt by his wife, Isis—except for his penis, which, sadly, had been eaten by a fish?

2.
In Norse mythology, at what apocalyptic final battle will Odin be devoured by the wolf Fenrir and Thor be poisoned by the Midgard serpent?

3.
“Calvary” and “Golgotha,” the two names for the hill where Christ was crucified, are both words meaning what?

4.
What handsome Greek god, killed by a wild boar, inspired Percy Shelley’s elegy for his friend Keats?

5.
Before he took ill, who was booked to play the London Palladium on January 20, 1996, to honor his one hundredth birthday? eighty-eight-story Petronas Twin Towers?

1990
L
AURA
P
ALMER IS FOUND DEAD,
wrapped in plastic, on the first
Twin Peaks.

TWIN PEEKS

1.
What comedian has real-life twin sons named Matthew and Gregory?

2.
Who are the Glimmer Twins?

3.
What Hall of Famer played his entire major-league career for the Minnesota Twins?

4.
What kind of twins are also called “dizygotic”?

5.
What kind of animal suckled Romulus and Remus?

6.
The New Wave band Thompson Twins were named for characters in what comics series?

7.
What did Ross and Norris McWhirter compile as a promotional giveaway in 1955?

8.
What city is home to the eighty-eight-story Petronas Twin Towers?

9.
What future star appeared uncredited as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito’s mom in
Twins
?

10.
What EU nation is led by a president and a prime minister who are identical twins?

APRIL 9

1643
F
RENCH EXPLORER
Robert de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River and names the basin “La Louisiane,” to honor King Louis XIV.

ORAL FIXATION

In what country would you find the mouths of these rivers?

Easy

1.
Yangtze

2.
Amazon

3.
Volga

4.
Nile

5.
Mekong

Harder

1.
Colorado

2.
Murray

3.
Ganges

4.
Yukon

5.
Rhine

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Dnieper

2.
Salween

3.
Orinoco

4.
Limpopo

5.
Volta

1932
F
UTURE
T
ARZAN
STAR
C
HEETA
is born in Liberia. Cheeta is still alive and well in a Palm Springs animal sanctuary, making him the world’s oldest (nonhuman) primate on record.

SEE MONKEYS

Match these hairy screen stars to their species.

1945
I
N A NEW RULE,
the NFL requires all players to wear socks as part of the official uniform.

THE JOY OF SOCKS

1.
What Labrador retriever supplanted Socks the cat as the Clintons’ favorite pet in 1997?

2.
At age 17, who played the title schoolgirl in
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
?

3.
Whose “Play-Along” included fellow socks Charley Horse and Hush Puppy?

4.
Who donated the only sock displayed on its own in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

5.
On the cover of their first EP, the Red Hot Chili Peppers duplicated what album cover, wearing only a single sock apiece?

6.
Who said, “Sock it to
me
?” on the September 16, 1968, episode of
Laugh-In
?

7.
What movie’s title character is given a new name when he’s seen playing with Two Socks?

8.
What colors are the Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots?

9.
Which of the infamous “Black Sox” was banned from baseball despite never having agreed to the fix?

10.
What common sock pattern is named for the westernmost region of Scotland?