Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (112 page)

JULY 7

1591
T
HE
P
AMPLONA RUNNING
of the bulls is held in the summer for the first time—prior to this year, it was a late September event.

TORO! TORO! TORO!

1.
What household product is named for the bull that was designed as the “husband” of Borden’s Elsie the Cow?

2.
What song is, appropriately, attributed to a seventeenth-century composer, Dr. John Bull?

3.
Who told reporters “I’m as fit as a bull moose!” when he founded the Progressive Party in 1912?

4.
What future
Cheers
star plays Mob boss Tommy Como in
Raging Bull
?

5.
The Chicago Bulls take the court to “Sirius,” an instrumental track by what prog-rock band?

6.
In what country did Red Bull originate as
Krating Daeng
?

7.
What island was home to the Minotaur’s Labyrinth?

8.
In 1520, who burned his copy of
Decet romanum pontificem,
the papal bull excommunicating him?

9.
What Sioux tribe did Sitting Bull belong to?

10.
Nostradamus, Machiavelli, or Magellan—what famous sixteenth-century name is also “Bull” Shannon’s first name on
Night Court
?

1912
T
HE FIRST MODERN
P
ENTATHLON
begins, at the Stockholm Olympics. The fifth-place finisher is no less than the young George S. Patton, who would have medaled if not for his poor performance in—ironically—the shooting event.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

1.
After the Civil War, which Union general became the first president of the NRA?

2.
Despite an earlier military failure, who was appointed governor-general of India in 1786 and 1805?

3.
Which general’s father led the investigation of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping?

4.
Who was made a general in 1935, when he was selected to create the Nazi Luftwaffe?

5.
Garfield, Harrison, or McKinley—before Eisenhower, who was the last general elected U.S. president?

6.
Roman general Scipio Africanus gained his African surname from his famous defeat of whom?

7.
Which
My Three Sons
star grew up to play the scared soldier that George C. Scott pimp-slaps in
Patton
?

8.
What South American general had an Ecuadorian currency and a Bolivian city named for him, even though he was Venezuelan-born?

9.
What dish, named for a famous general, is coated in foie gras, mushrooms, and puff pastry?

10.
Whom did Gerald Ford promote to General of the Armies of the United States in 1975, a position held previously only by “Black Jack” Pershing?

JULY 8

1663
C
HARLES
II
GRANTS
a charter to the rather wordily named “Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” As a result, Rhode Island still has the longest formal name of any state: it’s officially “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”

STATE DEPARTMENT

What’s the only U.S. state name…

1.
With only one syllable

2.
That has no letters in common with its state capital’s name

3.
That ends with the state’s own postal abbreviation

4.
With four consecutive consonants (uninterrupted by spaces)

5.
That honors a non-English king

1950
A
YOUNG COMEDIAN
named Jackie Gleason replaces Jerry Lester as the host of DuMont’s
Cavalcade of Stars.

THE GREAT ONE

What nations were led by these rulers?

Easy

1.
Peter the Great

2.
Alexander the Great

3.
Kamehameha the Great

4.
Rameses the Great

Harder

1.
Cyrus the Great

2.
Akbar the Great

3.
Pompey the Great

4.
Frederick the Great

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Simeon the Great

2.
Theodoric the Great

3.
Casimir the Great

4.
Sargon the Great

1963
S
ENSITIVE LINEMAN
R
OSEY
G
RIER
is traded to the Los Angeles Rams, joining Lamar Lundy, Deacon Jones, and Merlin Olsen to form a defensive line that soon becomes known as “the Fearsome Foursome.”

QUAD SQUADS

What does each of these fearsome foursomes of sports have in common?

1.
Alex Delvecchio, Darrell Green, John Stockton, Carl Yastrzemski

2.
Danny Ainge, Dave DeBusschere, Drew Henson, Brian Jordan

3.
Muhammad Ali, Alex Karras, Denny McLain, Kermit Washington

4.
Lyle Alzado, Larry Brown, Sandy Koufax, Kerri Strug

5.
Ronnie Lott, Jackie Robinson, Paul Warfield, James Worthy

6.
Daryl Johnston, Mark Messier, Mike Mussina, Harry Watson

7.
Ron Hextall, Chuck Howley, Bobby Richardson, Jerry West

8.
Morten Andersen, Gordie Howe, Robert Parish, Pete Rose

9.
Rick Barry, Bobby Hull, Ken Norton, Dick Weber

10.
Rocky Marciano, Thurman Munson, Knute Rockne, Payne Stewart