Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (149 page)

SEPTEMBER 4

1908
G
ERMANY
S
CHAEFER, THE CLOWNISH
Detroit Tigers second baseman, tries out an unusual baseball strategy. After stealing second in a failed attempt at a double steal, Schaefer wants to try the double steal again, so he steals first
from second.
In 1920, baseball will finally pass a rule forbidding players to run the bases backward.

REVERSE ENGINEERING

A few forward questions on backward things.

1.
The sorcerer in what movie is the cleverly named “Yen Sid”?

2.
Who revolutionized the high jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics by clearing the bar back first?

3.
What nationality lends its name to the reverse notation used in some calculators?

4.
What nicknames did the backward-dressing Chris Kelly and Chris Smith use as members of the early-1990s tween-rap fad Kris Kross?

5.
The last letter of the Cyrillic alphabet is a backward version of what Latin letter?

1957
F
ORD DECLARES
“E D
AY”
for the proud rollout of its new brand, the Edsel. The Edsel, of course, fails spectacularly and will be voted the “Ugliest Car Ever Made” in a 2003 survey. Sorry, Pontiac Aztek! Maybe next time.

SO UNPRETTY

1.
What was widely considered an eyesore when completed in 1887, with Guy de Maupassant calling it an “ungracious skeleton”?

2.
Who’s the only person to land atop Mr. Blackwell’s “Worst Dressed” list three times, in 2001, 2006, and 2007?

3.
What fruit was bred with a tangerine to create the Ugli fruit?

4.
What singer/guitarist, now famous in another field, fronted the band Ugly Rumours in 1974?

5.
Who was called “that long-armed gorilla” by Edwin Stanton and “a well-meaning baboon” by George McLellan?

6.
What unattractive toy did Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam first carve in 1959?

7.
What Oscar-nominated movie star is a producer of TV’s
Ugly Betty
?

8.
What was Joseph Merrick better known as?

9.
Which of his wives did Henry VIII call “the Flanders mare” for her ugliness?

10.
What kind of bird is the ugly duckling, really?

2006
T
WO
M
ISSOURI PROFESSORS
discover the (currently) largest known prime number: 2
^32,582,657
—1. That number has just over 9 million digits—a shame for its finders, who would have won a $100,000 prize if they’d found the first 10-million-digit prime.

“PRIME” DIRECTIVE

1.
What’s the name of the police detective played by Helen Mirren on British TV’s
Prime Suspect
?

2.
Who was president when the U.S. prime rate hit its all-time high of 21
¹
/
₂
%?

3.
Complete this analogy: Autobots: Optimus Prime:: Decepticons: _____.

4.
What singing group was known as the Primettes until 1961?

5.
What are the only two countries of continental Europe that the prime meridian passes through?

6.
Of the six mysterious “numbers” on TV’s
Lost,
what’s the only prime number?

7.
In his
Metaphysics,
what philosopher first made the “prime mover” argument for the existence of God?

8.
Who won an Oscar for depicting
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
?

9.
Choice, Select, or Preferred—what’s the second best USDA grade for beef, immediately following “Prime”?

10.
What unusual prime-time distinction did the 1960s’
Batman
and
Peyton Place
share with
American Idol
today?

SEPTEMBER 5

1607
S
AILORS ABOARD THE
HMS
Dragon
put on an amateur production of
Hamlet.
Since the ship is anchored off Sierra Leone at the time, this is regarded as the first-ever performance of Shakespeare outside Europe.

ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN MERELY PLAYERS

1900
LIONEL, THE TOY TRAIN GIANT,
incorporates in New York. Its products are designed for a 21/8-inch scale that Lionel trademarks as “Standard Gauge,” though it matches no other toy train on the market—a brilliant anticompatibility maneuver worthy of modern-day Microsoft execs.

1.
Which Shakespeare play’s two protagonists both have names meaning “blessed”?

2.
What Shakespearean character also goes by the name of Robin Goodfellow?

3.
What name did the Bard give to a record five of his characters, including the title character of one of his comedies?

4.
Which Shakespeare play was once adapted into an opera by the appropriately named Rolando Miranda?

5.
What Shakespearean villain has more lines than any other nontitle character in one of his plays?

SIZE MATTERS

What comes in these arrays of sizes?

1.
Small, medium, large, extra large, jumbo, colossal, super colossal

2.
Baby, boudoir, conservatory, concert

3.
Magnum, Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Melchizedek

4.
Pea, marble, dime, penny, nickel, quarter, half-dollar, walnut, golf ball, hen egg, tennis ball, baseball, grapefruit, softball

5.
Short, tall, grande, venti

2640
J
OHN
C
AGE’S
1987
PIECE
Organ
²
/ASLSP
is scheduled to end at the Saint Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany. The performance began in 2001; the first chord lasted more than two years. The organist is taking very literally Cage’s instruction that the piece be played “as slow as possible.”

FUTURE SHOCK

1.
March 22, 2285, will be the first time in almost five hundred years that what holiday will fall on its earliest possible date?

2.
The first “time capsule” to bear that name is due to be unearthed from Flushing Meadows in the year 6939, the 5,000th anniversary of what?

3.
February of what year will see the odd-looking Super Bowl L?

4.
The NASA spacecraft set to replace the space shuttle in 2012 will bear the name of what constellation?

5.
What will be the first year since 1961 that looks the same right side up and upside down?

6.
What novel is set in the year 2540, or a.f. (After Ford) 632?

7.
According to the official divisions between constellations, what will begin around 2600 A.D., not back in 1967?

8.
In 2084, the Pitjantjatjara Aborigines’ lease of Uluru to the government will expire. What is Uluru called in English?

9.
What is due to become the first city to host the modern Olympics three times?

10.
What twentieth-century pilot first appeared in the novella
Armageddon 2419 A.D
.?