Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (172 page)

OCTOBER 14

1066
T
HE
N
ORMANS WIN
the Battle of Hastings; William the Wanna-Be-Conqueror gets to simplify his nickname. Harold II, king of the Saxons, dies in the battle—allegedly from an arrow through the eye. Ouch.

WAR BONDS

Match these famous battles to their winning and losing commanders.

1937
S
ERGEI
P
ROKOFIEV’S
Lieutenant Kije
Suite premieres in the U.S. Even if you don’t know Prokofiev, you’ve probably heard part of this suite—it provided the melody for the chorus of Sting’s song “Russians.”

THE SUITES HEREAFTER

1.
What’s the only planet left out of Gustav Holst’s suite
The Planets
?

2.
Ferde Grofé’s best-known suite is based on the 1916 trip he took to watch the sun rise at what landmark?

3.
Edvard Grieg’s
Peer Gynt
suites come from the music he wrote for what playwright in 1876?

4.
The famous 1892 suite containing “Russian,” “Arabian,” and “Chinese” dances is abridged from what ballet?

5.
What famous Aaron Copland suite borrows part of its melody from the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts”?

2004
M
ARMADUKE,
A
MERICA’S FAVORITE
completely unfunny one-panel comic starring a Great Dane, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.

DOG PATCH

In what newspaper comic strip would you find these canine characters?

Easy

1.
Sandy

2.
Ruff

3.
Snoopy

4.
Odie

5.
Dogbert

Harder

1.
Daisy

2.
Earl

3.
Farley, Edgar, Dixie

4.
Barfy and Sam

5.
Otto

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Snert

2.
Roscoe

3.
Puddles

4.
Fuzz

5.
Louie

OCTOBER 15

1754
T
HE SONG
“G
OD
S
AVE THE
Q
UEEN”
is first published, in a British magazine. Today, it’s the national anthem of the United Kingdom, the “royal anthem” of Commonwealth nations like Canada, and, oddly, the national anthem of Liechtenstein. (The Liechtensteinians gave it new lyrics and call it “High above the young Rhine.”)

COUNTRY MUSIC

What nation’s anthems are quoted here?

Easy

1.
“You are the See of Peter, who in Rome shed his blood.”

2.
“How can one count the blessings of the Nile for mankind?”

3.
“Like a rock the Khmer race is eternal.”

4.
“True patriot love in all our sons command.”

5.
“Let us build our new Great Wall!”

Harder

1.
“Live eternally within the life and the glory of Italy.”

2.
“In the thunder dragon kingdom, adorned with sandal woods…”

3.
“Immortality’s symbol—the cedar—is her pride.”

4.
“United people from Rumova to Maputo!”

5.
“Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless.”

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
“The worthy sons of the soil, which Pichincha on high is adorning…”

2.
“Your flag is a splendor of sky crossed with a band of snow; and there can be seen, in its sacred depths, five pale blue stars.”

3.
“I was born a princess, a maiden neutral between two nations. I am the only remaining daughter of the Carolingian empire.”

4.
“Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.”

5.
“The land of our fathers bestowed upon us all, from Zambezi to Limpopo.”

1952
E. B. W
HITE PUBLISHES
a simple “hymn to the barn” he calls
Charlotte’s Web.
It will go on to become the bestselling children’s paperback of all time—putting generations of kids off bacon forever.

LITERARY LEGS

1.
Whose first pet was a giant talking spider named Aragog?

2.
Who originated the title role in Broadway’s
Kiss of the Spider Woman
?

3.
What son of the sky god Nyame is the trickster spider of much African myth?

4.
What James Patterson detective first appeared in his novel
Along Came a Spider
?

5.
In Greek myth, what woman lost a tapestry-weaving contest to Athena and was turned into a spider for her conceit?