Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (174 page)

OCTOBER 18

1964
C
OMEDIAN
J
ACKIE
M
ASON
is banned from
The Ed Sullivan Show
when Ed thinks he sees Jackie giving him the finger on air.

DIGITAL DOMAIN

Ten finger questions, one for each finger.

1.
What author’s only screenplay was 1953’s
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
?

2.
What future Motown legend played drums on Stevie Wonder’s hit “Fingertips”?

3.
Who would perform the penance act
yubistume,
slicing off joints of the little finger?

4.
What vegetable is sometimes called a “lady’s finger”?

5.
What’s the only vowel on a typewriter keyboard’s “home row,” where the fingers rest?

6.
Rollie Fingers was only the second relief pitcher in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Who was the first?

7.
How many fingers did E.T. have on each hand?

8.
What famous logo first appeared on 1972’s
Sticky Fingers
?

9.
What country is led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who lost his left pinky in a 1964 factory accident?

10.
What comedian produces his own albums via SUperFInger Entertainment?

1985
P
LAYERS FIRST VIE
to save Princess Toadstool, as the first
Super Mario Bros.
game is released in the United States. Sales are super as well—the game will go on to become the bestselling video game of all time.

“SUPER” FRIENDS

1.
What team has appeared in a record eight Super Bowls?

2.
What’s the result of Morgan Spurlock’s first McDonald’s meal in his documentary
Super Size Me
?

3.
Eyebrows, armpits, or toenails—the word “supercilious” is derived from a Latin word for what part of the body?

4.
What was the United States’ top-selling toy in 1991 and 1992?

5.
What comedian is the brother of faux daredevil “Super Dave” Osbourne?

6.
Under what condition does a metal like tin or aluminum become superconductive?

7.
What does the
G
stand for in Super G alpine skiing?

8.
What’s the name on Fogell’s fake ID in the movie
Superbad
?

9.
Todd Haynes’s banned film
Superstar
retells whose life story using Barbie dolls?

10.
What colorful object in the constellation Taurus was left behind by the SN 1054 supernova?

11.
What is the name of Super-boy’s pet dog?

12.
What teammate did Jim Rice once call “Chicken Man” for his superstitiously eating chicken before every game?

13.
Because of its “Super Freak” sample, what 1990 hit credited Rick James as a cowriter?

14.
What two TV series did Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, respectively, leave in order to star in
Supernatural
?

15.
Which day of the week is called “Super” in election years, when a large number of states all hold presidential primaries on the same day?

OCTOBER 19

1660
S
OLDIERS
D
ANIEL
A
XTEL
and Francis Hacker are hanged for their roles in the execution of King Charles I, making them the only Britons ever executed for regicide. What about the guy who hanged
them
? Is he a regicidicide?

MONARCHY IN THE U.K.

1.
What’s the only regnal name used by a British king since 1700 that wasn’t George or Edward?

2.
Queen Elizabeth owns more than a dozen dogs of what Pembrokeshire breed?

3.
What nickname did Edward I receive for his then-freakishly tall height of 6 feet, 2 inches?

4.
What’s the only movie role that’s gotten three different performers Oscar nominations?

5.
What executed American shares his name with the Scottish manservant with whom Queen Victoria was rumored to have had an affair?

6.
The red-and-white-rose emblem seen on British seals and coins was the emblem of which royal house?

7.
Which monarch was called “Lackland,” for having inherited no estate?

8.
Who’s the only monarch since the Norman Conquest to have three children inherit the throne?

9.
For which New Testament saint is the British royal court popularly named?

10.
The only two of Shakespeare’s history plays whose titles label them as “Tragedies” are about kings with what name?

1999
M
ARTHA
S
TEWART
L
IVING
Omnimedia goes public on the New York Stock Exchange and makes its founder and CEO a billionaire by the end of the trading day.

CEILING WHACKS

Answer these questions about women who broke the glass ceiling.

1.
Who was both the first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company and the only one ever to bring down a president?

2.
America’s wealthiest woman not named “Walton” is Abigail Johnson, who runs what Boston-based financial services company?

3.
What was the last name of the founder and longtime chairman of Mary Kay Cosmetics?

4.
Until Carly Fiorina’s 2005 ouster, what was the largest company ever run by a woman?

5.
In 2007, who overtook eBay CEO Meg Whitman to become America’s wealthiest self-made woman?

2003
M
OTHER
T
ERESA IS BEATIFIED
by Pope John Paul II.

FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS

Who is the patron saint of…

Easy

1.
Animals

2.
Scotland

3.
Lost causes

4.
Lovers

Harder

1.
Children

2.
Kings

3.
The East Indies

4.
Dancers

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Breast cancer

2.
Gibraltar

3.
Astronomy

4.
Firefighters