Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (179 page)

OCTOBER 28

1533
A
T HER WEDDING
to the Duke of Orléans, the fourteen-year-old Catherine de Medicis wears the first pair of high heels in recorded history.

FIRST DEGREE

Be the first to answer these questions about other famous firsts.

1.
What was the first European nation to be led by a president?

2.
Whose first line on the comics page, on October 12, 1931, was “Good evening, Mr. Trueheart—how’s the delicatessen business this evening?”

3.
What first was achieved in 2002, when a rerelease of “My Sweet Lord” replaced Aaliyah’s “More than a Woman” atop the U.K. charts?

4.
In 2005, who became the first professional golfer to win the same event—the Mizuno Classic—in five consecutive years?

5.
Who was the pilot during history’s first fatal plane crash, on September 17, 1908?

6.
In 1811, what became the first modern city to surpass one million inhabitants?

7.
What distinction is held by the broken laser pointer that Pierre Omidyar sold in 1995 for $14.83?

8.
In addition to achieving another, more famous first, who became the first civilian in space, in June 1963?

9.
What chemical element is named for the Greek word for “artificial,” since it was the first synthetic element ever discovered?

10.
What actress was the first
SNL
cast member ever to receive an Oscar nomination?

1995
N
EW
Z
EALAND
TV airs a documentary called
Forgotten Silver,
about the making of a “recently rediscovered” 1908 biblical epic by director Colin McKenzie, the unheralded inventor of color and sound film. When McKenzie is acclaimed as a national hero, the startled filmmakers are forced to reveal that the whole movie was a comedic hoax.

MOVIE MOVIE

Match each film to the film-within-a-film being made within that film. Is that clear?

OCTOBER 29

1941
A
CTRESS
N
ANETTE
F
ABRAY
makes her Broadway debut in
Let’s Face It,
billed as “Nanette Fabares,” her real name. She will change the spelling a few years later, the day after Ed Sullivan announces her on air as “Nanette Fab-bare-ass.”

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU…

How do (or did) these famous folks prefer to pronounce their names?

Easy

1.
Kim Basinger

2.
J. K. Rowling

3.
Ralph Fiennes

4.
D. L. Hughley

5.
Shia LaBeouf

Harder

1.
Oscar Hammerstein

2.
Rachel Weisz

3.
Steve Buscemi

4.
Kofi Annan

5.
Chloe Sevigny

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Diane Arbus

2.
Liev Schreiber

3.
Robert Moog

4.
Dr. Seuss

5.
Charlize Theron

1998
T
OM
C
RUISE AND
N
ICOLE
K
IDMAN
win a libel lawsuit against Britain’s
Express
newspaper, which alleged that Cruise is gay. It will be the first of several multimillion-dollar lawsuits aimed at defending the star’s spotless heterosexuality.

DEAR CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY LAWYERS

To ward off any possible litigation, we’d like to honor Mr. Cruise with this quiz about…famous straits. Name the strait between…

1.
Alaska and Russia

2.
Italy and Sicily

3.
The Arabian Peninsula and Iran

4.
South America and Tierra del Fuego

5.
Spain and Morocco

1999
M
ERYL
S
TREEP SPENT
eight weeks learning to play the violin for her new film
Music of the Heart.
Streep is famous for her scrupulous preparation for roles, whether she’s learning a Polish accent for
Sophie’s Choice,
shutting down a plutonium plant for
Silkwood,
or traveling back in time to 1920 s Kenya for
Out of Africa.

ROLE PLAYING

Match these movie characters to their musical instrument of choice.