Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (51 page)

MARCH 28

1939
G
ENERALISSIMO
F
RANCISCO
F
RANCO
conquers Madrid, ending the Spanish Civil War.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

Francisco Franco is still dead, as
Saturday Night Live
used to remind us. Answer these questions about posthumous achievements.

1.
What future cabinet member lost a 2000 Senate election to the late Mel Carnahan, the first deceased person ever elected to the Senate?

2.
Whose posthumous albums include
R U Still Down?, Still I Rise,
and
Until the End of Time
?

3.
In 1999, who became the only actor inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame?

4.
What artist sold only one painting,
The Red Vineyard,
during his lifetime?

5.
What closeted author wrote “Publishable, but worth it?” on the manuscript to his posthumously published
Maurice,
about a gay love affair?

6.
What screen legend’s last film, sadly, was
Transformers: The Movie,
in which he posthumously played the planet-robot Unicron?

7.
Songbird
is a book about what jazz singer’s remarkable posthumous career?

8.
Who’s the only person ever to have the Baseball Hall of Fame’s five-year waiting period waived before his induction?

9.
What tongue-in-cheek Internet awards are
always
given posthumously, unless the recipient is sterile?

10.
In 2000, on the fortieth anniversary of his name making headlines, who was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Prisoner of War Medal?

1979
T
HREE
M
ILE
I
SLAND MELTS DOWN,
alarming locals but doing wonders for the box office of
The China Syndrome,
which was released less than two weeks earlier.

THREE-MILE ISLANDS

1.
What three-mile-wide New Brunswick island was FDR’s summer home?

2.
What “island,” the southernmost tip of Brooklyn, has three miles of famous boardwalk?

3.
One of the Midwest’s “Quad Cities” is named for what three-mile-long island in the Mississippi?

4.
About half of the population of what Pacific island has the surname Christian?

5.
What time-travel film was shot on Michigan’s three-mile-long Mackinac Island?

2001
S
EAN
“P
UFFY
” C
OMBS TELLS
MTV News that in the wake of his acquittal on weapons charges, he’s changing his name from “Puff Daddy” to “P. Diddy.”

KEEPING IT REAL

Can you spot these hip-hop performers from their real names?

Easy

1.
Christopher Wallace

2.
Marshall Mathers

3.
Calvin Broadus

4.
Chris Bridges

5.
Shawn Carter

Harder

1.
O’Shea Jackson

2.
Aliaune Thiam

3.
James Smith

4.
Earl Simmons

5.
Robert Van Winkle

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Robert Diggs

2.
Shad Moss

3.
Clifford Harris

4.
Artis Ivey

5.
Dennis Coles

MARCH 29

1925
T
HE
U.S.
GOVERNMENT DENIES
John F. Edmiston’s trademark on “salt water taffy.” Edmiston had claimed to be the inventor of the term and used his claim to demand millions in royalties from America’s taffy-pulling giants.

BACK TO THE SALT MINES

1.
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest remnant of what enormous prehistoric lake?

2.
What chemical element has been added to table salt since 1924, to help prevent goiter?

3.
Whose name was said to be Melusade or, in Jewish tradition, Edith?

4.
In the famous logo, what is the Morton Salt girl holding in her right hand?

5.
What company originally owned the name “Saltine,” before losing it to trademark dilution?

6.
According to Pliny the Elder, what word do we get from the Roman practice of paying soldiers in salt?

7.
In
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
what animals dispose of Veruca Salt?

8.
What TV character had great success with his recipe for Chocolate Salty Balls?

9.
The world’s least salty seawater is found in the Gulf of Bothnia, between what two countries?

10.
What is halite more commonly called?

11.
Despite its name, the hip-hop act Salt-N-Pepa was a trio, not a duo. What was the name of Salt-N-Pepa’s DJ?

12.
At what university was Gatorade invented, in 1965?

13.
Who was the only world leader to sign both SALT arms control treaties?

14.
What kind of animal is
Artemia salina,
the “sea monkey” of novelty pet ad fame?

15.
What salty Procter & Gamble potato snack brand was named by picking a street at random from a Cincinnati phone book?

1975
J
OHN
W
OODEN ANNOUNCES
his retirement from basketball coaching. Three days later, he will win the final game of his career, his unmatched tenth NCAA championship.

RECORD PLAYERS

What athletes are famous for these career marks?

Easy

1.
22,895 receiving yards

2.
.366

3.
7 no-hitters

4.
18 majors

Harder

1.
11 NBA titles

2.
49-0

3.
200 races won

4.
2,857 points

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
44.2 points per game

2.
2,295 runs

3.
18 Olympic medals

4.
4,211 turnovers