 Random Acts of Knowledge
A fun contest to help sharpen your research skills!
This week's question: What is the highest temperature recorded in the
U.S.?
Contest Rules
This contest is open to Batavia Public Library cardholders. A new question is
posted every Monday, the answer to which can always be found using library
resources. You have until midnight on the following Sunday to submit an answer.
Only one answer per individual per week will be accepted. All correct answers
submitted by the deadline will be entered into a monthly drawing for a 10 SOUTH Coffee Shop gift certificate.
Answers can be submitted in two ways.
- Send your response via
email. Be sure to include your name, card number, phone number, and
where you found the answer!
- Visit the library in person and fill out an answer sheet at the Reference
Desk.
Previous questions:
December 29-January 4
Question: Where is rock musician, Jim Morrison, buried?
Answer:
Paris, France (Cimetière du Père Lachaise)
Source:
www.findagrave.com
December 22-28
Question: What does one use a Mohs Scale for?
Answer:
It determines hardness of minerals. Talc is 1 and diamonds are 10.
Source:
World Almanac 2008, p. 269
December 15-21
Question: Which baseball player holds most victories (363)
pitched by a southpaw?
Answer:
Warren Spahn
Source:
Baseball Desk Reference, p. 399
December 8-14
Question: What U.S. state has the most hazardous waste
sites?
Answer:
New Jersey with 117
Source:
World Almanac 2008, p. 284
December 1-7
Question: Who was the first human in orbital flight?
Answer:
Yuri Gagarin, USSR, on 4/12/1961
Source:
World Almanac 2008, p. 309
November 24-30
Question: Name one of the well-known authors who perform as the Rock Bottom
Remainders.
Answer:
Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Matt Groening, Scott Turrow, Ray
Blount Jr., Greg Iles, Kathi Kamen
Source:
www.rockbottomremainders.com
November 17-23
Question: On what side did the International Brigade fight in the Spanish
Civil War?
Answer:
Republican
Source:
Oxford Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, p. 519
November 10-16
Question: What country do Panama hats come from?
Answer:
Ecuador
Source:
2008 World Book, vol. 6, page 72.
November 3-9
Question: What is the smallest island country at 8 sq. miles?
Answer:
Nauru in the Pacific Ocean
Source:
Just curious, Jeeves by Mindo & Barrett.
October 27-November 2
Question: When and where was Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats" first
performed?
Answer:
May 11, 1981, New London Theatre, London
Source:
Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, vol. 1, p. 337
October 20-26
Question: Who won the World Series the year World War II
ended (1945)?
Answer:
Detroit Tigers won 4 -3 over the Cubs
Source:
Baseball Desk Reference p. 111
October 13-19
Question: Rival performances of what play (performed by American Edwin
Forrest and Englishman William Charles Macready) were partially responsible for
the Astor Place Riot in New York City on May 10, 1849?
Answer:
Shakespeare's Macbeth
Source:
American Eras 1815-1850, p.52
October 6-12
Question:
Alfred Nobel's will stipulated prizes for peace. Ironically, what did this
scientist invent?
Answer:
Dynamite
Source:
Nobelpeaceprize.org/eng (homepage)
September 29-October 5
Question: What is the origin of the name for Kane County?
Answer:
Senator Elias K.Kane was the first
Illinois Secretary of State
Source:
Illinois Blue Book, 2005-2006, p. 437
September 22-28
Question: What is the official dance of the State of
Illinois?
Answer:
Square dance
Source:
Illinois Blue Book, 2005-2006, p. 420
September 15-21
Question: If you have a quire of paper, how many sheets do
you have?
Answer:
25 sheets
Source:
World Almanac 2008. P. 349
September 8-14
Question: When were Phillips head screws first used?
Answer:
Early 30's in the auto industry
Source:
Guide to Fakes & Reproductions, p. 95
September 2-7
Question: What is the origin of the word "Wednesday"?
Answer:
Woden - The Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the Norse
Odin or the Roman Mercury. In Latin, Wednesday is Mercurii.
Source:
Old Farmer's Almanac, p. 270
August 25-September 1
Question: What do you fear if you suffer from
Friggatriskaidekaphobia?
Answer:
Friday the 13th
Source:
Old Farmer's Almanac, p. 271
August 18-24
Question: Whose famous last words were "Get my swan costume ready"?
Answer:
Ballerina Anna Pavlova, 1931
Source:
Old Farmer's Almanac, 2008 p. 288
August 11-17
Question: What historical legislation was strongly
influenced by Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle ?
Answer:
It spurred passage of the Pure Food & Drug Act of
1906
Source:
The 20th Century, p. 534
August 4-10
Question: Clarence Birdseye, American scientist, is best
known for what invention?
Answer:
The technique for quick-frozen foods in 1917
Source:
The 20th Century, p. 1306-7
July 28-August 3
Question: What "dome" of great industrial strength did R.
Buckminster Fuller patent in 1951?
Answer:
The Geodesic Dome ("Geodesic" meaning the shortest distance between two points)
Source:
Inventing the 20th Century, p. 130-1
July 21-27
Question: What was the name of Robert E. Lee's favorite
horse?
Answer:
Traveller
Source:
Robert E. Lee: A Biography by Emory M. Thomas
July 14-20
Question: What country invented the first kites?
Answer:
China
Source: World of Invention, p. 443
July 7-13
Question: What nearby community was first to have an 18
hole golf course?
Answer:
Wheaton, IL in 1893
Source: Famous First Facts, p. 675
June 30-July 6
Question: What month and year was Anthony Kennedy's
appointment to the Supreme Court confirmed?
Answer:
Jan 1988
Source: The Supreme Court A to Z, p. 251
June 23-29
Question: What year was the Slinky toy invented?
Answer:
1945 by Pennsylvania mechanical engineer R. T. James
Source: Inventing the 20th century p. 120-1.
June 16-22
Question: Name the African American inventor who patented
traffic lights in 1923.
Answer:
Garrett Morgan
Source: Inventing the 20th Century, p. 78-79
June 9-15
Question: What Indian tribe supplied the U.S. "code
talkers" during World War II?
Answer:
Navajo
Source: Encyclopedia of WWII Spies, p. 208-211.
June 2-8
Question: Who was the original host of the television game
show 'The Price is Right'
Answer:
Bill Cullen
Source: The Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Television, pp. 75-6,
285-5.
May 26-June 1
Question: Who composed the music for the German national
anthem?
Answer:
Franz Joseph Haydn
Source: National Anthems of the World, 11th ed, 2006, p. 227
May 20-25
Question: What movie won the Academy Award for best
picture in 1990 and who directed it?
Answer:
"Dances with Wolves"
Source: Robert Osborne, 70 Years of the Oscar, p304, 306.
May 12-19
Question: Who was the oldest person to assume the throne
in Great Britain?
Answer:
William IV - 64 years, 10 months, 6 days in 1830.
May 5-11
Question: Who won the Orteig Prize in 1927?
Answer:
Charles Lindbergh
Source: American National Biography (Database), "Charles Augustus
Lindbergh" article.
April 28-May 4
Question: What was Mark Twain's real name?
Answer:
Samuel Clemens.
Source: Student Resource Center Gold (Database), Discovering Authors
article, "Samuel Langhorne Clemens"
April 21-27
Question: What Illinois town is former President Reagan's
birthplace?
Answer:
Tampico, IL
Source: American Justice, Vol 3, p662.
April 14-20
Question: What is Illinois' official snack food?
Answer:
Popcorn
Source: Illinois Blue Book 2005-2006 p.420.
April 7-13
Question: Name two of the four prime time TV programs that
were spinoffs of "Happy Days."
Answer:
"Joanie Loves Chachi", "Laverne & Shirley", "Mork & Mindy", "Out of the Blue"
Source: Complete Directory of Prime Time Network & Cable TV Shows
March 31-April 6
Question: Name the only U.S. senator who was elected by
write-in votes.
Answer:
Strom Thurmond in 1954.
Source: Congress A to Z, p 455.
March 24-30
Question: What year was the Newberry Library built?
Answer:
1893
Source: Chicago's Famous Buildings, p.82.
March 17-23
Question: What architectural firm designed the Harold
Washington Library Center in Chicago?
Answer:
Hammond, Beeby, & Babka.
Source: Chicago's Famous Buildings, pp.68.
March 10-16
Question: What is Calvin's father's profession in the
cartoon strip Calvin & Hobbes?
Answer:
Patent Attorney
Source: The Calvin & Hobbes' Tenth Anniversary Book, pp.103.
March 3-9
Question: Who was the bicycle racer to attain the speed of
a mile a minute? What year did this happen?
Answer:
Charles "Charles-Mile-a-Minute" Murphy, 1899.
February 25-March 2
Question: Who was the first Pope to visit the United
States?
Answer:
Pope Paul VI in 1965.
Source: Famous First Facts, p.271.
February 18-24
Question: Where and when did Georgia O'Keeffe have her
first solo exhibit?
Answer:
1917 in the 291 Gallery in New York, NY.
Source: Contemporary Women Artists, p. 493.
February 11-17
Question: What year was the
first air conditioned car built?
Answer:
1939 Packard at the Chicago Auto Show.
Source: Famous First Facts, p. 384.
February 4-10
Question:
What jazz musician invited the young Louis Armstrong to leave New Orleans and
move to Chicago?
Answer:
Joe "King" Oliver.
Source: Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular
Music, vol I, p. 181.
January 28-February 3
Question: When was AARP
founded?
Answer:
1958
Source: Encyclopedia of Associations,
Vol I, p.1347.
January 21-27
Question: If you won the
Pritzker Prize, what is your occupation?
Answer:
Architect
Source: Dictionary of
Misinformation, p 180.
January 14-20
Question: The Antoinette
Perry award is commonly referred to as a...?
Answer:
A Tony Award
Source: World of Winners, p115.
January 7-13
Question: What is the heaviest marine mammal?
Answer:
Blue Whale
Source: Top Ten of Everything, 2004, p.35.
December 26-January 6
Question: What is a
canologist?
Answer:
Beer Can Collector
Source:
Just Curious Jeeves
December 17-25
Question: When was the term
"quark" first used in the English language?
Answer:
James Joyce's Finnigan's Wake--"Three quarks
for Muster Mark! / Sure he hasn't got much of a bark."
Source: Just Curious Jeeves, p331
December 10-16
Question: What does
"dachshund" mean in German?
Answer:
Dash in German means badger. Hund in German means hound.
Source: World of Winners, pg.202.
December 2-9
Question: What does ukulele
mean in Hawaiian?
Answer:
"little jumping flea"
Source: Just Curious Jeeves,
p. 86.
November 26-December 2
Question: Which U.S.
President stood 5' 4"?
Answer:
James Madison
Source: Just Curious Jeeves,
p. 209.
November 19-25
Question: Which baseball
player had 7 no-hitters?
Answer:
Nolan Ryan
Source: Baseball Desk Reference,
p 394.
November 12-18
Question: Dana Owens is the real name of this rap artist.
Answer:
Queen Latifah.
Source: Rhythm & Blues and Rap & Hip Hop by Frank W. Hoffman,
p.215.
November 5-11
Question: Identify the first national park which was
opened the same year Batavia Library began. (1872)
Answer:
Last week's question was in error. Yellowstone National Park was established in
1872. The Batavia Public Library was established in 1882. We regret the error.
October 29-November 4
Question: What are the names of the two elephant species?
Answer:
African and Asian
Source: Grzimek's Encyclopedia Of Mammals,
volume 4, page 460.
October 22-28
Question: What is Lady Bird Johnson's first name?
Answer: Claudia
Source: World Book Encyclopedia
Volume 11, p.146.
October 15-21
Question: What is the longest muscle in the human body?
Answer: Sartorius,
located in the thigh.
Source: BODY BY DESIGN by Ron Nagel , p162.
October 8-14
Question: Name the artist who sculpted Mt. Rushmore.
Answer:
Gutzon Borglum
Source: americanparknetwork.com
October 1-7
Question: What sign is on the center square of a Scrabble
board?
Answer:
A star.
Source: google images
September 24-30
Question: How many rays are in the Statue of Liberty's
crown?
Answer:
Seven
Source: http://endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/libertyfacts.htm
September 17-23
Question: What was the name of Dale Evan's horse?
Answer:
Buttermilk
Source: Roy Roger's Museum website (http://www.royrogers.com/lane-index.html)
September 10-16
Question: The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in what
state?
Answer:
Texas
Source: National Park Service website
September 5-9
Question: What is the name of the last horse to win the
triple crown?
Answer:
Affirmed in 1978
Source: World Almanac 2007, p 958
August 27-September 4
Question: What is the softest mineral on geology's Mohs
Scale?
Answer:
Talc
Source: World Almanac 2007, p.275
August 20-26
Question: When is "National Return Shopping Carts to the
Supermarket" month?
Answer:
February
Source: Chase's Calendar of Events. p11
August 13-19
Question: Before the donkey what were two other animals
used to symbolize the Democratic Party?
Answer:
Tiger, Rooster, Dog, Snake
Source: The Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party, Vol 3, p 87-88.
August 6-12
Question: When is Odie's birthday?
Answer:
August 8, 1978
Source: Chase's Calendar of Events, p. 405.
July 30-August 5
Question: Which country is the most densely populated?
Answer:
Monaco (32, 543 people/square mile)
Source: World Almanac and Book of Facts
2007, p. 848.
July 23-29
Question: Which mountain has the highest peak in North
America?
Answer:
Mt. McKinley (located in Alaska's Denali National Park)
Source: The Columbia Gazetteer of the
World, Vol. 1 A-G, p. 815.
July 16-22
Question: In the Alexander Hamilton/Aaron Burr duel, which
man died?
Answer:
Alexander Hamilton
Source: Encyclopedia Americana, volume 5, p. 25
July 9-15
Question: What year did Casablanca win the Academy Award?
Answer: 1943
Source: World Almanac and Book of Facts 2007, p. 266.
July 2-8
Question: On what continent are the Atlas Mountains?
Answer: Africa
Source: Oxford Atlas of the World, p. 110 (B12)
June 25-July 1
Question: When is National Knock-Knock day?
Answer: October 31
Source: 2007 Chase's Calendar of Events, p. 544.
June 18-24
Question: Where is the exact geographic center of
Illinois?
Answer: Logan, IL 28 miles NE of Springfield.
Source: World Almanac and Book of Facts, p. 452.
June 11-17
Question: What is the highest dam in the Unites States?
Answer: Oroville, on the Feather River in California at 770 feet
Source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, p. 741
June 4-10
Question: What is the name of the tallest mountain in
Europe?
Answer: Mt. Elbrus (in Russia)
Source: The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the world, p. 565
May 29-June 3
Question: Who was the first President born in a hospital?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
Source: Facts about the Presidents, p. 262
May 21-28
Question: Which buildings made Preservation Chicago's list
of Chicago's Seven Most Threatened Buildings this year?
Answer: North Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, Farwell Building (660-664 N.
Michigan Ave.), Pilgrim Baptist Church (3301 S. Indiana Ave.), Archer Avenue
(commercial district) in Bridgeport, the Wicker Park Commercial District, The
Julia C. Lathrop homes (Clybourn Avenue and Diversey Parkway), and the Rosenwald
Apartments (4600 block of South Michigan Avenue).
Source: Chicago Tribune database, "Seven Most Threatened
Buildings" limit to 2007
May 7-13
Question: When did the Brady Bunch TV show debut?
Answer: September 1969.
Source: Encyclopedia of Television, Vol I, p. 212.
April 30-May 6
Question: Who created the Pillsbury Doughboy?
Answer: Leo Burnett Agency
creative director.
Source: CHICAGO CENTER for ENTERPRISE,
vol I, p. 224.
April 23-29
Question: What ship was painted by J.M.W. Turner as
it was en route to be broken up?
Answer: HMS TEMERAIRE
Source: Ships of the World, p 509.
April 16-22
Question: What is the brightest star in the sky?
Answer: Sirius
Source: Field Guide to the Stars & Planets, p. 8
April 9-15
Question: Cranberry juice is the official beverage of
which state?
Answer: Massachusetts
Source: CQ's Desk Reference on the States, p. 31
April 1-8
Question: A bolo tie is the official
neck wear of which state?
Answer: Arizona
Source: CQ DESK REFERENCE on the States, p.248.
March 26-April 1
Question: Who is the only United States President to
also be president of a major university (Princeton)?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson.
Source: FACTS ABOUT the PRESIDENTS, p171.
March 19-25
Question: Which state was the first to lower the
voting age to 18?
Answer: Georgia, 1942.
Source: CQ Desk Reference on the States, p137.
March 12-18
Question: Kool-aid is the official state beverage of
which state?
Answer: Nebraska
Source: Netstate.com
March 4-11
Question: Iguaçu Falls borders what two
South American Countries?
Answer: Brazil and Argentina
Source: TRAVELER'S ATLAS, p 61.
February 26-March 4
Question: What company did John Jacob Astor charter in
1808?
Answer: American Fur Company
Source: WHO WAS WHO in WORLD EXPLORATION, p.22.
February 19-25
Question: What U.S. President's daughter went on to become
a best selling writer of murder mysteries?
Answer: Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret.
Source: Facts About the Presidents, p.213.
February 12-18
Question: What was Spencer Tracy's last film?
Answer: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
Source: Internet Movie Database. (http://www.imdb.com)
February 5-11
Question: In what shape is our Milky Way
galaxy?
Answer: Barred spiral
Source: Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy, p. 270.
January 29-February 4
Question: 'Groan box' is the slang for what musical
instrument?
Answer: Accordion
Source: NTC's Dictionary of American Slang, p182.
January 22-28
Question: Where is Monte Cristo?
Answer: Island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Source: World Book, vol 13, p762.
January 15-21
Question: In what state is Mammoth Cave?
Answer: Kentucky
Source: World Book Encyclopedia, V13, p130.
January 8-14
Question: What were the names of the three Bronte sisters?
Answer: Emily, Anne, and Charlotte
Source: The Brontes A to Z, pg. vii.
January 2-7
Question: What is the name of Chicago's oldest train
station?
Answer: Dearborn Station Galleria or Dearborn St. Station.
December 11-17
Question: What American
holiday takes place on June 14th?
Answer: Flag Day
Source: World Almanac & Book of Facts, 2006, p. 361.
December 4-10
Question: Who is the only
President of the United States to remain a bachelor?
Answer: James Buchanan
Source: Facts about the Presidents, p 88.
November 27-December 3
Question: What was the nickname of the author
of “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”?
Answer: Lawrence of Arabia
Source: T.E. Lawrence: Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, V7,
p. 207.
November 20-26
Question: What makes blue
jeans blue?
Answer: Indigo dye
Source: Student Resource Center, subject search for blue jeans.
November 13-19
Question: Who is credited
with first having said, "A life which is unexamined is not worth living?"
Answer: Plato
Source: Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, p74:15
November 6-12
Question: The first Nobel
Peace prize was awarded in 1901 and shared by two men. Who were they?
Answer: Jean Henri Dunant and Frederic Passy.
Source: Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners, p.149.
October 31-November 5
Question: Who is the only President whose grandson also became President?
Answer: William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison
Source: Facts about Presidents, p. 60
October 24-30
Question: "Maybe it sags like a heavy load. Or does it
explode?" refers to….?
Answer: What happens to a dream deferred
Source: Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, p. 426
October 16-23
Question: What famous Illinois poet wrote "The fog comes
in on little cat feet"?
Answer: Carl Sandburg
Source: www.bartleby.com
October 11-15
Question: Where in the world is Nunavut?
Answer: Canadian province north of Manitoba
Source: World Almanac 2006, p. 432
September 25-October 10
Question: Who is the only U.S. president to earn a Ph.D.?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
Source: Facts about the Presidents, p. 171
September 11-17
Question: What motion picture is considered to be the
first western film?
Answer: The Great Train Robbery(1903)
Source: The Larousse Desk Reference, p. 511
September 5-10
Question: On what date is Hobbit Day celebrated?
Answer: September 22
Source: Chase's 2006 Calendar of Events, p. 483
August 28-September 4
Question: When and in what theater was the rock opera
Jesus Christ Superstar first performed?
Answer: Oct. 12, 1971, Mark Hellinger Theater, New York
Source: Kurt Ganzl, Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, Vol. 2, p. 1023
August 21-27
Question: What was Louis Armstrong's first wife's maiden
name and what instrument did she play?
Answer: Lillian Hardin, piano
Source: Guiness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 1, p. 181
August 14-20
Question: Name the current two U.S. Senators from
Illinois.
Answer: Richard Durbin, Barack Obama
Source: Washington Information Directory, p.762
August 7-13
Question: What does the abbreviation "RSVP" stand for?
Answer: Répondez s'il vous plaît (French for
'respond, please')
Source: Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette, page 644
July 31-August 6
Question: What was the 48th state to enter the Union?
Answer: Arizona
Source: The World Almanac 2005, page 613
July 24-30
Question: When is National Mustard Day?
Answer: August 5
Source: Chase's 2006 Calendar of Events, p.410
July17-23
Question: Where is the Gasparilla Pirate Festival
celebrated?
Answer: Tampa, FL
Source: Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World, p 197
July10-16
Question: What was the first movie Tom Cruise acted in?
Answer: Endless Love
Source: Film Actor's Guide, p. 119
July 3-9
Question: Which U.S. President had the most children?
Answer: John Tyler had 15 children.
Source: Encyclopedia Americana, p. 312.
June 26-July 2
Question: Who was the
youngest performer to be
nominated for an Academy Award?
Answer: Justin Henry (8 years old, 1979, Kramer vs Kramer)
Source: 70 Years of the Oscars: The Official History of the Academy
Awards, Page 347
June 19-25
Question: What natural disaster happened on April 18-19,
1906?
Answer: San Francisco Earthquake
Source: World Almanac 2005, p. 208
June 12-18
Question: What breed of dog has webbed feet?
Answer: Newfoundland
Source: Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds, 2nd edition, p. 141
June 5-11
Question: What year did the movie "Rebecca" win an Oscar
for best picture?
Answer: 1940
Source: Oscar A to Z, pg. 702
May 30-June 4
Question: What great river is formed by the meeting of the
Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers?
Answer: The Ohio River
Source: City Profiles USA 2005, pg 711
May 24-30
Question: What year did the first Kentucky Derby take
place?
Answer: 1875
Source: World Almanac 2005, p. 544
May 15-23
Question: According to the 2000 U.S. census which U.S.
state is the most populous?
Answer: California (with 33,871,648 residents)
Source: World Book Special Census Edition, p. 93
May 1-14
Question: Albert Schweitzer is noted for his humanitarian
work. He was also an accomplished musician of what instrument?
Answer: Organ
Source: Essential Desk Reference, p 497
April 24-30
Question: The TORRO Intensity Scale was designed to
measure what weather activity?
Answer: Tornadoes
Source: The Essential Desk Reference, p369.
April 17-23
Question: When was the first Earth Day celebrated?
Answer: The first Earth Day was celebrated on 4/22/1970.
Source: World Book, 2004, v. 6, p32.
April 10-16
Question: Which amendment to the Constitution of the U.S.
gives 18 year olds the right to vote and when was it ratified?
Answer: Amendment 26, July 1, 1971
Source: U.S. Government Manual 2005-2006, p. 20
April 3-9
Question: What is the only word in the English language
that ends with the letters -mt?
Answer: dreamt
Source: The Old Farmer's Almanac, 2005, p. 253
March 27-April 2
Question: Who taught Botticelli to paint?
Answer: Fra Filippo Lippi
Source: Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist Art
March 20-26
Question: What is the official language of Sierra Leone?
Answer: English
Source: CultureGrams 2002, p. 294
March 13-19
Question: How many sheets of paper are in a ream?
Answer: 500
Source: World Almanac 2005, p. 347
March 6-12
Question: What President pardoned all U.S. Vietnam draft
evaders?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
Source: World Almanac 2005, p.588
February 27-March 5
Question: According to recorded history, where did the
first magicians originate from?
Answer: Ancient Egypt
Source: Reference Databases: World Almanac - Funk & Wagnalls
New Encyclopedia, Title: Magic or Conjuring, Under History - (1st
Paragraph).
February 20-26
Question: Hieroglyphics is one Egyptian form of writing.
There were two others. What are they?
Answer: Hieratic & Demotic
Source: Reference Databases: World Almanac - Funk & Wagnalls
New Encyclopedia, Title: Egyptian Language, (Last Paragraph).
February 13-19
Question: Who is the father of plant classification?
Answer: Carl Linnaeus
Source: Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers, 2002, p. 10
February 6-12
Question: Who was the 39th president of the United States?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
Source: World Almanac 2005
January 30-February 5
Question: What was the date of James Dean's death?
Answer: 9/30/1955
Source: Encyclopedia of Hollywood
January 23-January 29
Question: The Rottweiler dog breed got its name from what
German town?
Answer: Rottweil
Source: Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds, 2nd edition, p. 144
January 16-January 22
Question: When was the first telecast of the "Price is
Right" and who was the emcee?
Answer: September 23, 1957, Bill Cullen
Source: The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network & Cable TV Shows,
p. 955
January 9-January 15
Question: What is the official language of Suriname?
Answer: Dutch
Source: Statesman's Yearbook 2005, p.1522
January 2-January 8
Question: Which Supreme Court justice wrote the Brown v.
Board of Education decision?
Answer: Chief Justice Earl Warren
Source: Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States,
p. 93
December 26-January 1
Question: If you are given a congé, are you being invited
to dance or insulted?
Answer: def: "an unceremonious dismissal or rejection of someone."
Source: Oxford Dictionary of Phrase & Fable 2000, pg. 237
December 19-25
Question: Who founded America's first circulating library?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin
Source: Reference Databases: World Almanac - Benjamin Franklin
December 12-18
Question: Thomas Edison was taught telegraphy as a reward for doing what?
Answer: He saved the life of a station official's child.
Source: Reference Databases: World Almanac - Thomas Edison
December 5-11
Question: When was the photocopier patented?
Answer: Filed 9/8/1938, Granted 11/19/1940
Source: Inventing the 20th Century, p. 97
November 28-December 4
Question: In what year was the word "terrorist" first used in the English
language and to whom did it refer?
Answer: In 1795, to the Jacobins during the French Revolution.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. 17, p. 821
November 21-November 27
Question: When did Thelonious Monk play with the Coleman
Hawkins Sextet?
Answer: Between 1943 and 1945
Source: Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 4, p. 2877
November 14-November 20
Question: How high is the Hoover Dam?
Answer: 730 feet
Source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, pg. 456
November 7-November 13
Question: What did Helen Brooke Taussig develop with Dr.
Alfred Blalock that paved the way for open heart surgery?
Answer: The Blalock-Taussig Shunt
Source: World of Scientific Discovery, pg. 922
October 31-November 6
Question: Who is credited with having said, "No one can make you feel
inferior without your consent"?
Answer: Eleanor Roosevelt
Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations, p.182
October 24-30
Question: In what year did London FIRST host the Olympic Summer Games and
how many nations attended?
Answer: 1908; 23 nations
Source: The Olympic Factbook, p 6
October 17-23
Question: Who invented the stethoscope?
Answer: René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec
Source: Scientific American Inventions & Discoveries, p. 307
October 9-16
Question: In what country do the Ainu live?
Answer: Japan
Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia Of Cultures & Daily Life, p. 26
October 2-8
Question: What year did astronomer Maria Mitchell become
the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences?
Answer: 1848
Source: A to Z of Women in Science, pg 151
September 26-October 1
Question: Which book, originally published in the 1930s,
was one of the most banned books in the 1990s?
Answer: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 1937, or The Grapes
of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1939
Source: Banned in the U.S.A., pg 142 and pg 196
September 19-25
Question: What is the state motto for Illinois?
Answer: State sovereignty – national union.
Source: 2005 World Almanac, pg 420
September 12-18
Question: What is the speed of the fastest roller coaster
in the world?
Answer: Kingda Ka located at Six Flags in New
Jersey has a top speed of 128 mph.
Source:
http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/Rides/KingdaKa.html
September 5-11
Question: Where were the two trials of Martin Guerre held
in 1560?
Answer: Rieux, France and Toulouse, France
Source: Great World Trials, pg 37
August 29-September 4
Question: Who did Diana Rigg play in the 60's TV series,
"The Avengers?"
Answer: Emma Peel
Source: Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,
pg 74
August 22-28
Question: When Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldren Jr., and
Michael Collins returned from their trip to the moon in 1969, how many weeks
were the astronauts quarantined?
Answer: 3 weeks
Source: General Reference Center – Search “Neil Armstrong” (View 53
Periodical References) 3rd Article: “Splendid Isolation: when the first
astronauts to walk on the moon returned from their July 1969 lunar expedition,
they were confined to quarters” (3rd Paragraph)
August 15-21
Question: What was the amount of the “good luck” budget
given to George Lucas by Warner Brothers Studios for his film THX 1138?
Answer: $777, 777
Source: Student Resource Center/Person Search by doing a
search under Name: George Lucas – Look under U*X*L Biographies. Answer is in 5th
paragraph.
August 8-14
Question: How many people have won the Tour de France five
(or more) times?
Answer: 5 (Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx,
and Jacques Anquetil)
Source: Guinness World Records 2005, p. 268
August 1-7
Question: When does "Talk Like a Pirate Day" take place
this year?
Answer: September 19, 2005
Source: Chase's 2005 Calendar of Events
July 25-July 31
Question: What was the total number of acres of certified
organic farmland in the United States in 2001?
Answer: 2,344,000 acres
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2004-2005,
p. 528, Table 798
July 18-July 24
Question: When was the first school built in Batavia?
Answer: Fall of 1834
Source: John Gustafson's Historic Batavia, p.11
July 11-July 17
Question: What book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925?
Answer: The Great Gatsby
Source: 20th Century Day by Day, p. 331
July 4-July 10
Question: Where was the Riesling White Wine Grape first grown?
Answer: Germany
Source: Oxford Companion to Wine, p. 803
June 27-July 3
Question: What was the largest winning margin in a Rugby Union World Cup
match?
Answer: 142 (142-0 Australia vs. Namibia, October 25, 2003)
Source: Guinness World Records, 2005, p. 217
June 20-June 26
Question: Who was the first senator to act in the movies?
Answer: Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois, 1969, The Monitors
Source: Famous First Facts, 1997, p. 148
June 13-June 19
Question: How many children does Dennis Hastert have?
Answer: 2 sons
Source: 2003-2004 Illinois Blue Book, p.43
June 6 -June 12
Question: What is the taxable annual salary of President
Bush?
Answer: $400,000
Source: 2005 World Almanac, p.52
May 30-June 5
Question: In what year did Mary Todd Lincoln reside in
Batavia?
Answer: May-September 1875
Source: John Gustafson's Historic Batavia, p. 68-69
May 23-29
Question: What NY Giant baseball player made a rookie
mistake that allowed the Cubs to win the NL pennant in 1908?
Answer: Fred Merkle
Source: The Baseball Desk Reference, p. 21 & p. 85
May 16-22
Question: How many films has Orson Welles directed?
Answer: 11
Source: Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever, p. 1544
May 9-15
Question: Do you have any sources on dance programs in
universities?
Answer & Source: DanceMagazine College Guide 2004 & 2005 and
Peterson's Professional Degree Programs in the Visual & Performing Arts
May 2-8
Question: Who served as Vice President of the United
States during Benjamin Harrison's presidency?
Answer: Levi P. Morton
Source: World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005, p. 578
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