Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (153 page)

SEPTEMBER 12

1953
A
N EXPERT “JURY” APPOINTED
by the mayor of Los Angeles gives “Los Angeles” its current pronunciation, deciding against the then-common “an-gull-eez”

ANY WAY YOU SAY IT

1.
What concert staple is the last song on 1973’s
Pronounced ’lehnerd ’skin-nerd
?

2.
Because of an unusual local pronunciation, what’s the only U.S. state capital with a one-syllable name?

3.
What athlete changed the pronunciation of his name in 1970 to rhyme with an award he hoped to win?

4.
What’s the first word whose pronunciation is disputed in Gershwin’s “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”?

5.
What’s the only state to mandate an official pronunciation of its name?

1976
T
HE MUMMY OF
R
AMESES
II, pharaoh of Egypt, is sent to Paris so scientists can study a fungal infection. Rameses is issued a passport that lists his occupation as “King (deceased),” and France treats the arrival with all the pomp of a state visit.

ME, A PHARAOH?

1.
What Egyptian queen was the stepmother of King Tutankhamen?

2.
What Egyptian mathematician shared his name with all the kings of Egypt’s last dynasty of pharaohs?

3.
In Exodus, what final plague convinces Pharaoh to let Moses’s people go?

4.
Who was assassinated by a man who yelled “Death to pharaoh!” before he fired?

5.
What did Cleopatra hide in a basket of figs on November 30, 30 b.c.?

1985
A
LONG-STANDING SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSY
is resolved: pandas are bears after all, not raccoons. The taxonomic battle was ended by genetic testing showing a close relationship between giant pandas and the other bears of the Ursidae family.

DIRECT ORDERS

What kind of animal would you find in these taxonomic orders?

Easy

1.
Primate

2.
Lagomorpha

3.
Cetacea

4.
Proboscidae

Harder

1.
Chiroptera

2.
Sirenia

3.
Lepidoptera

4.
Testudines

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Blattodea

2.
Psittaciformes

3.
Tubulidentata

4.
Anura

SEPTEMBER 13

1276
P
ORTUGAL’S
P
EDRO
J
ULIÃO
becomes pope, choosing the name John XXI. The only problem: there was never any John XX! A numbering screwup led to the goof.

TIMES NEW ROMAN

Catholic trivia—but hopefully with Mass appeal.

1.
What
SNL
cast member was arrested at the Vatican in 1981 for impersonating a priest?

2.
What Catholic nation is the world’s only country literally named for Jesus?

3.
In 1995, the Vatican compiled a list of the greatest movies of all time, specifically citing fifteen for their treatment of religion. Name either of the two Oscar-winning Best Pictures on that list.

4.
Which of the seven sacraments does a Catholic typically receive first?

5.
Decades before JFK, what electoral runner-up was the first Catholic major-party candidate for U.S. president?

1959
T
HE FIRST FLAG IS PLACED
on the moon’s surface—and it’s not the Stars and Stripes. The Soviet probe
Luna 2
launches, carrying an explosive chamber full of tiny stainless-steel “pennants” that, presumably, scatter when the craft crashes into the moon.

THE CRATER GOOD

1.
What’s the technical term for the lava flows on the moon sometimes called “seas”?

2.
What kind of animal is being put to bed in
Goodnight, Moon
?

3.
What worldwide news organization is today owned by Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church?

4.
What political scandal stole headlines while
Apollo 11
was on its way to the moon?

5.
Where on your body would you find a “lunula”?

6.
In what state is Craters of the Moon National Monument, the largest lava field in the lower forty-eight states?

7.
What was the name of the detective agency on TV’s
Moonlighting
?

8.
Where were the moons Nyx and Hydra discovered in 2005?

9.
Who are Luna, Artemis, and Diana, who advise
Sailor Moon
?

10.
Despite the rule against it, which state did put a living person on its state quarter?

11.
Warren Moon was one of two starting quarterbacks in the Canadian Football League’s 1981 Grey Cup. What future politician was the other?

12.
What two planets are mentioned in the Sinatra classic “Fly Me to the Moon”?

13.
What hit movie comedy was originally titled
The Bride and the Wolf
?

14.
What novel’s success earned Charles Frazier a whopping $8 million advance for his follow-up,
Thirteen Moons
?

15.
What title of a well-known sci-fi novel and movie was also the first word ever spoken from the surface of the moon?