Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (188 page)

NOVEMBER 10

1871
S
ENT TO
A
FRICA
by
The New York Herald,
Henry Stanley finally finds his missionary quarry in a tiny village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” he asks.

COME-ON PILGRIM

Try to get lucky with these questions about great pickup lines.

1.
What famous disco refrain of 1974 is drawn, word for word, from scene six of
A Streetcar Named Desire,
where Blanche DuBois uses it as a come-on to Mitch?

2.
What was Joey Tribbiani’s three-word pickup catchphrase on
Friends
?

3.
In 1936, who asked a police officer at L.A.’s train station, “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

4.
What Cleveland power-pop quartet specialized in songs about talking women into bed, such as “I Wanna Be with You,” “Tonight,” and “Go All the Way”?

5.
Who, upon first meeting Ted Hughes at a party, recited one of his poems to him, then led him to a closet, where she bit his cheek so hard he bled?

1928
K
NUTE
R
OCKNE RALLIES
his underdog Notre Dame team to victory over Army with his famous “Win One for the Gipper” speech. The speech will go on to become one of the most-quoted lines in movie history, whether or not the late George Gipp ever said anything of the kind.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING NOW

Can you identify iconic movie lines when given the line that immediately
follows
them?

Easy

1.
“Well, I’m the only one here.”

2.
“He wants to call somebody.”

3.
“Son, we live in a world with walls that must be guarded. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg?”

4.
“I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”

5.
“We have a main bus B under-volt.”

Harder

1.
“I gots to know.”

2.
“Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis.”

3.
“I work and work until I’m half dead, and I hear people saying ‘She’s getting old,’ and what do I get? A daughter who cares as much about the beautiful dresses I give her as she cares about me!”

4.
“Hey, Annie! Annie, what was that?”

5.
“I can’t let him go. I can’t. There must be some way to bring him back!”

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
“In your dreams? While you’re awake?”

2.
“I knew there was something wrong with them.”

3.
“Oui, mon capitaine.”

4.
“You know, one time we had a hill bombed for twelve hours.”

5.
“Now, you just go outside and enjoy yourself, and, ah, forget about all this nonsense. I want you to leave it all to me.”

NOVEMBER 11

1839
A
FTER EIGHT SUCCESSIVE LOSSES,
Marcus Morton wins the governorship of Massachusetts—by the narrowest of margins. He receives 51, 034 of 102, 066 votes, a one-vote majority.

COUNT AND RECOUNT

Can you match up these quantities by giving the number they have in common?

1975
A
RNOLD
S
CHWARZENEGGER WINS
his sixth Mr. Olympia competition and retires from bodybuilding. This contest will be the subject of the 1977 documentary
Pumping Iron.

GONE WITH THE WIN

What kind of contest is featured in these movies?

1.
Urban Cowboy

2.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

3.
Stand by Me

4.
Drop Dead Gorgeous

5.
Christmas in July

2005
T
HE
N
ATIONAL
T
OY
H
ALL
of Fame, in Rochester, New York, finally admits into its hallowed halls childhood’s most captivating toy: the empty cardboard box.

“BOX” OFFICE

1.
In 1984, who became the first woman to appear on the front of a Wheaties box?

2.
Which song from Big Boi’s
Speakerboxxx
replaced his OutKast bandmate’s hit “Hey Ya!” at number one in 2004?

3.
In reality, what color are the airplane voice recorders called “black boxes”?

4.
What’s the all-time bestselling game in Xbox history?

5.
Who warned his wife, Pandora, not to open her famous box?

6.
What day of the year is Boxing Day celebrated?

7.
What TV title character owned and managed the Lanford Lunch Box?

8.
According to the annual Quigley poll, who was the top box-office draw of 1973, 1983, and also of 1993?

9.
Who or what occupied the very first “Skinner box”?

10.
What German immigrant founded the company that later produced the famous “850 Peacock” jukebox?