Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (61 page)

APRIL 12

1902
D
R
. G
EORGE
S
TILL PUBLISHES
an article on an “abnormal defect on moral control” he has discovered in children. Not until 1996 will Dr. Still’s discovery get its modern name: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN THEATER

I’m not sure if these people have ADHD, or if they just need to make up their mind already.

1.
What “Saturday Night Massacre” figure is the only person to have served in four different U.S. cabinet positions during his career?

2.
What play was written under a host of working titles, including
The Moth, Blanche’s Chair in the Moon,
and
The Poker Night
?

3.
Who’s the only coach to have led seven different teams to the NBA playoffs?

4.
On what kiddie film franchise does director Robert Rodriguez also have credits as writer, producer, composer, editor, cinematographer, production designer, sound mixer, camera operator, and visual effects supervisor?

5.
Who’s the only person ever to host shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC simultaneously, doing triple duty from 1984 to 1987?

1961
R
ICHARD
R
ODGERS WINS
a Grammy Award for
The Sound of Music
’s cast album, making him the first person to win all four top showbiz awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. (There are now eight others, including Mel Brooks, John Gielgud, Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Moreno, and Mike Nichols.)

I’D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY

Match these less famous awards with the fields in which they’re given.

APRIL 13

1663
E
XAMINING A SAMPLE
of cork under an early microscope, Robert Hooke of the British Royal Society notes that the plant material seems to be made up of boxy compartments that remind him of monks’ quarters, so he coins the word “cells” for them.

“CELL”ING OUT

1.
What Irish author’s last published poem was released under the pseudonym “C.3.3,” his prison cell number?

2.
What grapefruit-sized object has been reckoned to be the largest single cell on earth?

3.
Whose breakthrough 2001 album could have been synonymously titled
Leukocytes
?

4.
Marc Bolan’s wife, Gloria Jones, first released what song, later a much bigger hit for Soft Cell?

5.
What single company accounts for fully half the market capitalization of the Helsinki stock exchange?

1843
C
HANG AND
E
NG
, Barnum’s famed “Siamese twins,” marry sisters Adelaide and Sarah Anne Yates. They adopt the last name “Bunker,” buy land and slaves, and settle down in rural North Carolina. Sadly, the Yates sisters don’t get along, and Chang and Eng have to split their week between two separate households.

THAI ME UP, THAI ME DOWN

1.
What popular tourist destination is Thailand’s largest island?

2.
What tropical fruit is the main ingredient in Thai
som tam
salad?

3.
What two musicals, one Broadway hit and one West End hit, opened thirty-five years apart and were both set in Bangkok?

4.
What popular aquarium fish is known as
pla-kad
in its native Thailand?

5.
What modern sport grew out of the ancient Thai sport Muay Thai?

1970
RICKY
S
CHRODER IS BORN
in Staten Island. When he grows up, Ricky will drop the
y
and become one of TV’s great fill-in men, replacing Jimmy Smits on
NYPD Blue
and Roger Cross on
24.

CAST AWAY

Who played the new addition replacing these TV regulars?

Easy

1.
Phil Hartman,
NewsRadio

2.
Norman Fell,
Three’s Company

3.
Michael J. Fox,
Spin City

4.
Valerie Harper,
Valerie

5.
Nicholas Colasanto,
Cheers

Harder

1.
Polly Holliday,
Alice

2.
Charlotte Rae,
The Facts of Life

3.
William Frawley,
My Three Sons

4.
George Dzundza,
Law & Order

5.
Rob Lowe,
The West Wing

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Freddie Prinze,
Chico and the Man

2.
Rob Morrow,
Northern Exposure

3.
Larry Wilcox,
CHiPs

4.
Terry Farrell,
Deep Space Nine

5.
Terry Farrell,
Becker