RHS December 2021 Trivia

 

1. The original shop of a 300+ fast food chain , based originally on a five cent hot dog and

still featuring hot dogs today was opened at the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island,

NY, in 1916. What is its iconic name?

Nathan's Famous -- my dad used to deliver fountain syrups to Nathan's in Coney Island by horse and wagon from Brooklyn from my grandfather's syrup business.

2. Another iconic fast food joint, one of the first drive-ins, first set up in Lodi, California, in 1919

with its special, home-made root beer sold in a frosty mug and delivered to your car by a carhop.

What was it called?

A&W Root Beer named for Roy Allen and Frank Wright -- first franchised restaurant chain

3. Mistletoe, a parasitic plant with evergreen foliage and berries has long been associated with

romance [fertility] and Christmas decorations, was first recorded in literature as a "danger" to

housemaids in 1820 by author Washington Irving known for which well-known scary tale of

American folklore?

"The Headless Horseman"

4. Name the four singing and dancing stars of the Christmas movie "White Christmas."

Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Danny Kaye, and Bing Crosby

5. Traditionally, what was a Yule log?

A large log intended to burn for the 12 days of Christmas starting on the Winter Solstice.

RHS November 2021 Trivia

 

1.Which car company introduced the three point seat belt? In which year?

 

Volvo.   1959.

2. What is a Furcula?

A wishbone.

3. Canadian Thanksgiving is regularly on which day and week in October?

Second Monday of October.

4. Which U.S. President made Thanksgiving a national holiday?

Abraham Lincoln.

5. What is the term for the plastic or metal on the end of a shoelace designed to facilitate inserting the lace in the eyelets of a shoe?

Aglet.

 

RHS October 2021 Trivia

 

1. Hallowe'en, All Hallows (Saints) Evening, which comes just before All Hallows Day, was celebrated on the Celtic Calendar'sCross Quarter celebration of Samhain (Summer's End). It is believed to have been the start of the New Year on the CelticCalendar. What other Celtic Cross Quarter day is still observed regularly here in the United States and elsewhere?

 

February 2nd, Ground Hog Day, Celtic Imbolc (Lamb's Milk), later Catholic Candlemas 

https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Cross-Quarter+Days

2. Which early civilization first exhibited a number system with a specific character for zero in a true positional place notation?

A. Indian?  B. Chinese?  C. Pre-Columbian Meso-America? D. Ancient Middle East?

 

C. Pre-Columbian America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0#Pre-Columbian_Americas

 

3. In the film "Ground Hog Day" who played Buster who presided over the ground hog shadow-detecting ceremony?

 

Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill Murray's older brother

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Doyle-Murray

4. Peggy Lou Snyder, a vaudeville dancer and vocalist who appeared under the name of Harriet Hilliard, later married a formercollege football player and saxophone-playing band leader. They had two sons, Eric and David. They became a famous comedy family. What was her married name?

 

Harriet Nelson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Nelson

5. What was the name of the British physician who developed the concept of "vaccination" by exposing patients to the more benign cow pox to build their immunity to the scourge of small pox?

 

Edward Jenner  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner#Invention_of_the_vaccine

 Get Your Covid Vax!

 

RHS September 2021 Trivia

 

Something a little different: English borrows words from many languages and all over the world. Below I will list six continents and then provide six loan words borrowed into English from a language originally spoken on one of these continents. Just match the continents to the words!

Africa | Asia | Australia | Europe | North America | South America

1. pajamas    ___ASIA_______

2. corn          ______EUROPE_____

3. tomato      _____SOUTH aMERICA______

4. banana     _____AFRICA______

5. squash     _____NORTH AMERICA______

6. barramundi _____AUSTRALIA______

Extra Credit: Can you identify the single source, i.e., the people from whose language the following words were all borrowed?

bar [meaning 'coin'], drag [referring to cross-gender dressing], lollipop, pal, shiv [ knife, razor, or other sharp or pointed implement, especially one used as a weapon]

 

The Gypsies: aka Romani, aka Zigeuner,, Tsigane, Gitane, etc., etc.

 

RHS August 2021 Trivia

 

1. The first commercially successful home blender was financed by and later named for what famous American band leader?

Fred Waring [and his Pennsylvanians] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Waring#Waring_blender

2.What first radio announcer, later show host, and later TV presenter who was the announcer for "The Original Amateur Hour," and the second announcer for "The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour," and presenter of TV's "Truth or Consequences" created, produced, and hosted TV's "This is your Life"?

Ralph Edwards  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Edwards

3. Who was the New York State-born, originally Dutch-speaking slave who was the first black woman to win a court suit against a white defendant and who became a prominent Abolitionist and women's rights activist?

Isabel Baumtree aka Sojourner Truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth

4. Can you name the Vienna-born mathematician, American movie star, and inventor who improved traffic stoplights, influenced Howard Hughes' airplane designs, and devised frequency-hopping spread-spectrum communications to prevent German jamming of radio-controlled torpedoes [and which communications technology is critical in today's defense communication satellite networks]?

Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler aka Hedy Lamarr  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr

5. What famous American author and wit became a close friend of Nikola Tesla [whose inventions made alternating current the basis of most electrical devices, creating the binary environment for electronic computing] and once while playing with a Tesla generator suddenly found his constipation relieved and who at times borrowed money from his friend Tesla?

Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain   https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/01/11/twain-and-tesla/

RHS July Trivia

 

1. In honor of the Tokyo Olympic games: The modern Olympics began in the summer of 1896. Only four nations have participated in every summer games held since then. Can you name which four?

 

 Greece, Australia, Great Britain, and Switzerland

2. As many of us are turning or have turned 80, there was a TV program on air between 1950 & 1956, although it originally started on radio in 1948, "Life Begins at 80." Over the life of the show it aired first on NBC and ended on ABC. In between it was on a third network which no longer exists. What network was it and who was the host?

 

The Dumont Television Network   & Jack Barry

3. The current Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, has been in the news trying to realign the Department of Justice. The first Attorney General was named also served as the second U.S.Secretary of State! Who was he? 

Edmund Jennings Randolph

4. Princeton University was founded in 1746. Where was it founded and what was its first name?

Elizabeth, N.J.   The College of New Jersey

 

RHS June 2021 Trivia

 

Name the Missing Middle Man/Men/Woman

1. Jimmy Durante's old act of Clayton, JACKSON, and Durante

2. The Andrews Sisters: Patty, LAVERNE,  and Maxine

3. FDR's Republican oratorical targets, that old team of Martin, BARTON, and Fish

4. The Three Kings of Orient are Caspar [or Gaspar], MELCHIOR, and Bathalsar

5. The 1949 musical movie "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" celebrated the fictional double play combination of O'Brien, to RYAN, to Goldberg portrayed on screen by Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Jules Munshin

6. The 1920's New York Yankees' Murderers Row: Earl Combs, Mark Koenig, BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzari

7. The literary Bronte sisters, Charlotte, EMILY, and Anne

8. The 1905-1912 Chicago Cubs' great double play combo, Tinkers to EVERS, to Chance

RHS May 2021 Trivia

1. Which school lost the NJSIAA Group II Boys' Basketball State Championship to Riverside High School?

Park Ridge High School

2. Recently Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means pitched a no-hitter that was nearly a perfect game except for a wild pitch. On October 8, 1956, which pitcher pitched the first perfect game [no hits, no walks] in a World Series?

Don Larsen of the NY Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. [I saw most of the last inning on a TV set up on the stage of the RHS auditorium,] 

3. Who portrayed Superman in the WOR Radio's "The Adventures of Superman" on the Mutual Broadcast Network and later hosted TV's original "Beat the Clock" game show?

Bud Collyer

4. August 6, 1926, the first woman, an American, successfully wam the English Channel, beating the then existing men's record by two hours. Who was she?

Gertrude Ederle

 

RHS April 2021 Trivia

 1. Only one U.S. President had English as his second language. Can you name him?

Martin Van Buren whose first language was Dutch.

2.  Only one U.S. President served two non-consecutive terms in office (22nd & 24th). Who was he? extra credit: Where was he born and where did he die?

Grover Cleveland.   extra credit:  Caldwell, NJ     &  Princeton, NJ

3.  Only one U.S. President had a healthy, surviving child born to his First Lady while in the White House. Which one? [JFK's wife Jackie had a premature child who only survived two days]

Grover Cleveland

4.  Only one U.S. President ever married in the White House while serving as President. Which one? 

Grover Cleveland.  [Cleveland (49) married his ward, Frances Folsom (21). The wedding took place 2 Jun 1886 in the Blue Room. This was the only Presidential wedding, so far, in the executive mansion. Frances Folsom Cleveland was the youngest First Lady so far]

RHS March Trivia

 Nicknames

1. Which American President's nickname gave rise to the almost universal "Okay"?

Martin Van Buren  nickname: Old Kinderhook: The term 'Okay' appears to have achieved national prominence in 1840, when supporters of the Democratic political party claimed during the 1840 United States presidential election that it stood for "Old Kinderhook", a nickname for the Democratic president and candidate for reelection, Martin Van Buren, a native of Kinderhook, New York. "Vote for OK" was snappier than using his Dutch name.

2. Which American President was sarcastically nicknamed "The Deport in Chief"?

Barack Obama:  Barack Obama was famously labeled "deporter in chief" by critics in the immigrant-rights community, even as enforcement-first advocates accused his administration of being soft on unauthorized immigrants. 

3. What singer was called "The Velvet Fog"?

Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author.

4. Which British P.M. was sometimes called "Attila.the Hen"?

Leadership Lessons from Attila the Hen: Margaret Thatcher on Europe-and the United States - Show Me Institute

5. Who was dubbed "The Butcher of Gallipoli" early in his career?

Winston Churchill: Basically Churchill was the head of the British Navy during WWI and he ordered an assault on the heavily fortified Turkish held straights at Gallipoli which resulted in massive casualties for his own troops. The battle was a disaster for the Allied forces, including the heaviest losses ever suffered in one battle by the Australians

RHS February 2021 Trivia

1. Who was the first solo female country singer admitted to the Country Music Hall of Fame? Patsy Cline 

 2. Who was the first woman in space? Valentina Tereshkova 

 3. What single song by one singer has recorded the most sales of [physical] records [in the 50 millions] ? "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby 

 4. What is the all-time best-selling single record by a single female artist [20 million] ? "I will always love you," by Whitney Houston 

 5. The highest-grossing motion picture of all-time is "Avengers: End Game." But what is the highest grossing film of all-time when grosses are adjusted for inflation? "Gone with the Wind." "Avengers: End Game" drops to number five.

RHS January 2021 Trivia

 1. This kid was "Thin Man" Nick and Nora's child who later also portrayed "The Boy with Green Hair". He later was involved with a TV time leaper. Who was he?

Dean Stockwell

2. This kid was "The Kid" and also "Peck's Bad Boy" in the early days of film. Later he festered as an Addams family uncle. Who was he?

Jackie Coogan

3. This baby had a BIG voice even as a little child. She started back in the very beginning of talking pictures as a singing kid, but is probably best known in her role as a comedy writer opposite Morey Amsterdam. Who was she?

"Baby" Rose Marie

4. This young lady achieved notice with a collie and then with a "velvet" horse.  Later known for a role as a "cat" and for her many husbands and jewels. Who was she?

Liz Taylor

5. This young lad was in a green Welsh valley and also a Lassie flick. He later aped it up on a planet of primates. Who was he?

Roddy McDowell