Daily Trivia

Daily Trivia - hiatus

2009-12-21T13:48:39Z

Friday’s answer: Milton was paid ten pounds for Paradise Lost—five down, and five when all 1300 copies in the first printing were sold. After his death, his widow gave up all future claims for another 8 pounds.

And with that—Daily Trivia is going on hiatus for a while. Happy Holidays.

Daily Trivia

2009-12-18T14:15:25Z

Yesterday’s answer: Bill Cosby.

Today’s question: How much was poet John Milton paid for his epic poem Paradise Lost, which was first published in 1667?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-17T14:15:47Z

Yesterday’s answer: a palomilla is a milk-white horse with white mane and tail. So, a unicorn without the horn.

Today’s question: What famous entertainer appeared on educational TV in the 1970s as the milkman on The Electric Company?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-16T14:15:56Z

Yesterday’s answer: Patrick MLL is correct, they routed the Spanish Army on ice skates.

Today’s question: In the world of horses, what’s a palomilla? I wasn’t aware horses had their own world!

Daily Trivia

2009-12-15T14:15:44Z

Yesterday’s answer: Celeste.

Today’s question: How did the Dutch in Amsterdam mobilize to defeat the invading Spanish during the winter of 1572-73?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-14T14:15:57Z

Friday’s answer: He said, “This is a movie, not a lifeboat.” I guess it’s a good thing he wasn’t in Lifeboat.

Today’s question: What is the name of Babar the elephant’s wife?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-11T14:15:48Z

Yesterday’s answer: “Don’t forget, my dear, you have to reign all afternoon.” Hee! Oh, the Queen Mum. What a pistol.

Today’s question: After demanding top billing over Katharine Hepburn for the 1949 film Adam’s Rib, what did Spencer Tracy reply when asked if he’d ever heard of “ladies first”?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-10T14:15:24Z

Yesterday’s answer: Pete Gray had only one arm. Bet, no jokes!

Today’s question: What did the Queen Mother say to Queen Elizabeth II when her daughter considered having a second glass of wine at lunch shortly after her coronation?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-09T14:15:35Z

Yesterday’s answer: Bet got it (although I’m not sure she intended to)—the two faces represent the future and the past.

Today’s question: Outfielder Pete Gray played with the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite a serious handicap. What was it?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-08T14:15:10Z

Yesterday’s answer: Francis Bellamy (no relation to Ralph—or Bill) wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, which was published in The Youth’s Companion magazine.

Today’s question: Janus—the ancient Roman god of good beginnings, for whom January is named—is pictured on early coins with two faces looking in opposite directions. What did the faces represent?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-07T14:15:34Z

Friday’s answer: Bet was damn close; Lolly Willowes was the first Book of the Month Club suggestion.

Today’s question: What famous words did Francis Bellamy write to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-04T14:15:30Z

Yesterday’s answer: Roy Acuff. All the World War II movies I have seen, all the documentaries on the History Channel, all the books I’ve read, music of the era that I’ve listened to, and that is a complete stumper to me. I would not have guessed Roy Acuff in a million years.

Today’s question: Lolly Willowes, a novel about a spinster who realizes her vocation as a witch, won what unique honor when it was published in 1926?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-03T14:15:27Z

Yesterday’s answer: It was derived from Caesar, for Julius Caesar, as was kaiser in German and qaysar in the Islamic world.

Today’s question: Who beat out Frank Sinatra as favorite singer of American servicemen in Europe in a poll taken during World War II?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-02T14:15:51Z

Yesterday’s answer: Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a show in which I have utterly failed to find any charm. Bet, I could swear I have heard Lurch speak actual lines, even just “Yesssss sirrrrr” or something, but no specific episode or scene comes to mind.

Today’s question: What is the origin of the Russian title czar for ruler?

Daily Trivia

2009-12-01T14:15:19Z

Yesterday’s answer: Buffalo Bill Cody’s buffalo gun was named Lucrezia Borgia.

Today’s question: “You rang?” were the only words spoken by Lurch, the 7-foot-tall butler on TV’s The Addams Family. What other TV sitcom character also popularized the phrase? Incidentally, I have no empirical data to back this up, but I don’t know that those were the only words Lurch ever spoke. Seems to me he said more than that, but I can’t give a concrete example. Bonus points to anyone who can.