The 50 States

It was the only state physically & politically formed directly because of the Civil War

West Virginia

4/4 correct responses

The Movies

On May 6, 2000 the 2 writers of this 1997 movie joined a rally trying to get the janitors at Harvard a raise

Good Will Hunting

4/4 correct responses

The East Coast

It's the only U.S. island allowed to use a possessive apostrophe by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names

Martha's Vineyard

2/3 correct responses

Modern Technology

Common name given Douglas Engelbart's device, an "X-Y position indicator for a display system"

mouse
1/3 correct responses

Television Biographies

The biography of this man on PBS' "American Masters" was subtitled "Submitted for Your Approval"

Rod Serling

0/0 correct answers

Films of the 70s

"The Babysitter Murders" was the working title for this 1978 thriller

Halloween

1/3 correct responses

1999 Anniversaries

A traveling exhibit honoring the 200th anniversary of his death features his false teeth

George Washington

3/3 correct responses

Literary Characters

In 1829 he leaves an islet in Marseille's harbor & finds treasure on an islet in Italy's Tuscan Archipelago

The Count of Monte Cristo

3/3 correct responses

Politicians

A current U.S. governor, he hosted the game show "Grudge Match" in 1991 (as of 2001)

Jesse Ventura

2/2 correct responses

Money

The first of a series of 50 new U.S. quarters, released in January 1999, honored this state

Delaware

2/2 correct responses

Historic Names

In 2005, the 700th anniversary of his execution, his 5-foot sword was displayed in N.Y. as part of a Tartan Day celebration

William Wallace

2/2 correct responses

On the Moon

It's the last word of the inscription on Apollo 11's plaque on the Moon & is also found in a related quotation

mankind

2/2 correct responses

World Capitals

The Spaniards named it for the Virgin of the Fair Winds for bringing them safely across the Atlantic

Buenos Aires

1/2 correct responses

Famous Pairs

A new Ford V-8, stolen by this pair in Topeka on April 29, 1934, became world famous a few weeks later

Bonnie and Clyde

4/4 correct responses

Life Science

A study done in South Africa put these non-primates above chimpanzees, making them the world's second-smartest species

Dolphins

4/4 correct responses

Flags

This color appears on more different national flags than any other

red

2/3 correct responses

Entrepreneurs

In 1991 he flew the Pacific in the "Virgin Otsuka Pacific Flyer", the world's largest hot-air balloon

Richard Branson

2/2 correct responses

Holiday Quotes

In the end this Dickens character says, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year"

Ebenezer Scrooge

4/4 correct responses

Famous Names

In 1906 he launched Conjurer's Monthly, a magazine that he pretty much wrote & edited himself

Harry Houdini

4/4 correct responses

All God's Creatures

Edison proposed a flying machine based on the flight of this creature, also the subject of a musical work

bumblee

2/2 correct responses

Classic Children's Lit

This children's story begins with a young farm girl saying to her mother, "Where's Papa going with that ax?"

Charlotte's Web

2/3 correct responses

Nature

The propagation of oak trees depends on the lousy memories of these animals

Squirrels

3/3 correct responses

Entertainment Awards

In 1998 she became the only woman to win an Oscar & an Emmy for Lead Actress in the same year

Helen Hunt

0/0 correct responses

Native Americans

A Pennsylvania city, a canal & a Great Lake are named for this tribe

The Erie

5/5 correct responses

State Name Origins

3 of the 4 states whose names come from the first names of European kings

Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina (Latin for Charles)

a bunch of partial answers, and 1 complete

Shakespeare

Tho Shakespeare wrote many plays about kings, she is the only title character who is a queen

Cleopatra

3/4 correct responses

No.1 Songs

"The Twist" & this seasonal favorite from 1942 are the only 2 records to re-enter the charts & return to No. 1

White Christmas

0/3 correct responses

Business and Industry

On July 16, 1995 this company made its first sale, a science textbook

Amazon

3/4 correct responses

What Happens in Vegas

Much of this 2001 movie remake was filmed at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas

Ocean's Eleven

5/5 correct responses

U.S. States

It's the only state whose name & capital city both consist of 2 words

New Mexico (Santa Fe)

3/4 correct responses

Children's Literature

This one-word name is derived from the fact that the character used to sit among the ashes

Cinderella

3/4 correct responses

The U.S. Population

With about 5 people per square mile, it's the most sparsely populated of the lower 48 states

Wyoming

2/5 correct responses

Vice Presidents

He served as vice president for the shortest length of time: one month

John Tyler

2/2 correct responses

Historic Dates

It's reported that on this date King George III wrote in his diary, "Nothing of importance happened today"

July 4, 1776

3/3 correct responses

The Planets

It's the densest of the planets in our solar system & the only one not named for a deity

Earth

4/4 correct responses

Sports

On Jan. 15, 1892 the first rules for this sport were published in the Triangle, the Springfield, Mass. YMCA newspaper

Basketball

3/3 correct responses

The Supreme Court

Charles Evans Hughes was appointed to the court by this man whom he later succeeded as Chief Justice

William Taft

1/1 correct response + 2 cheaters

Animals

Because of the requirements in pumping blood to its brain, it has the highest blood pressure of any living animal

Giraffe

6/6 correct responses

Business and Industry

Bluelight.com is the internet shopping site of this retail chain (question from 2001)

KMart

4/4 correct responses

Actors and Plays

Robert Armin played the role of the fool in "As You Like It", in "Twelfth Night" & in this tragedy 1st published in 1608

King Lear

1/1 correct response

Fictional Animals

The name of this character, introduced in 1894, is from the Hindi for "bear"

Baloo

3/4 correct responses

Hotels

The U.S. investigation into the Titanic was first held in this hotel owned by one of the victims

Waldorf Astoria

3/3 correct responses

British Authors

In 1954 she became the first recipient of the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America

Agatha Christie

3/3 correct responses

Toy Safety

According to the P.I.R.G., the most dangerous toy for children up to age 8 is this common party decoration

balloons

4/4 correct responses

Musical Theater

In France, this musical was known as "Brillantine"; in Mexico, it was "Vaselina"

Grease

2.5/3 correct responses

Fashion History

In 1849 Americans traveling to the California gold fields via boat popularized this hat

Panama hats

2 correct responses, with some hints :)

Disney Films

In Spanish-speaking countries, this Disney film is known as "La Sirenita"

The Little Mermaid

4/4 correct responses

International Geographic

By size, it's the largest country that borders only one other country

Canada

3/3 correct responses

Classic Literature

"Did I request thee, maker, from my clay to mould me man ..." is the epigraph to this 1818 novel

Frankenstein

0/0 correct responses + 1 Googler

Pros and Cons in History

The two 3-letter words applied to those for & against the 18th Amendment, & states with differing laws on the issue

wet and dry

3/3 correct responses

Earth Facts

Because of the Earth's rotation, a person at sea level is lightest when standing at this degree of latitude

0

3/3 correct responses

Presidential Vetoes

Of the 21 regular vetoes by this 19th century president, 15 were overridden, the highest reversal total for any president

Andrew Johnson

1.5/4 correct responses

The Supreme Court

These 2 justices who graduated at the top of their classes were both first offered jobs as typists by the top law firms

Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O'Connor

3/3 correct responses

Movies

A catering hall called Aphrodite's Palace is featured in this 2002 film

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2/2 correct responses

Famous Photographs

Alberto Korda, Castro's official photographer, is best known for an image of this man seen on countless shirts & posters

Che Guervera

2/2 correct responses

Volcanoes

The 5 highest volcanoes on Earth are located in these mountains

Andes

2/2 correct responses

20th Century People

David Ben-Gurion described her as "The only man in my cabinet"

Golda Meir

1.5/2 correct responses

State Capitals

This state capital is on the site of a cross erected by Capt. Christopher Newport May 24, 1607

Richmond, VA

2/2 correct responses

The Movies

The night before their first mass jump in 1940, paratroopers at Fort Benning saw a Western about this man

Geronimo

2/2 correct responses

U.S. Geography

It's the only U.S. state that touches 2 oceans

Alaska

3/3 correct responses

Musical History

It's the nursery rhyme that inspired the title of a famous musical based on a 1913 G.B. Shaw work

London Bridge (Shaw --> Pygmalion --> My Fair Lady --> London Bridge)

2/2 correct responses

Shakespeare

Oddly enough, this 3-word phrase is the only Latin phrase spoken in the play "Julius Caesar"

Et tu Brute?

2/3 correct responses

Diplomatic Relations

Of the 4 countries in the world that the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with, the one that's farthest north (as of 03/2009)

North Korea

3/3 correct responses

Films of the 60s

In the top films of 2 consecutive years in the 1960s, she played a nanny & a governess

Julie Andrews

4/4 correct responses

Olympic Teams

Formed in 1988 & subject of a 1993 film, this team had its first sponsor, Red Stripe Lager, for the Nagano games

Jamaican boblsed team

4/4 correct responses

(yes, this was a double)

Science

As it has no mass, this particle travels at about 186,000 miles per second

photon

2/2 correct responses

American Literature

The only native Californian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

Steinbeck

1/1 correct response

Biology

This outermost skin layer may be five times thicker on the palms & soles than on the rest of the body

Epidermis

4/4 correct responses

Artists and their Works

1962: "Group of Five Campbell's Soup Cans"

Andy Warhol

5/5 correct responses

Their First Novels

Oui! Oui! in 1863 this science fiction pioneer published his first novel, "Five Weeks in a Balloon"

Jules Verne

3/3 correct responses

The Iliad, MacBeth, or the Hobbit

After Smaug is killed, the "Battle of Five Armies" ensues

The Hobbit

4/4 correct responses

Phrases in the King James Bible

Cain's 5-word question to God in Genesis 4:9, when asked of Abel's whereabouts

Am I my brother's keeper?

2.5/3 correct responses

Angelina Jolie

Angelina voiced Tigress, one of the "Furious Five" in this 2008 movie

Kung Fu Panda

3/3 correct responses

Books and Authors

In 2003 Mitch Albom had a No. 1 bestseller with "The Five People You Meet" here

in heaven

2/2 correct responses

I Know That Song

Five For Fighting flew high with this song that says, "I'm more than a bird, I'm more than a plane"

Superman

2/2 correct responses

Movie Taglines

1995: "Five criminals. One line up. No coincidence"

The Usual Suspects

3/3 correct responses

Texas Hold 'Em Hands

You've been dealt a "speed limit" if you hold a pair of these

fives

2/2 correct responses

Bestsellers

This 1974 bestseller was originally subtitled "A Novel of a Girl with a Frightening Power"

Carrie

Poetry

William Blake called them "The Two Contrary States of the Human Soul" and wrote songs of them

innocence and experience

U.S. States

2 of the 4 states whose names were those of independent republics before they entered the Union

Hawaii, Texas, California, Vermont

Wikipedia for the obscure answer

90s Trends

This adornment has been seen on Cher, Dennis Rodman & the 5,000-year-old "Iceman" found in 1991

tattoos

0/4 correct responses

American

Originally beardless, Uncle Sam got his chin whiskers from images depicting this real-life man

Lincoln

2/2 correct responses

Colleges and Universities

The only state that's home to 2 Ivy League schools

New York (Cornell and Columbia

2/3 correct responses

Symbols

In 1972 programmer Ray Tomlinson chose it to separate an e-mail user's name from the computer's name

@

3/3 correct responses

Myths

Seen Tantalus

1/2 correct responses

Highways and Byways

On Dec. 7, 1995 this state officially renamed its portion of Interstate 10 as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway

Arizona (the USS Arizona was sunk at Pearl Harbor

.5/4 correct responses

Films of the 30s

1933 film inspired by William Burden's 1926 Dutch East Indies trip & capture of the world's largest lizard

King Kong
1/1 correct response

Same Last Name

The 2 founders of a textbook publishing house, or the pair who sang the country hit "It's Your Love"

McGraw and Hill

2/2 correct responses

Poetry

The woman with the most quotes in the new edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is this American

Emily Dickinson

1/2 correct responses

British Novelists

In 1946 he wrote, "Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful & murder respectable"

George Orwell

1/1/ correct response

Television

In reviewing this May 1997 4-hour miniseries, TV Guide said NBC didn't "quite hit a Homer"

The Odyssey

4/4 correct responses

Food and Drink

Its name is from Gaelic for "water of life"

whiskey

2/2 correct responses

Children's Authors

This author & illustrator has said, "Max is like my demented son and he's taking care of his father for life"

Maurice Sendak

2.5/3 correct answers

19th Century America

Graders, gaugers, spikers & bolters built these

Railroads

4/6 correct responses

Children's Lit

This Roald Dahl book begins, "These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr. Bucket"

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

3/3 correct responses

Animals

Odobenus, the genus name of this animal, comes from the Greek for "one who walks with his teeth"

walrus

1/1 correct response

Poem Titles

This poem says, "For all averred, I had killed the bird that made the breeze to blow"

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

0/0 correct responses

Greek Mythology

Ariadne got the ball of twine that she gave to Theseus from this man before his flight from Crete

Daedulus

1.5/3 correct responses

Communication

A government website says it's "a complete, complex language ...said to be the 4th most commonly used" in the U.S.

American Sign Language

4/5 correct responses

Landmarks

Slated for demolition, it held 2 madmen, 4 forgers & a nobleman when the mob came for its gunpowder

The Bastille

1/1 correct response

NFL Team Names

2 of the 4 teams in the NFL with completely alliterative names

Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans

5/5 correct responses

Cyber Glossary

In computerese this word from the Hindu faith means an icon of a user in virtual reality

avatar

2/2 correct responses

19th Century American Authors

He wrote, "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and spartan-like..."

Thoreau

2/2 correct responses

English

Group of 4 letters that sounds different within words for done, exhaustive, hack, idea, branch & coarse

O-U-G-H (through, thorough, cough, thought, bough, rough)

3/3 correct responses

Legendary People

He lived with his girlfriend, a fat priest & a 7-foot-tall archer

Robin Hood

4/4 correct responses

The Early 20th Century

On April 11, 1912, from a pier in Queenstown, Ireland, Francis Brown took one of the last known photos of this

The Titanic

4/4 correct responses

The Earth

As Earth wobbles slowly on its axis, this moves in a "Chandler Circle" with a diameter of about 1 to 70 feet

The North Pole

3/3 correct responses

Travel and Tourism

City that boasts the tallest U.S. monument, completed in 1965

St. Louis (The Gateway Arch)

1/2 correct responses

Medieval Firsts

In the Middle Ages, this man introduced fireworks to western Europe

Marco Polo

0/2 correct answers

Americana

Baptist minister Francis Bellamy penned this oath in 1892 to reflect his Christian Socialist beliefs

The Pledge of Allegiance

1/2 correct responses

Fictional Characters

In works written about 300 years apart, Nick Bottom & Pinocchio find themselves transformed into these

donkeys

2.5/6 correct answers

Colleges and Universities

(This New York univ. is named for the family whose company was the first to sell toothpaste in a tube

Colgate University

3/3 correct responses

Food and Drink

In 2001 a 5,861-gallon version of this drink was served up at a Jimmy Buffett-owned place in Orlando

margarita

3/3 correct responses

National Anthems

This country's national anthem was written on the night of April 24, 1792

France

1/3 correct responses

Presidential Firsts

The first president to cross the Atlantic Ocean while in office, he did so to meet with other world leaders

Wilson

2/2 correct responses

The Pulitzer Prizes

The first man to win the Pulitzer Prize for his film criticism, he's lobbied for a Pulitzer Prize for the movies

Roger Ebert

2/2 correct answers

Historic Americans

He turned down an appointment as a U.S. senator in 1875 because it meant accepting a pardon for treason

Jefferson Davis

1/3 correct answers

Calendar

The only day of the week named for a Roman god

Saturday (for Saturn)

5/5 correct answers

Astronauts

Born Edwin in 1930, this Apollo astronaut legally changed his name in 1982 to his popular nickname

Buzz Aldrin

4/4 correct answers

Business and Industry

The Welch's Company has its corporate headquarters in this Mass. town

Concord

2/3 correct answers

Women in Sports

In 2006 the National Tennis Center in New York was renamed in her honor

Billie Jean King

3/3 correct answers

Journalism

In an 1897 editorial that stated, "Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever" this question was answered

Is there a Santa Claus? (Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause)

2/2 correct answers

19th Century Books

Its author called it "a Ghostly little book... which shall not put my readers out of humour... with the season"

A Christmas Carol

2/3 correct answers

World Geography

It's the only body of water with shores on the continents of Asia, Africa & Europe

Mediterranean Sea

3/3 correct answers

The Apollo Space Program

Of the Apollo missions, the total number that successfully landed men on the moon

6 (11-17, minus 13)

1/1 correct answer

Greek Mythology

Fittingly, the name of this Titan may be derived from a word meaning "to bear" or "to support"

Atlas

2/2 correct answers

Renaissance Literature

This book begins, "All states and dominions which hold or have held mankind are either republics or monarchies"

The Prince, by Machiavelli

2/2 correct answers

The Supreme Court

This president appointed more Supreme Court justices than any other

Washington

(I lost track...3 or 4 right ones, and a couple of second guesses)

US Presidents

Had he lived in ancient Greece, this president would have been called Odysseus

Ulysses S Grant

3/3

Numerical Phrases

Number & type of musical instruments hanging from a Mason City, Iowa ceiling, a tribute to a native son

76 trombones

0/0 correct answers

The Animal Kingdom

A part of this marine mammal was prized by medieval folk, who thought it belonged to a unicorn.

narwhal

2/3 correct answers

Business and Industry

This U.S. firm is the world's largest processor of tomatoes

Heinz

4/4 correct answers

Novels

Amazon.com said this novel, set in Iowa, was "the romantic classic of the 1990s"

The Bridges of Madison County

0/0 correct answers

Games

In German, this chess piece is "der Springer"

the knight

1/1 correct answer

American License Plates

One of its official license plates bears the motto "Taxation without Representation"

Washington DC

1.5/2 correct answers

US Presidents

Washington was the one who added these 4 words to the presidential oath; they're not in the Constitution

"So help me God"
(Wikipedia kind of disagrees with this, but so be it)

1.5/2 correct answers

Oscar Winning Movies

Its final scene includes the line "I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner"

The Silence of the Lambs

3/3 correct answers

A Real Rennaisance Man

The sudden 1559 death of France's King Henry II in a joust caused some to believe in this man's writings

Nostradamus

2/2 correct answers

Sports Teams

1 of 2 names shared by both a Major League Baseball team & an NFL team

Cardinals or Giants

3/3 correct answers. Davy got both!

Communications

In the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, etc.), the 2 that are title Shakespearean characters

Romeo and Juliet

3/3 correct answers

Historical Movies

One of the 2 actresses nominated for Oscars for playing the same person in a 1997 blockbuster

Kate Winslet or Gloria Stuart (for Titanic)

0/1 correct answers

Theater

In 1999 Del Close willed this to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago to be used in Act 5, Scene 1 of "Hamlet"

his skull

1/1 correct answers

Food

In 1929 William Dreyer & Joseph Edy created this ice cream flavor, named in part to reflect the times ahead.

Rocky Road

3/3 correct answers