Need help with some trivia questions

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The Chief Editor at work sometimes sends out puzzles with promises of free dinners to the first to answer them. This time he sent out the Hard Questionaire. I managed to find the solutions to most of them, but there are a few I’m stuck on, and so I’m calling out to the vast knowledge Doper base for the answers to these remaining questions.

  1. Which two collegiate basketball teams were the first to wear jerseys with the players’ names on the back?

  2. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, the cover story of Time was quickly changed to report on the bombing. What was the original cover story about?

  3. When Elvis Presley died he was reportedly in the bathroom reading a book. What was the topic of the book he was reading?

These I got, but I want to verify my answers…

  1. What unit of measure is equal to four fluid ounces?
    gill

  2. What is the stage direction indicating that two or more actors leave the stage at the same time?
    exeunt

  3. Currently, U.S. legal tender coins are produced at four U.S. mints. Three of the mints are located in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Where is the fourth mint located?
    West Point

  4. What rock generally makes up the floors of Earth’s oceans?
    basalt

  5. What is the term for charging more than the legal interest rate?
    predatory lending

  6. What U.S. island was the center of the whaling industry in the nineteenth century?
    Hawaii

  7. What significant historical event occurred on October 10, 1582?
    Absolutely nothing. Pope Gregory declared that Oct 4th would be followed by Oct 15th so that the new calendar would come out right.

  8. What figure is the British equivalent to the U.S. symbol of Uncle Sam?
    John Bull

  9. In the late 1920s, what was the second largest industry in Detroit, after automobile manufacturing?
    illegal booze

  10. What historic event occurred in Atlanta on April 8, 1974?
    Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

  11. What is the scientific name for the theory that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on Earth?
    The Alvarez Asteroid Impact Theory

15.Which artist or band received album of the year honors the most times during the 1980s by critics of Rolling Stone magazine?
Bruce Springstein

Thanks folks!

2

  1. The original cover story was to be on Disney’s “Dumbo”

  2. Presley was reading a book about the Shroud of Turin supposedly, although there were quite a few rumors claiming it was actually a pornographic book.

bella

3

Predatory lending may be acceptable but I would go with “usury.”

I’m thinking that Nantucket is probably a more likely answer than Hawaii.

4

I seem to remember a thread or a Cecil article about this topic and the general consensus was that it’s Lady Brittania.

5

Just so you know:

The Alvarez Asteroid Impact Theory (more commonly stated as the “asteroid impact theory”, and also known technically as the “K-T impact extinction theory”) pertains to the whole of the K-T extinction event. It was never put forth as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs exclusively.

6

Well, I’m basing the answer on this web site. I didn’t find much on Lady Britannia on Google, except in reference to a comic book character.

7 
   11. When Elvis Presley died he was reportedly in the    
   bathroom reading a book. What was the topic of the         
   book he was reading?

This may be a trick question.

Could Elvis read???

8 
      9. What figure is the British equivalent to                              
         the U.S. symbol of Uncle Sam?

Maybe I’m reading too much into this one, but if it’s referring to the Uncle Sam “I Want You” posters, the Brits had a very similar series featuring Lord Kitchener IIRC.

9

Nantucket was indeed the center of the whaling industry in the 19th century.

Cite

10

That’s true about Kitchener, but is unlikely to be the required answer. If you’re Googling for information on Lady Britannia you may not get the best results - she’s just Britannia. John Bull is considered to be the architypal Englishman, whereas Britannia is the personification of the national spirit. Take your pick as to which better matches Uncle Sam.

11

I, too, heard Elvis was reading “The Shroud of Turin”, about the Shroud of Turin.

12

Actually the name of the book was The Scientific Search For The Face Of Jesus.

13

Both seem to be used in political cartoons to personify Great Britain – even during the same time period.

Example of Britannia cartoon dating to 1774, and another associated with Lincoln’s assassination.

This cartoon of John Bull dates to about the same time (1863), and these are later examples of John Bull appearing in direct comparison and contrast to Uncle Sam, from WWI.

You might find more information at this site dealing with the History of the 19th Century
in Political Cartoons.

Does it have to be an either/or answer?

I’m not sure what would make one, rather than the other the equivalent of Uncle Sam, although I’d suggest that Britannia was more the regal and tragic figure and John Bull the more common/coarse and sometimes bullying face of England.

14

Otto is almost certainly correct since Hawaii was independent throughtout almost all fo the 19th century. Plus the island of Hawaii was not the center in the islands, it was Maui.

Re: 7) You could actually find many things that happened on that date. Only certain countries accepted that date jump. I know Russia didn’t. England didn’t. These countries did “Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.”

15

I cornered the CE and asked him about the possibility of 2 answers being correct for the British Uncle Sam, and he said either answer would work.

That leaves this one:

  1. Which two collegiate basketball teams were the first to wear jerseys with the players’ names on the back?

I have not been able to find anything on this one. The closest I came was finding out that Indiana would be the last college team to put names on jerseys, since they believe in the team over individuals.

So does anybody know the answer? Remember, you’ll be helping me get a free dinner. I’ll eat a burrito for you. :slight_smile:

16

Well, as it turns out, I tied with another girl from my dept. We both missed #8. The answer is Duke and Wake Forest. Shoulda guessed, since this is ACC country after all.

Now the CE is waffling over which one of us gets the dinner. I told the tightwad to treat us both, but he’s saying he has to talk to the “jury” on this one, which is his little click. He shafted me on an anagram-off too, the bastid.