# Trivia Dominoes II — Play Off the Last Bit of Trivia — continued! (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [January 25, 2020, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950 "2020-01-25T08:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/201 "2020-02-07T18:51:30Z")
On average, the closest planet to every planet in the Solar System is Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/202 "2020-02-07T20:24:25Z")
British composer Gustav Holst was best known for his suite “The Planets”; the “Mars” section inspired John Williams in his soundtrack for the Star Wars films (specifically “The Imperial March”), while the melody of the central section of “Jupiter”, adapted by Holst to fit the poem “I Vow to Thee, My Country” has become a well-known patriotic hymn. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/203 "2020-02-07T21:24:58Z")
As writer Arthur C. Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick developed the story for the film _2001: A Space Odyssey_, the original story had the spaceship _Discovery One_ bound for the planet Saturn. However, during pre-production, the special effects team, led by Douglas Trumbull, was unable to create convincing effects for Saturn’s rings, and Clarke and Kubrick substituted Jupiter for Saturn in the final script. However, in Clarke’s novelization of the film, the destination of _Discovery One_ remained Saturn. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/204 "2020-02-08T03:46:17Z")
Stanley, with s population of 2,500, is the capital of the Falkland Islands. Stanley Racecourse, located on the west side of Stanley, holds a two-day horse racing meeting every year on 26 and 27 December. The Christmas races have been held there for over 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/205 "2020-02-08T04:19:56Z")
Falkland, British Columbia is between Kamloops and Kelowna. Falkland’s Canadian flag ([images](https://www.google.com/search?q=Falklands+Canadian+flag&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=insv&sxsrf=ACYBGNSvxPl5Q6Yrfl4HTMTP8l4tec4qzg:1581135425123&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_uOy6jMHnAhVahHIEHX9sA-0Q_AUoAXoECA4QAQ&biw=768&bih=921&dpr=2) is huge. Made of lumber, it is 56’ wide x 28’ high. It is considered to be the biggest Canadian Flag in Western Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/206 "2020-02-08T05:08:37Z")
The BBC came under considerable political and public criticism for broadcasting what some felt were overly-detailed and thus dangerous stories about British military plans during the 1982 Falklands War. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/207 "2020-02-08T07:58:58Z")
Rich Skrenta was born in Pittsburgh on June 6, 1967. As a high school student at Mt. Lebanon High School, he wrote the Elk Cloner virus that infected Apple II machines. Elk Cloner is widely believed to have been one of the first large-scale self-spreading personal computer viruses ever created. Elk Cloner was released in 1982, when Skrenta was 15. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/208 "2020-02-08T09:05:46Z")
Since the Civil War, only ten apecies in mammals are known to have gone extinct from the US mainland. Two of them are the Eastern Elk and Merriam’s Elk. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/209 "2020-02-08T12:46:31Z")
Birds are mammals, and Wikipedia has a page of recently extinct bird species here, [List of extinct bird species since 1500 - Wikipedia](https://is.gd/JalHsc). Over 190 species of birds have become extinct since 1500, and the rate of extinction seems to be increasing. The situation is exemplified by Hawaii, where 30% of all known recently extinct bird taxa originally lived. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/210 "2020-02-08T12:58:25Z")
Birds are not mammals. > [@](#): > > mam·mal > /ˈmaməl/ > > noun > > A warm-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that is distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/211 "2020-02-08T13:31:20Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Birds are not mammals. > > Carry on. Of course! DUH, and thank you. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/212 "2020-02-08T14:28:25Z")
The passenger pigeon was once among the most common birds in the world. The naturalist John Audubon once calculated a single flock to number over a billion birds. The pigeon was hunted close to extinction for food and sport in the late 19th century. The last individual, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/213 "2020-02-08T14:54:42Z")
Technically, the most common bird in the world is the domestic chicken, with around 50 billion birds. However, the most common wild bird is thought to be the red-billed quelea. They are sparrow-sized birds with brown bodies and the males have a red bill with variable face markings. Images, red-billed quelea \> [https://is.gd/NX9BgT](https://is.gd/NX9BgT) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/214 "2020-02-08T14:57:47Z")
Mary Higgins Clark was a writer for the radio’s the Portraits of a Patriot series. She would use this knowledge to spend three years writing a fictionalized account of the relationship between George and Martha Washington, Aspire to the Heavens. Although it was sold for only a small advance and “was remaindered as it came off the press,” its acceptance gave Higgins Clark confidence that she could indeed finish a full-length book and get it published. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/215 "2020-02-08T15:29:26Z")
In the US, books are being remaindered much faster after the decision on Thor Power Tool Co. vs Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. This decision affected the ability of companies to write down inventory for tax purposes, making liquidation more attractive vs holding on to unsold goods. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/216 "2020-02-08T15:40:44Z")
The Rock Bottom Remaiders are a rock charity “supergroup,” consisting primarily of authors who are also musicians. The group was founded by book publicist and musician Kathi Kamen Goldmark in 1992, and they take their name from the term “remaindered book” (in which copies of a published book are sold off at a reduced price to get them out of inventory). The group primarily plays in charity benefit concerts. Authors who have played with the band include Dave Berry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Roy Blount Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, and Matt Groening; Maya Angelou was an honorary member of the band. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/217 "2020-02-08T23:39:11Z")
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, with whom he won a national championship in 1991. He went undrafted in the NFL, signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL, but then he was cut from the team in the middle of his first season. He wrestled in the WWF, and was promoted as the first third-generation wrestler in WWF history — Johnson is the son of WWF wrestlers Rocky Johnson and grandson of Peter Maivia. He has won several championships — he is a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time tag team champion, and a ten-time world champion. He was also a Royal Rumble match winner and WWE’s sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson is one of the greatest professional wrestlers and biggest draws of all-time. Johnson started acting in 2001, and then in 2019 he retired fully from wrestling to focus on acting. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the most successful and highest-grossing box-office stars of all time. On [this 2018 Business Insider list of the 50 actors who have made the most money at the US box office](https://www.businessinsider.com/actors-with-highest-box-office-2016-9) he ranks 20th, above Cate Blanchett, Woody Harrelson, Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgard, and Zoe Saldana: 1. Samuel L. Jackson — $5.753 billion 2. Harrison Ford — $4.963 billion 3. Robert Downey, Jr. — $4.960 billion 4. Tom Hanks — $4.605 billion 5. Morgan Freeman — $4.522 billion 6. Scarlett Johansson — $4.385 billion 7. Andy Serkis — $4.357 billion 8. Anthony Daniels — $4.040 billion 9. Tom Cruise — $3.989 billion 10. Eddie Murphy — $3.811 billion 11. Stanley Tucci — $3.776 billion 12. Idris Elba — $3.688 billion 13. Johnny Depp — $3.642 billion 14. Ian McKellan — $3.654 billion 15. Bradley Cooper — $3.626 billion 16. Don Cheadle — $3.564 billion 17. Vin Diesel — $3.492 billion 18. Michael Caine — $3.439 billion 19. Gary Oldman — $3.433 billion _ **20. Dwayne Johnson — $3.379 billion** _ 1. Zoe Saldana — $3.318 billion 2. Stellan Skarsgard — $3.294 billion 3. Robin Williams — $3.279 billion 4. Woody Harrelson — $3.265 billion 5. Cate Blanchett — $3.257 billion 6. Robert DeNiro — $3.233 billion 7. Bruce Willis — $3.223 billion 8. Emma Watson — $3.206 billion 9. Will Smith — $3.205 billion 10. Matt Damon — $3.189 billion 11. Chris Pratt — $3.177 billion 12. Chris Evans — $3.161 billion 13. Chris Hemsworth — $3.062 billion 14. Cameron Diaz — $3.031 billion 15. Liam Neeson — $2.990 billion 16. Orlando Bloom — $2.988 billion 17. Steve Carell — $2.987 billion 18. Simon Pegg — $2.969 billion 19. Helena Bonham Carter — $2.965 billion 20. Mark Wahlberg — $2.937 billion 21. Owen Wilson — $2.922 billion 22. Julia Roberts — $2.912 billion 23. Mark Ruffalo — $2.906 billion 24. Ralph Fiennes — $2.903 billion 25. Carrie Fisher — $2.890 billion 26. Elizabeth Banks — $2.831 billion 27. Forest Whitaker — $2.830 billion 28. Ben Stiller — $2.829 billion 29. Adam Sandler — $2.825 billion 30. Mark Hamill — $2.797 billion ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/218 "2020-02-09T02:56:14Z")
When Muhammed Ali set the Guinness Record for the most lifetime earnings through athletic performance, the previous record was held by Sonja Henie. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/219 "2020-02-09T03:19:12Z")
Muhammed Ali once (at least once) saved a man from suicide. In 1981, a man threatened to jump from the ninth story of a building in L.A.’s Miracle Mile neighborhood. Ali’s friend Howard Bingham witnessed the unfolding drama and called the boxer, who lived nearby. Ali rushed into the building and successfully talked the man down from the ledge. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/220 "2020-02-09T05:05:52Z")
Note the spelling of his first name: [Muhammad Ali - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali) In play: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy occasionally spent the night at the home of Democratic National Committeeman and retired Judge John H. Carnahan and his wife Mary in Brattleboro, Vt. when visiting Windham County in the southeastern corner of the state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950.md?page=12)