# 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:** 188
**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:** [May 14, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3747 "2021-05-14T14:16:40Z")
The United States is the third-largest gold-producing country in the world, after South Africa and Australia. Over 80 percent of US production comes from mines in Nevada. Other gold-producing states include Alaska and Colorado. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3748 "2021-05-14T14:47:39Z")
The Krugerrand is a gold coin, minted by the South African Mint, which was first introduced in 1967, as a way to market South African gold to individual buyers and investors. The coin’s name is a compound of the name of Paul Kruger, the former president of the South African Republic, who appears on the coin’s obverse, and “rand,” which is the South African unit of currency. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3749 "2021-05-14T15:32:58Z")
The South African documentary _My Octopus Teacher_, produced by and starring Craig Foster, won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. My family saw it and recommends it; beautiful underwater footage and a bittersweet but heartwarming story. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3750 "2021-05-16T13:43:35Z")
Foster’s rule is an eco-geographical rule in evolutionary biology stating that members of a species get smaller or bigger depending on the resources available in the environment. For example, it is known that pygmy mammoths evolved from normal mammoths on small islands. Similar evolutionary paths have been observed in elephants, hippopotamuses, boas, sloths, deer and humans. The rule was first formulated in 1973 based on the studies by mammalogist J. Bristol Foster in 1964. In it, Foster compared 116 island species to their mainland varieties. Foster proposed that certain island creatures evolved larger body size (insular gigantism) while others became smaller (insular dwarfism). Foster proposed the simple explanation that smaller creatures get larger when predation pressure is relaxed because of the absence of some of the predators of the mainland, and larger creatures become smaller when food resources are limited because of land area constraints. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3751 "2021-05-16T13:49:44Z")
The Australian beer, Foster’s Lager, is now owned by the Japanese beer conglomerate Asahi. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3752 "2021-05-16T15:02:43Z")
A lager is a style of beer which has been brewed and conditioned at cool temperatures; the term is derived from the German word for “storage,” as such beers were often stored in cool caves before drinking. Most lagers are also defined by the yeast which is used in their brewing: _Saccharomyces pastorianus_, a “bottom-fermenting” yeast, which is able to ferment at relatively cool temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3753 "2021-05-16T17:54:19Z")
Yeast have a much simpler genome than people. So it is easier to study them, although the results do not always carry over to people. In particular, the interesting notion restricting calorie intake lengthens lives was first shown in yeast, than mice. One yeast organism can undergo around 25 generations of splitting. The hardest part of the research is said to _actually finding_ the original yeast, to study, when it is surrounded by over ten million of its progeny. Since it is almost universally acknowledged that bacon, Cheezies and hamburgers taste delicious, much gerentological research is along the lines of studying how and if calorie restriction works in people. The goal is to get these effects without actual sacrifice. In extreme cases, this can lead to “false fat” in food products, or “complete nutrition” items like Soylent Green marketed to the busy, on-the-go computer sociopath. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3754 "2021-05-16T22:13:10Z")
_Soylent Green_ is a 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film, loosely based on a novel by Harry Harrison entitled _Make Room! Make Room!_ One of the stars of the movie was Edward G. Robinson, who died of bladder cancer on January 26, 1973, twelve days after the completion of filming. His character dies in the film; that scene has been described as the best in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3755 "2021-05-17T00:25:48Z")
Harry Harrison was a writer from the world of American comics and science-fiction magazines of the 1950s. An amazingly prolific author, who gradually took on more serious themes as he aged, Harrison is probably best known for the book that inspired the Hollywood film _Soylent Green_. His most popular and best-known work is contained in fast-moving parodies, homages or even straight reconstructions of traditional space-opera adventures. He wrote several named series of these: most notably the Deathworld series (three titles, starting in 1960), the Stainless Steel Rat books (12 titles, from 1961), and the sequence of books about Bill, the Galactic Hero (seven titles, from 1965). ---
**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:** [May 17, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3756 "2021-05-17T00:35:10Z")
“Stainless steel” is a term for a range of iron alloys. These alloys use chromium (and sometimes nickel and/or molybdenum) to prevent rusting of the iron, and may include other elements to impart additional properties to the alloy. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3757 "2021-05-17T14:56:47Z")
The five-cent coin, or ‘nickel’, was first minted in the United States immediately following the Civil War. It was the most popular coin for years thereafter. Bottles of Coca-Cola, which entered the marketplace in 1886, cost a nickel for 73 years. Nickels were also the ideal coins for the first vending machines, jukeboxes, and slot machines. ---
**Author:** ![Bicycle\_Bill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bicycle_bill/32/6208_2.png) [@Bicycle\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bicycle_Bill)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3758 "2021-05-17T15:26:30Z")
The current five-cent coin, or Jefferson-head nickel, is made of an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. During the WWII period, however, nickel was of high strategic value and the five-cent coins during that time were minted of from an alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3759 "2021-05-17T16:42:28Z")
In 1860, Sir Henry Bessemer was trying to develop the steelmaking process which was to bear his name. But he was experiencing difficulty with an excess of residual oxygen and sulfur in the steel. A man named Robert Mushet suggested adding spiegeleisen, a pig-iron containing a high percentage of manganese, to introduce both manganese and carbon and remove oxygen. This procedure made the Bessemer process possible, and thus paved the way for the modern steel industry. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3760 "2021-05-18T01:53:40Z")
In 1859, a conflict over the border between British Columbia and Washington state flared up. It was triggered by an American settler shooting a [Large Black pig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Black_pig), owned by an Irish settler. The American said that the pig had been eating his potatoes. The Irishman replied that "“It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig!” and threatened to have British authorities arrest the American, which triggered American angst. After much huffring and puffing, the British and American governments came to a settlement, and the so-called Pig War ended without fatalities. Except the Pig. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3761 "2021-05-18T14:19:50Z")
On February 22, 1889, the United States Congress passed an act enabling the territories of Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana to seek statehood. This was the first enabling act passed by Congress since Colorado became the 38th state in 1876. Both Dakotas were admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889; Montana was admitted on November 8, 1889; and Washington was admitted as the 42nd state on November 11, 1889. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3762 "2021-05-18T15:44:41Z")
“Fargo North, Decoder” was a recurring character on the children’s educational program _The Electric Company_, which first ran on PBS from 1971 through 1977. The character, whose name was a pun on the city of Fargo, North Dakota, was portrayed by actor Skip Hinnant, and was a detective who would decode scrambled word messages for his clients. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3763 "2021-05-19T01:51:04Z")
In Australia, New Zealand and Britain, a **skip** is a large open-topped container for waste, designed to be lifted onto the back of a truck to remove it along with its contents. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3764 "2021-05-19T04:18:31Z")
In curling, the skip is the captain of the team, responsible for the overall strategy of each match. The skip also normally shoots last, but there have been cases where the skip shoots in a different position and one of the other players on the rink shoots last. [Randy Ferbey,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Ferbey) six-time Canadian champion and four-time World champion generally threw third rather than last. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3765 "2021-05-19T15:16:24Z")
Charlie Chaplin’s comedy _The Rink_ is set at a roller skating rink, allowing him to show off his prowess. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950/3766 "2021-05-19T16:03:18Z")
Charlie Chaplin, born in 1889, began his show-biz career at the age of ten, when he joined a clog-dancing troupe which performed at various English music halls. His last appearance was in a 1975 documentary about his life and career, entitled _The Gentleman Tramp_. Chaplin died on Christmas Day in 1977. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950.md?page=187) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-ii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia-continued-part-1/846950.md?page=189)