# Trivia Dominoes: Play Off the Last Bit of Trivia **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [February 4, 2010, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657 "2010-02-04T08:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1522
**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:** [July 4, 2016, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30427 "2016-07-04T10:40:58Z")
Edward VIII was the third husband to Wallis Simpson, and was allegedly her lover while Mrs. Simpson was still married to Ernest Simpson, her second husband. During World War I, Ernest Simpson, who was born in New York City, applied for British citizenship and renounced his US citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30428 "2016-07-04T16:09:09Z")
Edward VIII is one of five English monarchs who were never crowned in a coronation ceremony, including Edward V, James Stuart, Lady Jane Grey, and Empress Matilda. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30429 "2016-07-04T16:19:36Z")
The Minnesota Vikings lost Super Bowl VIII, 24-7 to the Miami Dolphins, on their way to being the first team ever to lose back to back Super Bowls. The Vikings lost Super Bowl IX to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-6. Two years after that, the Vikings lost their fourth Super Bowl, losing Super Bowl XI to the Oakland Raiders, 32-14. The Vikings had already lost Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-7. Since Super Bowl IV after the 1969 season, the Chiefs haven’t even been back to the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30430 "2016-07-04T16:49:10Z")
The Super Chief was the first diesel all-pullman train in the USA, running between Chicago and Los Angeles beginning in May 1936, on the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe line. The train ran weekly, and averaged 60 miles an hour, hitting top speeds of 100 mph. It was knicknamed The Train of the Stars, being the transport of choice for Hollywood celebrities in the pre-aircraft era, including Johnny Mercer, who wrtoe the lyrics to the popular song “On the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe”. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30431 "2016-07-04T18:15:16Z")
In the late 70’s some railcars had their wheels x-rayed for defects. If the wheels passed, this was indicated with a black square with a yellow circle inside painted on the car. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30432 "2016-07-04T19:39:04Z")
Rail car wheels are fixed to the axles, so that both wheels must turn exactly the same number of turns as each other. This results in a slight friction drag while going around curves. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30433 "2016-07-04T20:20:46Z")
The most challenging part of the Canadian Pacific main line was the stretch near Field in British Columbia, were the track crossed the Continental Divide. The elevation created a very steep gradient, called the Big Hill. Normally, one way to deal with this type of problem is to create spiral bridges which curve around on themselves, increasing the length to be travelled and thus lowering the overall gradient. However that option was not possible on the Big Hill because of the steep mountainous terrain with high risks of avalanches and land slips. CPR’s solution was not just spirals, but spiral tunnels. The CPR excavated two lengthy tunnels under the mountains to achieve the desired lower gradient. The Spiral Tunnels remain one of the major engineering feats of the CPR. > **[Big Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hill)** > > The Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line in British Columbia, Canada, was the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway's route. It was situated in the rugged Canadian Rockies west of the Continental Divide of the Americas and Kicking Horse Pass. Even though the Big Hill was replaced by the Spiral Tunnels in 1909, the area has long been a challenge to the operation of trains and remains so to this day. > To complete the Pacific railway as quickly as possib... ---
**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:** [July 4, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30434 "2016-07-04T20:32:09Z")
The Canadian Pacific Railroad, despite its’ name, is not totally inside Canada. The company acquired two American lines in 2009: the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DME) Railroad and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern (ICE) Railroad. The combined DME/ICE system spanned North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa, as well as two short stretches into two other states, Missouri, and Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30435 "2016-07-04T20:38:13Z")
From the late 1960’s until 1994, the only passenger rail service in Maine was on the CPR’s (later Via Rail’s) Atlantic Limited, which stopped at Greenville and Brownville Junction on its route between Montreal and Saint John. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30436 "2016-07-04T22:14:45Z")
The Burma-Siam Railway, built in 1942-1943, was an impressive feat. Over 400 kilometers long, it passed through mountains and swamps, and along treacherous cliffs. Over 600 bridges had to be built. An estimated 120,000-160,000 workers died building the Burma-Siam Railway. The railway was fully open for about a year and carried 500,0000 tonnes across the Three Pagodas Pass — about 3 or 4 tonnes for each dead worker. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30437 "2016-07-05T02:05:48Z")
Burma Shave was a shaving cream introduced in 1925. They became known for their method of advertising: multiple road signs, with each giving one line of a humorous verse, followed by one with the company name.O ne example:. Don’t take / a curve / at 60 per. / We hate to lose / a customer / Burma-Shave ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30438 "2016-07-05T02:17:11Z")
(That exact sign was on the road next to my grandfather’s farm. Every year the Burma Shave guy came to touch up the paint, gave him $50 and a can of shaving cream, and moved on). The Burma Road was a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony in order to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Preventing the flow of supplies on the road helped motivate the occupation of Burma by the Empire of Japan in 1942. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30439 "2016-07-05T03:51:33Z")
A modern Burma Shave trope occurred in this thread: [OK, So Why Wasn’t Aragorn Tempted by the One Ring?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465800&page=2), starting at post 57. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30440 "2016-07-05T04:55:37Z")
Author Frank Rowsome, jr, wrote a book titled _The Verse by the Side of the Road_ in which he included the complete Burma Shave jingles. One example from 1931 is this: \*\*SHAVING BRUSH ALL WET AND HAIRY I’VE PASSED YOU UP FOR SANITARY _BURMA SHAVE_ \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30441 "2016-07-05T05:21:07Z")
No Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded in 1931. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30442 "2016-07-05T09:56:24Z")
Two British men were each more famous than their Nobel Prize-winning half-brothers. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30443 "2016-07-05T11:05:13Z")
Prize is a term used in Admiralty Law to refer to equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo as a prize of war. In the past, the capturing force would commonly be allotted a share of the worth of the captured prize. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30444 "2016-07-05T11:48:48Z")
The most prominent architectural landmark of St. Petersburg, marking the intersection of old St. Petersburg’s three main streets - Nevsky Prospect, Gorokhovaya Street, and Voznesensky Avenue - is the spire of the Admiralty Building, the former headquarters of the Admiralty Board and the Imperial Russian Navy and now of the Russian Navy. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30445 "2016-07-05T12:19:29Z")
When the British government fused a number of separate trial courts into one Supreme Court with several divisions, the former Probate and Divorce Court and the Admiralty Court were merged into a catch-all division, the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court. It was colloquially referred to as the “Wills, Wives and Wrecks” court. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30446 "2016-07-05T13:26:59Z")
Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court case that decided interracial marriage was legal in the USA, was discussed in the context of the public debate about same-sex marriage in the United States. Eventually the same type of decision was reached–adults have a right to marry whoever they so choose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1521) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1523)