# 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:** 1545
**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:** [July 28, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30887 "2016-07-28T04:00:59Z")
The bicentennial of the birth of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, a Virginian who remained loyal to the United States at the outbreak of the Civil War, commanded the Army of the Cumberland and went on to earn the deathless nickname “the Rock of Chickamauga,” is this Sunday. ---
**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 28, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30888 "2016-07-28T04:49:30Z")
The Chickamauga Campaign in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia was fought in August and September 1863. At the Battle of Chickamauga the Confederates held a numerical advantage over the Union Army. The Confederates failed to earn a decisive victory. Chickamauga and Chattanooga State Military Park was founded by Union veteran Henry Van Ness Boynton. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30889 "2016-07-28T06:14:31Z")
“Chattanooga Choo Choo” is a 1941 song by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. It was originally recorded as a big-band tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. The Glenn Miller recording became the #1 song across the United States on December 7, 1941, and remained at #1 for nine weeks on the Billboard Best Sellers chart. The flip side of the single was the far less popular “I Know Why (And So Do You)”, the A side, which peaked at #18 on the charts for 1 week. ---
**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 28, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30890 "2016-07-28T06:33:36Z")
Sonja Henie, the Norwegian figure skater, has won more Olympic and World skating titles than any other woman. When band leader Glenn Miller made his first movie, _Sun Valley Serenade_ in 1941, it was with Sonja Henie. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30891 "2016-07-28T10:59:31Z")
One of the favorite exclamations of the late Tom Magliozzi (Click of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers) on NPR’s “Car Talk” was “_Sonja Henie’s tutu!_” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30892 "2016-07-28T12:04:55Z")
When Muhammed Ali’s lifetime earnings through athletic performance set an all time record, it was Sonja Henie’s mark that he eclipsed. She had earned $40-million during her career as a figure skater. ---
**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 28, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30893 "2016-07-28T12:24:55Z")
Ali ibn Abi Talib ( 601- 661) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (PBUH), ruling over the Islamic caliphate from 656 to 661. Ali was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, according to many Shia sources. ---
**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 28, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30894 "2016-07-28T13:18:48Z")
The Arabic phrase _ʿalayhi as-salām_ is a phrase called a _ṣalawāt_ that is attached to the names of the prophets in Islam. In English the phrase is often abbreviated PBUH or pbuh, for Peace Be Upon Him. ---
**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 28, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30895 "2016-07-28T13:23:37Z")
U.S. President Richard Nixon used the V hand gesture to signal victory in the Vietnam War, an act which became one of his best-known trademarks. He also used it on his departure from public office following his resignation in 1974. Protesters against the Vietnam War (and subsequent anti-war protests) and counterculture activists adopted the gesture as a sign of peace. Because the hippies of the day often flashed this sign (palm out) while saying “Peace”, it became popularly known (through association) as the peace sign. ---
**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 28, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30896 "2016-07-28T13:37:17Z")
The [peace symbol](https://www.google.com/search?q=peace+symbol&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBh531o5bOAhXi1IMKHd3eAVsQ_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672#imgrc=ttJUyQ-83HEw1M%3A) is now internationally recognized. It was first used in 1958 London for a nuclear disarmament march starting from Trafalgar Square. It was designed by an artist and designer to represent the overlayed images of the semaphore signals for **N** and **D** - **Nuclear Disarmament**. In semaphore the letter “N” is formed by a person holding two flags in an inverted “V”, and the letter “D” is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. Superimposing these two signs forms the shape of the centre of the peace symbol. ---
**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 28, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30897 "2016-07-28T13:50:02Z")
[The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/435/what-is-the-origin-of-the-peace-symbol) on the peace symbol. > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > During the heyday of the peace movement, other interpretations of the symbol were also offered. A national Republican newsletter noted that it looked a lot like an emblem used by the Nazis during World War II — an apparent coincidence. Another interpretation, widely promoted by the John Birch Society and other right-wing groups, was that the symbol was really the “broken cross,” sign of the Antichrist. One Bircher wrote that the broken cross had originally been devised by the Roman emperor Nero, who had Saint Peter crucified on it upside down. In the Middle Ages the symbol allegedly was used to signify the devil. I haven’t discovered any good evidence for either of these contentions. ---
**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 28, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30898 "2016-07-28T13:54:18Z")
During the 1960s in the USA, activists against the Vietnam War and in subsequent anti-war protests adopted the two-fingered “V” gesture as a sign of peace. It had recently been used to symbolize V for Victory in WWII. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30899 "2016-07-28T14:04:23Z")
Even Winston Churchill got into the act in using the V-sign: [V sign - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#World_War_II:_V_for_Victory_campaign) ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30900 "2016-07-28T14:05:26Z")
In July 1941 BBC radio launched ‘V for Victory’, a propaganda campaign that encouraged listeners across Nazi-occupied Europe to show their support for the Allies. The idea was inspired by Victor de Laveleye, a Belgian working at the BBC, who told his countrymen to use the letter V as a “rallying emblem” since it is the first letter of the French word for victory (victoire), the Flemish word for freedom (vrijheid) and, of course, the English word victory, making it a multinational symbol of solidarity. Not long after the July broadcast, Douglas Ritchie, the 36-year-old news editor who went by the on-air pseudonym of Colonel Britton, realised that the three staccato notes and one long note at the start of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony echoed the Morse code for the letter V (dot-dot-dot-dash). Ritchie made it the theme song for his radio programme and listeners began to replicate the sound any way they could as a symbol of resistance. ---
**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 28, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30901 "2016-07-28T14:08:41Z")
Making the V for Victory or peace sign the palm facing inwards is often compared to the offensive gesture known as “the finger”. The “two-fingered salute”, (also “the forks” in Australia) is commonly performed by flicking the V upwards from wrist or elbow. The V sign, with the palm is facing toward the person giving the sign, has long been an insulting gesture in England,and later in the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand. While touring Australia in 1992, George W Bush attempted to give a “peace sign” to a group of farmers in Canberra—who were protesting about U.S. farm subsidies—and instead gave the insulting [V sign](https://www.google.com/search?q=george+w+bush+victory+sign&tbm=isch&imgil=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%253A%253BtABKiPL2qPWliM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.slate.com%25252Fblogs%25252Flexicon_valley%25252F2015%25252F10%25252F15%25252Fthe_up_yours_gesture_looks_like_a_peace_sign.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%253A%252CtABKiPL2qPWliM%252C_&usg=__q-5jHb1FlijnZzam-Jwu-um9nx8%3D&biw=1032&bih=454&ved=0ahUKEwiNoeCCq5bOAhUClR4KHbeNBNwQyjcIKQ&ei=NRKaV82yG4KqerebkuAN#imgrc=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%3A). ---
**Author:** ![ultimate11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30902 "2016-07-28T14:14:51Z")
George W. Bush was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974. ---
**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 28, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30903 "2016-07-28T14:17:06Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Making the V for Victory or peace sign the palm facing inwards is often compared to the offensive gesture known as “the finger”. The “two-fingered salute”, (also “the forks” in Australia) is commonly performed by flicking the V upwards from wrist or elbow. The V sign, with the palm is facing toward the person giving the sign, has long been an insulting gesture in England,and later in the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand. > > While touring Australia in 1992, George W Bush attempted to give a “peace sign” to a group of farmers in Canberra—who were protesting about U.S. farm subsidies—and instead gave the insulting [V sign](https://www.google.com/search?q=george+w+bush+victory+sign&tbm=isch&imgil=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%253A%253BtABKiPL2qPWliM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.slate.com%25252Fblogs%25252Flexicon_valley%25252F2015%25252F10%25252F15%25252Fthe_up_yours_gesture_looks_like_a_peace_sign.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%253A%252CtABKiPL2qPWliM%252C_&usg=__q-5jHb1FlijnZzam-Jwu-um9nx8%3D&biw=1032&bih=454&ved=0ahUKEwiNoeCCq5bOAhUClR4KHbeNBNwQyjcIKQ&ei=NRKaV82yG4KqerebkuAN#imgrc=Fw8pM9EHiS1nFM%3A). That is George H W Bush. Not W. ---
**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 28, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30904 "2016-07-28T14:21:54Z")
George H W Bush piloted the [Grumman TBF Avenger](https://www.google.com/search?q=Grumman+TBF+Avenger&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiq5tGZrZbOAhVK7IMKHWoRDugQ_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672#imgrc=uWxe4SzmDt_EtM%3A) in WWII. At his Presidential Library on the Texas A&M campus, one is suspended from the ceiling on display. ---
**Author:** ![ultimate11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30905 "2016-07-28T14:32:14Z")
Texas A&M was originally known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas under the provisions of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Originally, the college taught no classes in agriculture, instead concentrating on classical studies, languages, literature, and applied mathematics. ---
**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 28, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/30906 "2016-07-28T15:52:42Z")
The official greeting of Texas A&M University is [howdy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University#Howdy). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1544) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1546)