# 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:** 1588
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31747 "2016-09-18T17:52:36Z")
Marie Slodowska Curie herself coined the term ‘‘radioactivity,’’ after she and her husband Pierre Curie discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium. She tended to deny the perils of radiation, despite being deeply troubled by the deaths in the 1920’s of colleagues and radiation workers from leukemia. Marie Curie’s decades of exposure left her chronically ill and nearly blind from cataracts, and ultimately caused her death at 67, in 1934, from either severe anemia or leukemia. But she never fully acknowledged that her work had ruined her health. Pierre Curie escaped these long-term effects, having died less than a decade after the discovery, in a street accident in Paris. He lost his footing while crossing the street in a rainstorm and fell beneath the wheels of a horse-drawn vehicle, suffering a fatal skull fracture. He was 46 years old. Pierre Clerc, one of Curie’s lab assistants stated to Police that Curie “wasn’t careful enough when he was walking in the street, or when he rode his bicycle. He was thinking of other things.” This was an opinion shared by Pierre Curie’s father who when told of his son’s death could only cry “what was he dreaming of this time?” ---
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31748 "2016-09-18T17:59:46Z")
Sorry, missed the edit window to correct the misspelling of Marie Skłodowska-Curie. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31749 "2016-09-18T18:15:47Z")
Marie Curie is one of very few people whose first and last names end with the same three letters. Of over ten thousand big league ball players, he only notable ones were Ewell Blackwell, Jason Thompson and Bill Caudill. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31750 "2016-09-18T18:41:54Z")
Marie Callender’s son Don sold the restaurant chain in 1994. The company went downhill afterwards culminating with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31751 "2016-09-18T19:43:09Z")
The Don is the official mascot of the athletic teams fielded by the University of San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![ozziemaland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@ozziemaland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozziemaland)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31752 "2016-09-18T21:09:22Z")
Don, the Welsh mother goddess, is the mother of Arianrhod, Gwydion, Gilfaethwy, Gofannon, Eufydd, Elestron and Amaethon. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31753 "2016-09-18T21:53:52Z")
Welsh rarebit is a dish made with a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot, after being poured over slices of toasted bread or having the hot cheese sauce served in a chafing dish like a fondue, accompanied by sliced, toasted bread. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31754 "2016-09-18T23:12:29Z")
Buck rarebit is Welsh rarebit with an egg. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31755 "2016-09-18T23:53:48Z")
A _croque-monsieur_, popular in France, is a grilled or toasted ham and cheese sandwich; a _croque-madame_ is the same sandwich with an egg on top. The names mean “Mr. Crunch” and “Mrs. Crunch”. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31756 "2016-09-19T00:22:30Z")
The President of France also serves _ex officio_ as Co-Prince of Andorra; his counterpart in that tiny realm (approx. pop. 85,000) is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell, in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31757 "2016-09-19T00:31:41Z")
Andorra, through its postal history, has had two postal systems. Each had its own Andorra postage stamps, but one was administered through the French post office, the other through the Spanish. Mailers could use stamps from either post office, but letters to other countries would be sorted and processed through either France or Spain, depending on the post office and stamps used ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31758 "2016-09-19T01:10:23Z")
In 1680 William Dockwra, an English merchant in London, and his partner Robert Murray established the London Penny Post, a mail system that delivered letters and small parcels inside the city of London for the sum of one penny. The postage for the mailed item was prepaid by the use of a hand-stamp to frank the mailed item, confirming payment of postage. Though this ‘stamp’ was applied to a letter instead of a separate piece of paper it is considered by many historians as the world’s first postage stamp. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31759 "2016-09-19T02:22:07Z")
Nearly 6,000 USPS mail carriers are attacked every year by dogs. That is pretty much 20 attacks every day that mail is delivered. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31760 "2016-09-19T08:37:54Z")
In 1902, Willis Carrier, who had just graduated with an engineering degree from Cornell University, invented the first modern air conditioner, at the request of a publisher who needed to overcome quality problems associated with overheated buildings. The company that bears his name is still the world’s largest manufacturer of air conditioners. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2016, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31761 "2016-09-19T09:11:31Z")
Swamp coolers are devices that cool air through the evaporation of water. They have been used since the Persian empire 2,500 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31762 "2016-09-19T10:38:29Z")
Many societies now realize that swamps are critically important to providing fresh water and oxygen to all life, and that they are often breeding grounds for a wide variety of life. Indeed, floodplain swamps are extremely important in fish production. Government environmental agencies (such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency) are taking steps to protect and preserve swamps and other wetlands. In Europe, major effort is being invested in the restoration of swamp forests along rivers. Conservationists work to preserve swamps such as those in northwest Indiana in the United States Midwest that were preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31763 "2016-09-19T11:37:15Z")
The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Some estimates place the size of the original swamp at over one million acres. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31764 "2016-09-19T11:41:17Z")
If the width of a human finger is 2.2 cm (7⁄8 in), then a million fingers lined up would cover a distance of 22 km (14 mi). If a person walks at a speed of 4 km/h (2.5 mph), it would take them approximately five and a half hours to reach the end of the fingers. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31765 "2016-09-19T11:59:59Z")
Elias Hasket Derby is thought to be the first American millionaire – that is, whose total wealth exceeded one million US dollars in his lifetime. He inherited much of his father’s wealth in 1783, and continued to increase his fortune on the maritime business in Salem, Massachusetts, during the remaining twenty years of his life… ---
**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:** [September 19, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/31766 "2016-09-19T12:28:49Z")
The First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist, is one of the oldest continuing Protestant churches in North America and the first to be governed by congregational polity, a central feature of Unitarian Universalism. It was established in 1629, which predates the First Church in Boston which was established in 1630. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1587) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1589)