# 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:** 1700
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33987 "2017-02-05T03:13:39Z")
A goblet, also called a chalice, is a drinking glass with a base and stem. The name comes from an Old French/Middle English word gobelet (a little cup), which descends from gobel, ultimately of Celtic origin. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33988 "2017-02-05T03:32:07Z")
The first known Middle English text is a homily by Robert d’Escures, probably written early in the 12th century. Some linguisits argue that _The Owl and the Nightingale_, written in the late 12th century, was an Old English work. This chronological inconsistency, if valid, implies that the normal story of Middle English’s evolution from Old English is incorrect. ---
**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 5, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33989 "2017-02-05T04:46:49Z")
In a 1938 letter to a German publisher coldly critical of its inquiry as to whether or not he was “Aryan,” J.R.R. Tolkien referred in passing to his World War I service in the English (not the British) Army. [http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-have-no-ancestors-of-that-gifted.html](http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-have-no-ancestors-of-that-gifted.html) ---
**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 5, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33990 "2017-02-05T05:41:16Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to English parents and lived there until he was three years old. As a child, he was bitten by a large baboon spider in the garden, an event that may be echoed in his stories, for example the huge malignant spider Shelob in _The Two Towets_, although Tolkien admitted that he did not actually remember the event and had no special hatred of spiders as an adult. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33991 "2017-02-05T07:34:39Z")
Louis XI le Prudent (son of the King crowned with the assistance of Jeanne d’Arc) became known as ‘l’universelle aragne’ (Universal Spider), as his enemies accused him of spinning webs of plots and conspiracies. Another explanation given for the nickname is his system of royal post roads throughout the Kingdom with horses ready at relay posts, which served as a high-speed communications web for the King. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33992 "2017-02-05T07:58:31Z")
Occasionally, a group of spiders may build webs together in the same area. One such web, reported in 2007 at Lake Tawakoni State Park in Texas, measured 200 yards (180 m) across. Entomologists believe it may be the result of social cobweb spiders or of spiders building webs to spread out from one another. There is no consensus on how common this occurrence is. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33993 "2017-02-05T15:39:54Z")
The Australian spider wasp is an insect which captures a huntsman spider after paralyzing it with venom, drags it home, and plants a single egg in the spider’s abdomen. Once hatched, the larva eats the spider from the inside out, careful to save the vital organs until last so that the spider remains alive and fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33994 "2017-02-05T15:53:38Z")
Charles Darwin confided in his letters that he was unable to believe in a beneficent and omnipotent God and used parasitoid insects (of which the Australian spider wasp is one, the Darwin are used others as examples) as demonstrations of the misery no loving god would have designed. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33995 "2017-02-05T17:55:16Z")
On 9 September 1839, HMS _Beagle_ sailed into what would become Darwin Harbor during its surveying of the area. John Clements Wickham named the region “Port Darwin” in honor of their former shipmate Charles Darwin, who had sailed with them on the ship’s previous voyage which had ended in October 1836. ---
**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 5, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33996 "2017-02-05T18:05:21Z")
Nevil Shute’s post-apocalyptic novel _On the Beach_ is set primarily in Melbourne, Australia, in 1963. World War III has devastated most of the populated world, polluting the atmosphere with nuclear fallout which has killed all human and animal life in the Northern Hemisphere and is gradually killing off inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33997 "2017-02-06T05:55:06Z")
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick by virtue of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, the daughter of the 13th Earl of Warwick. Neville was nicknamed the “Kingmaker” for his role in the Wars of the Roses, because he helped to depose two kings: Henry VI, placing Edward IV on the throne, and then deposing Edward IV and placing Henry back on the throne. He died in battle in 1471, leaving no sons, so the title reverted back to his wife. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33998 "2017-02-06T06:49:21Z")
Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick, died in obscurity, having survived her husband, her daughters and the sons-in-law who had effectively disinherited her. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/33999 "2017-02-06T08:39:29Z")
The Ark of the Covenant disappeared from Jerusalem at some point. There is a good case for the speculation that it disappeared during the reign of Manasseh, 16th King of Judah. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34000 "2017-02-06T14:12:56Z")
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint; the most popular of these include Mary, George and Michael. ---
**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 6, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34001 "2017-02-06T14:59:50Z")
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on April 28, 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later King George IV, while he was acting as regent for his mentally-ill father, King George III. It is named in honour of Great Britain’s two military saints. > **[Order of St Michael and St George](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George)** > > The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. > It is named in honour of two military saints, Michael and George. > The Order of St Michael and St George was originally awarded to those holding commands or high position in the Mediterranean territories acquired in the Napoleonic Wars, and was subsequently extended to holders... ---
**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 6, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34002 "2017-02-06T15:30:45Z")
George Michael’s family might have to wait several more weeks to bury the singer because crucial tests over his death are still taking place. More toxicology reports on the 53-year-old were ordered when the post-mortem examination was ‘inconclusive’ and testing will not be completed until the end of February. The tests will determine whether drugs contributed to Michael’s death but can take around eight weeks to complete, meaning the singer’s loved ones are still unable to hold a funeral. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34003 "2017-02-06T15:34:47Z")
The Order of St Michael and St George tended to be used to honour colonial and then Dominion officials. Prime Minister Sir Robert L Borden and Chief Justice Sir Lyman Poore Duff in Canada were both Knights of the Order of St Michael and St George. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34004 "2017-02-06T16:52:06Z")
Lizzie Borden, 4th cousin once removed of P.M. Robert Borden, took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. Allegedly. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34005 "2017-02-06T17:24:29Z")
The house in Fall River, Massachusetts, in which Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were murdered is now a bed and breakfast. The most requested room is the second floor bedroom where the body of Abbie Borden was found. ---
**Author:** ![ozziemaland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@ozziemaland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozziemaland)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34006 "2017-02-06T17:25:11Z")
Lt. Calley took the carbine, shot some peasants, forty-nine, and when he saw that they were dead he filled fifty more with red-hot lead; allegedly. The legend of Lizzie Borden may have a part in such allegation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1699) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1701)