# 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:** 1717
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34327 "2017-03-16T03:47:53Z")
Charleston was founded in 1670, and was originally named Charles Town, in honor of King Charles II. Charles Town, West Virginia, on the other hand, was named for Charles Washington, George Washington’s younger brother. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34328 "2017-03-16T09:20:32Z")
King Charles II’s wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34329 "2017-03-16T12:32:54Z")
Prince William is descended from Charles II on his mother’s side. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34330 "2017-03-16T13:57:21Z")
William Henry Seward, over the course of a long career in New York politics, was first a Jeffersonian Democrat, then an Anti-Mason, then a Whig, and finally a Republican. He is best known today for serving as Abraham Lincoln’s and Andrew Johnson’s Secretary of State, and for negotiating the purchase of Alaska from Russia. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34331 "2017-03-16T14:23:27Z")
Seward, Alaska is named for William Henry Seward and is located on the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage. The Seward Peninsula is also named for the former SecState, but is nowhere near the town of Seward; it’s best known town is Nome, Alaska. Seward, by the way, is pronounced SOO-wurd. Most tourists get it wrong. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34332 "2017-03-16T15:09:22Z")
How else would you pronounce it? SEE-ward? William Henry Seward was the third-longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, behind only Cordell Hull (11 years under FDR) and Dean Rusk (8 under JFK and LBJ). ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34333 "2017-03-16T16:01:47Z")
I’ve heard it pronounced “SYOO-wurd”–is that the wrong pronunciation? In play: Siward, (not Seward) Earl of Northumbria was a ruler of much of northern England in the 11th Century. He appears in Shakespeare’s _Macbeth_ at the head of the English army; his son “Young Siward” is killed in battle by Macbeth. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34334 "2017-03-16T16:14:09Z")
Oswald came to rule the Kingdom of Northumbria after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan and bringing the two Northumbrian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira once again under a single ruler. He is also noted for promoting the spread of Christianity in Northumbria. He was given a strongly positive assessment by the historian Bede, writing a little less than a century after Oswald’s death, who regarded Oswald as a saintly king. After eight years of rule, in which he was the most powerful ruler in Britain, Oswald was killed in the Battle of Maserfield. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34335 "2017-03-16T17:16:10Z")
Following the Battle of Maserfield, Northumbria split into Bernicia in the north and Deira in the south, leaving Penda of Mercia as the most powerful ruler of the English kings. Penda himself was killed at the Battle of Winwaed, in which Mercia was fighting Bernicia. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34336 "2017-03-16T19:10:23Z")
Mercia Tinker was Rex Harrison’s sixth wife; they married in 1979, 11 years before his death. He described Tinker in “If Love Be Love: Poems and Prose chosen by Rex Harrison” (published in 1979) as `my beloved wife from whom I have learnt the art of living and loving at last.` Harrison’s ashes were scattered on the grave of his second wife, Lilli Palmer, to whom he was married from 1943to 1957. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34337 "2017-03-16T19:50:14Z")
I’ve only ever heard it pronounced SOO-wurd, as \*\*Chefguy \*\*wrote. In play: Benjamin Harrison was both preceded and succeeded in the U.S. Presidency by Grover Cleveland, having beaten him once and lost to him once. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34338 "2017-03-16T21:49:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > How else would you pronounce it? SEE-ward? Exactly. Tourists also say val-dez instead of val-deez for another town (yeah, I know) and for Knik, mispronounce it as “nick”. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34339 "2017-03-16T22:42:32Z")
Another vote for Soo-wurd. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34340 "2017-03-17T02:21:38Z")
replying to message #34326: **Benjamin** Barker is the given name of the character Sweeney Todd, the “Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” While made famous by the Broadway production (and later movie), the story first appeared in a 'penny dreadful" publication in 1846-47. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34341 "2017-03-17T03:37:44Z")
The role of Reno Sweeney, leading lady in Cole Porter’s musical _Anything Goes_, was originated on Broadway by Ethel Merman. In revivals, Reno has been played by Eileen Rodgers, Patti LuPone, Elaine Page and Sutton Foster. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34342 "2017-03-17T03:53:48Z")
PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton wrote the original book for _Anything Goes_. It was revised heavily before it entered production. _Off-game anecdote_: I saw it several years ago at Stratford and as I was watching thought to myself. “This is like a Wodehouse novel set to music.” Only later did I find out I was right. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34343 "2017-03-17T15:02:40Z")
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional association football (soccer) club based in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Bolton have spent the highest number of seasons of any club in the top level of competition without winning the title (the 2011–12 season was their 73rd, non-consecutive year in the top flight). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34344 "2017-03-17T18:21:58Z")
There are seven league teams in the Manchester area: Manchester City, Manchester United, Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Bury, Oldham Athletic, and Rochdale. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34345 "2017-03-18T02:57:05Z")
Every state in New England, except for Rhode Island, has a town named Manchester. The largest is Manchester, New Hampshire, which is the biggest city in the state with a population of over 110,000, followed by Manchester, Connecticut with a population of 58,000. The smallest is Manchester, Maine, with 2,500 people. Manchester, Vermont is a town of 4,000 people at the foot of Mt. Equinox in the Taconics with the Green Mountains to the east, while Manchester-by-the-Sea on Cape Ann in Massachusetts is now known for the Academy Award winning film. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2017, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/34346 "2017-03-18T09:54:14Z")
The vernal equinox will occur at 6:28 am on Monday, March 18. However, in the U.S., the days and nights will have already achieved equality, since Friday or Saturday. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1716) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1718)