# 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:** 1757
**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:** [June 7, 2017, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35127 "2017-06-07T04:49:46Z")
Dick Clark, Jay Leno, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Isabella Rossellini, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Charlton Heston, Sarah Ferguson, Richard Branson, Hugh Laurie, Ralph Lauren and Donny Osmond all made cameo appearances on the TV series “Friends”. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35128 "2017-06-07T12:31:59Z")
The \*\*Crystal \*\* Cathedral is a church building now owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in Garden Grove, Orange County, California, in the United States. Besides being among the largest glass buildings in the world, it has one of the largest musical instruments in the world, the Hazel Wright Memorial organ. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35129 "2017-06-07T15:40:53Z")
Visionary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867, 150 years ago tomorrow. My favorite building of his is Fallingwater, originally a private home near Pittsburgh, now owned by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and open year-round to visitors. [http://www.fallingwater.org/img/home\_assets/new\_first.jpg](http://www.fallingwater.org/img/home_assets/new_first.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ozziemaland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@ozziemaland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozziemaland)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35130 "2017-06-07T20:32:31Z")
On December 24, 558, Chlothar I became King of the **Frank** s. He was one of the four sons of Clovis I of the Merovingian dynasty. At the end of his reign, the Frankish kingdom was at its peak, covering the whole of Gaul (except Septimania) and part of present-day Germany. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35131 "2017-06-07T23:00:15Z")
Gauloises cigarettes (whose name means “Gaulish” or “from Gaul”) are an iconic French brand; smoking them was considered patriotic during the 1920s-1940s. The brand is now owned by the Imperial Brands plc, a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35132 "2017-06-08T13:22:01Z")
“Bristol Stomp” is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, and originally recorded by a group from Bristol, Pennsylvania, Terry and the Appeljacks (Terry Appel was the son of Dave Appel). The recording by Terry and the Appeljacks made neither the Billboard Hot 100 nor the “Bubbling Under” charts. A cover by Th Dovetails, however, made the #2 spot on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 singles chart in 1961, " sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35133 "2017-06-08T14:27:15Z")
From Wiki: At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the battleship USS _Pennsylvania_ was in drydock in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. She was one of the first ships in the harbor to open fire as Japanese dive and torpedo bombers attacked. They did not succeed in repeated attempts to torpedo the caisson of the drydock, but the warship and the surrounding dock areas were severely strafed. The crew of one 5-inch gun mount was wiped out when a bomb struck the starboard side of her boat deck and exploded. Destroyers _Cassin_ and _Downes_, just forward of _Pennsylvania_ in the drydock, were seriously damaged by bomb hits. [![](http://www.allworldwars.com/image/023/Waragainstjapan012.jpg) ](http://www.allworldwars.com/image/023/Waragainstjapan012.jpg) ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35134 "2017-06-08T14:28:58Z")
“All ship-shape and Bristol fashion” is an old English phrase meaning “In good order.” ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35135 "2017-06-08T15:42:53Z")
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( **SHAPE** ) is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Allied Command Operations. Since 1967 it has been located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35136 "2017-06-08T20:25:43Z")
One of the earliest legends of the First World War is that known as the “Angels of Mons”. The “Angels” were said to have appeared in the sky during the retreat from Mons during August 1914, and to have safeguarded the withdrawal of British troops. The origin of the legend was apparently in September 1914, when author Arthur Machen published a short story entitled “The Bowmen” which featured supernatural forces aiding a soldier; his fiction was taken as truth and developed into the legend. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35137 "2017-06-09T04:14:58Z")
The first British soldier killed in the Great War is believed to be John Parr, who likely was killed near Mons around August 21, 1914, while on a bicycle reconnaissance. His body was not found until the winter so the exact circumstances of his death are unknown. He may have been killed in an an encounter with the German First Army, or possibly by friendly fire. It is possible he actually died two days later in the First Battle of Mons. Parr is buried at St Symphorien Military Cemetery near Mons. Coincidentally, his grave faces that of George Ellison, the last British soldier killed in the War. Ellison was on patrol on the outskirts of Mons on November 11, 1914, when he was fatally shot. He died at 9.30 am - an hour and a half before the Armistice came into force. Also buried in the cemetery is George Price of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, the last soldier of the British Empire to die in the War. He was killed in Mons on November 11, 1918, at 10.58 am. God rest their souls. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35138 "2017-06-09T04:18:12Z")
The biggest mountain in the Solar System is not on Earth, but on Mars. Olympus Mons is much broader and taller than Mount Everest. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/France\_OlympusMons\_Size.svg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/France_OlympusMons_Size.svg) [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Olympus\_Mons\_Side\_View.svg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Olympus_Mons_Side_View.svg) ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35139 "2017-06-09T05:08:55Z")
Before the Mariner 9 observations in 1971 revealed the huge size of Olympus Mons, writer C.S. Lewis imagined, in his 1938 novel _Out of the Silent Planet,_ the effect of the lower gravity on the mountains of Mars. He describes Ransom, an earth visitor to Mars, as so overwhelmed by the height of the mountains that “all terrestrial mountains must ever after seem to him to be mountains lying on their sides.” ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35140 "2017-06-09T13:38:04Z")
Valles Marineris is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface. At more than 2,500 miles long, 120 miles wide and up to 23,000 feet deep, Valles Marineris is one of the largest canyons of the Solar System, surpassed in length only by the rift valleys of Earth. Its name is derived from the Mariner space probes that highlighted it during their missions. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35141 "2017-06-09T14:55:42Z")
Mariner 10 was the last United States space probe in the Mariner program, which ran from 1962-1973. The program included a number of firsts, including the first planetary flyby, the first planetary orbiter and the first gravity assist maneuver. Voyagers 1 and 2 were redesigned, improved and redesignated Mariner probes. ---
**Author:** ![ozziemaland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@ozziemaland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozziemaland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35142 "2017-06-09T16:30:48Z")
> [@](#): > > The word “yestersol” was coined by the NASA Mars operations team early during the MER mission to refer to the previous sol (the Mars version of “yesterday”) and came into fairly wide use within that organization during the Mars Exploration Rover Mission of 2003. It was even picked up and used by the press. [end paste from Wikipedia] Parody of the Beatles’ song "Yesterday:” Yestersol Lost my girl around the shopping mall Never thought I’d miss that ditzy doll Oh, I believe in yestersol Yestersol, all my troubles seemed so very small Now it seems they want my head to fall Oh, I believe in yestersol Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be, There’s a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yestersol came suddenly. Why she had to go I don’t know she wouldn’t call. I said something wrong, now I long for yestersol. Yestersol, love was like a simple game of ball Now I need a cane for walking tall Oh, I believe in yestersol. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35143 "2017-06-09T16:52:22Z")
:: Martian golf clap :: I don’t see the word in common with the previous post, though. ---
**Author:** ![ozziemaland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@ozziemaland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozziemaland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35144 "2017-06-09T23:08:57Z")
Word from previous post: “the.” Have not seen a rule barring that easy connection, but probably there should be. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35145 "2017-06-10T12:10:47Z")
When used to measure distance, the league is usually (in British usage) about 3 miles (other countries vary). Therefore when Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” mentions the distance ‘ **half** a league’, it indicates that the troops were charging over a 1.5 mile distance. re: ozzie #35133: weak, you’re better than that. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/35146 "2017-06-10T12:14:40Z")
Seven-league boots let the person wearing them walk twenty-one miles with one step. They appear in assorted fairy tales, such as “Hop o’ My Thumb” (Charles Perrault), and fantasy novels, such as **What the Witch Left** (Ruth Chew). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1756) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1758)