# 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:** 1820
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36388 "2017-10-13T18:46:44Z")
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a native of the former German Democratic Republic, holds the equivalents of a **bachelor’s degree** in physics from the University of Leipzig and a \*\*doctorate \*\*in quantum chemistry from the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof. She was denied an engineering professorship for her refusal to inform on colleagues to the Stasi, the GDR state police. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36389 "2017-10-14T01:36:04Z")
“The Stasi was much, much worse than the Gestapo, if you consider only the oppression of its own people,” according to Simon Wiesenthal of Vienna, Austria, who hunted Nazi criminals for over half a century. He estimated that the Gestapo had 40,000 officials watching a country of 80 million, while the Stasi employed 102,000 to control only 17 million. In addition, there were regular Stasi informers, the inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (IMs). 174,000 were identified as IMs, or 2.5 percent of the total population between the ages of 18 and 60. Around 10,000 IMs, or roughly 6 percent of the total, had not yet reached the age of 18. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36390 "2017-10-14T22:23:55Z")
Xenophon and the 10,000 was an army of Greek mercenaries who were hired by the Persian Cyrus the Younger in an attempt to seize the Persian throne. When Cyrus was killed in a battle in Mesopotamia, the 10,000 had to march all the way to the Greek cities in the coast of the Black Sea. Their famous cry of “Thalassa! Thalassa!” (“The sea! The sea”!) when they glimpsed the Black Sea in the distance is one of the famous climaxes of Classical literature. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36391 "2017-10-15T10:52:54Z")
A polygon with 10,000 sides has its own name. It is called a myriagon. The measure of each internal angle in a regular myriagon is 179.964°. A chiliagon is a polygon with 1000 sides. A megagon is a polygon with 1 million sides ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36392 "2017-10-15T17:47:10Z")
Megalodon (_Carcharocles megalodon_), meaning “big tooth” from Ancient Greek, was an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 23 to 2.6 million years ago (mya), during the Early Miocene to the end of the Pliocene. Scientists suggest that megalodon looked like a stockier version of the great white shark (_Carcharodon carcharias_). ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36393 "2017-10-15T20:40:33Z")
Megaman, also known as Rockman in Japan, is a video game franchise created by by the company Capcom. First released in 1987, the original and follow-on series have sold approximately thirty million copies worldwide. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36394 "2017-10-15T22:11:25Z")
The role of CAPCOM or capsule communicator was always an astronaut in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle days of NASA, but since 2011 has typically been filled by non-astronauts for International Space Station missions. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36395 "2017-10-15T22:58:35Z")
The Gemini twins were Castor and Pollux, sons of Leda. Castor was the son of Tyndareus, King of Sparta, but Pollux was the son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the form of a swan. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36396 "2017-10-16T11:43:43Z")
In the Popeye universe, Olive Oyl’s brother is Castor Oyl, and they are the children of Cole Oyl and Nana Oyl. Other relatives are Castor’s estranged wife, Cylinda Oyl; more recently, Olive’s nieces Diesel Oyl and Violet Oyl have appeared in the cartoons. Also among Olive’s family are her two uncles, Otto (Auto) Oyl and intrepid explorer Lubry Kent Oyl. Later appeared the sultry blonde Sutra Oyl, Olive’s cousin, and Standard Oyl, a distant relative who was an extremely wealthy corporate magnate. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36397 "2017-10-16T13:21:50Z")
Doctor \*\*Otto \*\* Octavius, better known as Doctor Octopus, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A highly intelligent mad scientist, he is typically portrayed as a stocky, myopic man who utilizes four powerful, mechanical appendages, and is obsessed with proving his own genius and destroying the superhero Spider-Man. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36398 "2017-10-16T13:43:51Z")
When Claudia Longet (singer Andy Williams ex-wife) was found with the body of her lover, Vladimir Peter “Paul” Sabich, she claimed he had shot himself to death when his gun accidentally discharged. A jury convicted her of a lesser charge—misdemeanor criminal negligence—and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail. The judge allowed Longet to choose the days she served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children, and she chose to work off most of her sentence on weekends. After the criminal trial, Sabich’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against Longet , which was eventually resolved out of court in September 1979, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36399 "2017-10-16T14:27:57Z")
Paul? I thought his nickname was Spider. Anyhoo … A persistent myth is that teenager Andy Williams dubbed the singing for Lauren Bacall in the 1944 feature film _To Have and Have Not_. According to authoritative sources, including Howard Hawks and Bacall herself, this was not true. Williams and some female singers were tested to dub for Bacall, because of fears that she lacked the necessary vocal skills. But those fears were overshadowed by the desire to have Bacall do her own singing (perhaps championed by Humphrey Bogart ) despite her less-than-perfect vocal talent. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36400 "2017-10-16T18:52:56Z")
Andy Williams and Claudine Longet divorced in 1975, but they remained friends. In March 1976, when Longet was charged with fatally shooting alpine ski racer Spider Sabich in Aspen, Williams stood by her publicly, escorting her to and from the courtroom, testifying to her character at the trial and providing legal assistance. [I don’t see any sources that call Sabich “Paul”? The longest online source that I can find says that the nickname “Spider” was given by his father, who said he was all arms and legs when born prematurely: [http://www.californiaconversations.com/articles/spring2005/article003.pdf](http://www.californiaconversations.com/articles/spring2005/article003.pdf) It’s on the 2nd page of the article.] ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36401 "2017-10-16T20:30:56Z")
The Claudine book series consists of four early novels by the French author Colette, published between 1900-1904. Written in diary format, they describe the growth to maturity of a young girl, Claudine. From age fifteen at the beginning of the first book, the series describes her education and experiences as she grows up. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36402 "2017-10-17T03:37:54Z")
The first _Michelin Guide_ was published in France in 1900. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36403 "2017-10-17T16:54:44Z")
\*1900 \*is a Dutch bi-monthly sports magazine published in Amsterdam, focusing on the association football club AFC Ajax. The name of the magazine is derived from the founding year of the club, which was first officially registered on 18 March 1900. The first issue appeared on 20 December 2012 and had former Ajax player and head coach at the time Frank de Boer on the cover. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36404 "2017-10-17T18:36:29Z")
Hank Williams Jr. famously almost died after falling off a mountain. That mountain was Ajax Peak near the Idaho/Montana border. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36405 "2017-10-17T18:44:04Z")
Ajax, Ontario, a town in the Greater Toronto area with over 100,000 people, was established in 1941. It was named for the British warship HMS Ajax, in honor of the first significant British naval victory of the war, the Battle of the River Plate. The light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Exeter and HMS Achilles routed the powerful German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee near Montevideo in December 1939. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36406 "2017-10-17T18:59:59Z")
The closing notes of The Doors’ “Touch Me” sound like the old TV jingle for Ajax cleanser - “Stronger than Dirt”. On the album cut, Jim Morrison can actually be heard singing those lyrics, which were omitted from the commercial-play single for the usual legal reasons. Reputedly, he was mocking Robby Krieger, John Densmore, and Ray Manzarek for wanting to accept an offer from Buick to use “Light My Fire” in a commercial. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/36407 "2017-10-17T19:42:44Z")
John F. Kennedy rose to the rank of Star Scout when he was a Boy Scout; Gerald Ford is the only future President of the United States to have become an Eagle Scout. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1819) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1821)