# 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:** 1852
**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:** [December 24, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37029 "2017-12-24T23:53:32Z")
When John Wilkes Booth jumped out of the box in Ford’s Theatre to the stage, he called out “Sic semper tyrannis”, the state motto of Virginia: “Thus always to tyrants.” ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37030 "2017-12-25T01:36:38Z")
Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the original 13 Colonies was founded for the purpose of silk cultivation, to be traded with the Court of King James. After blight fungus destroyed the mulberry trees (silkworm food), sericulturist planted tobacco as a cash crop. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37031 "2017-12-25T01:40:11Z")
First Lady Louisa Adams (wife of John Quincy Adams) raised silkworms. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37032 "2017-12-25T05:26:18Z")
Louisa Adams was the first and so far only one of two First Ladies to have been born outside the U.S.; Melania Trump is the other. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37033 "2017-12-25T09:30:26Z")
Louise of Great Britain was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1746 to 1751 when she died. Louisa, Virginia, and Louisa County, Virginia are named after her. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37034 "2017-12-25T15:49:45Z")
In Norway, the most popular Christmas Eve dinner is the _ribbe_ (pork ribs or pork belly, bone in), but lutefisk (cod cured in lye), _pinnekjøtt_ (dry-cured ribs of lamb), boiled cod, ham roast and turkey are also common dishes. _Risengrynsgrøt_ (hot rice pudding) is an old, traditional dish. In the countryside, many people put a bowl outside for the barn gnome. A drink often served during Advent and Christmas is _gløgg_; a warm, spicy drink similar to German _Glühwein_. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37035 "2017-12-25T18:44:13Z")
Gen. George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s famous Christmas crossing of the Delaware River began on the evening of Dec. 25, 1776, and was completed and a successful attack made on the Hessian garrison in Trenton, N.J. early the next morning. Although a relatively small-scale battle, it was an important, morale-boosting victory at the time for the faltering American cause. > **[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River)** > > George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington, the commanding general of the Continental Army, against Hessian forces, which were German auxiliaries aiding the British. After crossing the Delaware River clandestinely, Washington and his troops successfully attacked the Hessian forces in the Battle of Trenton in Trenton on the mor... ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37036 "2017-12-25T18:48:38Z")
The crossing was manned by soldiers from John Glover’s Marblehead Regiment from Massachusetts, leading the town to claim the title of Birthplace of the American Navy. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37037 "2017-12-25T20:17:48Z")
Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville NJ (morth of Trenton) is part of Washington’s Crossing, a U.S. National Historic Landmark area. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37038 "2017-12-26T05:43:48Z")
The 1851 painting _Washington Crossing the Delaware_ by the German-American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze merits its own Wikipedia article (and is quite large when you see it at the Met in New York City): [Washington Crossing the Delaware - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37039 "2017-12-26T06:35:36Z")
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote the poem “Crossing the Bar” in 1889. three years before his death. The famous last lines of the poem are “I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.” Tennyson explained that this is a metaphor for God: “The Pilot has been on board all the while, but in the dark I have not seen him…[He is] that Divine and Unseen Who is always guiding us.” At Tennyson’s request, this poem appears at the end of all collections and editions of his poetry. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37040 "2017-12-26T09:56:00Z")
[_Dropping the Pilot_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropping_the_Pilot) is a political cartoon by Sir John Tenniel, first published in the British magazine \*Punch \*on 29 March 1890. It depicts Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, as a maritime pilot, stepping off a ship (perhaps a reference to Plato’s ship of state), idly and unconcernedly watched by a young Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Bismarck had resigned as Chancellor at Wilhelm’s demand just ten days earlier on 19 March, as Bismarck’s political views were too different from Wilhelm’s. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37041 "2017-12-26T13:47:23Z")
Two warships were named in honor of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck: the SMS _Bismarck_ of the German Imperial Navy, a corvette of the late 19th century ([image](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismarck-class_corvette#/media/File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_146-2008-0176%2C_Segelschiff_%22SMS_Stein%22.jpg)), and the famous WWII battleship _Bismarck_ ([image](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck#/media/File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_193-04-1-26%2C_Schlachtschiff_Bismarck.jpg). The WWII _Bismarck_ and her sister ship _Tirpitz_ ([image](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#/media/File%3ATirpitz_early.jpg)) were the largest battleships ever built by Germany. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37042 "2017-12-26T14:30:03Z")
John Horton and Tillman Frank’s song Sink the Bismark was inspired by the 1960 British war movie Sink the Bismarck! and was used in U.S. theater trailers for the film, it was not used in the film itself. It’s was later recorded by the Blues Brothers for use in their movie, but was cut. Fortunately, this version survives on youtube: [youtube sink the bismarck blues brothers - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=nlxCWrahJq7k_QbfqZqIDg&q=youtube+sink+the+bismarck+blues+brothers&oq=youtube+sink+the+bismark&gs_l=psy-ab.1.3.0i10k1l3j0i22i30k1l2.399.7788.0.9908.30.24.3.3.3.0.68.1413.24.24.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.30.1450...0j0i131k1j0i131i10k1.0.5zAwc29brIg) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37043 "2017-12-26T14:55:38Z")
Dr. Seuss’s _Horton Hears a Who!_ was published in 1954. Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel, published his first children’s book _And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street_ in 1937. One of my personal favorites, _The Sneetches_, was published in 1961. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37044 "2017-12-26T15:45:40Z")
Ted Geisel served in the Army as a Captain and was commander of the Animation Department of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces, where he wrote films that included _Your Job in Germany_, a 1945 propaganda film about peace in Europe after World War II; _Our Job in Japan_; and the _Private Snafu_ series of animated adult army training films. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37045 "2017-12-26T18:02:01Z")
Between 1940 and 1947 Dr. Seuss drew political cartoons of WWII. Published in 1999, _Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel_, by Richard H. Minear, contains Dr. Seuss’s political cartoons created during World War II. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37046 "2017-12-26T20:24:02Z")
Theodore Geisel pronounced his middle name “Seuss” as “Zoice”, to rhyme with voice. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37047 "2017-12-26T21:18:32Z")
_One Voice_ was a 1979 album released by Barry Manilow. In the song, _One Voice_, on the album, the song begins with just one voice, Barry Manilow’s, as just _One voice, singing in the darkness_, and then the song builds into a chorus of a-capella voices singing together… \*And then that one voice Would never be alone \* and \*Just one voice It takes that one voice And everyone will sing \* In this song, all the background voices are actually sung by Barry Manilow. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37048 "2017-12-27T02:02:53Z")
According to Luciano Pavarotti, his father Fernando, a baker and amateur singer, had a fine tenor voice but rejected the possibility of a singing career because of nervousness. After abandoning his initial dream of becoming a football goalkeeper, Pavarotti spent seven years in vocal training. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1851) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1853)