# 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:** 1853
**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 27, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37049 "2017-12-27T02:42:36Z")
Peter Baker, now covering the White House for _The New York Times_ for a second time (he earlier did it in Bill Clinton’s second term), is a graduate of my alma mater, Oberlin College, where he worked on the student newspaper, _The Oberlin Review_, as a reporter. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37050 "2017-12-27T02:59:08Z")
In the post WWII years, the White Motor Company was America’s largest producer of semi-trailer tractors, after acquiring Autocar, REO and Diamond T. White originated in 1900 in Cleveland, with a steam-driven truck. It has since been acquired by Volvo. A 1911 White Steamer was the first automobile owned by a sitting president, in the White House garage, William Howard Taft. ---
**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, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37051 "2017-12-27T03:19:36Z")
William Howard Taft was the first US President whose mother was a college graduate. His mother, Louisa Torrey of Boston, graduated in 1845 from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts (then known as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary), the first of the Seven Sisters women’s colleges, founded in 1837. Mount Holyoke’s Torrey Hall, a dormitory, is named for her. ---
**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 27, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37052 "2017-12-27T03:37:40Z")
As Harvard College grew, it built new dormitories for its burgeoning student population. Each dormitory, called a “house” was traditionally named after a past-president of Harvard. However, no dormitory has ever been named after President Leonard Hoar (1672-75), as it is not though proper that Harvard should run a Hoar House. ---
**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 27, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37053 "2017-12-27T04:10:20Z")
Hoar House — especially for a college named after a minister. The childless John Harvard bequeathed half his personal fortune and his library to Newtowne Colledge which, three years after his death in 1638 and five years after its founding in 1636, had its name changed to Harvard Colledge. John Harvard died of tuberculosis. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37054 "2017-12-28T02:20:07Z")
_Harvard Beats Yale 29-29_ is a 2008 documentary film by Kevin Rafferty, covering the 1968 meeting between the football teams of Yale and Harvard in their storied rivalry. Yale was heavily favored to win and they quickly led the game 22–0. With two minutes remaining on the clock Yale still led 29–13. As the clock ticked down, Harvard tied the game by scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds. The Harvard Crimson college newspaper declared victory with the famous headline, that provided the title for Rafferty’s documentary. ---
**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 28, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37055 "2017-12-28T04:20:25Z")
When President John F. Kennedy appointed Orville Freeman, former Governor of Minnesota, as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, it was joked that this was because “Harvard doesn’t have a School of Agriculture.” Kennedy’s Cabinet was otherwise quite heavy with Harvard men. ---
**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 28, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37056 "2017-12-28T05:03:37Z")
The first open heart surgery (1952, Dr. F. John Lewis) and the first bone marrow transplant (1968) in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota. ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37057 "2017-12-28T06:55:54Z")
In 2013, civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis became the first member of Congress to write a graphic novel, with the launch of a trilogy titled _ **March** _. This is a black and white comics trilogy about the Civil Rights Movement, told through the perspective of Congressman John Lewis, who still bears the scars from a beating by Alabama state troopers during the 1965 Pettus Bridge March in Selma. ---
**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 28, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37058 "2017-12-28T09:04:38Z")
On today’s date in 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act. The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). President Richard Nixon had declared species conservation efforts to be inadequate and called on the 93rd United States Congress to pass comprehensive endangered species legislation. Congress responded with a completely rewritten law, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which was signed by Nixon on December 28, 1973. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37059 "2017-12-28T12:44:11Z")
Alligators had been hunted to near-extinction before being protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. They have recovered to the point where they are not only no longer listed, but are arguably even a pest species. Alligator tastes like chicken with a more rubbery texture, btw. ---
**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 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37060 "2017-12-28T14:05:54Z")
There are two living species of alligators, the American alligator (_Alligator mississippiensis_) in the southeast USA, and the Chinese alligator (_Alligator sinensis_) found in eastern China, a critically endangered species. The order _ **Crocodilia** _ includes the families of **Crocodylidae** and **Alligatoridae**. ► Alligators and caimans are of the family **Alligatoridae**. ► Crocodiles are of the family **Crocodylidae**. ---
**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 28, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37061 "2017-12-28T14:43:38Z")
“See You Later, Alligator” is the title of an iconic rock and roll song of the 195’0s written and first recorded by American singer-songwriter Bobby Charles. The song was a Top Ten hit for Bill Haley and His Comets. ---
**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 28, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37062 "2017-12-28T15:44:06Z")
“See You Later, Alligator; After ‘While, Crocodile” are the beginning lyrics of that song by Bill Haley. Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry wrote the song. Guidry, known as Bobby Charles, also wrote _Walking to New Orleans_ and _It Keeps Rainin’_. He wrote them for (or also with) Fats Domino. “In a while, crocodile” is a common reply when someone says “See you later, alligator.” ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37063 "2017-12-28T15:44:15Z")
The group that later became Bill Haley and the Comets initially formed as Bill Haley and the Saddlemen around 1949–1952, and performed mostly country and western songs. Haley began his rock and roll career with what is now recognized as a rockabilly style in a cover of “Rocket 88” recorded for the Philadelphia-based Holiday Records label in 1951. ---
**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 28, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37064 "2017-12-28T15:46:40Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > The group that later became Bill Haley and the Comets initially formed as Bill Haley and the Saddlemen around 1949–1952, and performed mostly country and western songs. Haley began his rock and roll career with what is now recognized as a rockabilly style in a cover of “Rocket 88” recorded for the Philadelphia-based Holiday Records label in 1951. Play: Halley’s Comet returns to earth every 74-79 years. Its next perihelion will be in 2061, when I am 100 years old. ---
**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 28, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37065 "2017-12-28T15:49:43Z")
After a request from a Touchstone Pictures friend, President Bill Clinton permitted studio personnel to have a tour of the Presidential aircraft to guide them in preparing set designs for the action thriller _Air Force One_. ETA: Ninja’d! The movie is not set in 2061. ---
**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 28, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37066 "2017-12-28T16:32:41Z")
Air Force One, not the movie that’s not in 2061, but the dedicated POTUS airplane, originated in 1943 when officials of the United States Army Air Forces became concerned over the reliance on commercial airlines to transport the president. Planes have included: ► **Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express** , a reconfigured B-24 Liberator bomber ([image](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_C-87_Liberator_Express#/media/File%3AC-87-liberator-express.jpg)) — rejected by Secret Service due to reliability issues ► **Douglas C-54 Skymaster** ([image](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=768&bih=922&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=IhpFWpjIJYjSmwGun4XIAg&q=air+force+one+Douglas+C-54+Skymaster&oq=air+force+one+Douglas+C-54+Skymaster&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...73176.73176.0.74134.2.2.0.0.0.0.135.135.0j1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.mobile-gws-img..1.0.0....476.wyX1E9wf-wo#imgrc=kRGB31DllYjUoM:)) — dubbed the “_Sacred Cow_” ► **Lockheed Constellation** ([image](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=768&bih=922&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=bhpFWurEKIjtmAHjmLCwCQ&q=air+force+one+Lockheed+Constellation&oq=air+force+one+Lockheed+Constellation&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3..0i8i30k1.59903.59903.0.60773.2.2.0.0.0.0.224.224.2-1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.mobile-gws-img..1.1.223....166.xlVRfJDFOFA#imgrc=lpEy82ehM9PxEM:)) ► Boeing VC-137C, a customized Boeing 707-320 ([image](http://www.boeing.com/history/products/vc-137c-air-force-one.page)) — the first purpose-built Air Force One ► Boeing VC-25A, a customized Boeing 747-200B ([image](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=768&bih=922&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=rRpFWvSIJIXRmwH674O4Aw&q=air+force+one+Boeing+VC-25A&oq=air+force+one+Boeing+VC-25A&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...169972.169972.0.170729.2.2.0.0.0.0.146.146.0j1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.mobile-gws-img..1.0.0....163.NXpxYQTWx3U#imgrc=OhxPPYvewf8-AM:)) — current Air Force One ► Boeing 747-8 ([image](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=768&bih=922&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=WRtFWq7rJozQmAGApoXADQ&q=air+force+one+Boeing+747-8&oq=air+force+one+Boeing+747-8&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3..0.70798.70798.0.71806.2.2.0.0.0.0.201.201.2-1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.mobile-gws-img..1.1.201....173.mhlHOvBARfo#imgrc=1UQSAgveLqzjNM:)) — the next Air Force One ---
**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 28, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37067 "2017-12-28T20:02:23Z")
The play _Boeing-Boeing_ is a farce written by the French playwright Marc Camoletti, about a young man engaged to three stewardesses at the same time. It premiered in Paris in 1960. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and ran for seven years. In 1991, the play was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most performed French play throughout the world. It has successfully been revived in the West End (2007) and on Broadway (2008) with Mark Rylance starring in both productions. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37068 "2017-12-28T20:04:24Z")
The winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, “Gerald McBoing-Boing” is the story of a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words. It was adapted by Phil Eastman and Bill Scott from a story by Dr. Seuss, directed by Robert Cannon, and produced by John Hubley. In 1994, it was voted #9 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked UPA cartoon on the list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1852) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1854)