# 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:** 1855
**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 29, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37089 "2017-12-29T22:23:42Z")
The biological family of _bovidae_ are ruminant, cloven-hoofed mammals such as bison, African buffalo, and water buffalo. A member of this family is called a bovid. The musk ox is a bovid that lives in the Arctic, primarily in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Alaska, the Yukon territory, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and Siberia. Muskoxen are more closely related to sheep and goats than to oxen. ---
**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 29, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37090 "2017-12-29T23:16:40Z")
Babe the Blue Ox was the companion of the legendary lumberman Paul Bunyan. The tall tale is that on the coldest day of winter, Paul found a small baby ox that had turned blue in the cold. He took care of it, and the ox grew to a size that “42 axe handles plus a plug of tobacco could fit between his eyes and it took a murder of crows a whole day to fly from one horn to the other.” Babe shared in Paul’s adventures. ---
**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 29, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37091 "2017-12-29T23:58:44Z")
In 1958 Walt Disney Studios produced _Paul Bunyan_ as an animated short musical. The feature starred Thurl Ravenscroft, perhaps best known as the voice of Tony the Tiger for the Kellogg Company with his booming bass voice, “_ **They’re grrreat!** _” It was nominated for Best Animated Short by the Academy Awards, but lost to Warner Bros. Cartoons’ Looney Tunes cartoon _Knighty Knight Bugs_. ---
**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 30, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37092 "2017-12-30T01:27:20Z")
Thurl Ravenscroft also is known for singing, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” in the cartoon _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_. ---
**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 30, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37093 "2017-12-30T03:24:54Z")
During World War II, Thurl Ravenscroft served as a civilian navigator contracted to the U.S. Air Transport Command, spending five years flying courier missions across the north and south Atlantic. Among the notables carried on board his flights were Winston Churchill and Bob Hope. As he told an interviewer: “I flew Winston Churchill to a conference in Algiers and flew Bob Hope to the troops a couple of times. So it was fun.” ---
**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 30, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37094 "2017-12-30T04:00:24Z")
Thurl Ravenscroft received no screen credit for his singing in _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_, an oversight that Dr. Seuss tried to rectify by sending letters to every major columnist in America identifying Ravenscroft as the singer on “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”. He is also part of the chorus on the other two songs. ---
**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 30, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37095 "2017-12-30T05:26:58Z")
Dr. Frank Burns held the rank of major on the TV show _M_A_S_H\*; his commanding officers, Drs. Henry Blake and Sherman Potter, were a lieutenant colonel and a colonel, respectively. ---
**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 30, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37096 "2017-12-30T06:25:44Z")
After Judas committed suicide, he was buried in the potter’s field. ---
**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 30, 2017, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37097 "2017-12-30T06:57:28Z")
Dyersville, Iowa is 70 miles north of Herbert Hoover’s Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa. The Library-Museum was officially dedicated and opened to the public on August 10, 1962, on Hoover’s 88th birthday. Former President Hoover and Former President Harry S. Truman were present at the dedication. It was the 4th Presidential Library and Museum, after FDR in Hyde Park NY, Truman in Independence MO, and Eisenhower in Abilene KS. But going back to Dyersville, the _Field of Dreams_ movie site and baseball field is 4 miles northeast of town. ---
**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 30, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37098 "2017-12-30T14:11:45Z")
Herbert Hoover, born on August 10, 1874 is the only President born in Iowa, and the first born west of the Mississippi River. ---
**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 30, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37099 "2017-12-30T14:45:10Z")
The _USS Mississippi_ was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the US state of Mississippi. After her career in the USN, she was sold to Greece and renamed the _Kilkis_ in 1914. _Kilkis_ was sunk by German bombers in April 1941. Congress limited the displacement to 13,000 long tons due to budget concerns, and the ship was considered obsolete before it was launched due to the British _Dreadnought_ battleships. ---
**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 30, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37100 "2017-12-30T14:47:59Z")
There have been 8 Presidents of the United States that were born west of the Mississippi River: 1. Herbert Hoover - West Branch, Iowa 2. Harry S. Truman - Lamar, Missouri 3. Dwight D. Eisenhower - Denison, Texas 4. Lyndon B. Johnson - Stonewall, Texas 5. Richard Nixon - Yorba Linda, California 6. Gerald Ford - Omaha, Nebraska 7. Bill Clinton - Hope, Arkansas 8. Barack Obama - Honolulu, Hawaii ---
**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 30, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37101 "2017-12-30T16:01:26Z")
_Henri Grace à Dieu_, also known as the \* Great Harry\* was the flagship of Henry VIII’s navy. A carrack, she was likely the largest ship in Europe at that time. ---
**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 30, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37102 "2017-12-30T17:53:48Z")
While Herman’s Hermits had a #1 hit with their version of “I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am” the song was written in 1910 by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston and was a signature song of the music hall star Harry Champion. ---
**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 30, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37103 "2017-12-30T20:59:59Z")
In the Sherlock Holmes tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the life of British Army Dr. John H. Watson was saved at the July 1880 Battle of Maiwand, Afghanistan, by Watson’s orderly, Murray, who “threw” the wounded doctor on a pack-horse and led him out of danger. ---
**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 31, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37104 "2017-12-31T00:02:41Z")
As the British retreated at the end of the battle of Maiwand, a Lieutenant Henn of the Royal Engineers fought a last-ditch action to slow the Afghan pursuit. When only eleven men were left, they charged the thousands of Afghans and were killed to the last man. ---
**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 31, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37105 "2017-12-31T05:04:05Z")
The British royal yacht _Britannia_, when it was on active service (1954-97) and before it became a museum ship in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, did not have the prefix HMS (Her Majesty’s Ship), as is customary for ships of the Royal Navy, but HMY (Her Majesty’s Yacht). Although designed to be relatively easily converted to serve as a hospital ship in emergencies, this was never actually done. ---
**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 31, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37106 "2017-12-31T05:42:15Z")
The USS _Potomac_ (AG-25) was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. She is now preserved in Oakland CA as a National Historic Landmark. ---
**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 31, 2017, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37107 "2017-12-31T06:14:40Z")
Arland Dean Williams Jr. was a passenger aboard Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed on take-off into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people. One of six people to initially survive the crash, Williams helped the other five escape the sinking plane before he himself drowned. According to the crew of the rescue helicopter, he helped the others reach the rescue ropes being dropped by the hovering helicopter, repeatedly passing the line to others instead of using it himself. The 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River at the crash site was renamed in his honor. In a tribute essay in _Time_ Magazine, essayist Roger Rosenblatt wrote: “So the man in the water had his own natural powers. He could not make ice storms, or freeze the water until it froze the blood. But he could hand life over to a stranger, and that is a power of nature too. The man in the water pitted himself against an implacable, impersonal enemy; he fought it with charity; and he held it to a standoff. He was the best we can do." ---
**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 31, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/37108 "2017-12-31T13:43:09Z")
“Lenny Skutniks” is a generic term for notable people who are invited to sit in the gallery at a State of the Union address or other joint meeting of the United States Congress. Lenny Skutnik was the first such guest, who was celebrated for his act of heroism following the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982. Skutnik dove into the icy Potomac River, saving the life of a passenger. For this act he was commended by President Ronald Reagan during the annual State of the Union speech held later that month. Among the Lenny Skutniks are: 1999 (Bill Clinton): Rosa Parks and Sammy Sosa 2002 (George W. Bush): Lisa Beamer, widow of Todd Beamer who died on United 93 in the 9/11 attacks 2010 (Barack Obama): Pilot Chesley (“Sully”) Sullenberger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1854) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=1856)