# 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:** 2118
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42349 "2019-02-22T02:25:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Denver’s final leaving was on a propeller plane, however. Ouch. In play: One of the most famous bridge disasters in US history was the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The bridge opened on July 1, 1940, and collapsed into Puget Sound on November 7 of the same year. Known as ‘Galloping Gertie’ for its swaying and gyrations, it failed due to something called ‘aeroelastic flutter’. After this failure bridges were built with the wind and the bridge’s harmonic frequency in mind. Although one dog died in the collapse, there were no human fatalities. The famous video of the collapse can be seen here: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzu6CNtqec) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42350 "2019-02-22T05:27:26Z")
Per Wiki: Following the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the United States’s involvement in World War II delayed plans to replace it. The portions of the bridge still standing after the collapse, including the towers and cables, were dismantled and sold as scrap metal. Nearly ten years after the collapse, a new Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in the same location, using the original bridge’s tower pedestals and cable anchorages. The portion of the bridge that fell into the water now serves as an artificial reef. The bridge’s collapse had a lasting effect on science and engineering. In many physics textbooks, the event is presented as an example of elementary forced resonance; the bridge collapsed because normal speed winds produced aeroelastic flutter that matched the bridge’s natural frequency. The collapse boosted research into bridge aerodynamics-aeroelastics, which has influenced the designs of all later long-span bridges ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42351 "2019-02-22T05:54:19Z")
The card game bridge (more formally: contract bridge) is a trick-taking card game, which developed out of the earlier game of whist. A variation of whist, known as Biritch, or Russian Whist, became popular in the the U.S. and U.K. in the late 19th century. Several variants of this game were soon developed; the rules for the modern game of contract bridge were set out in 1925, and it quickly became the dominant version of the game. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42352 "2019-02-22T14:01:04Z")
Mr. Merryweather, a bank official in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story “The Red-Headed League,” laments that he is missing his regular game of whist while dealing with a clandestine nighttime attempt by criminals to rob his bank. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42353 "2019-02-22T18:40:24Z")
Horatio Hornblower, in C S Forester’s series, owes his promotion to Commander and his appointment to the _Hotspur_ to a fortunate and well-played game of whist with a commanding Admiral. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42354 "2019-02-22T18:47:47Z")
Although Hornblower was a skilled whist-player, he was tone-deaf and had no appreciation for music. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42355 "2019-02-22T19:07:24Z")
In honoring former Vice President Hubert Humphrey at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City, President Jimmy Carter referred to him as "Hubert Horatio Hornblower… _Humphrey!"_ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42356 "2019-02-22T19:22:21Z")
Hubert Humphrey served as the 38th Vice-President of the United State during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency from 1965-1969. Previously, he had been a Senator from Minnesota, first elected in the 1948 election. In 1968, he was the Democratic nominee for President in the 1968 election, a race in which he lost the Electoral College vote by a wide margin to Richard Nixon. In 1970, he once again was elected Senator from Minnesota, where he served until his death in January of 1978. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42357 "2019-02-22T19:24:40Z")
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, was named for the former U.S. Senator, Vice-President, and Minneapolis mayor. The stadium had several nicknames, including “the Homerdome” (it was known as a hitter’s park) as well as “HumpDome.” It had an air-supported fabric domed roof, which collapsed several times under the weight of heavy snow. In December, 2010, weighed down by snowfall from a recent blizzard, the stadium’s roof suffered several sudden tears, and [collaped in spectacular fashion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGg-35d0uo). ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42358 "2019-02-22T21:44:58Z")
Hubert Humphrey, Democrat of Minnesota, was the first Deputy President pro tem of the United States Senate, a title created specifically to honor him. The title has been held only twice, by Humphrey and George Mitchell, Democrat of Maine, and not since 1989: [President pro tempore of the United States Senate - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore_of_the_United_States_Senate#Permanent_acting_president_pro_tempore) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42359 "2019-02-22T21:54:54Z")
Before it was officially named, an certain area of Minnesota was known as Pig’s Eye, after a retired fur trader-turned-bootlegger turned saloon keeper names Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant. He was the first person of European descent to live within the borders of what would eventually become the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, as the town came to be known. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42360 "2019-02-23T01:26:19Z")
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and United Kingdom over the British–U.S. border in the San Juan Islands, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig, is also called the Pig Episode, the Pig and Potato War, the San Juan Boundary Dispute and the Northwestern Boundary Dispute. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42361 "2019-02-23T03:57:03Z")
The San Juan Islands are located at the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a strait which separates Vancouver Island in Canada, and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The strait is named for Juan de Fuca, a Greek sailor who served under King Philip II of Spain, and whose account of a 1592 exploration voyage may have included the discovery of the strait. (“Juan de Fuca” was the Spanish translation of his Greek name, Ioannis Phokas.) ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42362 "2019-02-23T06:12:34Z")
Philip II of Spain had four wives, Maria Manuela of Portugal, Mary Tudor of England, Elisabeth of Valois and Anna of Austria. He buried all four of his wives and all but two of his eight children; three wives died in childbirth, while Mary Tudor possibly died of uterine cancer. The longest of the marriages, to Anna of Austria, lasted ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42363 "2019-02-23T13:23:18Z")
Mary Tudor was the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood. When Henry died, Mary’s half-brother, Edward VI, assumed the throne at the age of nine. When Edward became mortally ill six years later, he attempted to have Mary removed from the line of succession, because he correctly thought that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had started under the rule of Henry VIII. Upon Edward’s death, his cousin Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen, but Mary quickly assembled an armed force and deposed Jane, who was later beheaded. Mary, who was the first Queen Mary, had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake during her five-year reign, earning her the nickname of “Bloody Mary”. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42364 "2019-02-23T14:15:08Z")
The nickname of “Bloody Mary” for Mary Tudor was partly an attempt to legitimize the reign of her sister Elizabeth. Their father Henry VIII better deserves to be called “Bloody Henry” as he had many thousands of “heretics” executed, including Catholics, Lutherans and other kinds of Protestants; estimates vary from 57,000 to 72,000. Like her father, Elizabeth also executed a number of Lutherans for heresy. Several hundred Catholics were executed as traitors for not recognizing Elizabeth as the Supreme Head of the Church. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42365 "2019-02-23T14:35:01Z")
When falcon breeders want to breed falcons, they wear special falcon sex hats. The hat encourages the falcon to shag the breeder’s head and collects the falcon sperm, which can then be artificially inseminated. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42366 "2019-02-23T14:35:27Z")
“Typhoid Mary” was Mary Mallon, the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was presumed to have infected 51 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook. She was twice forcibly isolated by public health authorities and died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42367 "2019-02-23T15:18:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > When falcon breeders want to breed falcons, they wear special falcon sex hats. The hat encourages the falcon to shag the breeder’s head and collects the falcon sperm, which can then be artificially inseminated. [Johnny Carson voice]I did not know that. I’m not sure I want to know that.[/Johnny Carson voice] The _Queen Mary_ was used as a troopship during WWII and was nicknamed the “Grey Ghost” because of her war-time grey colours and her speed. She was not included in convoys because it was presumed that her speed would keep her safe from submarines. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/42368 "2019-02-23T15:22:49Z")
Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie about the rock group Queen, received numerous accolades, including five nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Rami Malek’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury. The film won Best Motion Picture – Drama at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, and was nominated for the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Malek also won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards for Best Actor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=2117) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=2119)