# 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:** 2301
**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:** [January 11, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46012 "2020-01-11T14:51:19Z")
Adam Driver was cast as villain Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which released on December 18, 2015 to commercial and critical success. He reprised the role in The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker. His performance was positively received, with his character lauded as the best in the series. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46013 "2020-01-11T16:52:42Z")
On December 18, 2015, Martin Shkreli, who was then the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was arrested and charged with securities fraud. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 7.4 million dollars. Three months prior to his arrest, Shkreli was widely criticized when Turing obtained the manufacturing license for the antiparasitic drug Daraprim and raised its price from $13.50 to $750.00 per pill. This action caused him to be referred to by the media as “the most hated man in America” and “Pharma Bro.” ---
**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:** [January 11, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46014 "2020-01-11T20:24:32Z")
The “Turing test” is a test of how well a computer or artificial intelligence can exhibit human-like responses. In a Turing test, as it was originally designed, a human evaluator asks questions of two subjects via text responses, without being able to see the subjects – one of the subjects is a human, and the other a computer. If the evaluator isn’t able to reliably distinguish between the human respondent and the computer respondent, based on their answers to the questions, then the computer is said to have passed the test. Pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing introduced the concept of such a test in 1950; he originally called the test “the imitation game” (a term which was also used as the name for the 2014 film about Turing, and his work to break Nazi Germany’s Enigma code during World War II). ---
**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:** [January 11, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46015 "2020-01-11T21:40:58Z")
British actor Benedict Cumberpatch played Alan Turing in _The Imitation Game._ Cumberpatch has also played, among many other roles, a detective (_Sherlock_), a businessman (_Atonement_), a British Army officer (_War Horse_), and a wizard (_Doctor Strange_). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46016 "2020-01-12T02:48:34Z")
Imitation vanilla products contain vanillin, which can be produced synthetically from lignin, a natural polymer found in wood. Most synthetic vanillin is a byproduct from the pulp used in papermaking, in which the lignin is broken down using sulfites or sulfates. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46017 "2020-01-12T04:27:28Z")
Vanilla beans are grown on the Seychelles Islands. But about 80% of the world’s vanilla beans are grown on Madagascar Island. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46018 "2020-01-12T05:00:26Z")
The earliest settlers of Madagascar arrived in outrigger canoes from the Sunda islands (Malay Archipelago) around 2000 years ago. The Malagasy language is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with some Bantu influence. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2020, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46019 "2020-01-12T10:17:46Z")
A series of brutal queens effectively kept French colonialism out of Madagascar until the 1890s. The first Queen Ranavilona is thought to have been responsible for death of nearly half the island’s five million people. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46020 "2020-01-12T12:58:47Z")
There are two queens which still reign in Europe today: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46021 "2020-01-12T15:11:26Z")
1926 is the year that Queen Elizabeth II was born. She is 93 years old. 1940 is the year that Queen Margrethe II was born. She is 79 years old. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46022 "2020-01-13T01:12:37Z")
Actresses who have played Queen Elizabeth II in films and television include Helen Mirren (_The Queen_), Claire Foy and Olivia Colman (_The Crown_), Freya Wilson (_The King’s Speech_), and Sara Gadon (_A Royal Night Out_). ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46023 "2020-01-13T02:01:42Z")
Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman has played three British monarchs: Queen Anne (_The Favourite_), Queen Elizabeth (_Hyde Park on Hudson_) and that queen’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth II (_The Crown_). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46024 "2020-01-13T02:29:56Z")
As the role of women increased in car-purchase decisions, automakers began to hire female designers. Hudson, wanting a female perspective on automotive design, hired Elizabeth Ann Thatcher in 1939, one of America’s first female automotive designers. Her contributions to the 1941 Hudson included exterior trim with side lighting, interior instrument panel, interiors and interior trim fabrics. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46025 "2020-01-13T03:10:40Z")
The Hudson car company built cars from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was discontinued. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46026 "2020-01-13T06:42:22Z")
The Vessel, a giant outdoor sculpture in NYC’s new Hudson Yards real estate and mall development, has met mixed responses. The Hudson Yards website describes it as an “extraordinary centerpiece . . . a soaring new landmark meant to be climbed. This interactive artwork was imagined by Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio as a focal point where people can enjoy new perspectives of the city and one another from different heights, angles and vantage points. Comprised of 154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs – almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings” However, the New York Times describes it as a “trash-basket-shaped tourist attraction” and Yelp reviewers say “it looks like a dried out cockroach husk” and "it’s a nonsense structure that leads nowhere. It’s simply a bunch of stairs going up and down for no reason: The views are underwhelming. " ---
**Author:** ![atimnie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atimnie/32/11_2.png) [@atimnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atimnie)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46027 "2020-01-13T06:47:03Z")
The Hudson Brothers consisted of Bill, Mark, and Brett Hudson. Bill Hudson was once to Goldie Hawn, but Kate Hudson always considered Kurt Russell to be more of a father to her than Bill ever was. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46028 "2020-01-13T08:30:11Z")
Brett Butler was an award-winning star of the TV series “Grace Under Fire” which ran for over 100 episodes in the 1990s. Down the street, in Dodger Stadium, an anatomically different Brett Butler was playing center-field at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46029 "2020-01-13T08:54:43Z")
Grace Kelly’s wedding dress was designed by MGM’s Academy Award-winning Helen Rose. It was worked on for six weeks by three dozen seamstresses. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46030 "2020-01-13T13:38:17Z")
The black rose of Turkey ([images](https://www.google.com/search?q=The+black+rose+of+Turkey&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjD6qfl2IDnAhUIka0KHejzA08Q2-cCegQIABAC&oq=The+black+rose+of+Turkey&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.3..35i39.20446.26071..32495...0.0..0.126.413.2j2......0....1.........35i304i39.WZLFQ18QX0g&ei=JHIcXsPIEIiitgXo54_4BA&bih=921&biw=768&client=safari&prmd=ismvn&hl=en-us#imgrc=wS0OgyLc0SI9UM)) isn’t really black. It is a very deep, dark red that can look black. There are no black roses. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657/46031 "2020-01-13T14:22:02Z")
Elizabeth Short, known posthumously as the “Black Dahlia”, was an American woman who was found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Prior to the circulation of the “Black Dahlia” name, Short’s killing had been dubbed the “Werewolf Murder” by the Herald-Express due to the brutal nature of the crime. There is much dispute whether Short was called “Black Dahlia” during her short lifetime, or whether the press created the nickname while covering her grisly murder, which was never officially solved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=2300) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/527657.md?page=2302)