Trivia Dominoes: Play Off the Last Bit of Trivia

*Well I hear you went to Saratoga
And your horse, naturally, won
Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well, you’re where you should be all the time
And when you’re not, you’re with some underworld spy
Or the wife of a close friend,
Wife of a close friend, and

You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you*

The Legislature of Nova Scotia is the oldest Legislature in Canada, being first summoned in 1758 and operating continuously since then, under the same written instructions issued by King George II.

Although Massachusetts claims to have the oldest written constitution in North America, the constitution of Nova Scotia is older.

Iceland’s unicameral Althing is the oldest national parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir (“thing fields”), situated approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of what later became the country’s capital, Reykjavík.

Icelandic is the only living language that retains the letter Þ, as in the word Þingvellir. This letter is named Thorn or þorn and is pronounced as “th”. This letter was used in Old and Middle English, Gothic, and Old Norse. It fell out of use in England by the year 1500. Signs that are supposed to look old-fashioned, such as “Ye Olde English Pub”, resulted from confusion between the þorn and the letter y; “the” was originally written as “þe” but by the 1700s the letter was too unfamiliar.

PUB was one of the major department stores in Stockholm, Sweden, located in two buildings at Hötorget, Stockholm city center. PUB was opened in 1882 and is named for the initials of Paul Urbanus Bergström, the founder of the store. In April 1917, when the Russian Bolshevik leader Lenin traveled through Stockholm, the Swedish Communists Ture Nerman and Fredrik Ström took their comrade to PUB where they bought him a new suit so he would look good coming back to Russia.

Gustavus Adolphus was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632 who is credited with the founding of Sweden as a great power. He led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years’ War, and he is often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. However, he was killed in a major battle that took place in the latter stages of the war, a battle that was won by his armies.

After his death, his wife initially kept his body, and later his heart, in their castle for over a year. His remains (including his heart) now rest in Riddarholm Church in Stockholm.

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known in his lifetime as Gustavus Vassa, was a writer and abolitionist from the Igbo region of what is today southeastern Nigeria according to his memoir, or from South Carolina according to other sources. Enslaved as a child, Equiano purchased his own freedom in 1766. He was a prominent abolitionist in the British movement to end the Atlantic slave trade. His autobiography, published in 1789, helped in the creation of the Slave Trade Act 1807 which ended the transatlantic slave trade for Britain and its colonies.

Youssou N’Dour is a singer from Senegal who is very well-known in large parts of Africa. He has served as Senegal’s Minister of Tourism. He also played the role of Olaudah Equiano in the film, “Amazing Grace.”

He did not play the bagpipes in the film. :wink:

In the early days of the Republic, the top United States diplomat in foreign countries was referred to as a minister and not an ambassador. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Buchanan and John Quincy Adams all served as United States ministers abroad.

Quincy Magoo, voiced by Jim Backus, was a proud alumnus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Brunswick is the largest city in Medina County, Ohio, United States. It was named in 1815 as an unincorporated community by the simple expediant of putting several names in a hat and drawing one out. The actual city of that name was not founded until January 1, 1960.

The Brunswick Corporation, founded by John Moses Brunswick, opened for business on September 15, 1845, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company originally found success by manufacturing billiard tables. Later, it popularized bowling balls of manufactured materials, including vulcanized rubber. Earlier bowling balls had been solid wood.

One of the notable commanders kllled early on in the battle of Waterloo was Frederick-William, Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg. He and his troops were known as the “Black Brunswickers”, since they wore black uniforms in mourning for Napoleon’s occupation of their country.

The Hanoverians who became kings of Great Britain were an offshoot of the Brunswick family. That’s where New Brunswick got its name from.

There’s also a town named Lunenburg in Nova Scotia.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, is closer to Dublin, Ireland than it is to Victoria, British Columbia.

According to Google Maps, the quickest driving route from Halifax to Victoria is a route that goes through the American cities of Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle. The distance is 3,838 miles and the estimated drive time is 59 hours. A driving route that stays entirely within Canada and utilizes the Trans-Canada Highway has a shorter distance of 3,679 miles but has an estimated drive time of 63 hours.

The fastest driving route between Buffalo and Detroit involves Ontario Routes 401 and 403, and the Ambassador and Peace Bridges. Border crossing formalities are not included in the Google Maps time estimate of 4 hours 21 minutes.

Huntingdon, Quebec, is closer to the Gulf of Mexico, than to Ivujivak, Quebec.

Huntingdon College is a co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The college was founded in 1854 as the “Tuskegee Female College” by the Alabama State Legislature and Governor John A. Winston.

The name “Montgomery” is ultimately a Norman surname, meaning “Gomeric’s Hill.” “Gomeric” was a Germanic personal name. There have been notable families of Montgomeries in Normandy, who joined with William the Conqueror, and thence in Wales and Scotland. The current chief of Clan Montgomery is Archibald Montgomerie, 18th Earl of Eglinton in the peerage of Scotland.