What is your favorite trivia question (and answer)?

[Rodgers01]

@Robot_Arm

What was the name of the ski jumper who for years symbolized “the agony of defeat” on the opening of ABC’s Wide World of Sports?

Vinko Bogataj

Curse you, this is my favorite trivia question! Not a trivia question, but a related interesting tidbit: Sojourner Truth’s native language was also Dutch.

Here’s a trivia question/factoid:

Q: Based on land area, which country is bigger, Canada or the United States?

A: The United States. Canada is larger in total area, including inland waters, but the US has more land. Good question if you ever want to get under a Canadian’s skin.

[etv78]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton are tied at 324.

Nice! TY RNATB

[Robot_Arm]

@Rodgers01

Curse you, this is my favorite trivia question!

I’ve been thinking of finding a new favorite. As the years pass, fewer people even remember Wide World of Sports and the agony of defeat guy.

This will not be my new favorite, but I just discovered it.

The 1982 Cal/Stanford football game ended with the famous play in which a California player ran the ball into the end zone filled with members of the Stanford band. Who was the kicker who started the play?Mark Harmon.But not that Mark Harmon.

[Mahaloth]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

That’s only true if you specify the first American conscripts.

Sorry, I thought I had.

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

Can you name the five world capitals that share the exact name* as the country in which they are located?

*For example, Mexico City does not count for Mexico

• Djibouti
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Singapore
• Vatican City

[california_jobcase]

A couple of favorite automotive trivia questions:

Who owned a car company named after himself who sold out to another company, then started a new car company using his initials?

Ransom E. Olds (Oldsmobile and REO)

Who owned an auto part company named after himself, left it, and had to change the name of his new company to his initials due to a lawsuit?

Albert Champion (Champion and A.C. spark plugs)

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@etv78

Nice! TY RNATB

I’m not gonna lie: I had to look up the second guy. I knew the first guy because the reverse form of the question came up in bar trivia a few weeks ago.

[akennett]

@iamthewalrus_3

Here’s the problem: “east” has two definitions. One is the directional one. It’s the direction the Earth rotates in and you can keep going east as long as you want. The other is the coordinate one. Half the globe is east and half is west and there is an absolute limit to the amount of east you can go. Once you hit the 180 meridian, you’re done. If you keep going the way you were going, you’ve somehow gone to the far West.

Both of those definitions are useful for different things. I claim that the continuous one is the one that best maps to reality. The Earth is continuous. It’s not flat, and it doesn’t have edges. When you want to find the easternmost bit of a chunk of land, you start in the middle and travel in the direction of east until you run out of land. That’s the easternmost point. And it’s somewhere in Maine.

Would someone on Semisopochnoi Island claim that they were to the east of the Alaskan mainland? Clearly they would not. Would they claim that Alaska is to the east of Canada? Clearly they would not.

Of course, it’s fine to want to use the other definition. But unless you specify which definition you’re using, it’s just a trick question where not enough information is given to answer it. I withdraw my claim that your answer is incorrect. It’s one of two equally valid answers to an ambiguous question. But I think that the only reason the question is hard is that it’s ambiguous.

Note that Wikipedia acknowledges that there are two “Easternmost Points”, one by longitude, and the other by direction of travel.

Ah, but it isn’t ambiguous at all.

As you freely admit, your first definition would allow one to continue east indefinitely. That fact automatically means that there is no “easternmost point” as one can always loop around again and pick another spot. That is, every point is infinitely east of any other.

Only the second definition, the one mapped to the grid lines with a definite division between east and west allows for an easternmost (or a westernmost) designation.

[pulykamell]

@akennett

Ah, but it isn’t ambiguous at all.

As you freely admit, your first definition would allow one to continue east indefinitely. That fact automatically means that there is no “easternmost point” as one can always loop around again and pick another spot. That is, every point is infinitely east of any other.

Well, yes, but the question is not “what is the easternmost point in the world?” which does loop around but, “what state is easternmost in the US”, which does not loop around, so doesn’t suffer from this problem.

[AaronX]

How much blood is normally taken during a blood donation?

In China, it’s 200 ml

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

In the US, it’s one pint, or 450 ml. That may vary by blood bank though.

[Annie-Xmas]

How many Tonys has composer Stephen Schwartz won?

NONE

[KneadToKnow]

[del]Q: If you listen to all of Prince’s albums in chronological order, what will be the first instrument you hear played by someone other than Prince?

A: The guitar for the solo on “Little Red Corvette” from 1999. It’s Dez Dickerson.

Hmm. Apparently scholarship has marched on. Wikipedia says you’ll only make it to side 2 of For You.

[TriPolar]

@KneadToKnow

[del]Q: If you listen to all of Prince’s albums in chronological order, what will be the first instrument you hear played by someone other than Prince?[/del]

Q: If you listen to all of Prince’s albums in chronological order…

where would would want to be institutionalized afterwards?

[astorian]

@etv78

Who is it if you stipulate Cy Young Award era?

I immediately thought of Don Sutton, and I was half right.

There was another guy just 6 wins back, at 318, who never won a Cy Young award: Phil “Knucksie” Niekro.

[Tim_R.Mortiss]

Who was conceived during the Immaculate Conception?

Mary

I’ve won a lot of bar bets with this one.

[Prof.Pepperwinkle]

@Tim_R.Mortiss

Who was conceived during the Immaculate Conception?

Mary

I’ve won a lot of bar bets with this one.

Back in the days of Win Ben Stein’s Money, Ben missed this one too.

[iamthewalrus_3]

@akennett

As you freely admit, your first definition would allow one to continue east indefinitely. That fact automatically means that there is no “easternmost point” as one can always loop around again and pick another spot. That is, every point is infinitely east of any other.

The easternmost point of a chunk of land, by the directional definition of east, is the last point you get to, traveling east, when you start at the geographic center of the land.

This isn’t a trick; it’s the common sense definition that most people use when they talk about east and west. A continuous ring of land around the earth wouldn’t have an easternmost point. The United States does.

[Mr.Greenjeans]

@JohnT

What US city had, in the same year, professional teams reach the Super Bowl, World Series, NHL Finals and NBA Finals… and what year?

Philadelphia, 1980

Small nitpik:

[spoiler]The Eagles went to the Super Bowl in January 1981.

And just to add (because it says so much about being a fan in Philadelphia): All 4 teams went to their championships, but only the Phillies came home with a trophy. Still, it was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful year in Philly sports.[/spoiler]

[Big_Norse]

Who was the only US President that never married?

James Buchanan