What is your favorite trivia question?

[Bricker]

@Scarlett67

Continuing in this vein: What series of short stories included this information as part of the plot? (I suspect Bricker may already know.)

I do, so I’ll defer…

[MadTheSwine]

@T_SQUARE

I’m trying to figure this one out. Thismap shows that a small part of Idaho was in with the Louisina Purchase, making it part French. Also, it shows Spain/Mexico was into a small part of Oregon, although I have seen maps that show Mexico stopping at Oregon’s southern border.

I’m still going with Wahington, unless the Russian’s claimed part of it at one time with Alaska or something.

I was wrong about Hawaii being part of Britian, I just assumed it was since the Union Jack is part of the state flag. Hawaii was, however, a real country recognized by other nations before it joined the United States.

Unless I’m missing something, I don’t see why the original question precluded Texas, as it’s been part of 3 other countries (Spain, France, Mexico) and the CSA.

I have read it somewheres. Don’t remember where.

It mighta been in one of the Straight Dope books,Trivial Pursuit, or mebbe in Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.(which has problems with facts at times )

[Intravenus_De_Milo]

@Wee Bairn

What country has a flag that is not a rectangle? (Should be easy for anyone who had an old World Almanac and Book of Facts as a kid)

Nepal, I think. It’s the one that looks like two triangles stacked on top of one another.

[Cicero]

@Don't Call Me Shirley

Name three major airports that are named after someone who died in a plane crash.

Kingsford-Smith International Airport in Sydney.

[Brynda]

Who’s the only president born on July 4th?

[Askance]

@Intravenus De Milo

The only one I can think of would be Hawai’i (assuming that the former Kingdom of Hawai’i would constitute an “Amerind nation”).

Hawaii was and is under a foreign flag, the Union Jack. And was effectively under the sovereignty of miscellaneous coalitions of European merchants in the 19th century.

However it does have a number of other great trivia entries; it is the only state of the entire United States that:

* is not geographically located in North America
* is completely surrounded by water
* has a royal palace
* does not have a straight line in its state boundary
* continuously grows in area 

And it has has more endangered species per square mile and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than anywhere else on Earth.

[Leaper]

@Bricker

You’re right that this is Frederic’s claim: he sings to Mabel: “In 1940 I of age will be.”

But he’s wrong, because 1900 is not a leap year.

The action in the show must take place either March 1, 1873, or March 1, 1877. Right?

But the Major-General sings that he knows all the airs from that “infernal nonsense” Pinafore (another G&S production, incidentally). HMS Pinafore officially opened at the Opera Comique in London on May 25 1878, and so we might imagine that the Major-General privileged to move in high society, somehow heard an advance version in March 1877. But imagining that he knew the music to Pinafore in 1873 is a stretch.

Thank you, Henry. But I’d like to have my coffee now.

ETA: Beaten in noticing this, dammit.

[Askance]

@T_SQUARE

Washington?

It was claimed by both Spain and the UK.

[Askance]

@MadTheSwine

I think it’s Idaho.

yep, that’s it!

[Kizarvexius]

@Bricker

You’re right that this is Frederic’s claim: he sings to Mabel: “In 1940 I of age will be.”

But he’s wrong, because 1900 is not a leap year.

That is precisely why I phrased the question as I did.

@Bricker

The action in the show must take place either March 1, 1873, or March 1, 1877. Right?

But the Major-General sings that he knows all the airs from that “infernal nonsense” Pinafore (another G&S production, incidentally). HMS Pinafore officially opened at the Opera Comique in London on May 25 1878, and so we might imagine that the Major-General privileged to move in high society, somehow heard an advance version in March 1877. But imagining that he knew the music to Pinafore in 1873 is a stretch.

I can never quite decide whether W.S. Gilbert would be delighted or disgusted to learn that people would be poring over his libretti 130 years after the fact and arguing about the finer points of minutiae. Would he take such devotion as a high compliments to his skills as a wordsmith and spinner of high fancy? Or would he gripe about the lack of attention paid to his more serious dramatic works and dispatch the loyal Savoyards with a Shatner-esque “get a life”?

[Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley]

@Cicero

Kingsford-Smith International Airport in Sydney.

Nicely done.

Saint-Exupéry International Airport in France also qualifies.

[ColonelDax]

Not an entertainment or geography question, but this is one of my favorites: Name the three defendants who were acquitted at the Nuremburg war-crimes trials.

[SPOILER]- Hans Fritzsche, head of the Propaganda Ministry’s news department. (Tried essentially as a substitute for Josef Goebbels, who, being dead, was unavailable.)

• Franz von Papen, who was vice chancellor, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey from 1933 to 1945. (Tried essentially as a substitute for Adolf Hitler, who, being dead, was unavailable.)
• Hjalmar Schacht, former Reichsbank president and economics minister. (Or Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, to use his excellent full name.)[/SPOILER]

[MadTheSwine]

Who were the three people that have never been in Cliff Clavin’s kitchen?

No Googling!

• I want a prize for coming up with a trivia question about a trivia question!

[The_Tof]

It’s not geography trivia- which seems to have taken over. But I’ll throw this out there, since its something I know that nobody else seems to.

What is the last name of Nintendo’s princess saving duo Mario & Luigi?

[Ximenean]

I’ve done this one before, but what is the smallest city in England?

[fusoya]

Their last name is

Mario!

What is the smallest county by LAND SIZE in the United States? (hint - it’s somewhere in my profile)

okay, that one was easy, except for people who don’t realize that NYC has 5 counties.

What is the name of the only road in this county that actually has the extension “Rd.” in it?

What is the only neighborhood in this county that is on the mainland of North America?

now how about some NYC subway trivia, which is my specialty:

What is the only station in the NYC subway system which is outdoors in one direction, and indoors in the other?

What are the two closest subway stations by track distance?

Everybody know the two farthest stations in the city (JFK Airport and Broad Channel), but what are the two farthest stations which aren’t separated by water?

Name the three subway stations that are not open 24/7.

Which two active stations can not fit an entire train onto its platform?

Which subway line has the most stops during day service, and during night service (two answers)?

What is the longest subway ride that you can take, while being allowed one multiplex-station transfer to a different line going in the same direction?

There aren’t ANY subway routes that have multiplex transfers to EVERY other line, but which line connects to the most different lines at least once?

What is the rarest station to next station route you can ride, which is still operated every weekday?

[HeyHomie]

By population, what is the largest city in the Caribbean? (Either of two answers are acceptable)

[spoiler]Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic or Havana, Cuba.

Different sources will give slightly higher (like, within a few thousand) populations for one or the other. Due to inconsistent census data and the Cuban government’s tendency to [del]lie[/del] not tell the complete story, it’s impossible to tell for certain which is larger.[/spoiler]

[ElvisL1ves]

@Don't Call Me Shirley

Nicely done.

Saint-Exupéry International Airport in France also qualifies.

Bradley in Hartford, too. (Butch O’Hare and Saint-Ex were shot down, not crashed in the usual sense).
Wasn’t Abuja, Nigeria built as the capital, too?

[chowder]

Dunno if this has been posted and I’m to lazy to look.

Who was the first man to place 2 feet on the summit of Mt. Everest

It was Andrew Waugh who measured Everest on May 29th 1953 and found it to be EXACTLY 29,000. He thought that nobody would believe this exact height so tacked 2 feet on for sceptics.

[iwakura43]

@Usram

I’ve done this one before, but what is the smallest city in England?

I’m going to guess the City of London (aka the Square Mile)