Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, and welcome to another once-in-a-blue-moon Trivia Road quiz, this one vaguely inspired by today's holiday. Try it on for size when the football game gets boring...

(Free trivia: the painting pictured is Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell)

TURKEY
1. Mentioned in the Bible, what peak is Turkey's highest point?
2. Turkey is bordered by which three seas?
3. Which Turkish city was known as Byzantium until the 4th century A.D.?
4. The Turkish city of Bursa was the original capital city of what empire?
5. Who are these people?

DRESSING
1. What part of men's formal wear gets its name from the Hindi word for waistband?
2. What style of hat gets its name from an 1882 play by Victorien Sardou?
3. According to legend, what clothing item plunged in popularity thanks to a Clark Gable scene in 1934's It Happened One Night?
4. White wedding dresses didn't become popular until who wore one for her wedding in 1840?
5. Which fashion designer has trademarked the shade of red used on the soles of his highly sought-after high-heel shoes?

PI
1. What day is celebrated as Pi Day?
2. What is pi's position in the Greek alphabet? (alpha is first, beta is second...)
3. What shape's volume is calculated with the formula 4/3 π r³?
4. Who is credited with calculating the first accurate (3.14) value of pi?
5. Does the sequence 123456 occur anywhere in the first million decimal places of pi?

FOOTBALL

1. What do the 7th, 9th and 10th QBs on the NFL's all-time-passing yardage list have in common?

2. What many-times injured QB is the oldest Heisman Trophy winner currently on an NFL roster?

3. What team has had nine (the most) different head coaches, including Hue Jackson, since the Patriots hired Bill Belichick in 2000?

4. What's the only NFL team that hasn't qualified for the playoffs yet this century?

5. What's the only company with naming rights to more than one NFL stadium?

ALSO ON THE THANKSGIVING TABLE

1. What dance move mentioned in "Do You Love Me?" by the Contours was made famous by James Brown?

2. What Irish band hit #1 in 1994 with the protest song "Zombie"?

3. Green Giant recently set a world record by creating a 637-pound version of what Thanksgiving standard?

4. First published 100 years ago, the recipe for what dish was influenced by the Cracker Jack company?

5. What piece of a table setting is also known as a sauciere?

TURKEY
1. Mount Ararat
2. Aegean, Black and Mediterranean
3. Istanbul. Byzantium became Constantinople around 330 AD. Constantinople in turn became Istanbul in the 15th century.
4. Ottoman
5. If the link isn't broken, they're whirling dervishes

DRESSING
1. cummerbund
2. fedora. In the title role of Princess Fedora in the play Fedora, actress Sarah Bernhardt wore a hat that became a popular women's style around 1882. Prince Edward made the fedora popular with men in the 1920's.
3. men's undershirts. Gable took off his shirt in one scene, revealing -gasp- nothing underneath! According to legend, sales of undershirts plunged afterward; Snopes, however, says this has actually never been proven
4. Queen Victoria
5. Christian Louboutin

PI
1. March 14th
2. Pi is the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet
3. a sphere
4. Archimedes
5. No (see University of Exeter webpage)

FOOTBALL
1. Those QBs, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, were all selected in the first round of the 2004 draft.
2. I wrote this to bait St. Louis people into answering Sam Bradford, but the answer is 2002 Heisman winner Carson Palmer of the Cardinals
3. I would have guessed Cleveland even without the Hue Jackson misdirect, but the answer is the Oakland Raiders. (Jackson was head coach there in 2007)
4. The Buffalo Bills, whose last playoff appearance was in 1999, where they succumbed to the Titans' "Music City Miracle"
5. Mercedes-Benz (Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)

ALSO ON THE THANKSGIVING TABLE
1. mashed potato
2. Cranberries
3. green bean casserole
4. Sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping. The Cracker Jack company also made marshmallows at the time. The recipe was a way to boost marshmallow sales.
5. gravy boat

Guamming up the works

This quiz was meant for the start of soccer season a couple of weeks ago, hence all the soccer-related questions. Guam isn't a soccer power, but made the news for the first time in many years this month when North Korea, well, threatened to blow it up. What did the people of Guam ever do to Kim Jong-Un? People of Guam? Isn't there a shorter way to say that? Keep quizzing and find out...

GUAM

1. The United States gained control of Guam during what conflict?

2. Who was the first European explorer to visit Guam?

3. Formerly known as Agana, what is the capitol city of Guam:

Agat, Barrigada, Dedeno, Hagatna?

4. The back of the 2009 Guam commemorative quarter shows a flying proa. What is that?

5. Which is the proper term (demonym) used to describe a person from Guam:

Guamian, Guamese, Guamanian, Guamesian?

SOCCER

1. What Brazilian star transferred from Barcelona to Paris-St. Germain before this season for an all-time record 222 million Euros ($265 million)?

2. Which La Liga club is currently the defending UEFA Champions League champion?

3. Which now-Everton player is both the Premier League's active career leading scorer and the England national team's all-time leading scorer?

4. What current MLS player was the last player other than Cristiano Ronaldo (the current holder) or Lionel Messi to win the Ballon D'Or honor as the world's best soccer player?

5. Which country won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July?

DIRECTIONAL ANSWERS

Each answer will contain one or more points of the compass

1. Who was born June 15, 2013, to Kanye and Kim Kardashian West?

2. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have both spoken at what annual Austin, TX music/film/technology gathering?

3. The Perfect Storm tells of the 1991 sinking of the Andrea Gail due to what weather phenomenon?

4. Which Steinbeck title comes from the fourth chapter of Genesis?

5. Alice Braga stars in what USA Network narco-thriller series that first aired in 2016?

ALSO A SOCCER TEAM

Each answer is or includes the name of a Premier League team but you don't have to know any soccer to get the answers. (Not that it hurts)

1. The Cavern Club is a favorite site for music fans visiting what city on the Mersey River?

2. What verb can mean to shake up the coals of a fire?

3. Who did investment banker Mark Mezvinsky marry in December 2010?

4. What port did the Titanic depart on its only voyage?

5. What building was originally built in Hyde Park to host the Great Exhibition of 1851?

GUAM
1. the Spanish-American War
2. Ferdinand Magellan
3. Hagatna (you can kind of see Agana hiding in the new name)
4. a sailboat
5. Guamanian
SOCCER
1. Neymar
2. Real Madrid
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Kaka'
5. USA
DIRECTIONAL ANSWERS
1. North West
2. South By Southwest
3. a nor'easter
4. East of Eden
5. Queen of the South
ALSO A SOCCER TEAM
1. Liverpool
2. Stoke
3. Chelsea Clinton
4. Southampton
5. Crystal Palace

Totality awesome!

Since I've been writing quizzes about as often as there's a major solar eclipse in the United States, I thought my first quiz in a blue moon should be themed around the eclipse coming to America next Monday. I hope that'll be worth your while even if this quiz isn't:

TOTALITY CITY
questions involving cities in the path of totality of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse

(the number after each indicates how long it will experience total solar eclipse)

1. What two state capitols named for Presidents are in the path of totality?

2. Fairview, Kentucky (2:40) is the birth place of what American president named after another president?

3. Which former terminal of the Pony Express is in the path of totality?

4. The campuses of which current NCAA (Division I) champions in football and basketball are in the path of totality?

5. Chester, Illinois (2:40) is the birthplace of cartoonist Elzie Segar. What Segar character debuted in the funny pages in 1929 with the line, “Ja think I'm a cowboy?”

6. What author had a home in Ketchum, Idaho (1:04) from 1939 until his self-inflicted death there in 1961?

7. Hermitage, Tennessee (2:17) and Hillsboro, Missouri (2:39) are named after the homes of which two Presidents?

8. What Missouri city is named for the patron saint of Paris?

9. What Tennessee city is named for America's longest-serving Treasury Secretary?

10. What lead actress of the Alfred Hitchock film Lifeboat got her name from a Georgia city in the path of totality?

ECLIPSES

1. Which automaker produced a 2-door compact car called the Eclipse from 1989 – 2011?

2. What Welsh singer hit #1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983?

3. Which of the following is not the name of a visual effect of a solar eclipse?

a) shadow bands

b) umbrella effect

c) Baily's beads

d) diamond ring

4. In what novel does main character Hank Morgan avoid being burned at the stake by predicting a solar eclipse?

5. The next total solar eclipse in North America will occur in the same year Paris is scheduled to next host the Summer Olympics. What year will that be?

“SUN” SONGS

Name the song (or songs), given the artist, year and that the word or syllable “sun” is in the title

1. Soundgarden, 1994

2. Katrina and the Waves, 1985

3. Donovan, 1966

4. Bobby Hebb, 1976

5. The Beatles, 1964, 1966, 1969

“MOON” TITLES

Name the title of the work, given the year, author or lead actor, and that “moon” is somewhere in the title

1. novel, Stephenie Meyer, 2006

2. movie, Roger Moore, 1979

3. movie, Nicolas Cage, 1992

4. album, Ozzy Osborne, 1984

5. movie, Jim Carrey, 1999

Should I ever make it back over here to write a quiz again, it's likeliest to be in this format, 20-25 questions in 4-5 different categories.

TOTALITY CITY 1. Lincoln, NE (1:25) and Jefferson City, MO (2:29)
2. Jefferson Davis
3. St. Joseph, MO (2:38)
4. Clemson (2:37, football) and South Carolina (2:30, women's basketball). Sorry, Tar Heels; most of North Carolina is not in the path.
5. Popeye
6. Ernest Hemingway
7. Andrew Jackson for Hermitage is the easier one; Hillsboro is supposedly the English translation of the Italian for "little mount", or Monticello, so Thomas Jefferson is the other answer
8. Ste. Genevieve (2:40)
9. Gallatin (2:40). Albert Gallatin was Treasury Secretary for 14 years under three Presidents, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.
10. Tallulah Bankhead, whose grandmother Tallulah was named for Tallulah Falls, GA (2:21)
ECLIPSES 1. Mitsubishi
2. Bonnie Tyler
3. b) umbrella effect
4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
5. 2024
"SUN" SONGS 1. Black Hole Sun
2. Walking On Sunshine
3. Sunshine Superman
4. Sunny
5. I'll Follow The Sun, Good Day Sunshine, Here Comes The Sun
"MOON" TITLES 1. New Moon
2. Moonraker
3. Honeymoon in Vegas
4. Bark at the Moon
5. Man on the Moon

Happy Prime New Year!

2017 should be a prime year for trivia or whatever else you're into in life, because 2017 is a prime number. 2011 was the last year that was a prime number, and we won't have one again until 2027, so savor this prime year like it's a delicious prime rib. Or, if you're vegan, binge-watch Transformers and savor some Optimus Prime.

On with the quiz. Name the year these events happened. In each case, the year is also a prime number...

1. George Washington inaugurated as the first U.S. President

2. The original King Kong movie is released

3. Jamestown colony founded

4. Pan-American exposition opens in Buffalo, New York

5. South Park debuts on American TV

6. An earthquake and tsunami lead to a nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan

7. Partial core meltdown occurs at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania

8. The Simpsons make their first appearance on American TV

9. NAFTA signed into law

10. Eiffel Tower opened to the public

11. John Elway wins Super Bowl MVP, retires

12. The Human Genome Project is completed

13. George Steinbrenner buys the New York Yankees (from CBS!) (for $10 million!)

14. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg tried for espionage and sentenced to death

15. "The Star-Spangled Banner" becomes the national anthem of the United States

16. The deadliest fire in U.S. history kills at least 1,500 in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin, the same day as the Great Chicago Fire

17. The first NASCAR race is run, the first Emmy Awards are awarded, the first round-the-world flight is completed and the first monkey is launched into space

18. Levi Strauss and Co. begin manufacturing Levi's jeans, the first Preakness Stakes is run,  the Heineken Brewery, and, ironically, the Women's Christian Temperance Union are both founded

19. The first Wimbledon tournament is held, the first Westminster Kennel Club show is held, and a President who won the Electoral College but not the popular vote is inaugurated

Sure, I could go for 20, but 19 is a prime number, so that's a prime excuse for me to close this one out. Watch for trivia nuggets on Twitter (@TriviaRoad) and various quizzes and articles here at the blog.

1. 1789
2. 1933
3. 1607
4. 1901 (McKinley was assassinated there)
5. 1997
6. 2011
7. 1979. Yipes, prime number years seem very ripe for nuclear accidents!
8. 1987 (On The Tracey Ullman Show)
9. 1993
10. 1889
11. 1999
12. 2003
13. 1973
14. 1951
15. 1931
16. 1871
17. 1949
18. 1873
19. 1877 (Rutherford B. Hayes)