Today’s Tough Trivia question: Mint marks are small letters which denote which mint produced which coin, and today, in the United States, they appear near the date (though that was not always the case: some earlier coins had the mint marks on the opposite side of the coin from the date). Currently, there are four US mints producing and marking coins. Name them by their letter codes. Previously, there were five other US Mints marking coins. Can you name them?
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Yesterday’s question was: Ignoring the conspiracy theorists and science deniers, we know that twelve people have so far walked on Earth’s Moon. How many of them can you name? (Bonus: which of the Apollo missions did not land on the Moon?)
The answer is:
Apollo 11, launched July 16 and returned July 24, 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were on the Moon for 21 hours, 36 minutes, from July 20 to 21, while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 12, launched November 14 returned November 24, 1969. Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean spent almost 32 hours on the Moon, from November 19 to 20, while Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 14, launched January 31 and returned February 9, 1971. Commander Alan Shepard and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell spent 33 hours on the Moon, from February 5 to 6, while Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 15, launched July 26 and returned August 7, 1971. On the first mission to use the lunar rover, Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin spent 67 hours on the Moon, from July 30 to August 2, while Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 16, launched April 16 and returned April 27, 1972. Commander John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke spent 71 hours on the Moon, from April 21 to 24, while Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 17, launched December 7 and returned December 19, 1972. Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt spent 75 hours on the Moon, from December 11 to 14, while Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 13 did not reach the Moon. Launched April 11, 1970, an explosion in one of the oxygen tanks on April 13 severely damaged the spacecraft and prevented it from landing on the Moon. Commander James Lovell, Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, and Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert returned safely on April 17, 1970.
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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog. Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. At some point, I’ll offer a prize for whoever has the most correct answers, and another for whoever participates most often (I’ll take into account people coming in after the start: regular participation starting later is just as good as regular participation starting earlier). There may also be a prize for the funniest or most amusing wrong answer. Simply comment on this post with your answer. I’ll approve the comments after the next question is posted. Sure, you can probably find the answers by searching the web, but what’s the fun in that?
Financial support in the form of tips is very much appreciated: paypal.me/ianrandalstrock
2. Victoria, Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, who reigned from June 20, 1837, to January 22, 1901 (63 years, 216 days). Born in June 1819, her father, Prince Edward, was the fourth son of the reigning King, George III. She was fifth in the line of succession at her birth (after George’s four oldest sons). Her father died seven months after her birth, and the king died a week later, putting her third in the succession (she was now the niece of King George IV). In 1830, George IV died, and the throne passed to his brother, William IV, with Victoria next in line. Upon William’s death, Victoria became queen, a month after her eighteenth birthday.
3. George III, Victoria’s grandfather, who reigned from October 25, 1760, to January 29, 1820 (59 years, 96 days). He was 22 years old when his grandfather, George II, died. His father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751.
4. James VI of Scotland, also known as James Charles Stuart, and later as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns. He took the Scottish throne on July 24, 1567—barely a year after his birth—and died on March 27, 1625 (57 years, 246 days). The kingdoms of Scotland and England were united under James on March 24, 1603.
5. Henry III, also known as Henry of Winchester, was born in Winchester Castle on October 1, 1207, the eldest son of King John. His father died October 28, 1216, making the nine-year-old Henry King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine. He held the throne until his death on November 16, 1272 (56 years, 19 days).
Button Gwinnett (1735–May 19, 1777) was born in England, represented Georgia in the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence (top signature in the left-most column), and died in duel. Gwinnett was fairly obscure prior to the signing of the Declaration, and died soon thereafter, so there are only 51 known examples of his signature, making it the rarest and most sought-after (only ten of those signatures are in private hands). The rarity of his signature has become a plot point in a lot of fiction, including the 1932 film Washington Merry Go Round, the 1958 film The Last Hurrah, a 1971 episode of Mannix, a 2018 episode of Elementary, and a 1953 science fiction story called “Button, Button” by Isaac Asimov.
And while this is the age of the internet, and you can probably do a web search and find the right answers to each question, where’s the fun in that? I can’t make you not look it up, but don’t.
Ian Randal Strock 