tough trivia

Tough Trivia, 6/17/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Today’s Tough Trivia question is about music: As of this February’s induction ceremony, there are 338 inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The first group, inducted in 1986, included Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is not a once-in-a-lifetime event. Several members have been inducted more than once. How many of them can you name (and can you name the acts or as a soloist in which they were so honored)?

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Yesterday’s question was: At last count, there seems to be 118 known elements (some natural, some human-created; some extremely common, some so rare that they’ve never been seen, but only theorized). Of those elements, how many are liquids at room temperature (generally defined as 20 degrees C or 68 degrees F)? And how many of them are gases? The rest, of course, should be solids.

A: Eleven gases (in order of ascending boiling points): Helium (boils at 4.22 Kelvin, which is -269 C or -452 F), Hydrogen, Neon, Nitrogen, Fluorine, Argon, Oxygen, Krypton, Xenon, Radon, and Chlorine.

Three liquids (in order of ascending melting points): Mercury, Bromine, and Copernicium (which is highly reactive, with an assumed melting point of 283 plus or minus 11 K, which is somewhere between 0 and 20 degrees C, or 30 to 70 degrees F).

Four almosts: Cesium melts at 301.7 K (28.5 degrees C, or 83.3 degrees F). Gallium melts at 302.91 K (29.76 degrees C, or 85.58 degrees F). Rubidium melts at 312.45 K (39.30 degrees C, or 102.74 degrees F). Phosphorus melts at 317.3 K (44.15 degrees C, or 111.5 degrees F). There are seven elements about which we don’t yet know their melting or boiling points: Dubnium (number 105, symbol Db), Seaborgium (106, Sg), Bohrium (107, Bh), Hassium (108, Hs), Meitnerium (109, Mt), Darmstadtium (110, Ds), and Roentgenium (111, Rg).

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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?
And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/16/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Marking my return from five intense family-filled days in California, how about a simple Science question? At last count, there seems to be 118 known elements (some natural, some human-created; some extremely common, some so rare that they’ve never been seen, but only theorized). Of those elements, how many are liquids at room temperature (generally defined as 20 degrees C or 68 degrees F)? And how many of them are gases? The rest, of course, should be solids.

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Yesterday’s question was:

In the history of western classical music, there have been several styles or periods – and within them trends or schools – which build on and transform those that came before. If I list them for you in alphabetical order, can you arrange them in chronological order?

The periods: Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, Galant, Medieval, Modernism, Renaissance, and Romantic.

The trends or schools within those periods: Ars antiqua, Ars nova, Ars subtilior, Empfindsamkeit. Expressionism, Impressionism, Mannheim school, Minimalism, Neoclassicism, Postminimalism, Postmodernism, Serialism, and Sturm und Drang.

And the answer is:

Medieval (from c. 500 to 1400)

  • Ars antiqua (c. 1170 to 1310)
  • Ars nova (c. 1310 to 1377)
  • Ars subtilior (c. 1360 to 1420)

Renaissance (c. 1400 to 1600)

Baroque (c. 1580 to 1750)

Galant music (c. 1720 to 1770)

  • Empfindsamkeit (c. 1740s to 1780)

Classical (c. 1750 to 1820)

  • Mannheim school (c. 1740s to 1780)
  • Sturm und Drang (c. 1770s)

Romantic (c. 1800 to 1910)

Modernism (c. 1890 to 1975)

  • Impressionism (c. 1890 to 1930)
  • Expressionism (c. 1900 to 1930)
  • Neoclassicism (c. 1920 to 1950)
  • Serialism (c. 1920 to 1975)

Contemporary (starting c. 1950)

  • Minimalism (starting c. 1960)
  • Postmodernism (starting c. 1960)
  • Postminimalism (starting c. 1980)

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/15/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Today’s Tough Trivia question about the Arts:

In the history of western classical music, there have been several styles or periods – and within them trends or schools – which build on and transform those that came before. If I list them for you in alphabetical order, can you arrange them in chronological order?

The periods: Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, Galant, Medieval, Modernism, Renaissance, and Romantic.

The trends or schools within those periods: Ars antiqua, Ars nova, Ars subtilior, Empfindsamkeit. Expressionism, Impressionism, Mannheim school, Minimalism, Neoclassicism, Postminimalism, Postmodernism, Serialism, and Sturm und Drang.

***

Yesterday’s question:

When we measure human life spans, we talk about decades. When we measure the lives of countries, we talk about centuries. But when we talk about the history of the planet, we’re talking about geologic time. We divide geologic time into Eons, which are subdivided into eras, which are themselves subdivided into Periods. The cruel questioner in me wants to say “name the Periods,” but I have some mercy. I’m going to give you the Eons, Eras, and Periods. Your job is to put the Periods in the correct Eras (with bonus points for listing them in order).

The Phanerozoic Eon is broken into the Cenozoic (current), Mesozoic, and Paleozoic Eras. The Proterozoic Eon was broken into the Neoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, and Paleoproterozoic Eras). Before the Proterozoic was the Archean Eon, broken into the Neoarchean, Mesoarchean, Paleoarchean,and Eoarchean Eras, but we don’t divide that Eon into Periods, so you can ignore it.

Here are the Periods in alphabetical order (some of which we subdivide into Epochs): Calymmian, Cambrian, Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), Cretaceous, Cryogenian, Ectasian, Ediacaran, Jurassic, Neogene (Miocene and Pliocene), Devonian, Ordovician, Orosirian, Paleogene (Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene), Permian, Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene), Rhyacian, Siderian, Silurian, Statherian, Stenian, Tonian, and Triassic.

The answer, from most recent to earliest:

Phanerozoic Eon, Cenozoic Era: Quaternary (from the present to 2.588 million years ago [MYA])

Neogene (2.588 to 23.03 MYA)

Paleogene (23.03 to 66.0 MYA)

Mesozoic Era: Cretaceous (66.0 to 145.5 MYA)

Jurassic (145.0 to 201.3 MYA)

Triassic (201.3 to 252.17 MYA)

Paleozoic Era: Permian (252.17 to 298.9 MYA)

Carboniferous (298.9 to 358.9 MYA)

Devonian (358.9 to 419.2 MYA)

Silurian (419.2 to 443.4 MYA)

Ordovician (443.4 to 485.4 MYA)

Cambrian (485.4 to 541.0 MYA)

Proterozoic Eon, Neoproterozoic Era: Edicaran (from 541 to 635 MYA)

Cryogenian (635 to 850 MYA)

Tonian (850 to 1,000 MYA)

Mesoproterozoic: Stenian (1,000 to 1,200 MYA)

Ectasian (1,200 to 1,400 MYA)

Calymmian (1,400 to 1,600 MYA)Paleoproterozoic: Statherian (1,600 to 1,800 MYA)

Orosirian (1,800 to 2,050 MYA)

Rhyacian (2,050 to 2,300 MYA)

Siderian (2,300 to 2,500 MYA)

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/14/21

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Today’s Tough Trivia question is History, deep history:

When we measure human life spans, we talk about decades. When we measure the lives of countries, we talk about centuries. But when we talk about the history of the planet, we’re talking about geologic time. We divide geologic time into Eons, which are subdivided into eras, which are themselves subdivided into Periods. The cruel questioner in me wants to say “name the Periods,” but I have some mercy. I’m going to give you the Eons, Eras, and Periods. Your job is to put the Periods in the correct Eras (with bonus points for listing them in order).

The Phanerozoic Eon is broken into the Cenozoic (current), Mesozoic, and Paleozoic Eras. The Proterozoic Eon was broken into the Neoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, and Paleoproterozoic Eras). Before the Proterozoic was the Archean Eon, broken into the Neoarchean, Mesoarchean, Paleoarchean,and Eoarchean Eras, but we don’t divide that Eon into Periods, so you can ignore it.

Here are the Periods in alphabetical order (some of which we subdivide into Epochs): Calymmian, Cambrian, Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), Cretaceous, Cryogenian, Ectasian, Ediacaran, Jurassic, Neogene (Miocene and Pliocene), Devonian, Ordovician, Orosirian, Paleogene (Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene), Permian, Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene), Rhyacian, Siderian, Silurian, Statherian, Stenian, Tonian, and Triassic.

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Friday’s question was:

800px-Dennis_Tito
Dennis Tito in 2003.

There is one specific feature or quality that puts these people on the same list, these people and only these people. What is that thing which brings them together? Bonus points if you can also list them in the proper order of their placement on this list (rather than the simple alphabetical order in which they are presented here). Anousheh Ansari, Richard Garriott, Guy Laliberte, Gregory Olsen, Mark Shuttleworth, Charles Simonyi, and Dennis Tito.

The answer is:

They are all the people who have paid to be and then actually travelled into space:

Dennis Tito (April 28–May 6, 2001)

Mark Shuttleworth (April 25–May 5, 2002)

Gregory Olsen (October 1–10, 2002)

Anousheh Ansari (September 20–29, 2006)

Charles Simonyi (April 7–21, 2007)

Richard Garriott (October 12–24, 2008)

Charles Simonyi (second flight, March 26–April 8, 2009)

Guy Laliberte (September 30–October 11, 2009)

As of the date of this writing, there are at least 11 more space tourists scheduled to fly, starting in September.

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/11/21

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Today’s Grab Bag Tough Trivia question is:

There is one specific feature or quality that puts these people on the same list, these people and only these people. What is that thing which brings them together? Bonus points if you can also list them in the proper order of their placement on this list (rather than the simple alphabetical order in which they are presented here). Anousheh Ansari, Richard Garriott, Guy Laliberte, Gregory Olsen, Mark Shuttleworth, Charles Simonyi, and Dennis Tito.

***

1024px-Star_wars2.svgYesterday’s question was:

Popular movies make money. Very popular movies spawn sequels. Incredibly popular movies become franchises. How many movies have been made in each of the following franchises?

The answers are:

The Fast and the Furious: 9 (starting in 2001)

Harry Potter: 10 (starting in 2001 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)

Indiana Jones: 4 (starting with 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark)

James Bond: 25 Eon Productions films (starting with 1962’s Dr. No) plus two non-canon films (1967’s Casino Royale and 1983’s Never Say Never Again)

Jurassic Park: 5 (starting in 1993)

Middle-earth: 6 (starting with 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring)

Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 (starting in 2003)

Planet of the Apes: 9 (starting in 1968)

Rocky: 8 (starting in 1976)

Star Trek: 13 (starting with 1979’s Star Trek the Motion Picture)

Star Wars: 11 (starting with 1977’s Star Wars, later subtitled “A New Hope”)

X-Men: 12 (starting in 2000)

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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/10/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Jurassic_Park_(franchise_logo)Today’s Tough Trivia is an Entertainment question: Popular movies make money. Very popular movies spawn sequels. Incredibly popular movies become franchises. How many movies have been made in each of the following franchises?

The Fast and the Furious

Harry Potter

Indiana Jones

James Bond

Jurassic Park

Middle-earth

Pirates of the Caribbean

Planet of the Apes

Rocky

Star Trek

Star Wars

X-Men

***

Yesterday’s question was: A unit prefix is a specifier that gos on the front of a unit of measurement to indicate multiples (1, 10, 100, etc.) or fractions (1/10, 1/100, 1/1000) of the unit. Some of those common prefixes are kilo, milli, mega, nano, etc. So your job is to come up with as many of those prefixes as you can, and the numbers they refer to (put them in order; it’s easier that way).

The answers are:

From smallest to largest, they are:

yocto: 10^-24 (0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001)

zepto: 10^-21

atto: 10^-18

femto: 10^-15

pico: 10^-12

nano: 10^-9

micro: 10^-6

milli: 10^-3

centi: 10^-2

deci: 10^-1

deca or deka: 10^1

hecto: 10^2

kilo: 10^3

mega: 10^6

giga: 10^9

tera: 10^12

peta: 10^15

exa: 10^18

zetta: 10^21

yotta: 10^24

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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

 

Tough Trivia, 6/9/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Today’s Tough Trivia question category is Science: A unit prefix is a specifier that gos on the front of a unit of measurement to indicate multiples (1, 10, 100, etc.) or fractions (1/10, 1/100, 1/1000) of the unit. Some of those common prefixes are kilo, milli, mega, nano, etc. So your job is to come up with as many of those prefixes as you can, and the numbers they refer to (put them in order; it’s easier that way).

***

Grant_Wood_-_American_Gothic_-_Google_Art_ProjectYesterday’s question: There are some artists who have become household names. And there are some works of art whose titles are equally famous. Given this alphabetical list of oil paintings, can you name the proper artist for each? Bonus points if you can put them in order of their creation.

The answers:

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, aka Whistler’s Mother by James McNeill Whistler (1871)

The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt (1893)

American Gothic by Grant Wood (1930)

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali (1931)

Horse’s Skull with Pink Rose by George

Guernica by Pablo Picasso (1937)

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo (1940)

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper (1942)

The Old Checkered House in Cambridge Valley by Grandma Moses (1943)

Number 17A by Jackson Pollock (1948)

Le Grand Cirque by Marc Chagall (1956)

Le_Grand_Cirque_(1956)***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/8/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ 1 Comment

The_Persistence_of_MemoryToday’s Tough Trivia question is an Art question: There are some artists who have become household names. And there are some works of art whose titles are equally famous. Given this alphabetical list of oil paintings, can you name the proper artist for each? Bonus points if you can put them in order of their creation.

American Gothic

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1

The Child’s Bath

Le Grand Cirque

Guernica

Horses’s Skull with Pink Rose

Nighthawks

Number 17A

The Old Checkered House in Cambridge Valley

The Persistence of Memory

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

***

Yesterday’s question was: In Canada, it’s Canada Day. In the USA, it’s Independence Day. In France, it’s Bastille Day. Whatever the locals call it, it’s their national day of celebration. Can you list the dates these countries celebrate their national days? And the harder part: can you name the countries they’re celebrating their independence from? (They’re listed here in alphabetical order, not that that’s a hint as to which date is which.)

The answers are:

Brazil: September 7, 1822, Portugal

Canada: July 1, 1867, UK (actually, they celebrate the establishment of the Dominion of Canada)

France: July 14, 1789 (overthrow of the French monarchy)

Greece: March 25, 1821, Ottoman Empire

India: August 15, 1947, UK

Israel: Iyar 5, 1948, UK / British Mandate (since the date is set on the Hebrew calendar, it falls somewhere between April 15 and May 15 on the Gregorian calendar)

Liberia: July 26, 1847, USA

Mexico: September 16, 1810, Spain

Singapore: August 9, 1965, Malaysia

USA: July 4, 1776, UK

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/7/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Today’s Tough Trivia question category is History:

In Canada, it’s Canada Day. In the USA, it’s Independence Day. In France, it’s Bastille Day. Whatever the locals call it, it’s their national day of celebration. Can you list the dates these countries celebrate their national days? And the harder part: can you name the countries they’re celebrating their independence from? (They’re listed here in alphabetical order, not that that’s a hint as to which date is which.)

Brazil

Canada

France

Greece

India

Israel

Liberia

Mexico

Singapore

USA

***

Friday’s question: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) administers presidential libraries, but not all presidents have libraries in the system. Actually they only start with Herbert Hoover’s Presidential Library and Museum, which was dedicated in 1962 (though two of his successors’ libraries pre-date his). Can you name the locations of the NARA presidential libraries?

The answers:

IMG_3809
Ian Randal Strock at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, May 8, 2016.

Herbert Hoover: West Branch, Iowa

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Hyde Park, New York

Harry S Truman: Independence, Missouri

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Abilene, Kansas

John F. Kennedy: Boston, Massachusetts

Lyndon B. Johnson: Austin, Texas

Richard Nixon: Yorba Linda, California

Gerald Ford: Ann Arbor, Michigan (though his Presidential Museum is a separate site, in Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Jimmy Carter: Atlanta, Georgia

Ronald Reagan: Simi Valley, California

George H.W. Bush: College Station, Texas

Bill Clinton: Little Rock, Arkansas

George W. Bush: Dallas, Texas

Barack Obama: Chicago, Illinois (they expect to break ground for the building this year)

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/4/21

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

2019_Macy's_Parade_-_Santa's_sleigh_and_reindeerToday’s Grab Bag question: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) administers presidential libraries, but not all presidents have libraries in the system. Actually they only start with Herbert Hoover’s Presidential Library and Museum, which was dedicated in 1962 (though two of his successors’ libraries pre-date his). Can you name the locations of the NARA presidential libraries?

***

Walt_Disney_Snow_white_1937_trailer_screenshot_(13)
Walt Disney with models of the seven dwarfs in 1937.

Yesterday’s question: Monomynous people: so cool that they only need one name. Some of them, however, we only know because of the groups to which they belong. So today, your challenge is to name the members of these groups: Santa’s eight (or nine) reindeer, Snow White’s seven dwarfs, the five Spice Girls, and the three Powerpuff Girls. Bonus points if you can name them in alphabetical order.

The answers are:

Reindeer: Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder (or Donner), Prancer, Rudolph, and Vixen.

Dwarfs: Bashful, Doc, Dopey Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy.

1024px-Spice_Girls_2008_01_croppedSpice Girls: Baby, Ginger, Posh, Scary, and Sporty.

Powerpuff Girls: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

***

Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. 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?

Powerpuff_girls_charactersAnd if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Financial support in the form of tips is very much appreciated: paypal.me/ianrandalstrock