Five Minute Trivia

Which mountain is the biggest on Earth? The answer is surprisingly a little complicated and it depends on what you mean by biggest. Join us this week as we go into the sky, the oceans, and to the center of the planet to find out. WARNING: There may be some math.

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Only six football teams have been to more Superbowls than Up with People. The relentlessly upbeat performing group starred in five Superbowl halftime shows as well as the Indy 500, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and even a presidential inauguration. Who were they, why were they everywhere, and what happened to them? 

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Sara Lee, Mr. Clean, and Mrs. Butterworth are not real people, but Ignacio Anaya, John Montagu, and Charles Boycott were. Who were they? Only the namesakes of two of the greatest foods ever invented and an oft-used kind of collective protest. On today's show, we're exploring the inspiration for nachos, sandwiches, and boycotts.

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The emu is a national symbol of Australia. The large, flightless bird appears on Australia's coat of arms and its fifty-cent piece. So why did Australia declare war against emus in 1932? And how did the emus defeat them? On this week's show, we're talking about the Great Emu War of 1932.

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Quarks are the fundamental unit of matter and make up literally everything, including you, me, and the period at the end of this sentence. How did such an important idea get such a strange name? And why is Strange literally the name of a quark? We're talking about all that on this week's show.

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The Feast of the Epiphany marks the twelfth and final day of Christmas, when the three wise men brought gifts for the baby Jesus. To celebrate this religious occasion, Shakespeare wrote a wild comedy with merriment, cross-dressing, and a love triangle so convoluted it became a love pentagon. It was one of his most popular plays ever. Join us this week as we tackle Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

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Happy New Year to everyone who celebrates the arrival of a new year on January 1. That leaves out China, most of the Middle East, Lesotho, anyone who goes to school, and Mars. So how did we decide to make January 1 the date we change the calendar and resolve to change ourselves? We're talking all about it on this week's show.

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Everyone has heard the poem that starts off with, "'Twas the night before Christmas," but hardly anyone knows the name of the poem or the man who wrote it. It's responsible for some of the most iconic images of Christmas--stockings, Santa Claus, reindeer, gifts delivered via chimney--but it was first published anonymously in a local newspaper. On this week's' show, we're talking about A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore

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Gerardus Mercator had a dream. He wanted to make a map of the world that people could actually use to get from one place to another. He was so successful that we're still using it 500 years later. It's even on our smartphones. But his projection was not without controversy. While it may have made the world easier to navigate, it came at the cost of making the world look ridiculous. Have a listen. And also visit the show notes at www.5minutetrivia.com to see exactly what we're talking about.

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Edsel Ford was the only son of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company. He became president of Ford but sadly died of cancer in 1943. To honor his memory, Ford Motor Company launched a new car division 17 years after his death and unveiled it in a live Sunday night event featuring Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and others. Did the Ford Edsel do justice to Edsel Ford's memory? Listener, it did not. Hear all about it on this week's show.

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