Trivia People

A portrait of Guy Fawkes.

Today marks the 410th anniversary of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, an assassination attempt against King James I of England.

Here are a few things you may not have known about what has come to be celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night.

A group of English Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords while the King was participating in the State Opening of Parliament. The plotters hoped that the assassination would trigger an uprising in the English Midlands that would have seen James’ Catholic daughter Elizabeth installed as queen.

The plot was discovered following an anonymous letter that was sent to William Parker, the Baron Monteagle, warning him not to attend the Opening of Parliament to avoid perishing in the explosion.

One of the plotters, Guy Fawkes was discovered during a search of the basement under Parliament. He was guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder and was arrested. During interrogation, Fawkes was tortured, possibly on the rack, until he gave his true identity and named his co-conspirators.

On January 31, 1606, Fawkes and three others were scheduled to be drawn, hanged and quartered as punishment for the plot. Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows and died of a broken neck. The three others were executed without incident. Their bodies were then quartered and sent to the four corners of the kingdom as a warning to would-be traitors.

On the night of Fawkes’ arrest, the people of London were encouraged to celebrate the failure of the plot by lighting bonfires. Fireworks were added to the celebration in the 1650s, and later people began burning effigies, usually of Fawkes.

Our question, A mask of Guy Fawkes is worn by the main character in what comic book series and subsequent movie?

Today is unofficially National Doughnut Day, National Love Your Red Hair Day and National Men Make Dinner Day. It’s the birthday of actor/musician Roy Rogers, actress Vivien Leigh and musician Art Garfunkel.

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The Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known as the Spruce Goose, during its test flight on Nov. 2, 1947, off of Long Beach, Calif. (Photo by FAA via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1947, the Hughes H-4 Hercules made its first and only flight.

Here are some things you may not have known about the airplane known as the Spruce Goose.

Henry J. Kaiser and Howard Hughes teamed up in 1942 to build the largest aircraft of its time. Kaiser, a shipbuilder, wanted a way to carry large loads across the Atlantic while avoiding German submarines. Kaiser brought his flying-boat idea to Hughes, who had the aeronautical background that Kaiser did not.

Kaiser eventually grew tired of Hughes’ methodical pace and pursuit of perfection and left the project. Wartime restrictions meant materials such as aluminum could not be used for the project. So, Hughes decided to use wood instead. While the plane became known as the Spruce Goose, it is actually made mostly of birch.

The Spruce Goose was designed to carry 750 fully equipped troops or two 30-ton M4 Sherman tanks. Its wingspan of nearly 321 feet remains the longest ever built. The construction was finally completed in 1947, well after the end of the war.

On Nov. 2, 1947, with Hughes at the controls, the Spruce Goose lifted off, and flew for about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. The plane splashed down safely and was never flown again. A crew of 300 workers kept the plane in flying condition until 1962, when the staff was reduced to 50 workers. The maintenance was stopped after Hughes’ death in 1976.

In 1980, the Spruce Goose was put on display near the site of its test flight in Long Beach, California. In 1993 the plane was moved, largely by barge, to Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Our question, what airplane unseated the Spruce Goose as the largest plane in the world?

Today is Statehood Day in North and South Dakota. It’s unofficially National Deviled Egg Day. It’s the birthday of Marie Antoinette, former U.S. Presidents James Polk and Warren G. Harding, and actor Burt Lancaster.

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Photo of Orson Welles meeting with reporters in an effort to explain that no one connected with the War of the Worlds radio broadcast had any idea the show would cause panic. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1938, the village of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, was ground zero for an invasion by Martians in the radio drama “The War of the Worlds,” directed by and starring Orson Welles.

Here are some things you may not have known about “The War of the Worlds,” and the reaction to its broadcast.

The program was an episode of the anthology series “The Mercury Theatre on the Air,” on CBS Radio. It was an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel, reset in the United States of 1938. The first 40 minutes of the program was presented in a news bulletin format. The show was normally broadcast without commercial interruption, which added to the sense of realism.

Four announcements were made during the broadcast, reminding the audience that the program was a work of fiction. Three more announcements were made after the program aired.

As the program was winding down, police, responding to public concern, rushed into the control room and tried to stop the show. The CBS telephone switchboard was flooded with callers. Newspaper reporters began to descend on the building. Welles, who rushed to join an all-night rehearsal for the Mercury Theatre’s stage production of “Danton’s Death,” learned about the commotion from a cast mate, who told him that the supposed panic caused by the broadcast had made the news ticker in Times Square.

The panic, which was said to have caused countless suicides, rioting in the streets, and human stampedes was massively exaggerated. Only two percent of radio listeners surveyed that night listened to the program, and stations in several large markets, such as Boston, had preempted the program. John Houseman, who produced “The War of the Worlds,” said the cast was surprised to see life going on as usual in New York. Media historians Jefferson Pooley and Michael Socolow said, “The supposed panic was so tiny as to be practically immeasurable on the night of the broadcast. Almost nobody was fooled.” Others have said the fact that people called the police and newspapers was an indication that they were not panicking, but behaving quite rationally.

Contrary to claims, there were no hospital admissions for shock in Newark, New Jersey and no increase of hospital admissions in New York City. There are no records of successful suicides that can be connected to the broadcast.

Welles later played up the supposed panic, finding it useful to add to his personal legend. He went on to make “Citizen Kane” in 1941, “The Magnificent Ambersons” in 1942 and “Touch of Evil” in 1958. He died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 70.

Our question, what was the last film in which Orson Welles appeared?

Today is International Orthopedic Nurses Day. It’s unofficially National Candy Corn Day and National Breadstick Day. It’s the birthday of former U.S. president John Adams, writer Ezra Pound, soccer great Diego Maradona, and actor Henry Winkler.

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ARPANET logical map circa 1977 (Image from The Computer History Museum via Wikimedia Commons)

Welcome to the Trivia Minute, your daily dose of history, facts and tidbits from TriviaPeople.com … I’m Marcus Michelson.

On this date in 1969, two computers were linked on ARPANET, a precursor of today’s Internet for the first time.

Here are some things you might know about the early days of computer networking.

ARPANET was named for the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 1968 Bob Taylor of ARPA drew up a plan to link computers at government-funded computer research sites in California and Utah.

The network was built in seven months and the first message was sent from UCLA to the Stanford Research Institute. The first message was intended to be the word “login,” but the network crashed after the first two letters, so the first message sent was “L-O.” The network connection was restored an hour later.

In December 1969, computers at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Utah were connected as well. In 1970, a computer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was connected. In 1973 Norway became the first country outside the U.S. to be connected to the network, followed shortly by a connection to London.

The first email using the “@“ symbol was sent via ARPANET in 1971.

In 1982, the National Science Foundation created the Computer Science Network, which expanded access to ARPANET. In 1985, the National Science Foundation Network connected more computers and along with ARPANET formed the backbone of today’s Internet.

In 1990, ARPANET was decommissioned, and the NSFNet was shut down five years later as the Internet was fully commercialized.

The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, followed by the first web browser in 1990.

Our question, based on number of websites, what language, besides English, is the most common on the Web?

Today is Coronation Day in Cambodia and Republic Day in Turkey. It’s unofficially National Cat Day, National Oatmeal Day and National Hermit Day. It’s the birthday of painter Bob Ross, actor Richard Dreyfuss and actress Winona Ryder.

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The start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Today is the 73rd anniversary of the completion of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska.

Here are some things you may not have known about the highway.

A land route from the lower 48 states to Alaska was considered as far back as the 1920s. At the time, the Canadian government saw no value in the project, which would only serve a few thousand residents in the Yukon Territory. The idea was floated again several times in the 1930s, but didn’t gain any traction until after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The U.S. Army approved construction of the highway in February 1942, and the Canadians agreed to allow the construction if the U.S. paid the full cost and if the road reverted to Canadian control after the war.

Construction officially began on March 8, 1942 near the southern terminus at Dawson Creek. Later in the spring another crew began working from the northern end. The crews met at the 60th parallel on Sept. 24, 1942. The entire route was completed on Oct. 28 near Beaver Creek.

Upon completion, the road was a bumpy 1,700 miles. It remained closed to the public until 1948. Thanks to rerouting and straightening, the highway is now 1,387 miles and paved the entire distance.

Our question, the Alaska Highway is unofficially part of the Pan-American Highway which runs from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on the Arctic Ocean to Ushuaia, Argentina at the tip of South America. There’s a 60-mile gap in the road, making it impossible to drive the entire length. If you were traveling southbound, in what country would you hit the gap?

Today is International Animation Day. In the United States it is unofficially national chocolate day. It’s the birthday of writer Evelyn Waugh, polio vaccine developer Dr. Jonas Salk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and actress Julia Roberts. For more about Salk and Gates, visit triviapeople.com for our past episodes on them.

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Click here for our polio vaccine episode

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Edward, Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson in 1935 before their marriage. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1936, Wallis Simpson was granted a divorce from her second husband, Ernest Aldrich Simpson, setting up the British constitutional crisis that led to the abdication of King Edward VIII.

Here are some things you may not have known about Wallis Simpson and the abdication crisis.

Bessie Wallis Warfield was born in 1896 in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, a popular summer resort among those looking to escape the summer heat of Baltimore. Her father died of tuberculosis before her first birthday. Her uncle paid for her to attend the most expensive girls school in the state, where she excelled in the classroom.

She married her first husband, a navy pilot in 1916. They divorced 11 years later. She married her second husband, a shipping executive, one year later and moved to London. In 1931, through a friend, Mrs. Simpson met Edward, Prince of Wales. Soon after, her husband began to suffer financial troubles. In 1934, Simpson became the Prince’s mistress, which was confirmed by his staff catching them in the act.

The Prince began neglecting his official duties to spend time with Mrs. Simpson, and showered her with money and jewelry. In 1936, King George V died and Edward ascended to the throne as Edward VIII. The King is required to be in communion with the Church of England as its Supreme Governor. At the time the church did not allow the remarriage of people with living ex-spouses. On October 27, 1936, Simpson’s divorce from her husband was granted.

Edward tried to negotiate a way to remain king and marry Wallis Simpson, however the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa rejected all of the King’s proposals. Defeated, the King signed the Instrument of Abdication on December 10 1936, leading to his brother George VI ascending to the throne.

Edward was created Duke of Windsor after his abdication, and Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor upon their marriage on June 3, 1937. She was not allowed to be called “Her Royal Highness,” and was instead referred to as “Her Grace.” Later that year, the couple met with Adolf Hitler in pre-war Germany. After the war, she and the Duke became friends with Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists. The couple were widely believed to have been Nazi sympathizers.

The Duke of Windsor died of cancer in 1972 at age 77. Wallis Simpson died in 1986 at the age of 89.

Our question, Edward VIII reigned for less than a year, one of the shortest reigns in British history. His niece, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch, and his great-grandmother, Victoria, was the second-longest reigning monarch. Who was the third-longest reigning monarch?

Today is Flag Day in Greece, Independence Day in Turkmenistan and Navy Day in the United States. Unofficially, it’s also American Beer Day. It’s the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, poet Dylan Thomas and actor John Cleese.

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“Weird Al” Yankovic poses with his Grammy Award in 2015.

Today is the 56th birthday of musician and actor “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Here are some things you may not have known about him.

Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburbs. He had his first accordion lesson the day before his sixth birthday, making yesterday the 50th anniversary of his accordion career. At the age of 15, he was the valedictorian of his senior class at Lynwood High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

He earned his nickname of “Weird Al” while at Cal Poly and made his live radio debut on “The Dr. Demento Show” in 1980, playing “Another One Rides the Bus,” a parody of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” Seven months later he played the song on NBC’s “The Tomorrow Show” with Tom Snyder.

In 1983, Yankovic released his self-titled debut album, which included “My Bologna,” a send-up of “My Sharona” by The Knack, and “Ricky,” a parody of “Mickey” by Toni Basil. A year later “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in 3D” was released which included “Eat It” derived from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” which became his only No. 1 hit in any country when it went to the top of the charts in Australia. It went to No. 12 in the United States.

Other notable parodies included “Like a Surgeon,” “Living with a Hernia,” “Fat,” and “Smells Like Nirvana.”

In 1989, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film “UHF,” about a daydreamer who is put in charge of a low-power television station. He increases the station’s ratings with wacky programming that raises the ire of the mean owner of the network affiliate in town. The station shows commericals for “Spatula City,” “Plots ‘R Us Mortuary Service,” “Gandhi II” and “Conan the Librarian,” and shows such as “Wheel of Fish” and “Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse.” The film was a modest box office success, but has become a cult favorite on video tape and DVD.

In 1996 Yankovic was involved in a controversy when he received approval to parody Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” with “Amish Paradise.” Coolio was angered by the parody, but never pursued legal action. In 2014, Coolio apologized for the controversy and said the parody was actually funny.

In 2009, Yankovic was named the top artist that should be considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a poll of Rolling Stone magazine readers. He has also been the subject of a campaign to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Both campaigns have so far been unsuccessful.

Our question, “Living With a Hernia” was a parody of what song by which artist?

Today is National Day in Hungary. In the United States, it’s unofficially National Boston Cream Pie Day and National TV Talk Show Host Day. It’s the birthday of Johnny Carson, directos Ang Lee and Sam Raimi, soccer great Pele and golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez.

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One of the new sets of locks on the Panama Canal (Photo from twitter.com/thepanamacanal)

On this date in 2006, 77.8 percent of voters in Panama voted to expand the Panama Canal to allow larger ships to transit the Isthmus of Panama.

Here’s a little bit about the history of the Panama Canal and the improvements that are scheduled to be finished in 2016.

The Panama Canal opened in 1914, cutting the sailing distance from San Francisco to New York from 13,000 miles to just over 5,000 miles. The canal and the surrounding Panama Canal Zone was controlled by the United States until 1999 when the Panamanian government assumed control.

Ship size is limited by the sets of locks on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal, by the depth of the canal and the clearance beneath the Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific end. Ships are built to barely meet these requirements, requiring slow and precise movement of the vessels, which can create delays of as much as seven days. Ships that are the maximum size for the canal are known as Panamax. Ships that are too big for the canal are known as post-Panamax. Ships built to the specification of the new canal are called New Panamax.

The E Class and Triple-E Class container ships of the Maersk Company, TI class supertankers and Valemax ore carriers are all too big even for the new canal. Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas cruise ships would fit in the locks, but not clear the Bridge of the Americas at low tide.

The cost of the canal expansion is expected to total 5.25 million U.S. dollars.

Our question, what was the first post-Panamax ship?

Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day. In the United States, it’s unofficially National Nut Day and National Color Day. It’s the birthday of actor Christopher Lloyd, actress Catherine Deneuve, and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano.

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Poster for 1985’s “Back to the Future.”

Today is “Back to the Future” Day, the day that Marty McFly traveled to in the movie “Back to the Future Part II.”

Here are some facts about the “Back to the Future” trilogy and the predictions the films made about 2015.

The first “Back to the Future” movie was released in 1985, and starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown. McFly travels back to 1955 and must make sure his parents get together or else risk disappearing from the future.

In the second film, Marty and Doc Brown, travel 30 years into the future to prevent Marty McFly Jr. from committing a crime and going to jail. The specific date they travel to is October 21, 2015.

The third film involves McFly traveling 100 into the past to 1885 to save Doc Brown from being killed in an old-West gunfight.

The first film was the highest-grossing movie of 1985, the others were smaller financial successes. All told, the trilogy grossed more than $965 million worldwide on a budget of $99 million.

Some of the predictions made in “Part II” have, in fact, become reality, including flat-screen TVs, video glasses, and drones. Most of the predictions, however, have not come to pass. Flying cars, hoverboards and self-tying shoes are among the innovations that remain in the future.

Our question, In “Part II,” which baseball team wins the 2015 World Series?

Today is Apple Day in the UK, Armed Forces Day in Honduras and Egyptian Naval Day. In the United States, it is unofficially National Reptile Awareness Day and Hagfish Day. It’s the birthday of inventor Alfred Nobel, musician Dizzy Gillespie and actress Carrie Fisher.

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The Sydney Opera House at dusk. (Photo by Rosino via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1973, the Sydney Opera House in Australia opened.

Here are some things you may not have known about the architectural marvel.

Planning for the Opera House began in the late 1940s. In 1957, Danish architect Jorn Utzon was chosen to design the project after an international contest. Ground was broken in 1959 with incomplete plans.

The building was originally projected to cost approximately $7 million and take four years to build. It ended up costing $102 million and took 14 years to complete.

The Opera House consists of six indoor performance spaces, the largest of which is the Concert Hall, which seats 2,679 and is the home of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet are housed in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, which seats 1,507.

The famous roofs of the complex are built of concrete frames and concrete ribs. The roofs  features a subtle chevron pattern made of light-colored tile.

The first performance on the site was by American singer Paul Robeson in 1960. It was a lunchtime performance for construction workers.

During the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Opera House served as the focal point of the triathlon course.

The complex hosts more than 1,500 performances a year, drawing an attendance of about 1.2 million people.

Our question, the works of which composer were featured at the first public concert at the Sydney Opera House?

Today is Heroes’ Day in Kenya, World Osteoporosis Day and World Statistics Day. In the United States it’s unofficially National Pharmacy Technician Day. It’s the birthday of actor Bela Lugosi, baseball players Mickey Mantle and Juan Marichal, and musician Tom Petty.

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