Trivia People

On this date in 1959, “The Twilight Zone” premiered on CBS television in the United States.

Here are some facts you may not have known about the show and its creator, Rod Serling.

Rod Serling was born in Syracuse, New York in 1924 and grew up in Binghamton, New York. He enlisted in the army immediately after graduating from high school in 1943.

He served in the Pacific, where he saw combat in the Philippines, including the battle of Manila. During his service, Serling was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Philippine Liberation Medal.

After the war, Serling enrolled at Antioch College in Ohio, where he met and married his wife and graduated with a literature degree in 1950.

His first job after graduation was with a radio station in Cincinnati. He also wrote radio scripts on the side. He moved his family to the East Coast in 1953 where he wrote scripts for several television anthology series. Among the notable scripts were “Patterns” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight”

The success of Serling’s 1958 teleplay “The Time Element” convinced CBS to begin production on his own anthology series “The Twilight Zone.”

Serling wrote nearly two-thirds of the episodes, which used science fiction as a means to comment on social issues of the day, including war, communism and mass hysteria.

The premiere episode is titled,”Where is Everybody?” and stars Earl Holliman as a man in an Air Force flight suit wandering through a seemingly abandoned town. It’s revealed later that he’s an astronaut undergoing sensory deprivation and the town is a hallucination.

Serling won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama.

Serling went on to create “Night Gallery” for NBC, a show which dealt more with the occult and horror than “The Twilight Zone” did.

Rod Serling died of a heart attack in 1975. He was 50 years old.

Our question, the premiere episode was filmed on the Courthouse Square set at Universal Studios. What movie was filmed on the same set more than 25 years later?

Today is Independence Day in Guinea and International Day of Non-Violence. IN the United States, it’s unofficially National Custodial Workers Recognition Day. It’s the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Groucho Marx, and actor/musician Sting.

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Poster for the “Thrilla in Manila.”

Today is the 40th anniversary of the third bout between boxers Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.

Here are a few things you may not have known about the “Thrilla in Manila.”

Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali split their first two matchups. Frazier won the first, known as the “Fight of the Century” in 1971, handing Ali his first defeat by unanimous decision. Ali won the second fight in 1974 by unanimous decision.

A year earlier, Ali won the heavyweight title by beating previously undefeated George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle.” In the 11 months between the Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila, Ali defended his title three times.

The fight was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., local time in the Philippines. Due to a combination of the heat of the day and the television lights, the temperature in the ring was estimated by Frazier to be more than 120 degrees fahrenheit.

Ali opened the fight aggressively, setting up his straight right with his left jab and winning the first two rounds. In the third round, Ali began to use the rope-a-dope strategy that had helped him beat Foreman a year earlier in Zaire. The strategy didn’t bother Frazier much as he could get closer to Ali and use his left hand.

At the end of the ninth round, Ali said to his trainer, “Man, this is the closest I’ve ever been to dying.” Frazier was suffering as well, including severe facial swelling, which was closing his right eye. This was a big problem because was nearly blind in the left eye. To compensate for the lack of vision, Frazier stood more upright instead of bobbing and weaving. This played into Ali’s hands, literally. In the 12th and 13th rounds, Ali pounded Frazier furiously, including one punch that launched Frazier’s mouth guard across the ring. After a brutal 14th round, Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch threw in the towel, ending the fight and giving Ali the victory.

Our question: Where was Muhammad Ali born?

Today is independence day in Cyprus, Nigeria, Palau and Tuvalu. It’s also National Day in China. In the United States it’s unofficially National Homemade Cookies Day. It’s the birthday of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, actor Richard Harris, actress Julie Andrews and baseball player Rod Carew.

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James Dean in a publicity photo for “Rebel Without a Cause”. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Sixty years ago today, actor James Dean was killed in a car wreck in central California.

Here are some things you may not know about the actor and his death.

He was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana. When he was in elementary school, his family moved to Santa Monica, California. His mother died when he was nine years old and he was sent to live with his aunt back in Indiana. After graduating from high school he moved back to California and enrolled at Santa Monica College before transferring to UCLA to study drama. In 1951 he dropped out of college to focus on acting.

He made appearances in commercials and on television and had uncredited roles in several movies before moving to New York where he was admitted to the Actors Studio to study method acting. While in New York he worked in television and in theater.

In 1954, he was cast as Cal Trask in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.” Many of Dean’s most memorable moments in the film were improvised. He earned an Academy Award nomination for the role.

“East of Eden” was followed by “Rebel Without a Cause,” also released in 1955.

Before the release of “Rebel Without a Cause,” Dean took a supporting role in the film “Giant” with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for this film.

In his time between movies, Dean enjoyed racing cars, earning classification victories in two events. After filming on “Giant” wrapped up, Dean purchased a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder and planned to race it at Salinas Airport in Central California.

Two days later, when Dean introduced himself to actor Alec Guinness, Guinnes said of the car, “If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.”

Seven days later, Dean and his mechanic left Los Angeles to head for the races in Salinas. He decided to drive the car instead of towing it because the car wasn’t sufficiently broken in. A little more than two hours after leaving L.A., Dean was ticketed for driving 65 miles per hour in a 55 zone.

At about 5:45 p.m., Dean and his mechanic approached an intersection, where the driver of a Ford Coupe traveling the opposite direction planned to turn left. The driver of the Ford apparently didn’t see the low-slung Porsche and turned in front of it. The vehicles collided nearly head-on.

Dean was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in nearby Paso Robles. His mechanic suffered a broken jaw and leg injuries. The driver of the Ford had facial bruises and a bloody nose. Dean was found to be at fault for the accident due to speeding.

“Rebel Without a Cause” was released 27 days after his death.

James Dean was 24 years old.

Our question, who directed “East of Eden”?

Today is Independence Day in Botswana, International Translation Day and Recovery Day in Canada. In the United States, it is unofficially National Chewing Gum Day and National Hot Mulled Cider Day. It’s the birthday of author Truman Capote, musician Marc Bolan and drummer Buddy Rich.

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Jerry Lee Lewis in the late 1950s.

Today is the 80th birthday of musician Jerry Lee Lewis.

Here are some facts you may not have known about the man they call “The Killer.”

Jerry Lee Lewis was born in Ferriday, Louisiana to parents Elmo and Mamie Lewis. His cousins included future country singer Mickey Gilley and TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

In 1956, he began working for Sun Records as a solo artist and session man. In December of that year, Lewis was was part of a jam session with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash that was recorded by Sun Records owner Sam Phillips and released as the Million-Dollar Quartet in the 1980s.

The next year saw Lewis catapult to stardom with the release of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” which went to No. 2 on the U.S. charts and No. 1 in the UK.

In December of 1957, at the age of 22, Lewis married his third wife, who was also his 13-year-old first cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown. Following this revelation, he was blacklisted from the radio and saw his pay for concerts drop from $10,000 a night to $250 a night.

He made a comeback playing country music, first with the album “Another Place, Another Time.” He would have 17 Top 10 country hits between 1968 and 1977.

Jerry Lee Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as the 24th greatest artist of all time.

Our question, who played Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1989 film “Great Balls of Fire”?

Today is International Coffee Day and World Heart Day. In the United States it is unofficially National Veterans of Foreign Wars Day. It’s the birthday of singer/actor Gene Autry, former Polish president Lech Walesa, and actress Madeline Kahn.

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Alexander Fleming is shown in his laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the world’s first antibiotic, penicillin.

Here are a few facts about Fleming and his discovery.

Fleming was born in 1881 in Scotland. After moving to London to attend the Royal Polytechnic Institution, Fleming enrolled at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in Paddington. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I, before returning to St. Mary’s Hospital, where he was professor of bacteriology.

After a monthlong holiday with his family, he noticed one of his petri dishes had a fungus growing in it. The fungus appeared to have killed the staphylococcus bacteria that he had introduced to the petri dish. He grew some of the mold and discovered that it produced a substance that killed several bacteria.  He named the substance penicillin on March 7, 1929.

In 1930, Cecil George Paine used penicillin to cure a baby with neonatal conjunctivitis, followed by curing four others of other types of eye infection.

A myth arose around Fleming, saying that his education was paid for by the father of Winston Churchill for saving a young Winston’s life. Fleming described the story as “a wonderous fable.”

In June 1942, enough penicillin was made in the United States to treat 10 patients. The War Production Board ramped up the process and was able to produce 2.3 million doses by the spring of 1944.

Fleming won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 along with fellow antibiotic pioneers Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey.

Alexander Fleming died of a heart attack on March 11, 1955. He was 73 years old.

Our question, the monarch of what country presents the Nobel Prize?

Today is Czech Statehood Day, World Rabies Day and Freedom from Hunger Day. In the United States it’s unofficially National Good Neighbor Day and National Strawberry Cream Pie Day. It’s the birthday of philosopher Confucius, television host Ed Sullivan, actress Brigitte Bardot and broadcasting pioneer William S. Paley.

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Tommy John pitching for the Dodgers.

On this date in 1974, Dr. Frank Jobe replaced the Ulnar Collateral Ligament in the throwing arm of Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Tommy John.

Here are some things you may not have known about what has come to be known as Tommy John Surgery.

At the time he underwent surgery, Tommy John had won 124 games in 10 seasons with the Indians, White Sox and Dodgers. He was known as a soft-tossing sinker ball pitcher who relied on ground balls and double plays. In 1974 with a 13-3 record, John injured the Ulnar Collateral Ligament in his left elbow. At the time it was though to be a career-ending injury.

Dr. Frank Jobe, who was a Dodgers team doctor at the time said the chances of John making a complete recovery were 1 in 100. The procedure consists of opening the arm and drilling holes in the ulna and humerus bones near the elbow. A tendon from elsewhere in the body, or from a cadaver, is woven through the holes in a figure-eight pattern and then anchored in place. The recovery time for this procedure ranges from six months for non-pitchers to a year for pitchers. It’s estimated that 80 percent of players recover to their pre-surgery levels of performance.

After missing the entire 1975 season, John returned to baseball in 1976 and won 164 more games in 13 seasons with with Dodgers, Yankees, Angels and Athletics. He retired in 1989 after Mark McGwire, the son of John’s dentist, got two hits of him, saying, “When your dentist’s kid starts hitting you, it’s time to retire.” He won 288 total games, the seventh-most among left-handed pitchers in major league history.

Our question, is Tommy John  in the baseball Hall of Fame?

Today is Revolution Day in Mozambique. In the United States it’s unofficially National Comic Book Day and National One-Hit Wonder Day. It’s the birthday of writer William Faulkner, artist Mark Rothko, writer Shel Silverstein, actor Mark Hamill and actor/musician Will Smith.

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Benedict Arnold

On this date in 1780, American general Benedict Arnold abandoned his post at West Point when it was discovered that he had made a deal with the British Army to surrender the fortification.

Here are a few things you may not have known about the man whose name has become a synonym in the United States for traitor.

He was born in Norwich, Connecticut in 1741. He was the fifth member of his family to bear the name Benedict Arnold after his great-grandfather. His older brother, who died in infancy was also named Benedict. Of his parents’ six children only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood. The rest of the children died of yellow fever.

The deaths of his children led Arnold’s father into alcoholism, poverty and arrests for public drunkenness. The elder Arnold was also refused communion by his church. He died in 1761.

The next year the younger Arnold went into business as a pharmacist and bookseller in New Haven, Connecticut. He married his first wife in 1767 and they had three sons.

In 1775, Benedict Arnold joined the Connecticut Militia as a captain. He was instrumental in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga along with Ethan Allen and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean in Quebec. While he was fighting at Ticonderoga, his wife died at home.

In 1777, Arnold was passed over for promotion to major general. He offered his resignation to George Washington, who refused it. He later was promoted to major general, but his seniority was not made retroactive, so he attempted to resign again. Washington again refused to accept it. Arnold was wounded in the second Battle of Saratoga, which left his left leg two inches shorter than the right.

In 1778, Arnold med Peggy Shippen, the daughter of a loyalist judge. They were married in 1779. Arnold had become disaffected with the war and the country, predicting an American defeat. The same year he married his second wife, Arnold began discussions with the British about helping them. In July of 1779, he began providing information on American troop movements to the British. A year later, after being named commander at West Point on the Hudson River, he began negotiations to turn the fort over to the British.

When British spy chief Major John Andre was captured with papers detailing his plot, Arnold abandoned West Point to seek refuge in British-controlled New York City. George Washington offered to trade Major Andre for Arnold, but the British refused and Andre was hanged.

After switching sides, the British commissioned Arnold as a brigadier general. He led troops in Virginia, where they captured Richmond and then in Connecticut, where his troops burned the city of New London. Arnold then went to England where he found himself out of favor with the Whig party and was unable to find a posting with the British East India Company.

After being rejected in England, he moved to Canada for six years before again moving to London. He died of dropsy in 1801.

Our question, what is dropsy better known as today?

Today is Constitution Day in Cambodia, Heritage Day in South Africa and Independence Day in Guinea-Bissau. In the United States, it’s unofficially National Punctuation Day. It’s the birthday of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, Muppets creator Jim Henson and actor Phil Hartman.

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On this date in 1889, the Nintendo Company was founded.

Here are a few things you may not have known about the game company.

Its original name was Nintendo Koppai or Nintendo Playing Card Company. The company made a card game called Hanafuda. In 1966 the company moved into the toy business with the Ultra Hand, a scissor-driven extendable arm, They also made a baseball-style pitching machine and a device called a Love Tester, which supposedly measured a couple’s compatibility.

Nintendo got into the video game business in 1974 by purchasing the Japanese distribution rights for the Magnavox Odyssey system. In 1975, the company created “EVR Race,” its first arcade game. In 1981, the company released “Donkey Kong,” which was available on several systems including the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. The game also introduced the character of Mario, who was known at the time as Jumpman.

In 1980, the company produced its first handheld video game, called Game and Watch, the first title for which was called Ball. In 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer, known as Famicom in Japan. Two years later, a repackaged version of this machine was released elsewhere in the world as the Nintendo Entertainment System. Among the launch titles for the system outside of Japan were “Duck Hunt,” Hogan’s Alley,” “Excitebike” and “Super Mario Brothers.”

“Super Mario Brothers” would go on to spawn 20 games, not including spinoff series, and sell more than 310 million copies.

In 1989, the portable Game Boy system was released. The Super Nintendo followed in 1990, and the Nintendo 64 was released in 1996. At this point rival systems by Sega and Sony were cutting into Nintendo’s marketshare following disappointing products such as Game Boy Advance and GameCube. Poor sales of GameCube led to the company’s first operating losses in more than 100 years.

In 2004 the company released the handheld Nintendo DS, followed by the Wii console in 2006. The Wii would go on to sell more than 100 million units, making it the best-selling console in company history.

Our question, what is the top-selling game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System that doesn’t feature Mario?

Today is the Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Vernal Equinox in the southern hemisphere. In the United States, it’s unofficially National Pot Pie Day and Restless Leg Syndrome Awareness Day. It’s the birthday of musicians John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Ben E. King, Julio Iglesias, Bruce Springsteen and Ani DiFranco.

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On this date in 1961, the Peace Corps was officially authorized by the United States Congress.

Here are a few facts you may not have known about the Peace Corps.

It was established by by executive order by President John F. Kennedy to promote world peace and friendship. Members of the Peace Corps provide technical assistance and help with social and economic development abroad. The first bill to form the Peace Corps was introduced by Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota in 1957.

Kennedy’s inaugural speech’s famous line of “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country” was in regard to the Peace Corps. Kennedy’s brother-in-law Sargent Shriver was the program’s first director.

The program focuses on anti-malaria efforts, environmental protection, emergency management and education.

Nearly 220,000 U.S. citizens have served in the Peace Corps in 140 countries.

Notable Peace Corps alumni include Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, writer Paul Theroux and former “This Old House” host Bob Vila.

Our question, what is the only continent on which the Peace Corps does not operate?

Today is World Car-Free Day, Independence Day in Bulgaria and Mali, and Hobbit Day, the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. In the United States it is unofficially National Ice Cream Cone Day and National White Chocolate Day, which, of course, isn’t chocolate at all. Besides the Bagginses, it’s the birthday of actor John Houseman, musician Joan Jett and actor Scott Baio.

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Bugs Bunny, left, and Marvin the Martian.

Today is the 103rd anniversary of the birth of animator Chuck Jones.

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

First, Charles Martin Jones was born in Spokane, Washington, and later moved with his family to Los Angeles. He would go on to attend the Chouinard Art Institute, which would eventually become the California Institute of Art. After graduating he went to work for Ub Iwerks, the co-creator of Mickey Mouse, where he met his first wife, Dorothy.

In 1933, he joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, which produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros., working his way up from assistant animator to director. During World War II, he worked with Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, on a series of cartoons for the U.S. Army called Private Snafu. After the war, Jones would create the Looney Tunes characters Marvin the Martian, Pepe LePew, Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner. He also directed significant Bugs Bunny shorts, including, “What’s Opera, Doc?” Warner Bros. shut down its animation operation in 1963.

After Warner Bros., Jones formed his own animation studio, which produced new Tom and Jerry cartoons for MGM and reworked old Tom and Jerrys to remove overtly racist content. In 1965, Jones won an Academy Award for his short film, “The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics.” A year later he directed the television adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” In 1970, he worked on another Dr. Seuss project “Horton Hears a Who!” Also in 1970, his feature film version of “The Phantom Tollbooth” was released.

Over the next three decades, Jones would work for Warner Bros. intermittently, making Looney Tunes cartoons. His last was “From Hare to Eternity” in 1996. Chuck Jones died of heart failure on February 22, 2002. He was 89 years old.

Our question, which Looney Tunes character was the star of Jones’ first Academy Award-winning animated short film?

Now for our weekly take-home test: When Pepe Le Pew cartoons were released in France, his French accent was replaced with what type of accent?

Go to triviapeople.com/test to submit an answer

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