Trivia People

Parking meter in Long Beach, Calif., circa 1940. (Los Angeles Daily News photo, copyright expired)

Today is the 80th anniversary of the installation of the first parking meter.

Here are a few facts you may not have known about them.

One, that first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Great Britain’s first parking meter was installed in London’s Grosvenor Square in 1958. The original model was coin-operated and this design remained largely unchanged for more than 40 years.

Two: New York City hired its first group of parking attendants, known at the time as meter maids, in 1960. The city hired its first male parking attendant in 1967.

Three: The original style of parking meter has largely been replaced by multispace meters, which require drivers to walk to a centrally located meter and purchase a ticket which is then placed in the vehicle. Many of these machines accept paper money and credit cards, in addition to coins.

Our question: What was the occupation of the first person to challenge a parking ticket in court?

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Ninety-nine years ago, Pacific Aero Products Co. was founded in Seattle. A year later, the company was renamed for one of its founders William Boeing.

Here are a few things you might not know about The Boeing Company.

First, the first plane built by Boeing was the B&W Seaplane. They later sold 50 seaplanes to the U.S. Navy during World War I.

Second, Boeing developed the first American jet airliner, the 707, which began delivery in 1958. In the 1960s, the company introduced the 727, the first wide-body jet the 747 and the workhorse 737.

Third, the 757 and 767 were introduced in the 1980s, followed by the 777 in 1995 and the 787 in 2011.

Our question: What year did Boeing introduce the 307 Stratoliner, the first commercial aircraft with a pressurized cabin?

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Storming of the Bastille, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel

Today is Bastille Day in France and its dependencies.

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

First, It celebrates the beginning of the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789.

Second, 106 people were killed in the storming of the Bastille, including the commander of the Bastille and 96 insurgents.

Third, in 1880 the day was made France’s national holiday, and is celebrated around the world.

Our question: How many prisoners were in the Bastille on the day it was stormed?

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Today is the 71st birthday of Erno Rubik, the creator of Rubik’s Cube.

Here are some things you may not have known about the puzzle builder and his creations.

First: Rubik was born in Budapest, Hungary and he studied sculpture and architecture. He completed his first prototype for the Rubik’s Cube in 1974. It was originally made of wood and called the Magic Cube.

Second, in 1977 the first Magic Cube was sold in Budapest toy stores. It made its international debut at toy fairs in 1980 and was renamed the Rubik’s Cube. Through 2009, more than 350 million Rubik’s Cubes have sold, making it the world’s best-selling toy.

Third, the first world champion in 1981 solved a Rubik’s Cube in 38 seconds. The current record holder, Collin Burns of the United States, solved the Cube in 5.25 seconds in April 2015.

Our question: There are many subclassifications of records for solving a Rubik’s Cube. Which of the following three has the slowest record time: One-handed solving, blindfolded solving or foot solving?

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Arthur Ashe at the 1975 World Tennis Tournament in RotterDame, Netherlands (Rob Bogaerts/ANEFO via Wikimedia) 

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the birth of tennis legend Arthur Ashe.

Here are a few things you may not have known about him.

First, he was the first, and to date, only black male to win singles championships at the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Second, Ashe won both the U.S. Amateur Championship and U.S. Open championship in 1968, becoming the only player to hold both titles in the same year. He won the Open championship as an amateur, earning a daily $20 stipend instead of the $14,000 first-place prize money.

Third, he contracted AIDS following a blood transfusion during heart surgery in 1979. He died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993 at the age of 49.

Our question: Arthur Ashe never won the French Open. What was his highest finish at Roland Garros?

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Today is the 138th anniversary of the first Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Here are a few things you may not know about Wimbledon.

First, the first tournament was held as a fundraiser for groundskeeping equipment. The first Wimbledon champion was Spencer Gore.

Second, the first women’s tournament wasn’t held until 1884. It was won by Maud Watson.

Third, Wimbledon is the only grand slam event still played on grass. The Australian Open and U.S. Open were originally contested on grass before changing to other surfaces. Both tournaments are now played on hard courts.

Our question: Besides grass and hard courts, on what other surfaces have the grand slam events been contested?

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On July 8, 1943, a headline in the Roswell Daily Record announced the discovery of a flying saucer near the New Mexico town.

Here are some things you may not know about the incident.

First, the incident happened following the crash of a balloon that was to be used to listen for sounds of Soviet nuclear tests. The U.S. government told the public is was nearly a weather balloon and the story faded away quickly.

Second, beginning in the late 1970s UFO researchers began looking into the incident for evidence that aliens have visited the Earth. Most of the evidence found has been either easily explained or contradictory.

Our question, which U.S. president reported a UFO sighting in 1969?

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July 7 marks the 87th anniversary of the production of the first loaves of sliced bread.

Here are some facts you may not have known about the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread.

First, the commercial bread slicing machine was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa. He built a prototype in 1912 which was destroyed in a fire. The Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri was the first bakery to use the machine.

Second, the innovation was touted as “The greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” Which means Sliced Bread was the greatest thing since wrapped bread. History is silent as to what the greatest thing before that was.

Third, sliced bread was banned in the United States for two months in 1943. It was believed that sliced bread required more paper to keep fresh than unsliced bread because of the increased surface area. The ban was lifted when the savings were not as great as anticipated.

Our question: what was the first brand of sliced bread to be sold nationally in the United States?

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July 6 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of American entertainer and businessman Merv Griffin.

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

First, he started out as a singer on the radio in San Francisco, eventually earning enough money to start his own record label. His album “Songs by Merv Griffin” was the first American album recorded on magnetic tape.

Second, After scoring a hit in 1950 with “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts,” Griffin turned to acting, playing supporting roles in several musicals. In 1958 he became the host of a game show called “Play Your Hunch.”

Third, Griffin began his own talk show in 1965, which ran for 21 years and earned 11 Emmy awards. Griffin is also known for creating game shows, including such hits as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”

Griffin died in 2007 of prostate cancer.

Our question: What does the epitaph on Griffin’s grave say?

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Today marks the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the French Fleet by the British in World War II.

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

First, the British sank the fleet after the Vichy French government signed a truce with Germany. The Vichy government was viewed as little more than a puppet regime for the Nazis. The British couldn’t have the French fleet fall into Nazi hands.

Second, Nearly 1,300 French sailors were killed and 350 were wounded. Obviously this strained the relationship between the British and French, with British Admiral James Somerville describing the action as “the biggest political blunder of modern times.”

Third, in 1942 the French scuttled parts of their own fleet rather than let the ships fall into German hands. The French believed this was proof that the initial attack was unwarranted. French admiral Francois Darlan said as much in a letter to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill after the scuttling.

Our question: Who was the leader of the Free French Forces during World War II?

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