Trivia People

Photo of The Beatles with Ed Sullivan from their first appearance on Sullivan’s US variety television program in February 1964. From left: Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Ed Sullivan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney. (CBS Photo via Wikimedia)

On June 20, 1948, “Toast of the Town” hosted by Ed Sullivan premiered on CBS television in the United States.

Here are some things you may not have known about Ed Sullivan and his show.

First: Sullivan was born in Harlem, New York in 1901. He started in media as a sportswriter for the New York Evening Graphic. He later became theater critic, replacing Walter Winchell. His column later moved to the New York Daily News.

Second: Sullivan moved to television in 1941 as host of a variety show called “Summer Silver Theater” on CBS. He returned to CBS in 1948 to start “The Toast of the Town,” another variety show. In 1953, the show would move to CBS Studio 50, which is now known as The Ed Sullivan Theater.

Third: Sullivan’s show eventually became among the most popular on television. It is remembered for featuring Elvis Presley, introducing The Beatles to the United States and for its wide variety of musical, dramatic and comedy acts. “The Ed Sullivan Show” was canceled in 1971 and Sullivan died in 1974 of esophageal cancer. He was 73.

Our question: What television show was broadcast from The Ed Sullivan Theater from 1993 to 2015?

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Ashton Villa in Galveston, Texas (Photo by NSaum75 via Wikimedia)

June 19th is the 150th anniversary of the news of the end of the American Civil War reaching Texas and the effective end of slavery in the United States.

Here are a few things you may not have known about what is now called Juneteenth.

First: On the balcony of Ashton Villa in Galveston, Texas, General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3, which announced the complete emancipation of the 250,000 slaves still held in Texas.

Second: The celebration of Juneteenth was largely limited due to government policies of segregation and disenfranchisement, however freed slaves and their descendants purchased property on which to hold the celebrations.

Third: Waves of migration from Texas and the rest of the South spread the celebration to other parts of the country. 43 states have declared Juneteenth either a legal or ceremonial holiday. The states that do not recognize it are Arizona, Montana, Utah, Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Our question: How many years passed between the Emancipation Proclamation and the issuance of General Order No. 3?

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Sally Ride (NASA Photo via Wikimedia)

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American female astronaut.

Here are a few facts you may not know about Sally Ride and other women in space.

One: Ride was born in 1951 in Los Angeles, raised there before attending college at Swarthmore, UCLA before earning a bachelor’s degree in English and Physics, and a master’s degree and PhD in physics from Stanford.

Two: She answered an ad in the Stanford Daily student newspaper and joined NASA in 1978. She served as capsule communicator for the second and third space shuttle missions before being selected as a crew member for the seventh mission.

Three: Ride flew into space twice, both times aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Her last mission was in 1984. She was training for a third mission when the Challenger broke apart, killing all seven astronauts on board. Ride was a member of the commissions assigned to investigate both the 1986 Challenger disaster and the 2003 Columbia disaster. She retired from NASA in 1987 and became a professor at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Sally Ride died of pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Our question: Sally Ride was the third woman to travel to space. The first female in space was Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. The Soviets also sent the second woman into space. How may years after the first trip was the second trip?

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The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor (Photo via Wikimedia)

On June 17, 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York harbor as a gift from France.

Here are a few facts you may not have known about the Statue of Liberty.

First: Parts of the statue were displayed in France before it was disassembled and sent to New York. The gift did not include the pedestal that the statue sits on, which was funded largely through small donations to a fundraising drive sponsored by the New York World newspaper.

Second: More than 200,000 people turned out to see the ship carrying the statue land in New York. Assembly on the statue didn’t begin until the pedestal was completed in April 1886.

Third: Only two women were present at the dedication ceremony for Lady Liberty, the wife of the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and the granddaughter of the French committee chairman Ferdinand de Lesseps.

Our question: The statue was originally copper-colored. What year was it completely covered in its now-familiar green patina?

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Cover of the first edition of “Ulysses” by James Joyce.

June 16 is marked as “Bloomsday,” a celebration of the novel “Ulysses” and its author James Joyce.

Here are some facts you may not have known about “Ulysses” and its author.

First: The events of “Ulysses” take place on June 16, 1904, following Leopold Bloom through the events of his day. As you can probably tell from the title, the story is a retelling of Homer’s “Odyssey” with similar characters and events.

Second: “Ulysses” was published on Joyce’s 40th birthday, February 2, 1922 by Sylvia Beach at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, with 1,000 copies printed. The book was banned in the United Kingdom until the 1930s and wasn’t legitimately published in the United States until 1934.

Third: Joyce was born in a suburb of Dublin in 1882. He moved across Europe for most of his life, with longer spells in Zurich, Trieste and Paris. Despite this, most of his creative efforts were set in Dublin. Besides “Ulysses,” his notable works include “Dubliners,” A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” and “Finnegan’s Wake.” He died on January 13, 1941 of complications following surgery for a perforated ulcer. He was 58.

Our question: What movie and, later, musical also feature a character named Leopold Bloom?

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Map of the San Juan Islands  of Washington state with proposed borders. The red line is the British proposal. The blue line is the American proposal and the green line was a compromise proposal. Eventually the blue line was decided to be the international border. (Map by Pfly via Wikimedia)

June 15, 1859 marked the start of the Pig War, a conflict between the United States and Great Britian over the international boundary in the San Juan Islands of Washington state.

Here are a few facts about the Pig War you may not have known.

First: It was a bloodless conflict, except for that of one pig. Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer living on San Juan Island killed a pig belonging to an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Second: The US and UK disagreed as to which nation held the claim to the islands, and British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar. This resulted in an American military force being deployed to the island, with the British responding in kind.

Third: Calmer heads prevailed as negotiations were undertaken to determine the sovereignty of the islands. The military forces built camps on the island and settled in while the talks continued. During the 12-year negotiations, the troops stationed on the island became friendly, celebrating each other’s national holidays together and competing in athletic events. The incident ended in 1872 when Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany determined the border to run though Haro Strait, where it remains today.

Our question: Who are the San Juan Islands named after?

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A glass of bourbon whiskey (Photo from liquor.com)

According to legend, on June 14, 1789, the Reverend Elijah Craig was the first person to distill what today is called bourbon whiskey.

Here are a few things you may not know about bourbon whiskey.

First: Craig probably wasn’t actually the first person to distill whiskey from corn. Many farmers in Kentucky were making similar products and calling it “bourbon” to distinguish it from rye-based whiskey made further east.

Second: Bourbon has a legal definition. It can be made anywhere in the United States; the grain used to make it must be at least 51 percent corn; It has to age in new oak barrels; It must be distilled to less than 160 proof, barreled at no more than 125 proof and bottled at a minimum of 80 proof.

Third: 95 percent of all whiskey calling itself bourbon is made in Kentucky. Although products labeled “Tennessee whiskey” meet all requirements to be called bourbon as well. There are no operating distilleries located in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Our question: What is the best-selling brand of bourbon in the United States?

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(If you’re paying attention, that is two George Thorogood references in as many days in the episode titles. We apologize).

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1976. (Photo from U.S. Library of Congress via Wikimedia) 

On June 13, 1967, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Here are some things you may not have known about the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court.

First: Marshall was born in Baltimore in 1908. His father worked as a railroad porter and his mother was a teacher. Marshall studied at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania before studying law at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Second: In his early professional career, he worked closely and eventuall for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by John F. Kennedy in 1961, before being named Solicitor General of the United States in 1965.

Third: Marshall served on the Supreme Court for 24 years, where he earned a reputation for liberal decisions focusing on civil rights and criminal procedure. He retired from the court in 1991 and was replaced on the high court by Clarence Thomas. Marshall died of heart failure in 1993 at age 84.

Our question: What is the main responsibility of the Solicitor General of the United States?

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On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.

Here are some things you may not know about the Hall of Fame.

One, the first Hall of Fame class was inducted in 1936 and consisted of five former players: Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth.

Two, Cooperstown was chosen as the site of the museum based on the myth that Abner Doubleday invented the game in the town. Instead of being invented, the game likely evolved from the same games that developed into cricket and rounders. Doubleday never claimed to have invented the game and his obituary in the New York Times does not mention the game.

Third, pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and second baseman Craig Biggio will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.

Our question: Which two players received exemptions from the five-year waiting period for induction into the baseball hall of fame?

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A Lithuanian Coast Guard hovercraft with its engine on and air skirt inflated (Photo by Bahnfrend via Wikicommons)

On June 11, 1959, the first hovercraft was launched off the coast of England.

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

First, the hovercraft was invented by ship designer Christopher Cockerell, who was trying to create a way for boats to go faster by reducing the friction with water. His first experiment involved floating a cat food can inside a coffee can.

Second, he was able to get funding from the British military in 1955, but development was stalled due to its designation as a military secret. Eventually Cockerell was able to declassify the hovercraft and secure commercial funding.

Third, hovercrafts were widely used to transport people and vehicles across the English Channel. More than 80 million people and more than 12 million cars made the crossing before service was stopped in 2000 due to increased competition.

Our question: Besides other types of ferry boats, what was the main competition that pushed hovercrafts out of business on the English Channel?

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