The Official Thread of Knowledge/Trivia

[siroliver]

This site has threads to help keep your playing sharp, and now it's time to make a thread to keep your mind sharp. This thread will involve general knowledge questions, rooted in subjects like history, science, etc.(no mathematics, please- can't stand the stuff). Whoever answers the question correctly has the ball, and a question is given 24 hours to remain unanswered before it is dead on the floor, at which point anyone can take the ball and ask a question to keep things going. Let's not get too specific, we want to keep it to a point where everyone can play, but a good stumper is always welcome. NO CHEATING(googling, encyclopedias, the lot)!!!! LET THE GAME BEGIN!

The starter(this one is painfully easy): Who was the 15th president of the United States(a hint, he was the one before Lincoln)?

[siroliver]

no takers?

[single cut 54]

Olly, this is an out and out guess just to get things started.Grant?

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by single cut 54

Olly, this is an out and out guess just to get things started.Grant?

nope, but you are REALLY close!

but,
you still get points as an Englishman coming extremely close on an American history question!

[siroliver]

Well, It was Buchannan, who is sort of forgotten by most, maybe not as easy as I thought.

Anyone can take the ball and get it rolling!

[single cut 54]

Originally Posted by siroliver

Well, It was Buchannan, who is sort of forgotten by most, maybe not as easy as I thought.

Anyone can take the ball and get it rolling!

I gotta admit olly ,i've never even heard of him ,sorry.

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by single cut 54

I gotta admit olly ,i've never even heard of him ,sorry.

no worries- take the ball if you like

[single cut 54]

Ok Olly, here goes. Geography question. In SE. Utah theres a bridge,naturally
formed by the effects of weather and erosion over the ages.It's approximately
300ft high ,what is it called?

[ZoomZilla]

Oh oh, I know. The bridge over troubled waters. Wait, was that a song? Hmmm, I guess I am not as smart as a 5th grader!

[single cut 54]

Originally Posted by ZoomZilla

Oh oh, I know. The bridge over troubled waters. Wait, was that a song? Hmmm, I guess I am not as smart as a 5th grader!

Zoom, I learned about this in the mid 1960s,at school ,it's probably fallen down by now.

[single cut 54]

Olly is there any time limit on this?

[b-squared]

Would you mean the Owanchomo (Rock Mound Bridge)? There are actually three natural bridges in the park.

BB

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by single cut 54

Olly is there any time limit on this?

only if it goes unanswered for 24 hours

there is a natural bridge here in Virginia, but beyond that, I have no idea

[single cut 54]

Originally Posted by b-squared

Would you mean the Owanchomo (Rock Mound Bridge)? There are actually three natural bridges in the park.

BB

b-squared and Olly , the name I was thinkin' about was ''Rainbow natural
bridge''. It was along time ago since I left school[40 year-ish]so i hope
I'm remembering correctly.

[goby]

So time for another question? How about this (unless I'm out of turn)... Name the only president who was a bachelor while in office

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by goby

So time for another question? How about this (unless I'm out of turn)... Name the only president who was a bachelor while in office

Buchannan?

[goby]

Originally Posted by siroliver

Buchannan?

That's right! Your turn...

[pinefd]

Originally Posted by goby

So time for another question? How about this (unless I'm out of turn)... Name the only president who was a bachelor while in office

Bill Clinton! Oh, wait...no...he just acted like one.

[siroliver]

Who was the author of "the Godfather", which later gained legend status as a motion picture?

[SamsDaddy]

Mario Puzo

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by SamsDaddy

Mario Puzo

you got it

[El Toro]

Name the Presidents BEFORE Washington.

[b-squared]

There were 14 of them.

The Articles of Confederation, which provided a model for a more stable legislative government, were proposed to the states on 15 November 1777 but were not declared in force until 7 March 1781. At that time the Continental Congress officially became the "United States, in Congress Assembled." John Hanson was the first presiding officer who was elected under the Articles, and therefore some consider him the first to hold the title of "President of the United States."

However, the Presidents of the Continental Congress and of the United States, in Congress Assembled, were not in any sense executive officers. These men presided over Congress, but held no authority different from or vested elsewhere than in the Congress. That is, the Congress retained all executive powers, and exercised them as a body.

Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled could be considered heads of government, but not heads of state. The impotence and relative insignificance of the presidency of the "United States in Congress Assembled" is apparent from the fact that John Hancock, elected to preside over that body in 1785, never served at all (owing to illness) and was not replaced until he resigned six months later.

The Articles of Confederation provided for a rather weak government for the fledging nation, and the need for an overhaul was soon apparent. After only six years in operation, a replacement for the Articles of Confederation was proposed, and the United States, in Congress Assembled met for the final time on 2 March 1789. Before that year was out, the Constitution of the United States took effect with the inauguration of George Washington.

Peyton Randolph (VA) 5 September 1774 - 22 October 1774
Henry Middleton (SC) 22 October 1774 - 26 October 1774
Peyton Randolph (VA) 10 May 1775 - 24 May 1775
John Hancock (MA) 24 May 1775 - 1 November 1777
Henry Laurens (SC) 1 November 1777 - 10 December 1778
John Jay (NY) 10 December 1778 - 28 September 1779
Samuel Huntington (CT) 28 September 1779 - 10 July 1781
Thomas McKean (DE) 10 July 1781 - 5 November 1781
John Hanson (MD) 5 November 1781 - 4 November 1782
Elias Boudinot (NJ) 4 November 1782 - 3 November 1783
Thomas Mifflin (PA) 3 November 1783 - 30 November 1784
Richard Henry Lee (VA) 30 November 1784 - 23 November 1785
John Hancock (MA) 23 November 1785 - 29 May 1786
Nathaniel Gorham (MA) 6 June 1786 - 2 February 1787
Arthur St. Clair (PA) 2 February 1787 - 22 January 1788
Cyrus Griffin (VA) 22 January 1788 - 2 March 1789

Cheers!

BB

[goby]

FOUL!!!!

First the question is way too difficult. I don't think a History professor could name more than one or two, and certainly not all fourteen .


Second, the answer comes straight from the internet, which is yet another foul. Dead Presidents: Before Washington

Come on, lets have fun and play by the rules.

[goby]

I really think this could be fun.... So I'll throw a question that's a little more difficult, but with a hint or two.....

Name one of two famous persons who died on November 22, 1963.....

Here are the hints:

1. Neither was the President of the US.
2. Both Authors are from UK/Ireland
3. Its not the Lord of the Ring guy, but you're close
4. One liked to hitchhike
5. Screw.......

Both had the bad fortune of dying on the same day JFK did, and got a lousy obit and poor press coverage.

[coldsteal2]

There is a little Autistic kid that can name all the presidents

YouTube - Our Autistic son Tyler names all of the 43 Presidents


I cant

[b-squared]

Originally Posted by goby

FOUL!!!!

First the question is way too difficult. I don't think a History professor could name more than one or two, and certainly not all fourteen .


Second, the answer comes straight from the internet, which is yet another foul. Dead Presidents: Before Washington

Come on, lets have fun and play by the rules.

Hey--

Ask a question that a Harvard history professor can't even answer, and you get Googled...

BB

[b-squared]

That question is a bit too difficult to be called trivia, isn't it?

I'd bet about 98% of us had to Google it (or look in the Amazon.com Brainy History section...BTW, I share a birthday with "The Rocket," and Obama was born exactly one year before me, and Marilyn Monroe died the night I was born)

I think you're going to have to dumb it down a bit...and I'm no slouch myself... ("Don't sell yourself short, judge; you're a tremendous slouch." -Ty Webb [Chevy Chase])

BB

[coldsteal2]

I share my Birthday with John Lennon, Sean Lennon, John Entwistle, Jackson Browne
Peter Tosh, but different years of course

I remember when Marilyn Monroe died, i was so bummed
i was only 9 but i was still bummed.

[goby]

Well..... maybe a Harvard history professor could answer it, but a someone from Yale or Stanford.... NO WAY!

BTW, I'm a history buff and I thought there was only 1 president prior to Washington. And I forgot his name.

Originally Posted by b-squared

Hey--

Ask a question that a Harvard history professor can't even answer, and you get Googled...

BB