GregR
Footballguy
A collection of mostly useless but sometimes interesting things I've come across. There are bugs with opening a lot of spoiler boxes at once. Easiest to avoid if you close each box again once you read the answer. If that doesn't work, just reload the thread and they should work again.
Links to previous useless trivia:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
1. Since commercial aviation took off in the US, there have been 4 times the skies have been kept clear of commercial and private planes by the government. The most recent was due to the attacks on 9/11/2001. What were the other three times?
2. When Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally contacted about the movie The Terminator, it was about playing the role of Reese rather than the role of the cyborg. The studio had another actor in mind to play the Terminator, but director James Cameron did not want to go with the studio's choice in part because Cameron said the actor was "this likable, goofy, kind of innocent guy". Which actor had the studio wanted?
3. How long were vehicles stuck in the longest lasting traffic jam in history?
a) 1 day
b) 3 days
c) 7 days
d) 12 days
e) 15 days
4. What book resulted from a famous author being challenged by a publisher to write a book using only 50 words?
5. What gold and jewels possessing movie character did Forbes estimate the wealth of at $8.6 billion?
6. What product name came from the words "General Purpose"?
7. A group of geese are known as a gaggle, and a group of lions are known as a pride. What group of animals make up a "grumble"?
8. What award has only been bestowed 8 times, to Henry Kissinger, Bob Hope, Karrem Abdul-Jabbar, Whoopi Goldberg, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Pope John Paul II, and Jesse Jackson?
9. The United States, Liberia and Myanmar (Burma) are believed to be the last three countries in the world to share what trait?
10. The names of all the planets in the solar system have something in common, except for the Earth. What is it?
11. When it comes to Presidential history, something unusual happened in 1841 and again in 1881. What was it?
12. As an actual unit of time, how long is a "jiffy"?
13. In 1895, Bayer marketed a new drug as a "non-addictive morphine substitute". What was its trademarked name?
14. About how many mosquitos would it take to suck all the blood out of a human body?
15. Observers of whales have sometimes noted clouds of bubbles rising from whales that don't seem to come from their blowholes, causing some people to believe they are whale farts. What are they according to researchers?
Links to previous useless trivia:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
1. Since commercial aviation took off in the US, there have been 4 times the skies have been kept clear of commercial and private planes by the government. The most recent was due to the attacks on 9/11/2001. What were the other three times?
All three occurred in the early 1960s as part of Cold War military exercises.
Airliners had to make way for waves of B-52 and B-47 bombers that were to cross from Canada into the United States and enter the continent from the coasts in a simulated Soviet nuclear attack. The three simulations, known as Sky Shield, were training exercises for the personnel, communications, and radar detection systems of North America. The plan was to make sure that the bombers were detected by radar and other early-warning systems, that interceptor and missile squadrons would be alerted and scrambled, and that the United States would remain able to strike back.
Airliners had to make way for waves of B-52 and B-47 bombers that were to cross from Canada into the United States and enter the continent from the coasts in a simulated Soviet nuclear attack. The three simulations, known as Sky Shield, were training exercises for the personnel, communications, and radar detection systems of North America. The plan was to make sure that the bombers were detected by radar and other early-warning systems, that interceptor and missile squadrons would be alerted and scrambled, and that the United States would remain able to strike back.
OJ Simpson.
a) 1 day
b) 3 days
c) 7 days
d) 12 days
e) 15 days
d)12 days.
The traffic jam took place in China on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. Trucks delivering supplies to construction meant to ease traffic congestion became blocked at the exits. The traffic jam was 62 miles long, and cars moved an average of 2 miles per day. A 109 mile long traffic jam took place in France in 1980 but did not last as long.
The traffic jam took place in China on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. Trucks delivering supplies to construction meant to ease traffic congestion became blocked at the exits. The traffic jam was 62 miles long, and cars moved an average of 2 miles per day. A 109 mile long traffic jam took place in France in 1980 but did not last as long.
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Smaug the dragon from The Hobbit. The estimate is based on the dimensions of Smaug's treasure pile. Scrooge McDuck was estimated to have $44.1 billion.
Jeep. The vehicles in World War II were marked "GP" for General Purpose.
Pugs. According to some places on the internet, the term can also be used for fishermen.
They are the only honorary members of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Have something other than the metric system as their official system of measurement.
Earth is the only planet not named for a god.
Three different men served as president in those years.
In 1841, the year started with Martin Van Buren as president. The job was then assumed by the winner of the 1840 election, William Henry Harrison. Harrison died of pneumonia 31 days after he was inaugurated, making Harrison's vice president--John Tyler--president.
In 1881, Rutherford B. Hayes started the year as president. Just as Van Buren did before him, he relinquished the office to James Garfield, who had been elected in 1880. Garfield was assassinated in 1881, making his vice president--Chester A. Arthur--president.
In 1841, the year started with Martin Van Buren as president. The job was then assumed by the winner of the 1840 election, William Henry Harrison. Harrison died of pneumonia 31 days after he was inaugurated, making Harrison's vice president--John Tyler--president.
In 1881, Rutherford B. Hayes started the year as president. Just as Van Buren did before him, he relinquished the office to James Garfield, who had been elected in 1880. Garfield was assassinated in 1881, making his vice president--Chester A. Arthur--president.
A jiffy is a millisecond, but you get full credit for alternate answers of one tick of a computer's system clock (1/100th of a second or 1/60 of a second), or the time it takes light to travel one foot in a vacuum.
Heroin
A mosquito on average will suck five millionths of a liter of blood, and there are about 5 liters of blood in the average human body. So it would take around a million mosquitos to drain all five liters from the human body.
They really are whale farts. Great big giant whale farts.