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.
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1) What classic horror movie holds the record for filming the most takes in a dialogue scene?
2) When the US Army landed in North Africa in World War II, along with the troops and equipment that were brought, they also set up three complete manufacturing plants to keep troops supplied with this non-military product.
3) A comic book was purchased at auction for $3.2 million dollars, making it the most valuable comic to date. It broke the previous record of $2.1 million for another copy of the same comic. Which super hero was featured in the comic?
4) Are these two pictures man-made works of art, or naturally occurring substances?
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/5350099322bcb.jpeg
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/535007db8a14b.jpeg
5) When Allied soldiers invaded Normandy in World War II, soldiers from what Asian nation were captured as part of the German army defending the beaches?
6) True or False: The largest flower in the world also produces the sweetest naturally produced substance, equivalent to a mixture that is 90% sucrose. Syrup comes in around 15% sucrose.
7) The largest uninhabited island in the world is part of which nation?
8) How many nations did Germany declare war on during World War II?
a) 1
b) 5
c) 12
d) 15
9) There exist only six signatures still in existence by this very well known writer, giving them a value of around $3 million dollars each according to Daily Finance. Who is the writer?
10) In what decade did the last confirmed instances take place of WWII Japanese soldiers still holding out, either unaware or not accepting that Japan's surrender had taken place?
a) 1950s
b) 1960s
c) 1970s
d) 1980s
e) 1990s
11) For nearly 45 years, singer Don Mclean refused to acknowledge or explain the meaning of most of the lyrics to his popular song "American Pie", though he finally did so in 2015 when the original manuscript was sold at auction. Up until that point, he had only clarified the exact meaning of a single line of the song. Which line?
12) Why do we call it a "grandfather clock"?
13) What well-known female celebrity was meant to be named after a Biblical figure, but had her name misspelled on her birth certificate?
14) In the Disney movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", actor Johnny Depp modeled his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow after a famous musician. The musician later made an appearance in one of the sequels. Name the musician.
15) A "Lunar month" is the time it takes the Moon to pass through each of it's phases (new moon, half, full moon) and return to the original phase. Which is longer, a Lunar month, or the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth once?
a) Lunar month
b) Lunar orbit
c) they are the same
16) Though this pair of movie characters are considered close buddies and have appeared in more than a half dozen films spanning nearly 4 decades, the actors that portray them do not get along. In fact one branded the other as "the rudest man I ever met". Who are the movie characters?
Links to previous useless trivia:
#1
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#5
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#8
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#10
#11
#12
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1) What classic horror movie holds the record for filming the most takes in a dialogue scene?
The Shining. There were 127 takes in the scene where actress Shelley Duval's character is holding off Jack Nicholson's character with a baseball bat. Anothe pair of scenes in the film required 80 takes and 50-60 takes. The filming of the entire movie was traumatic for Duval. She was frequently exhausted and dehydrated from how much crying she had to do in the scenes, and the actress reportedly began to lose her hair during the filming. Jack Nicholson was allegedly so disgusted with what Duval was put through that he vowed to never work with director Stanley Kubrick again.
2) When the US Army landed in North Africa in World War II, along with the troops and equipment that were brought, they also set up three complete manufacturing plants to keep troops supplied with this non-military product.
Coca-Cola
3) A comic book was purchased at auction for $3.2 million dollars, making it the most valuable comic to date. It broke the previous record of $2.1 million for another copy of the same comic. Which super hero was featured in the comic?
Superman, in Action Comics No.1.
4) Are these two pictures man-made works of art, or naturally occurring substances?
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/5350099322bcb.jpeg
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/535007db8a14b.jpeg
Naturally occurring substances. They are both bismuth crystals. Found all over the world, bismuth is a chemical element which is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery white color when freshly produced, but is often seen in air with a pink tinge owing to surface oxidation.
5) When Allied soldiers invaded Normandy in World War II, soldiers from what Asian nation were captured as part of the German army defending the beaches?
Korea. The Koreans, documented in a book by historian Stephen Ambrose, had been captured and conscripted into the Japanese army, but were later captured by the Russians. The Russians pressed them into service as well, until they were captured by the Germans who then forced them to serve in the Wehrmacht. The Americans held them as prisoners of War rather than forcing them to fight for yet another nation.
6) True or False: The largest flower in the world also produces the sweetest naturally produced substance, equivalent to a mixture that is 90% sucrose. Syrup comes in around 15% sucrose.
False. Really false. The world's largest flower is the Rafflesia, native to Indonesia. Rather than luring insects with a sweet smell, it instead lures them with a smell akin to that of rotting flesh. The flower can grow to 4-5 feet across and weigh as much as 22 pounds.
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/53500d0522967.jpeg
http://www.emlii.com/images/article/2014/04/53500d0522967.jpeg
7) The largest uninhabited island in the world is part of which nation?
Canada. Devon Island is 21,000 square miles but has no inhabitants.
http://www.technology.org/texorgwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/formation-geologie-devon-Island-Canada-svg-large-600x509.png
http://www.technology.org/texorgwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/formation-geologie-devon-Island-Canada-svg-large-600x509.png
8) How many nations did Germany declare war on during World War II?
a) 1
b) 5
c) 12
d) 15
a) Only one, the United States. Germany invaded at least 9 nations but did so without declarations of war.
9) There exist only six signatures still in existence by this very well known writer, giving them a value of around $3 million dollars each according to Daily Finance. Who is the writer?
William Shakespeare
10) In what decade did the last confirmed instances take place of WWII Japanese soldiers still holding out, either unaware or not accepting that Japan's surrender had taken place?
a) 1950s
b) 1960s
c) 1970s
d) 1980s
e) 1990s
c) The 1970s. 4 different Japanese soldiers were either killed, surrendered or were relieved from duty by former commanding officers between 1972 and 1974. Though there were some reports of sightings from the 1980s and 1990s (including past evidence of a holdout but no sign of the soldier himself), none have been reliably confirmed and investigators believed some may have been stories invented to attract Japanese tourists.
11) For nearly 45 years, singer Don Mclean refused to acknowledge or explain the meaning of most of the lyrics to his popular song "American Pie", though he finally did so in 2015 when the original manuscript was sold at auction. Up until that point, he had only clarified the exact meaning of a single line of the song. Which line?
The line "February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver." McLean confirmed that at age 13 on February 4, 1959, he was folding newspapers for his paper route when he first learned about Buddy Holly's death.
12) Why do we call it a "grandfather clock"?
The name was adopted after the popularity of the 1876 song, "Grandfather's clock", by Henry Clay Work about such a clock owned by his grandfather.
13) What well-known female celebrity was meant to be named after a Biblical figure, but had her name misspelled on her birth certificate?
Oprah Winfrey, who was meant to be named Orpah after Ruth's sister.
14) In the Disney movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", actor Johnny Depp modeled his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow after a famous musician. The musician later made an appearance in one of the sequels. Name the musician.
Keith Richards. Richards played Jack's father in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
15) A "Lunar month" is the time it takes the Moon to pass through each of it's phases (new moon, half, full moon) and return to the original phase. Which is longer, a Lunar month, or the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth once?
a) Lunar month
b) Lunar orbit
c) they are the same
a) a Lunar month. A Lunar month (29.53 days) is actually longer than a Lunar orbit (27.3 days). The Lunar month ends when, from our perspective on Earth, the Moon appears to again reach its original position relative to both the Earth and Sun. But since the Earth and Moon both orbited the Sun during that time it affects where the shadow falls from our perspective on Earth. It takes an extra 2.2 days for the Moon to "catch up" to that change and seem to be back in its original phase.
16) Though this pair of movie characters are considered close buddies and have appeared in more than a half dozen films spanning nearly 4 decades, the actors that portray them do not get along. In fact one branded the other as "the rudest man I ever met". Who are the movie characters?
C-3PO and R2-D2. The comment was made by R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker about Anthony Daniels, the actor who portrays C-3PO. Daniels fired back, after the opening of The Force Awakens mentioned the two as being the only ones to appear in every Star Wars movie, saying Baker is not actually on the set and his name is included in the credits as sort of "a good luck charm".
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