July 10, 2008 question

Hillary Clinton was 45 when she became First Lady of the United States, but she was 31 when she first became First Lady . . . of Arkansas. And since everyone's guesses ranged from 41 to 43, I don't know whether to give credit to people closer to 45 or closer to 31. As a result, no credit! That's right. I'm hurt that as a group you have tossed Ms. Clinton to the side of the road and forgotten all about her illustrious history as a lawmaker and mover & shaker in Arkansas. You're all in time out.



Okay. Time out's over. I hope you've learned your lesson, cuz here comes some more Clintonian trivia:

What was the last election that Bill Clinton lost?

July 9, 2008 question

Dana Torres is 41 and still one of the best swimmers in the world. By way of comparison, here's today's question:

How old was Hillary Clinton when she first became First Lady?

And here's who knew about Dana's age:

H. E. (H E stands for How Elderly?)
Kristin
Julia
Jacqueline
Kyle
Steve J (the J stands for Joints Ache)
Karen M (the M stands for Making History)
Dana
Paul K (the K stands for Kicking, Still)
Heather M (the M stands for Man, I Feel Like A Woman)

Way to go. I said, WAY TO GO!

July 8, 2008 question

The theme to Sanford and Son was written and composed by Quincy Jones, the guy with more Grammy's on his shelves than anyone else in history. Islem was the only one to get it right, although I'll give partial credit to Karen H (the H stands for How Can I Not Give Credit For Somebody Quincy?).

Well, the Summer Olympics is just one month away, and I'm finding myself extremely excited for it. This is the first time son #1 will be old enough to really understand what is going on, and I think he'll absolutely eat it up. It should be a slightly better influence on him than American Gladiators is. My only fear is that his favorite event will be javelin or the hammer throw.

So now I have a few topics for possible trivia questions . . . but I'm finally settled on this one:

How old is Dana Torres, slated to become the oldest American swimmer ever to compete in the Olympics?

July 7, 2008 question

Garfield died a few months after he was shot. His shooter, Charles Guiteau, died the following July. Here's who knew:

Steve T (the T stands for The Fourth Rocks)
Kyle
Nancy K (the K stands for Kid Rock)

Now, on to today's trivia, which was revealed to me as by a dream. Except it wasn't a dream, it was the closing credits to Hancock. Here's the question:

Who wrote and performed, "Streetbeater," also known as the theme to Sanford and Son, also known as the greatest wordless song ever?

July 3, 2008 question

James A. Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau (but he swears it was in self defense), and here's who knew:

Matthias
Islem
Kyle
Karen M (the M stands for Marley Lover)

President Garfield is a wellspring of trivial abundance, so I can't stop with just one question. Here's the next one:

Who died first: President Garfield or the man who shot him?

July 2, 2008 question

Cobalt has the blues, since no one knew his number was 27. Nestled there between iron and nickel, nobody pays much attention to cobalt. Poor cobalt.

Well, since nobody knew the science question, we'll have to move on to history. Here it goes, summer school students:

Who did Charles J. Guiteau shoot at a train station on this date in 1881?

July 1, 2008 question

Whoa! Just got back from being abducted by aliens. They made me build a swing set. By the end of it, I would have preferred the usual probe regimen, but abductees can't be choosers, as the saying goes. The saying is less popular here on earth, but trust me, on the mother ship you get tired of hearing it.

Anyway, here's who knew that sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) mixed with acids of various sorts creates a little something something me and Martha S. like to call baking powder:

Islem
Karen H (the H stands for How Do You Know Martha?)
Karen M (the M stands for My Stylist Was Her Cell Mate)
Heidi

While we're on the subject of household chemistry, here's another question about the elements, as we in trivia are accustomed to covering periodically:

What is number 27 on the Periodic Table of the Elements?