Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Free Trivia Questions And Answers From Fun Trivia

Question: What creature can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light?

Answer: Goldfish

Interesting Fact: The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light. The goldfish was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated and is still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish and water garden fish. A relatively small member of the carp family, the goldfish is a domesticated version of a dark-gray/brown carp native to East Asia. It was first domesticated in China and introduced to Europe in the late 17th century.
Goldfish may grow to a maximum length of 23 inches and a maximum weight of 9.9 pounds. The oldest recorded goldfish lived to 49 years, but most household goldfish generally live only six to eight years. A group of goldfish is known as a troubling.

Question: Do rocks grow?

Answer: Some do

Interesting Fact: Some rocks do grow. Rocks called iron-manganese crusts grow on mountains under the sea. The crusts precipitate material slowly from seawater, growing about 1 millimeter every million years. The same rate your fingernails grow every two weeks.

Question: Who invented masking tape?

Answer: Richard G. Drew for 3M

Interesting Fact: Masking tape was invented in 1925 by 3M employee Richard Drew. Drew observed auto-body workers growing frustrated when they removed butcher paper they had taped to cars they were painting. The strong adhesive on the tape peeled off some of the paint they had just applied. Touching up the damaged areas increased their costs. Drew realized the need for tape with a more gentle adhesive.

Question: Are mole's blind?

Answer: Nearly

Interesting Fact: Since moles live in underground tunnels, which they burrow, or dig, themselves, they have no need to see well. Their eyes are small, and a layer of fur and skin droops over them. Moles can be found in North America, Europe and Asia. They eat small invertebrate animals living underground. Male moles are called boars; females are called sows. A group of moles is called a labor.

Question: What percent of the body's energy does the human brain use?

Answer: 20 percent

Interesting Fact: The mature brain consumes some 20% of the energy used by the body, while the developing brain of an infant consumes around 60%.

Question: Big dinosaurs gulped these objects to aid with digestion?

Answer: Stones

Interesting Fact: Gastroliths, also known as stomach stones or gizzard stones, are rocks, which are or have been held inside the digestive tract of an animal. Among living vertebrates, gastroliths are common among herbivorous birds, crocodiles, alligators, seals and sea lions. Domestic fowl, for instance, require access to 'grit', for the purpose of food-grinding. Gastroliths are retained in the very muscular gizzard and serve the masticatory function of teeth, in an animal without suitable grinding teeth. The grain size of the gastrolith depends upon the size of the animal and its special needs. Particles as small as sand and stones the size of cobbles or greater have been found. Some extinct animals, such as sauropod dinosaurs, appear to have used stones to grind tough plant matter. Gastroliths have only rarely been found in association with fossils of theropod dinosaurs and a trituration of their food with the stones is not plausible. Aquatic animals, such as plesiosaurs, may have used them as ballast, to help balance themselves or to decrease their buoyancy, as crocodiles do. More research is needed, to understand the function of the stones in aquatic animals. While some fossil gastroliths are rounded and polished, many stones in living birds are not polished at all. Gastroliths associated with dinosaur fossils can be several kilograms in weight. Stones swallowed by ostriches can also reach a length of more than 10 cm.

Find more free trivia questions and answers at http://triviabydawggone.com/

Saturday, December 15, 2007

General Knowledge Quiz Questions From The QuizQueen

Question: What is a blue moon?

Answer: Second full moon in a calendar month

Interesting Fact: 'Once in a Blue Moon' is a common way of saying not very often, but what exactly is a Blue Moon? According to the popular definition, it is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month. The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, while the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days. This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons, though it does sometimes happen. On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.

Question: Where was chess invented?

Answer: India

Interesting Fact: The invention of Chess has been attributed to the Indians by the Persians. Abu al-Hasan 'Ali al-Mas'udi, an early Islam historian, provided scholarly details of the game as it was played in India and Persia. He details the use of chess as a tool for warfare strategy, mathematical calculations, gambling and even its vague association with astronomy. Mas'udi notes that Ivory was chiefly used for the production of chess and backgammon pieces, and asserts that the game was introduced from India to Persia along with the book Kelileh va Demneh during the reign of Persian emperor Anushirwan.

Question: What was Gatorade named for?

Answer: University of Florida Gators football team

Interesting Fact: Gatorade was created by Drs. Robert Cade, Mandel Dequesada, Alex DeQuesada, Dana Shires and Jim Free at the University of Florida in 1965 for the school’s football team and named after the university’s athletic nickname, the Gators. Cade entered into an agreement with the Indianapolis-based fruit and vegetable canning company Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce the product, which he had already patented.

Question: Why do whales spout?

Answer: To Breath

Interesting Fact: All whales have to surface to breath and when they exhale they produce a "spout" of moist, warm air from blowholes on the top of their heads. The different whale species can be distinguished by the size and shape of their spout.

Question: Who thought of Daylight Savings Time?

Answer: William Willett

Interesting Fact: Traditionally, Americans adjusted their hours to fit changes in daylight. Farmers, as well as railroads, steamship lines, shops, and factories changed their hours of operation seasonally. These seasonal schedules declined after American railroads implemented standard time zones in 1883. In 1907, an English builder and golfer named William Willett proposed the basic outline of what became daylight saving time. His plan found ready ears in the United States.

Question: What is the longest insect?

Answer: Giant Stick Insect

Interesting Fact: Giant stick insects are some of the longest insects in the world. In fact, the longest insect on record is a stick insect of the species Pharnacia kirbyi, found living in the rainforests of Borneo, and it can grow up to 20 inches long.


Find more general knowledge quiz questions and free trivia questions and answers at http://funtriviaonline.com/

Monday, December 10, 2007

General Knowledge Quiz Questions From Fun Trivia

Question: Who were ziggurats?

Answer: Stepped towers or temple towers

Interesting Fact: A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.

Question: Who wrote Bambi?

Answer: Siegmund Salzmann aka Felix Salten

Interesting Fact: Bambi, ein Leben im Walde (Bambi, A Life in the Woods) is a book by Felix Salten, first printed in 1923. Bambi is the name of the main character, a male roe deer beginning life as a fawn, then an adolescent spike, and finally a buck. Felix Salten was the pen-name of Siegmund Salzmann, who was born in Budapest, Hungary but grew up in Vienna, Austria. The book was translated from German into English by Whittaker Chambers, who needed to supplement his income while working at a Communist newspaper. Felix Salten wrote a sequel, entitled Bambi's Children.

Question: What percent of its life does an albatross spend gliding?

Answer: 90 percent

Interesting Fact: Albatrosses are among the most spectacular gliders of all birds; in windy weather they can stay aloft for hours without flapping their wings. They drink seawater and usually eat squid. Albatrosses come ashore only to breed, in colonies typically established on remote oceanic islands. Adults of common species attain wingspans of 7 – 11 feet. Albatrosses live long and may be among the few birds to die of old age. They were once held in awe by seamen, who held that killing one would bring bad luck.

Question: What is the world?s smallest primate?

Answer: lesser mouse lemur

Interesting Fact: These are 1 ounce in size and are nocturnal, with correspondingly large eyes, and essentially arboreal, with relatively long tails. The tarsal bones in the heel region of the foot are mildly elongated. The fur is dense and woolly in all species. As a general rule, species inhabiting the eastern rainforest tend to be rufous (reddish brown) in dorsal coloration, while those living in the dryer forests in the west are grayer. In all species, the ventral fur is considerably lighter and varies from white through cream to yellowish brown. The external ears (pinnae) are relatively large and, in some species, very conspicuous.

Question: In September 1925 what safety feature was added to London streets?

Answer: White lines to mark the center of the road

Interesting Fact: The idea of painting a centre white line was first experimented in 1921 in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. Following complaints by residents over reckless driving and several collisions, the Sutton Coldfield Corporation decided to paint the line on Maney Corner in the area of Maney.

Question: How many different kinds of animals are represented in animal crackers?

Answer: 37

Interesting Fact: Animal shaped crackers, first produced in 1902 by National Biscuit Co. as Barnum's animal crackers.

Find more interesting facts and free trivia questions and answers at http://trivialtopics.net/

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Interesting Facts By Trivial Topics

Question: What was the first animal to fly in a manmade device?

Answer: If you answered a sheep, duck, rooster or dog you were right!

Interesting Fact: A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon.

Question: What is the fastest creature in the sea?

Answer: Sailfish

Interesting Fact: The fastest fish is the Cosmopolitan Sailfish. It swims at about 109kms an hour! Sailfish are found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with different scientific names assigned to the fish in either ocean (Pacific - Istiophorus albicans; Atlantic - Istiophorus platypterus). However, scientists now believe that these fish are actually the same species, the only difference being the ocean in which they live and their size - the Pacific ocean sailfish tend to grow significantly larger (up to 10 feet).

Question: What is the wettest place in the world?

Answer: Cherrapunji, India

Interesting Fact: It's ironic that the wettest place in the world manages to thirst for water each winter when no rain falls at all for months at a time. The type of weather phenomenon that brings so much rain to this part of the world is called the monsoons. Monsoons are seasonal winds that blow from one direction for approximately six months, bringing torrential rains, and then blow from the opposite direction for the remaining six months, during which little rain falls.

Question: What was the original meaning of third world?

Answer: Less developed countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America

Interesting Fact: The Third World is a term used, along with First World and Second World, to broadly categorise the nations of the Earth to three social, political, and economic divisions. Economist Alfred Sauvy coined the term Third World in referring to countries currently called either "developing" or "under-developed", especially in Latin America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia, that were unaligned with either the Communist Soviet bloc or the Capitalist NATO bloc during the Cold War (1945–1989). Today, Third World is synonymous with all countries in the developing world, regardless of their political status.

Question: Who invented the Frisbee?

Answer: Walter Fredrick Morrison

Interesting Fact:The Frisbie Baking Company (1871-1958) of Bridgeport, Connecticut, made pies that were sold to many New England colleges. Hungry college students soon discovered that the empty pie tins could be tossed and caught, providing endless hours of game and sport. In 1948, a Los Angeles building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison invented a plastic version of the Frisbie that could fly further and with better accuracy than a tin pie plate. Morrison produced a plastic Frisbie called the Pluto Platter, to cash in on the growing popularity of UFOs with the American public. The Pluto Platter has become the basic design for all Frisbies. The outer third of the Frisbie disc is called the 'Morrison Slope', listed in the patent. Rich Knerr and A.K. 'Spud' Melin were the owners of a new toy company called 'Wham-O' which marketed the Hula-Hoop, Super Ball and Water Wiggle. They convinced Morrison to sell them the rights to his design. Morrison received over one million dollars in royalties for his invention.

Question: Which is our nearest star? (after the sun)

Answer: Proxima Centauri

Interesting Fact: Proxima Centauri is the nearest known star to the sun, at a distance of about 4.2 light years. It is an intrinsically faint red star, more than ten magnitudes (ten thousand times) fainter than the Sun. It is also much cooler, with a surface temperature of about 3100 C. Its visual (apparent) magnitude is eleven, so it is only visible with a good telescope, and only then from southern latitudes. Proxima is about one-tenth the mass of the sun, which accounts for its low surface temperature. It is possibly an outlying member of the triple alpha Centauri system just a few light days closer to us than the other, much brighter stars in the group.

Question: Where did Hershey kisses get their name?

Answer: From the machine “kissing” the conveyor belt

Interesting Fact: Hershey kisses were first introduced in 1907. While it's not known exactly how Hershey kisses got their name, it is a popular theory that the candy was named for the sound or motion of the chocolate being deposited during the manufacturing process.

Question: What color must gondolas in Venice, Italy, be painted?

Answer: Black

Interesting Fact: During the black plague all gondolas were painted black to signify morning of the dead.Before that time they were painted all colors.

Question: What are the origins of the word "testify"?

Answer: Men swore in Roman courts by swearing on their testicles

Interesting Fact: The origins of the word testimony and testify are closely related to that of testis. Some historians believe that the Romans placed their right hands on their testicles and swore by them before giving a testimony. This is part of the reasons that eunuchs and women weren't allowed to testify in in court. It is documented Roman law though that no man could bear witness unless he possessed both testes.

Deanna Mascle shares more interesting facts and free trivia questions at http://www.squidoo.com/triviateaser/

Monday, November 19, 2007

Free Trivia Questions From Fun Trivia

Question: What is the heaviest snake?

Answer: Anaconda

Interesting Fact: There is a lot of controversy over which snake holds the world's record for massive size. The dimensions that have earned the anaconda the title of king is its total body mass or weight. While the Asiatic Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus) holds the world's record for length of a snake, with the longest ever measured at 33 feet, the girth of the anaconda is far bigger. Anacondas in the jungles of South America can grow as big around as a grown man!

Question: Who first patented chewing gum?

Answer: Amos Tyler

Interesting Fact: On July 27, 1869, Amos Tyler received the first patent in the United States for chewing gum. Although chewing gum had existed for thousands of years, Tyler, a resident of Toledo, Ohio, was the first person to patent it in the United States. Tyler's gum consisted of white rosin and olive oil, which he heated and mixed thoroughly. After the mixture cooled, it had a white color. Then, Tyler cut his product into sticks and packaged each strip individually. There is no evidence that Tyler ever sold his gum commercially, although he probably at least had a local market for it in Toledo.

Question: When did the Peanuts comic strip first include Snoopy?

Answer: Oct. 4, 1950

Interesting Fact: Originally a minor figure, Snoopy grew to become the strip's best-known character. His quirks were famous: sleeping on top of his doghouse, pretending he was a WWI airplane pilot or Foreign Legionnaire (in costume), showing the ropes to his bird friend, Woodstock, and even playing shortstop on Charlie Brown's sandlot baseball team.

Question: Who discovered aspirin?

Answer: Edmund Stone

Interesting Fact: The compound from which the active ingredient in aspirin was first derived, salicylic acid, was found in the bark of a willow tree in 1763 by Reverend Edmund Stone of Chipping-Norton, England. (The bark from the willow tree—Salix Alba—contains high levels of salicin, the glycoside of salicylic acid.) Earlier accounts indicate that Hippocrates of ancient Greece used willow leaves for the same purpose—to reduce fever and relieve the aches of a variety of illnesses.

Question: How did junk email come to be known as Spam?

Answer: Monty Python “spam” skit

Interesting Fact: Yes, Monty Python and not that mysterious meat product we usually associate with that word. In this popular skit by the British comedy troupe Monty Python, a group of Vikings dining in a restaurant sing "Spam, spam, spam" repeatedly, annoying the other patrons and making conversation difficult. Gee, wonder what that has in common with junk email?

Question: How long is a Giant Anteater's tongue?

Answer: 23 inches

Interesting Fact: The great anteater, or ant bear (Myrmecophaga), has an elongated, almost cylindrical head and snout, a long sticky tongue, a coarse-haired body about 4 feet long, and a long, broad tail. The large, sharp claws on the forefeet are weapons of defense and are used to open the hard earth mounds of termites and ants, which are then picked up on the saliva-coated tongue. The tongue extends to a length of nearly 2 feet.

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Interesting Facts From Trivial Topics

Question: How do honey bees communicate?

Answer: Dance

Interesting Fact: The ability of honeybees to communicate direction and distance from the hive to nectar sources through dance "language" has received widespread attention. In 1973, Karl von Frisch received a Nobel Prize for deciphering the language.

Question: What is the deepest lake in the world?

Answer: Lake Baikal

Interesting Fact: Lake Bakail is not only deepest lake in the world; it is also the oldest and most voluminous in the entire world! It lies in Southern Siberia in Russia between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast near the city of Irkutsk.

Question: Who invented blue jeans?

Answer: Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss

Interesting Fact: Levi Strauss invent blue jeans?

For Profit: Levi Strauss ran a successful dry goods business in San Francisco.
One of his customers was a tailor named Jacob Davis who hit upon the idea of putting metal rivets at the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly, to prevent his workman customers from ripping out their pockets. The riveted pants were a hit with his customers and so he worried that someone might steal the idea. But he didn't have the $68 necessary to file a patent. Levi Strauss saw the potential for this new product and agreed to partner with Davis. On May 20, 1873, the two men received patent no.139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That day is now considered to be the official "birthday" of blue jeans.

Question: Where did Legos originate?

Answer: Denmark

Interesting Fact: Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. These miniatures then inspired him to begin producing toys. It was in 1934 that the company name Lego was coined. A staff contest, offering a bottle of homemade wine as a prize, resulted in "Lego", a self-made contraction from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well." Later the Lego Group discovered that "Lego" can be loosely interpreted as "I put together" or "I assemble" in Latin. It was not until the 1947 that the Lego company first investigated selling interlocking plastic bricks.

Question: What is the largest city in the world?

Answer: Shanghai, China

Interesting Fact: Shanghai, China, is the largest city in the world with its population of 13.3 million within the recognized city limits. The largest metropolitan area is Toyko, Japan, at 31.2 million.

Question: How many teeth do elephants have?

Answer: Four

Interesting Fact: Their tusks (or for Asian females, tushes) are the incisive. Behind are the molars, flat and "mill-like", one in each upper and lower jaw, making a total of four. Most mammals have a set of baby teeth that eventually fall out and are replaced by adult teeth, which they keep for their entire lives. Elephants are different, however. They go through six sets of large, brick-like teeth that grow in at the back of their mouths and slowly move to the front as they are worn down. The teeth then fall out and are replaced by fresh ones.

Deanna Mascle shares more interesting facts and trivial topics at http://trivialtopics.net

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Alaskan Adventure Trivia Questions And Answers

1. Which state is the largest in the union?
A. Alaska
B. Texas
C. California
D. Hawaii

A. Alaska
TOPICS: That’s with a land area of 570,374 square miles!

2. What is Alaska’s position relative to the United States?
A. It lies along the northern boundary of the 50 contiguous states
B. It is separated from the other mainland states by British Columbia, Canada
C. It is an island like Hawaii
D. It lies in the exact center of mainland United States

B. It is separated from the other mainland states by British Columbia, Canada
TOPICS: Gosh, I certainly hope no North Americans guessed it lies in the exact center of the U.S.!

3. In 1959, Alaska was admitted to the Union. What state was it?
A. 50th
B. 49th
C. 40th
D. 1st

B. 49th
TOPICS: It was admitted as the 49th state in 1959

4. Who did the United States buy Alaska from in 1867?
A. Spain
B. Britain
C. France
D. Russia

D. Russia
TOPICS: The territory was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000. At different times, the Russians, the Spanish, the British, and the French all tried to lay claim to part or all of Alaska.

5. What is the capital of Alaska?
A. Anchorage
B. Sitka
C. Juneau
D. Nome

C. Juneau
TOPICS: Juneau is the capital and Anchorage the largest city. There are plans to move the capital to Willow, near Anchorage.

6. When the Alaskan territory was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000 it was known as Seward’s Folly (after Secretary of State William H. Seward, who negotiated the purchase). What changed that perception?
A. Gold
B. Fur
C. World War II
D. Free land

A. Gold
TOPICS: The territory was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000 and was known as Seward's Folly (after Secretary of State William H. Seward, who negotiated the purchase) until gold was discovered in the late 1800's.

7. Who originally discovered Alaska?
A. Russians
B. Danes
C. Siberians
D. English

C. Siberians
TOPICS: Experts agree that America was discovered by Siberian hunters, ancestors of most of the present-day Native Americans, who were following Ice Age mammals into Alaska.

8. The name Alaska is believed to be derived from an Aleut word meaning…
A. Cold
B. Light
C. Dark
D. Mainland

D. Mainland
TOPICS: The name Alaska is probably derived from an Aleut word meaning “mainland.”

9. Of the major volcanoes active during the 20th century in North America, how many were located in Alaska?
A. 0
B. 7
C. 27
D. 100

B. 7
TOPICS: That’s right, there are volcanoes in Alaska! It seems the Alaska Range is full of them.

10. What is a bidarka?
A. A kayak
B. A sled
C. A dog
D. An alcoholic drink

A. A kayak
TOPICS: A one- or two-hole kayak used by the Aleut and various Alaskan Eskimo groups.

11. When was the first Idiatrod Trail Sled Race run?
A. 1888
B. 1901
C. 1956
D. 1973

D. 1973
TOPICS: The inaugural Idiatrod Trail Sled Race was won by Alaskan Dick Wilmarth, who covered the 1,158 mile course from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska in 20 days 49 min 41 sec.

12. The Malaspina Glacier, at the foot of Mount Saint Elias, in Alaska covers an area larger than what state?
A. Rhode Island
B. New York
C. Kentucky
D. Texas

A. Rhode Island
TOPICS: The Malaspina Glacier, at the foot of Mount Saint Elias, covers an area larger than Rhode Island.

13. After the United States acquired Alaska how was it governed?
A. The law of the wild
B. Frontier law
C. Military rule
D. Civil law

C. Military rule
TOPICS: General Jefferson C. Davis, the U.S. Army commander in Alaska, became the virtual ruler of the new acquisition. Congress extended the laws governing commerce and navigation to Alaska and prohibited the importation, manufacture, and sale of liquor. Nothing was done to establish a civil government, and for 17 years, until 1884, Alaska remained under military rule.

14. Alaska was organized as a territory on Aug. 24, 1912, but when did it enter the union?
A. Aug. 25, 1912
B. Jan. 1, 1913
C. Aug. 24, 1913
D. Jan. 3, 1959

D. Jan. 3, 1959
TOPICS: This might be a hard question unless you knew Alaska was one of the last states admitted to the union—49th in fact!

Deanna Mascle shares more free trivia questions and answers plus interesting facts at http://atriviabreak.net