National Trivia Day

Eli Manning and David Tyree were born on the same day (Jan. 3). Tyree is one year older.

 

You know that little movie disclaimer you see . . . . "All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." ?

It originated with the 1932 movie, Rasputin and the Empress.

The movie insinuated that the character Princess Natasha had been raped by Rasputin. Princess Natasha's character was supposedly intended to represent Princess Irina of Russia, and the real Princess Irina sued MGM for libel. Princess Irina and her husband Felix Yusupov were reportedly awarded $127,373 in damages by the English Court of Appeal in 1934 and $1 million in an out-of-court settlement with MGM.

To avoid further suits, the disclaimer was born.

The Yusupov Palace, BTW, was the scene of Rasputin's murder.

 

Because of digital reissues, the Beatles were the second biggest act from 2000 to 2009.

 

The last time a Republican was elected President without a Nixon or Bush on the ticket was 1928.

 

There is a word that rhymes with orange - sporange. It is a botany term that means "spore case".

 

An appropriate one, considering the Electoral College met today (from an AP story):

And the answer is ...

 

Did he get 51 percent?

 

Eisenhower

 

Yep. I thought Reagan, but in his first election, John Anderson ran and took away some popular vote.

Same thing with Clinton and Ross Perot.

 

My two Trivial Pursuit memories:

- In the Sports version, there was a question "Which st. Louis cardinals outfielder ostensibly resembles space traveler E.T.?" I carried it in my wallet for a while in high school.

- I was once playing in Lake Como, PA when a geography question, for the win, was "Where is Lake Como?" and I got it wrong because the game said Italy.

 

The way this question is written almost guarantees it was done by my old boss.

 

Lake Como is in Minnesota. Everyone knows that.