Jeopardy! - Mixed Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: What are the ridges on corduroy called?

Other names for corduroy include Manchester, Corded Velveteen, Rib Velvet, and Poor Man's Velvet. It is in fact a form of velvet, being made in the same way, by adding ridges of fibres to already woven material.

The higher the number of wales per inch, the finer the cloth. Popular wale size ranges include Jumbo (aka Elephant) Cord at 4 thick ridges per inch, and Pinwale (aka Pinhead) at 21 thin ridges per inch, but standard size is about 11 wales.

No one is sure where the words "wale" or "corduroy" come from. The modern material was first made in Manchester, UK, in the 18th century where it seems there was already a woollen material used for men's trousers which were called "duroys" and the word "cord" may have been simply added to that.

There is a theory that "wale", used also in knitting, comes from Anglo-Saxon terminology. Likewise, it is often claimed that corduroy comes from French "cord du roi" (cord of the king) but no evidence of either etymology exists.

Answer: What is the official sport of Maryland?

In 1962, Maryland became the first state in the United States to adopt an official state sport. Why jousting though?

The first governor of the Maryland colony was Englishman George Calvert, the Baron of Baltimore, namesake of Baltimore City. He had desires to set up an American colony, was given land by King Charles I in 1632, but died before he could take control and his sons instead took over. It was through them that jousting was introduced to the colony as a sport.

Jousting was popular in medieval England but had begun to wane by the 17th century due to its high injury rate. It was outright banned in France in 1559 after the death of King Henri II who suffered a splintered lance's spear to the eye and died of sepsis.

Jousting just about hung on in though in Maryland as a niche equestrian sport and changed to a non-combat tournament where the aim is to get the lance through a ring like a curtain ring, suspended on rope about 7ft from the ground.

In the 1960s efforts were still made to perform in full medieval regalia but nowadays it is normal for competitors to wear just jeans and t-shirt. This mainly recreational sport is now known as either jousting, ring jousting, or ring tournament, and the annual national championship is open to all ages and backgrounds.

Answer: Which famous doll's middle name is Sean and last name is Carsons?

Kenneth Sean Carsons aka Ken is the great friend of Barbie Millicent Roberts aka Barbie - both dolls were named after the inventors' children. Ken was created by Mattel in 1961 just 2 years after Barbie, and like Barbie he has been through several image changes including job positions as life guard, astronaut, and barista.

In 1973, Mattel introduced the first Ken with rooted hair - Mod Hair Ken. He came with detachable sideburns, stick on beard, and two styles of changeable moustache. Totally dreamy!

If you picked Joe thinking of GI Joe, he has contacted me and asked it to be pointed out that he is not a doll but an action figure. Then he swivelled his eagle eyes and left. Cool guy.

Answer: What is the weight of the Oscar statuette (Academy Award) in pounds?

The Oscar is made of solid bronze, plated in 24 carat gold. It stands 13.5 inches tall, and weighs 8.5lbs (3.8 kg) which is the approximate weight of a new baby or a cat or a labrador puppy or a gallon of milk.

The Oscar design is the original 1929 design of a knight standing on a reel of film. The knight holds a crusader's sword to signify that winners are crusaders of the industry. The reel has 5 spokes to represent the five original branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians, and writers. Its official name is the Academy Award of Merit.

Answer: What would you find at zero degrees longtitude, zero degrees latitude?

This intersection is where the equator and prime meridian meet. It falls in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Guinea, a tropical area south of Ghana, and west of Gabon, Africa. The Gulf is on the western edge of the African tectonic plate. According to continental drift theory, this could be where South America and Africa were once joined.

Although there is nothing to see there but water, the spot is marked with a buoy which records weather data, and Natural Earth GIS Data has created an imaginary island to put at the 0,0 location. It is called Null Island.

Answer: What is the name of the camel on Camel Cigarettes?

Camel cigarettes has had a camel known as Ole Joe on its packaging since it began in 1913. A camel was chosen because it seemed exotic and the tobacco was Turkish. The first drawing was of a real camel called Old Joe that was with the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The cartoonish "Joe Camel" was a new character originally created for the French market to sell camel cigarettes in the 70s and 80s. He became popular worldwide and merchandise was available that even appealed to kids. In 1991 a survey proved that six year old children recognised him as easily as they recognised the Disney Channel logo - about 90% of the kids recognised him - and that teenagers recognised him more than adults did. This led to a series of lawsuits being threatened against the cigarette company for targeting children specifically, which they denied, but rather than face a trial the company agreed to withdraw the character.

Answer: How deep is the standard golf hole, in inches?

There is no official maximum depth of a golf hole (or cup) but at standard minimum it must be 4 inches deep to prevent the ball bouncing back out. It is usually no more than 6 inches. The diameter must always be strictly 4.25 inches but reasons are unknown, it was the size of the hole cutter in 1829 so perhaps just became tradition.

These rules are agreed upon by golf's two biggest governing bodies, the USGA and the R&A (St. Andrew's), the latter body being the world's oldest golf club which created the official rule in 1891.

There is regular discussion about changing these measurements. The small size places huge emphasis on putting skill. A wider diameter would allow big hitters to rise higher in the game as well as potentially speed up the game. Diameters as wide as 15 inches have been suggested, but not to wide applause.

At the current small size, there is a difficult 12,500 to 1 chance of an amateur making a Hole-in-One (getting the ball in the hole with just one hit). That lowers to a still difficult 2,500 to 1 for professional golfers. Tiger Woods got his first Hole-in-One when he was just 8 years old!

Answer: What sport was named after the place in which it was first invented?

Legend has it that a schoolboy in a soccer aka football game in 1823 picked up the ball in excitement and ran with it to the goal.

Rugby school and Rugby town are located halfway between London and Birmingham, and halfway between Oxford and Cambridge. There you can visit the plaque at the schoolgate that reads:

"This stone commemorates the exploit of William Webb Ellis who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time first took the ball in his arms and ran with it thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game. AD 1823."

Soon the new game gained popularity and a set of rules known as the Rugby Style Game, began to develop. In 1851, a rugby ball, made especially by the shoemakers in Rugby town, was exhibited to the world at the Great Exhibition held in London. By 1870 the game had gone all around the world, even reaching New Zealand.

From thence it grew to include league rules, union rules, women's rules, and to having over 8 million players registered in over 120 countries. England has by far the most players with over 2 million, and South Africa the second highest number at over 800,000.

200 years later, the 2023 Men's Rugby World Cup was won by South Africa and they were awarded the now traditional trophy known as The Webb Ellis Cup.

Meanwhile the town and the sport of Rugby held bicentennial celebrations including a reenactment of the original Webb Ellis game.

Answer: What's the oldest known combat sport in the world?

Wrestling may be as old as the human race- or older!

Depictions of wrestling have been found in c15000 BC paleolithic cave art in the Lascaux Caves, France, neolithic caves in Mongolia, Ancient Egyptian tombs, and on Bronze Age statues in Persia.

Sumo wrestling in Japan is first noted in 23 BC, the Romans borrowed some moves from the Greeks who turned it into an Olympic sport, and the Guinness Book of Records cites Kirkpinar, a 14th century Turkish oil-wrestling tournament, as the world's longest running athletic competition.

The festival is still held to this day. Each year about 2000 men compete for the title of "Baspehlivan" (Chief Wrestler). If you win three years in a row you are awarded the golden belt, the highest honour possible.

Answer: How many letters are in the Hawaiian alphabet?

They are the 5 vowels a, e, i, o, u, and 8 consonants, h, k, l, m, n, p, w, and the 'okina, which is counted as a consonant.

The 'okina is written just like a single left quotation mark, as in Hawai'i. The sound an 'okina makes is a glottal stop, as in the glottal stop in the middle of "uh-oh" or "oh-oh".

It is important to know when to use it as it can change a meaning of the word quite dramatically. For example: kou means yours, but ko'u means mine.

The Hawaiian language was purely oral until westerners arrived in the form of 18th and 19th century missionaries who created a written alphabet so they could translate and teach the bible. By the end of the 19th century, though, all school lessons were taught only in English and the language began to disappear.

UNESCO designated Hawaiian as critically endangered with only about 20,000 people who can speak it, less than 2000 of whom use it as their only or main language. An effort is being made to reintroduce the language into mainstream Hawaiian culture, starting with making it the official language of Hawai'i in 1978. That's why we see the 'okina appearing more often in 21st century maps and print.

A consonant must always be followed by a vowel and Hawaiian words always end in a vowel. For example: aloha (hello) and aloha (goodbye) and aloha ahiahi (good evening).

Mahalo (thank you) for playing my quiz.