Blame Canada Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anne of Green Gables

"Anne of Green Gables" was the first book, telling the story of a brother and sister who applied to adopt an orphan. Expecting to get a boy who could help on the farm, they found themselves with a precocious young girl who insisted that her name was "Anne with an 'e'", just the way I spelled mine.

The other books are part of the 9-volume series about Anne, following her from age 11 through to about age 55. A number of film and television adaptations have been made, often incorporating material from multiple books from the series.

The book draws on Montgomery's own childhood experiences on Prince Edward Island, where the novel is set.

Answer: Jack Warner

Harry, the oldest brother, was born in Poland; Albert and Sam were born while their parents lived in Baltimore; Jack and his brother David were born during the family's two-year stay in London, Ontario before returning to Baltimore. The Warner brothers moved into film production in 1910, but did not experience much success until their production of "The Jazz Singer". Wile E. Coyote's unending faith in Acme products which always backfired, and Roadrunner's obnoxiously-triumphant "beep, beep" were part of the Warner Brothers classic 'Looney Tunes' series, seen in movies from 1930 to 1969, and on television since the 1950s.

Answer: Arthur Sicard

Growing up on a dairy farm in Quebec, Arthur Sicard decided to try to combine a thresher and a snowplow to develop an efficient way to clear roads. He built his prototype snow blower in 1925, using this concept which he had described in 1894. Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile; John M. Lyle was an architect responsible for designing, among many other buildings, the New York City Public Library (remember "Ghostbusters"?). Jack Kent Cooke owned a number of American sports franchises, including the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings and the Washington Redskins.

Answer: Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve and nephew to another Jacques Villeneuve who drove race cars, was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec in 1971. He is one of only three drivers to win the CART championship (1995), the Indianapolis 500 (1995) and the F1 championship (1997). Andretti and Fittipaldi are the others. German Michael Schumacher is a seven-time winner of the F1 championship.

Answer: Cirque du Soleil

"Cirque du Soleil" translates into English as "Circus of the Sun". Founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier, the company combines circus styles from around the world and develops programs that are dramatic and eclectic (and animal-free). Ringling Brothers is American, and Circus Oz and Silvers Circus are both Australian circuses.

Answer: Louis B. Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer was formed in 1924 when Metro Pictures (controlled by Marcus Loew), Goldwyn Pictures Corporation (controlled by Samuel Goldwyn) and Louis B. Mayer Pictures (controlled by Louis B. Mayer) merged. Louis B. Mayer was born in Minsk in 1884, moving with his family to St. John, New Brunswick when he was very young. In 1904 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and later became an American citizen.

Archibald Selwyn was the Broadway producer who joined with Samuel Goldfish, originally Schmuel Gelbfisz, in establishing Goldwyn Pictures, a name formed by combining half of each name. Goldwyn had his name legally changed to match the company name.

Answer: Sir Sandford Fleming

Sandford Fleming was not the first to make a proposal for standard international time zones, but he is usually credited with the idea because he advocated it forcefully at a number of international conventions in 1879. As well as time zones, he is known for developing Canada's postage stamp, creating a huge body of surveying records and maps, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada and the founder of the Royal Canadian Institute, a science organization in Toronto.

Hal Foster was responsible for the "Prince Valiant" cartoon series. Frank Gehry is an architect, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. John Kricfalusi created the animated show "The Ren and Stimpy Show".

Answer: James Naismith

James Naismith was born and raised in what is now Almont, Ontario. After graduating from McGill University, he was a physical education teacher in Montreal until he moved to run the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. There he developed basketball as an indoor game that would provide an appropriate winter activity for the athletes for whom he was responsible.

The other three had illustrious careers as professional basketball players.

Answer: Brantford, Ontario

Born in Edinburgh, Alexander Graham Bell moved with his family to Brantford, Ontario when he was 23. Bell patented a telephone in March of 1876. Three days later he sent a message to his assistant in an adjoining room. In August of 1876, Bell successfully received a message sent by telephone from his laboratory in Brantford to himself and witnesses in the telegraph office of Mount Pleasant, a distance of around 8 km. And so it began!

Answer: Trivial Pursuit

Trivial Pursuit is the quintessential trivia game; simple to play, requiring wide knowledge of obscure facts, and involving enough luck to give those with less arcane knowledge some chance. It has been through many versions, often thematically-based, but the essence of the game remains the same; throw the die, answer the questions, collect pieces of pie, and reign supreme.