An Animated Common Bond Trivia Quiz

Answer: Homer

Racing pigeons are released at some specified point, and timed to see how long they take to get back home. Because they are not all heading to the same spot, the winner is decided based on the time taken and the distance travelled, to calculate the fastest average velocity of each bird. A special breed called the Racing Homer is used. The sport of pigeon racing really took off in the 19th century, in Belgium. One of the earlier breeds used to develop Racing Homers was the English Carrier.

In baseball, a batter who hits the ball so that it leaves the field of play without first touching the ground is said to have hit a home run, or a homer. Should this happen when there are three runners already on base and ready to score, it is called a grand slam, or just a slam.

The author of the two foundational Greek epic poems 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' is not actually known. They have been attributed to a poet named Homer (along with a number of other works that are now considered the work of others), but scholars disagree as to whether they were the work of one man, or of two different individuals, or were produced over centuries of oral tradition that simply got written down in the 8th century BCE. Nevertheless, "everyone knows" that Homer wrote them!

Answer: BART

BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit, the rail network that serves that area. It was first established in 1972 with what is now the Orange Line; subsequent expansions mean that the system covers a much larger area, with multiple lines all running through Oakland, and most of them connecting across via the Transbay Tube to San Francisco. Ongoing expansion includes the Silicon Valley BART extension, bringing Santa Clara into the system as originally planned (but not approved by local governments at the time).

Answer: Mona Lisa

The Renaissance painting 'Mona Lisa', from Leonardo da Vinci, is famous for its ambiguous elements. This made it an appropriate reference to be used by songwriters Ray Evans and Jay Livingston when they were writing a song for the 1949 motion picture 'Captain Carey, U.S.A.' to establish the relationship between the lead character and the lover he thought had died, but who is now married to an influential man. The song, which won an Academy Award for Best Original song, was sung in the film by bandleader Charlie Spivak.

"Are you warm? Are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?"

Nat King Cole released a cover version as the B-side of a 1950 single ('The Greatest Inventor of Them All' was the A-side), but it became the big hit, spending five weeks on top of the charts. It has since been covered many times, and adapted into a variety of genres, but Nat King Cole's re-recording of the song in stereo remains for many the definitive version.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, DStJ, PC, FRS, HonFRSC (to use her full name) became leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, and served as Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990. A staunch support of neoliberal political thought, she became known for her hardline stance against Communism and (what many saw as essentially the same thing) trade unions.

She strongly supported privatisation of utilities and state industries along with financial deregulation, and was an active proponent of climate change protection.

Answer: Bouvier des Flandres

The name literally means "Cow herder of Flanders", referring to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium where they were bred. They are a large dog (weighing up to 100 pounds as an adult) with a thick wiry coat to provide protection from the weather. Their temperament makes them suitable for herding and guarding cattle, and they were also used for pulling carts in pre-automotive days. Traditionally they had cropped ears and docked tails, to prevent injury while at work. This is no longer practiced.

Until the 20th century, there were three closely-related types of Flemish herding dogs: Paret, Moerman or Roeselare, and Briard. It was not until their near- annihilation during World War I (when they were used by the military) that a breed standard for the Bouvier des Flandres was established. World War II saw another setback to breed development, and they were not recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale until 1965.

Answer: Selma

'Selma' recounts the events of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, a series of protest marches trying to give African-Americans access to voting, a right that was denied them by segregationist laws and policies of the time. Focusing on the role of Martin Luther King Jr, it follows the events leading up to the marches, and the violent events of Bloody Sunday, when peaceful demonstrators were tear-gassed and bludgeoned by law enforcement officers. The second march turns back without violence; the third one successfully reaches the state courthouse in Montgomery.

The film gained almost universal critical acclaim, and received a number of awards, but has also been criticised for failing to achieve complete historical accuracy (on grounds that very depending on the point of view of the complainant). In response, Ava duVernay stated, in a 2015 interview, "It's not a documentary. I'm not a historian. I'm a storyteller."

Answer: Springfield

Springfield's location on the Connecticut River near the points where three other major rivers (the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River and the eastern Mill River) converge, made it a centre for trade routes, and a logical spot to set up the national armory. The Springfield Armory was the main site for the production of military firearms, and a significant employer until its closure in 1968. The first American musket was produced there in 1794, as was the famous Springfield rifle, used in both World Wars.

The armory was one of the driving forces behind many of the inventions attributed to Springfieldians - some directly, some indirectly. These include a number of inventions from Thomas Blanchard (who worked there): assembly line production, the development of a lathe to produce irregular shapes identically, and a steam-powered horseless carriage.

Answer: Snowball

Let's start by considering the actual ball of compacted snow that children may create by compacting a handful of snow in their hands until it becomes a solid mass. This may be used to throw at others in a snowball fight, or (more gently) a small ball can be rolled through the snow so that it accumulates additional snow, and grows in size. This larger ball can then be the basis for making a snowman - and the way it grows is the origin of the metaphorical use of snowballing as a verb.

While the children are playing in the snow, the adults may prefer to sit in front of a fire and sip a Snowball, a traditional Christmas beverage which is made by mixing Advocaat, lime, lemonade and crushed ice. It should be noted that the lemonade referred to here is a sweet lemon-flavoured soft drink, not the stuff you (all right, we) made by squeezing a zillion lemons and adding sugar and water to produce a concoction that could be sold for five cents a glass at a summer lemonade stand. Advocaat is a Dutch drink made from eggs, sugar and brandy (and sometimes other ingredients, depending on the brand) which has a creamy, almost custardy, texture.

A Fluffy Duck cocktail also uses Advocaat as an ingredient, and children might enjoy playing with a soft toy in the shape of a duck, but the link to rapid accumulation fails.

Answer: Nuclear power plants

These three were the sites of well-publicized nuclear 'incidents'.

On 28 March 1979 the Three Mile Island power plant, near Harrisburg PA, experienced a partial nuclear meltdown that resulted in the release of radon gas and radioactive iodine. The incident was rated 5 out of 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). The other two plants were the sites of the only (by 2023) two events to be rated 7 out of 7, meaning they involved "major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures."

The Chernobyl plant was located in the city of Pripyat, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, now part of Ukraine near the border with Belarus. An incorrectly-executed test procedure on 26 April 1986 led to a steam explosion and fire that sent a significant amount of the radioactive core out into the neighbourhood. The resulting death toll is uncertain, because radioactive material spread over much of Europe in levels that may well have caused later deaths in people with no direct contact; estimates range from 4,000 to 30,000.

On 11 March 2011 the Fukushima power plant was seriously damaged by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, leading to overheating and core leakage. The earthquake itself had been anticipated, and reactors shut down when the tremor was detected. But the subsequent tsunami knocked out the emergency electrical backup, which meant that the cooling systems could not function. The evacuation of those within a 20km radius was ordered, in case an explosion could not be avoided. As it turned out, there was no explosion, and authorities generally agree that more people were injured (both physically and emotionally) in the evacuation process than would have been the case if they had just stayed put.

Answer: George Burns

The comedy duo of Burns and Allen saw George Burns play straight man to the ditzy persona of his wife, Gracie Allen. They were successful (although not headlining) performers in vaudeville, performing together for the first time in 1922. Their subsequent career spanned films, radio and television. After Gracie Allen retired in 1958, George Burns tried to continue as a solo performer, with limited success for a long time.

In 1975, when he was 79, he got a part in 'The Sunshine Boys', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and a new phase of success ensued. This included starring as God in 'Oh, God!' (1977), a role which he repeated for two sequels. Less memorable was his role as Mr Kite in the 1978 film 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', featuring covers of the material from the Beatles' iconic album (as well as material from 'Abbey Road'). He was responsible for 'Fixing a Hole' as well as contributing to 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite'. The less said the better.

Answer: Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings first met Buddy Holly sometime in the mid-50s, while they were both playing gigs around Lubbock Texas. In 1958, it was Buddy Holly who arranged for Waylon Jennings's first recording session, and he made a live performance at the radio station where Jennings was DJ. He then hired Jennings to play bass for an upcoming tour to be billed as The Winter Dance Party Tour. The tour began its hectic pace (24 cities in 24 days) in Milwaukee on 23 January 1959; for the leg between Clear Lake Iowa and Moorhead, Minnesota Holly decided to charter a plane so he and his band (himself, Jennings and Tommy Allsup) could fly instead of taking the already-proven-unreliable bus with the rest of the group. Jennings and Allsup did not take their spots - exactly why is not clear, as memories differ - so when the plane crashed, it was Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP 'the Big Bopper' Richardson who perished on the night of 3 February.

As they say, the show must go on. Bobby Vee filled in for the 4 February gig at a radio station in Moorhead, and Jennings and Allsup performed as a duo for the rest of the booked performances. The release of Jennings's single in March was not spectacular, and his career was on hold for several years, before he established a growing reputation in country music circles. In the 1970s his move to the genre of outlaw country saw his biggest commercial success. In 1979 he became the narrator for the television show 'The Dukes of Hazzard', for which he also wrote and sang the theme song.

Answer: Lenny Bruce

Leonard Alfred Schneider (1925 - 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was a satirist and comic who pushed the boundaries of acceptability, offending many on the basis of the way he dealt with such topics as religion, politics, sex and drugs. His act was spontaneous - he did not believe in planning, preferring to allow his mind to choose topics through free association - so no two shows were ever even remotely the same. This lack of pre-planning also made it difficult for him to appear on television - executives were (rightly) too worried about what he might say, since he would not commit himself to a written script.

His first arrest for obscenity was in October of 1961. Although he was acquitted, it was the start of a string of arrests for both obscenity and drug use which culminated in a conviction following a performance at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York in April of 1964. He was convicted in December and sentenced to four month in a workhouse, but was released on bail pending an appeal of the verdict. He died of a morphine overdose before his appeal could be heard.

Answer: Carl Sagan

Having already received a Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction for his 1977 book 'The Dragons of Eden', among other popular science books, Carl Sagan was an obvious choice to participate in this series exploring a range of topics from the nature of science through the origins of life to our place in the universe. He became a celebrity (much to the annoyance of a number of other eminent scientists who felt it was cheapening the noble pursuit of scientific knowledge to pander to popular taste), which gave him a platform from which to expound some of his personal theories. These included his theory that Venus may once have been a planet similar to Earth, before being subject to a runaway greenhouse gas effect - similar to the global warming on Earth about which he warned. He also suggested why subsurface water should be found on several moons in the solar system - which was later discovered to be true.

Perhaps Carl Sagan's most high-profile role was as an advocate for SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, a topic in which he had shown interest way back in high school, when he won a prize for an essay speculating that contact with extra-terrestrial life could be as devastating for humans as had the first contact with Europeans been for Native Americans.

Answer: Hilary Duff

Born in 1987, Hilary (along with her older sister Haylie) was interested in performing from a very young age. By the time she was six, her mother moved them to California to enable them to start performing professionally. Their commitments to modelling and acting meant no time for school - she was home schooled and never attended high school - which hasn't stopped her from portraying high-school students in a number of roles!

Unlike many child stars (and 'Lizzie McGuire' made her a big Disney star at 14), Hilary Duff managed to transition to adult roles, and the more provocative persona she chose to project in her twenties also helped stimulate her career as a singer. Several of her songs have been used as the theme songs for several MTV reality shows. This career progression is mirrored in the list of her awards: seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards, and two Young Artist Awards (and several MTV nominations).

Answer: The Simpsons

'The Simpsons' is an animated television program (and later a movie) whose popularity has led to a myriad of spinoff products, including video games, toys, and more. Here's how you might have reached the answer.

Quiz title - key word is ANIMATED.
Q1 - answer Homer; the father of the family is Homer Simpson.
Q2 - answer BART; the trouble-making son of the family is Bart Simpson.
Q3 - answer Mona Lisa; Lisa Simpson is the older of the two daughters, and Homer's mother is named Mona.
Q4 - answer Margaret Thatcher; Margaret is the full name of Maggie, the younger of the two daughters.
Q5 - answer Bouvier des Flandres; Bouvier is the maiden name of Marge, the mother of the family.
Q6 - answer Selma; Selma and Patty are Marge's two sisters who feature regularly.
Q7 - answer Springfield, which is the town where the Simpsons live (most of the time).
Q8 - answer Snowball, the name of several cats owned by the family.
Q9 - answer Nuclear power plants; Homer (usually) works at Springfield's nuclear power plant.
Q10 - answer George Burns; the owner of the nuclear power plant is Montgomery Burns.
Q11 - answer Waylon Jennings; Waylon Smithers is Mr Burns's main assistant.
Q12 & 13 - answers Lenny Bruce and Carl Sagan; Lenford Landon "Lenny" Leonard and Carlton Carlisle "Carl" Carlson, Jr. work with Homer, and often drink with him at Moe's Tavern.
Q14 - answer Hilary Duff; Duff is the brand of beer sold at Moe's and elsewhere in Springfield (but not in Shelbyville, where Fudd beer rules).