Just General Knowledge Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1980

The music for "O Canada" was written by Calixa Lavallée in 1880. The French lyrics to the anthem were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier in 1880 as well. The English lyrics varied over the years until The Honourable Robert Stanley Weir wrote a poem that became popular lyrics for the song in 1908. The Government of Canada proclaimed "O Canada" as the official anthem on July 1, 1980.

When "O Canada" was proclaimed as the official anthem, the first verse (English version) was "O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all they sons command." In order to make that gender neutral, the government passed legislation in January, 2018 that officially changed the third line to "True patriot love in all of us command".

Answer: Model T

Automobiles had been produced since the late 1800s, but Henry Ford saw that they were very expensive and unreliable. He designed a reliable vehicle that could be mass produced on an assembly line. The first Model T rolled off the assembly line in September, 1908. In May, 1927, the fifteen-millionth Model T rolled off the assembly line. Although some have been led to believe that all Model Ts were black, this is untrue. In fact, these cars were not available in black until 1914. From 1908 through 1913, most of them were grey, with red, green, and blue also used. From 1914 on, all Model Ts were painted black.

The Ford Model A replaced the Model T that had been in production for 18 years when the Model A was introduced in 1927. By February 1929, one million Model As had been sold. The Model A came in a wide variety of styles, including station wagons, convertibles, coupes, sedans, town cars, and trucks. Rear view mirrors were optional, but it was the first car to include safety glass on all front windows.

Answer: 1850s

A journalist named Henry Chadwick was a baseball reporter who invented many shorthand symbols that he used to record what happened during the game. This allowed a permanent record of the performance of the players, and allowed him to write up his stories about the games once they were over. For instance, he created a numbering system for the players that has continued to be used into the 21st century. He numbered the players by the position that they played, with 1 being the pitcher, 2 the catcher, 3 the first baseman, and so on. So, when we hear that a "6-4-3 double play" occurs, we know that the shortstop (#6) threw the ball to the second-baseman (#4) for one out, who then the the ball to the first-baseman (#3) for the second out.

Chadwick also used a series of letters to denote what had happened in the game. He used the letter"S" to stand for "sacrifice", so he used the letter "K", the last letter in the word "struck" to stand for a strikeout. There is a box score (score card) from 1859 that still exists that shows his symbols. It was determined that his impact on the game of baseball was so great that he was the first journalist enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted posthumously in 1938.

Answer: "One Fat Lady" or "Garden Gate"

"Bingo Lingo" is a system of alternate words that the game callers use to identify the specific numbers that have been drawn in the game of Bingo. This prevents mis-hearing numbers that are easily mixed up. For example, the numbers "fifty-three" and "sixty-three" can be misheard and mixed up, especially in crowded halls where the sound system may not be perfect. When the numbers are drawn, the caller will state the number and its alternate name. Most alternate names are rhymes, or a verbal reminder of what the number looks like. In the case of fifty-three, two alternates that are sometimes used include "Here Comes Herbie" and "Stuck in a Tree". With sixty-three, the alternate is usually "Tickle Me". These alternates make it clear which number has been drawn to avoid confusion.

The alternate for the number eight can be either "One Fat Lady" or "Garden Gate". The first alternate refers to the one that is typically used for the number eight. The alternate for the number eighty-eight is usually "Two Fat Ladies".

Answer: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter who was born in Duluth, Minnesota on May 24, 1941. He wrote many songs in the 1960s that became affiliated with the Civil Rights Movement in the US in the 1960s such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964).

The other artists on the list were all born in Canada. Paul Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario on July 30, 1941. He is best known for songs such as "Diana", "Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Justin Bieber was born in London, Ontario on March 1, 1994. Some of his best known singles include "Love Yourself", "Sorry", and "What Do You Mean?". Alanis Morissette was born on June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario. Some of her best-known singles include "You Oughta Know", "Hand in My Pocket", "Ironic", "You Learn", "Head Over Feet", "Uninvited", "Thank U", and "Hands Clean".

Answer: False

There is a post office in Port Lockroy which is on Goudier Island. That island is just off the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula. The "Penguin Post Office", as it is colloquially known, logs about 18,000 human visitors a year, plus lots of penguins. The Penguin Post Office is only open for a few months each year, typically from November through March. It is run by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust that also runs a museum and gift shop next to the post office.

Besides handling the post and any tourists that arrive, staff are also responsible for counting penguins and their chicks in order to monitor the impact of the tourists on the penguin population. Staff members live a very rough life with no running water, no cellphone or internet service, and, if emergency medical transfers are required, waiting for up to seven days for a flight out. Passing ships sometimes offer the staff members accommodations for showers, but they may be without hygiene facilities for a few weeks at a time.

Answer: Spain

A desert is defined as an area with little precipitation where plant and animal life struggle to survive. Although people often don't think of Europe when they think of deserts, there are a number of arid and semi-arid areas on the continent. These can be found in Spain, Italy, Serbia, and Romania.

The Tabernas Desert is often called the only true desert in Europe. It is located in what is sometimes called the Badlands of Spain. The Tabernas Desert is found in the province of Almeria, along the coast of Andalusia. It covers an area of more than 280 square km (108.1 square miles), and sees extreme temperatures, typically exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer. Over the years, it has been host to a variety of movie sets for western films because it resembles American deserts.

Answer: 1

A degree is a pie-shaped wedge. There are 360 of them in a circle. Each wedge has an angle at its vertex that is equal to one degree, so when all 360 wedges are placed together in a circle, it is determined that the circle has 360 degrees. There are 365 days in a non-leap year.

When 360 degrees is divided by 365 days, the result is 0.986. That value is closest to the whole number one. In fact, some scholars have suggested that ancient mathematicians chose 360 as the value for the number of degrees in a circle based on their observations of the sun. Without modern instruments, they concluded that the earth appeared to move about 1/360 along its circular path around the sun in each day of the year.

In fact, the ancient Babylonian and Persian calendars were based on a year with 360 days.

Answer: Baseball

There are no nets used to score any points in baseball. Most professional baseball stadiums have a net that separates the players from the fans, but they are there for the safety of the fans. The nets prevent hard-hit foul balls from injuring fans in the stands.

In basketball, players get points for throwing a ball with a diameter of about 24.1 cm (9.5 inches) through a hoop that has a net hanging from it. In badminton, a net separates the players who are playing against one another. The top of the net should be about 1.55 metres (5.09 feet) from the ground. There are two nets used in each game of ice hockey. Each team tries to move a hard rubber puck into the net of the other team which is guarded by their goalie. Each net's opening measures 180 cm (72 inches) in width and 120 cm (48 inches) in height. A team earns points when the puck is shot into the other team's net.

Answer: Walking on a tightrope

A funambulist is another word for a tightrope Walker. The word comes to us from two words in Latin. The first is "funis" which meant "rope" in Latin. The second is "ambulare" which meant "to walk". The word "funambulist" was first used in English in the 18th century to describe a person who was able to walk on a tightrope.