Mix of Everything Quiz | Mixed 10 Questions

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. German astronomer Simon Marius, a contemporary of Galileo, made a scientific discovery around the same time as Galileo. However, Galileo published his findings days before Marius and credit went to Galileo. What did the scientists both discover?

Answer: Jupiter's four moons

It was Marius who named Jupiter's four moons: Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa after the god Jupiter's lovers. Jupiter has many more moons but these four are the most massive in size. Io's solid iron core makes it extremely dense compared to the other three moons. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system.

In fact, if it didn't orbit Jupiter but orbited the sun instead it would be classified as a planet.

2. The year was 1876 and a certain fashion journal was founded, becoming popular enough to evolve into a full-scale women's magazine. The magazine featured articles on health, beauty, travel, and included sewing patterns and a cut-out paper doll. Some well-known writers contributed articles. Which magazine was it?

Answer: McCall's

The name of the magazine's founder was James McCall. The name of the paper doll was Betsy McCall. Well-known writers such as John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury contributed stories. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a column "If You Ask Me" in which she answered questions sent in to the magazine.

In 2000, comedienne Rosie O'Donnell became editorial director of McCall's. The following year the name of the magazine changed to "Rosie." By 2002 "Rosie" ended its short run.

3. Enjoying watermelon during the summer months seems as American as apple pie. Yet did you know that the watermelon is not native to the U.S.? Where did it originate?

Answer: Africa

The sweet-tasting fruit is native to southern Africa and even dates back to ancient Egypt. So how was it introduced to the U.S.? Although no one knows for sure, some historians believe that African slaves brought them over. There are many varieties of watermelon and not all have pink flesh. Yellow Doll has golden-colored flesh, Crimson Sweet is bright red, and Cream of Saskatchewan has a pale yellow color.

4. This iconic building in New York City is known for displaying lights at the top of the building. Normally the lights are white but the color scheme will change if a holiday or special tribute is in order. Which building is it?

Answer: Empire State Building

Floodlights were added to the building in 1964. Since then all different colors have illuminated this landmark structure. On September 9, 2009 the building was awash in pink lights to celebrate an annual breast cancer event called "City in Pink." Just two days later, September 11, the lights were red, white, and blue to honor the victims of the 9-11 attacks. Of course holidays like Christmas, Halloween, and St. Patrick's Day get their own color appropriate light displays.

5. In the late 1960s, a New York City police officer met with his superiors to report widespread corruption in the NYPD. Little was done to address the issue. After the officer was shot during a drug bust, things began to change. A 1973 film was made about this whistle-blower starring Al Pacino in the title role. Who did Pacino portray?

Answer: Frank Serpico

Frank Serpico encountered widespread police corruption as a plainclothes police officer and blew the whistle on the corruption. As he eventually discovered, being a whistle-blower is a lonely business. During a drug bust, after he had tried to enter the apartment of a known drug dealer, he was shot in the face.

His fellow officers had not followed him up to the apartment to provide back-up. Had Serpico been set up? There were those who believed he had been. He survived the shooting and retired from the police force.

As a direct result of Serpico's investigation, Mayor John Lindsay formed the Knapp Commission to investigate corruption in the NYPD.

6. If you think assassination by a poisoned umbrella is straight out of a crime novel, think again. It happened to a Bulgarian expatriate writer living in London in 1978. He was on his way to work when an assassin shot a pellet of highly toxic ricin into his leg using an umbrella. What was the name of this unfortunate chap who fell victim to a poisoned pellet?

Answer: Georgi Markov

Markov had defected to London to work for the BBC and had been speaking out against the Bulgarian regime which was still communist in 1978. Agents of the secret police along with members of the KGB had tried to kill Markov twice before finally succeeding. Unfortunately for Markov there was no antidote for ricin poisoning at the time of his murder and he died days later. To this day no one has been charged with the murder despite there being a prime suspect in the case.

It is believed that much of the documentation relating to the case was destroyed.

7. Many famous comedians got their start performing at resorts in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. Because the resorts were filled with predominantly Jewish familes, the name for this area came from a type of Russian food. Do you know what it was called?

Answer: Borscht Belt

The name comes from a beet soup known as borscht. The recipe was brought over from Russia to the U.S. by Jewish immigrants. Some of the well-known venues included Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club, Grossinger's, and Brickman's. Mel Brooks, Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Diller, and Billy Crystal are some famous entertainers who got their start performing at these resorts.

8. Analog computers date back to ancient times. Which of the following is the oldest known example of this type of computer?

Answer: Antikythera mechanism

Dating back to between 150 and 100 BC, it was designed to calculate astronomical positions. In the mid-1900s, scientists developed analog computers with electrical circuits that could perform calculations. Modern computers are based on digital technology. Information is represented by bits and bytes, sequences of binary 1s and 0s.

9. Also known as a tickbird, this small bird, native to sub-Saharan Africa, is known as what?

Answer: Oxpecker

The oxpecker gets its name from its tendency to perch on the backs of large mammals to eat ticks and other parasites. It likes to hang out in open habitats such as savannahs and nests in trees and holes in walls. The two species of oxpeckers, which belong to the family Buphagidae, are the red-billed oxpecker and the yellow-billed oxpecker.

10. Perhaps the best known constructed language is Esperanto, created by L.L. Zamenhof in the late 19th century. There have been other constructed languages, one of which is considered to be the world's first feminist language. What is it called?

Answer: L�adan

L�adan was invented in 1982 by Suzette Haden Elgin, a science fiction writer. Why did she invent a new language? She claims that modern languages have a male bias that restricts feminine thought and perception. Elgin believed that if women were to embrace her language, then it would prove her theory of male bias. Apparently women felt their own language was just fine because L�adan never caught on.

After a decade Elgin admitted that her language experiment was a failure. Klingon anyone?

Source: Author nmerr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

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