He's A Genius! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fred Astaire

This quote is reputedly taken from a report on Fred Astaire's screen test for RKO Radio Pictures. The report has since been lost, and its author is now unknown, but multiple sources confirm its basic content. David O. Selznick had faith in Fred, despite saying (in a document that does survive): "enormous ears and a bad chin line." The "Can't Sing ..." version became the title for a Fred Astaire album. Fred and sister Adele had a successful stage career dancing together before he went to Hollywood. (Anyone know what happened to Adele?) He was paired with Ginger Rogers, who was not an experienced dancer at the time they began collaborating. And yes - Ginger did everything Fred did, backwards, in high heels.

Answer: The Duke of Wellington

The Honorable Arthur Wesley, as he was when he entered Eton in 1781, was the third surviving son of Garret Wesley, the Earl of Mornington, a minor Anglo-Irish peer in reduced financial circumstances. His father thought little of young Arthur. The lad's academic career was undistinguished, and he showed little promise into his 20s.

His mother (too!) reportedly said, "I don't know what I shall do with my awkward son Arthur." Ultimately, perhaps his father was right - the army was the making of his Grace, the Duke of Wellington.

Answer: Albert Einstein

The questioner was the esteemed poet Paul Valéry. Noted author Bill Bryson added that when Einstein did get an idea, it tended to be good. The depth of Einstein's genius was reflected in his insightful epigrams as well as his scientific work. "God does not throw dice." (This is more commonly quoted as "God does not play dice with the universe.")

Fortunately, others recorded his philosophical observations even if he did not.

Answer: Almost - Ringo wasn't the drummer yet.

"Go back to Liverpool, Mr. Epstein." Instead, the lads went to EMI where they were signed to a contract after an audition in June 1962. Ringo Starr joined the group shortly thereafter. Were they the Fab 3/4 until then? Impossible trivia: instead of the Beatles, Decca signed ... Brian Poole and the Tremeloes.

Answer: Orville Wright

Orville Wright explained that no known motor could run at the required speed for four days straight. True enough, in 1908 - or was it? The flight is approximately 3,600 miles; four days (96 hours) aloft would yield a speed of 37.5 miles per hour; even the Wright Brothers' early machines were faster than that.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York (more or less) to Paris in about 34 hours, at an average speed of just over 100 mph.

Answer: Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera "Patience" lampooned the aesthetic movement. George Grossmith played the character of Reginald Bunthorne as a thinly-veiled version of Algernon Charles Swinburne (with some features based on Dante Gabriel Rosetti). The difficulty for American audiences was that they were generally unfamiliar with "aesthetes." After "Patience" opened in the United States, Richard D'Oyly Carte - who was Wilde's manager as well as G&S's producer! - contrived to have Wilde attend a performance and express umbrage in a few well-turned phrases.

It boosted ticket sales for Wilde's lecture tour of the U.S. as well as for the operetta. Although "Patience" features one of Gilbert's wittiest librettos, it is seldom performed today.

Answer: Gone with the Wind

1939 was one of Hollywood's finest years. "GWTW" won the Oscar for Best Picture, but Clark Gable didn't win for his portrayal of Rhett Butler, the part Gary Cooper derided. (Who did win Best Actor, and for which film?) In '39, Cooper starred in Beau Geste with Ray Milland. (The envelope please; the winner was ... Robert Donat for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips".)

Answer: Charles Darwin - On the Origin of Species

Darwin studied for the Anglican priesthood before developing an interest in medicine and then biology. During his long voyage on the Beagle, he reportedly recited at length from the Bible. The quote is from his forward to "On the Origin of Species", written over several years and published in 1859.

Although he always maintained that natural selection was not incompatible with religious faith, Darwin himself gradually grew estranged from Christian orthodoxy. Toward the end of his life, he characterized himself as an agnostic, but is buried in Westminster Abbey, close to the bodies of Sir Isaac Newton and Sir William Herschel.

Answer: Gore Vidal - The Best Man

If Ronald Reagan had played Rick in "Casablanca" as originally planned, would Humphrey Bogart have become President? Ronald Reagan also lost out on plum roles in "The Graduate", "Sergeant York," and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." Gore Vidal may have had other objections to casting Reagan as the President in "The Best Man," at least by the time of the film version in 1964 when Mr. Reagan was growing increasingly conservative.

Answer: Lord Kelvin (William Thompson)

Lord Kelvin defined the value of absolute zero (temperature - nothing personal). He was the first British scientist elevated to the House of Lords. His suspicion of radio may have been motivated by his involvement with transoceanic telegraph cables.

He maintained his skepticism about flight through at least 1902, as did some other prominent scientists. By about 1896, he accepted the reality of X-rays, having had an X-ray taken of the bones in his hand. Lord Kelvin also predicted that the earth would run out of oxygen in about 400 years - now, more like 300 years.

He seems to have been wrong about that - so far, we hope.