15 Minutes of Fame Trivia

1. What do these five athletes have in common: Richard Parke, Billy Fiske, Clifford Grey, Geoffrey Mason, and Nion Tucker?

From Quiz Fragile Fame

Answer: Olympic Gold Medal winners

At the St. Moriz Winter Olympics in 1928, they teamed on US Sled II to win the Gold Medal in the five-man bobsled. The Silver Medal went to US Sled I (Thomas Doe, David Granger, Jennison Heaton, Lyman Hine, and Jay O'Brien). The German II Sled placed third.

From Quiz All The Cool People Are Doing It

Answer: pet rocks

Dahl thought up the idea in a bar in April 1975. Who wouldn't want a pet that required no care? The naturally smooth, rounded rocks came from Rosarito Beach in Baja California. By the following spring, people were starting to figure out that their pets were difficult to train and, like most pets from the wild, could become dangerous if thrown. The fad was over, but Dahl was a millionaire and invested the money in his own bar.

From Quiz 15 Minutes More

Answer: Dick Cheney

On a quail hunting party, Cheney accidently shot Whittington. The White House kept it secret for a few hours but made disclosure the next day when facts were clearer. Whittington, a real estate mogul, was silent on the situation except to say that he was sorry for any turmoil the Cheney family endured. An article later in "The Washington Post" concluded that Cheney had violated basic rules of hunting safety in that he did not have a clear shot and fired without being able to see sky beneath his target. "The Post" also alleged that Cheney never apologized publicly or privately to Whittington and although they had met, they were not friends.

From Quiz 15 Minutes

Answer: Nancy Kerrigan

Harding grew up in an abusive environment. Figure skating became her refuge. She won two United States Championships in 1991 and 1994 and was second in the 1991 Olympics. Nancy Kerrigan was a rising star in figure skating and was shaping up as Harding's main competition for international recognition. Jeff Gillooly, Harding's ex-husband, along with Shawn Eckhardt, traveled to Massachusetts to attack her but failed. They then stalked Kerrigan to Detroit where they brutally attacked her on the knees so she could not skate. Kerrigan recovered from her wounds and was selected for the US team along with Harding. At the Olympic Championships Kerrigan finished second and Harding eighth, claiming a poor performance because of a broken shoelace. The conspiracy quickly unraveled and those involved got jail sentences. Harding was sentenced to probation and stripped of her US Championship. Since that time Harding tried a number of avenues of endeavor including making a sex video, professional wrestling and boxing, acting, and auto racing. The scandals are the first to recall when her name is mentioned but here are some facts that go beyond the headlines: 1.The first woman to complete a triple axel in the short program; 2.The first woman to successfully execute two triple axels in a single competition; 3.The first ever to complete a triple axel combination with the double toe loop.

From Quiz That Was a Silly Idea

Answer: They were having sex instead of flying the plane

One would have thought that flying a plane required most of your concentration but apparently our ex-pilots disagreed. Unfortunately, far from the earth moving for them, it stood resolutely still as the plane hit it. What a way to go!

From Quiz Obnoxious and Irritating!

Answer: Gilbert Gottfried

Gilbert Gottfried's most memorable voice work was as the parrot Iago in the 1992 Disney movie "Aladdin". The tsunami jokes weren't his first instance of "too soon" attempts at comedy: three weeks after the attacks of 9/11 he was roundly booed by a New York audience after saying he had intended to catch a plane to the event but "it had to stop at the Empire State Building first."

From Quiz Famous For a Day

Answer: William Hung

Hung, whose full name is William James Hung Hing Cheong, recorded three albums under the Koch Entertainment label. His rise to fame, more of a marketing gimmick than anything, was relatively short-lived. He now works in law enforcement.

From Quiz Intruder Alert

Answer: Michael Fagan

At the time of the incident, what Fagan did was not a criminal matter under UK Law, although Buckingham Palace (and all the other official residences of Her Majesty) were later included under a change in the Law of Trespass so that it is now a criminal offence to enter unauthorised. Fagan was sent for psychiatric assesment and detained for several months, but in the end no charges were brought against him.

From Quiz Why Would You Even Do That?

Answer: Annie Edson Taylor

Annie Edson Taylor performed this stunt on October 24, 1901, seeking fame. She figured that fame and fortune would surely come from being the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls, the famous "horseshoe" waterfall on the border of the US and Canada. Unfortunately, even though her fame was achieved, she died in poverty.

From Quiz Famous for 15 Minutes

Answer: Gillian Gibbons

Gillian spent eight days behind bars whilst extremists called for her execution. Her 23 pupils at Unity High School in Khartoum had named the teddy bear 'Mohammed' in a classroom vote. In Sudanese law it is illegal to create any physical depiction of the Prophet and is deemed as blasphemous.

From Quiz Who's Next?

Answer: Baba Wawa

These are characters made famous by Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live in the order they debuted on the show. Chico Escuela was Garrett Morris' character, the Dominican ball player who said "Baseball has been berry berry good to me." Connie Conehead was given life by Laraine Newman. And who can forget Dan Aykroyd shouting "Save the liver!" while he bled to death as Julia Child?

From Quiz Forgotten Seconds

Answer: St. Linus

St. Linus was pope from 67AD to 76AD. His Feast Day is September 23rd. Not much else is known about him. It is believed that he came from the Tuscany area of what is now Italy. Tradition holds that he was martyred, but it is not known how, when, where, or even if this happened. St. Clement I and St. Urban I were other early popes. St. Paul was a prominent Apostle, but never regarded as a Pope.

From Quiz 15 Minutes of Fame

Answer: An elevator operator

Betty Lou Oliver was an elevator operator in the Empire State Building. On July 28, 1945 a B-25 bomber crashed into the building during heavy fog killing fourteen people. Betty Lou became famous because this accident caused her elevator to fall 75 stories, but she survived the plunge.

From Quiz Who Was The First Person To ... ?

Answer: Airplane fatality

He was a lieutenant in the US Army Signal Corps and was in flight with Orville Wright, when the plane crashed killing him and seriously injuring Wright.

From Quiz I Was No One ... Until I Died!

Answer: Crispus Attucks

Attucks was killed when some British soldiers fired on an angry mob during the tension that led to the Revolution. Five colonists were killed.

From Quiz Footnotes to Fame

Answer: Edward Everett

Webster was a great orator in his {day;} Clay was a prominent poitician. Sumner is known primarily for being beaten with a cane by another senator. It was Everett, however, who preceded Lincoln and spoke for 2 hours.

From Quiz Not so Famous People

Answer: he made the blues famous not just in the United states but all over the world

He wrote the song 'The St. Louis Blues.' It became known everywhere.

From Quiz Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Answer: Charles Webb

Instant disappearing act

From Quiz Famous or Infamous

Answer: Ederle

From Quiz Fragile Fame

Answer: Nobel Prize winners in Economics

All five were recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shadley were co-winers in 2012, and Robert Shiller, Lars Peter Hansen, and Eugene Fama split the award in 2013. All five were Americans.

From Quiz All The Cool People Are Doing It

Answer: flagpole sitting

The pole generally had a small platform. Food, water, and other necessities were allowed. It was all about sitting. Kelly began the fad with 13 hours and 13 minutes atop a pole, but by 1930, imitators managed weeks. By then, though, interest was declining in such stunts, when people's endurance was tested standing in employment lines and bread lines.

From Quiz 15 Minutes More

Answer: Donna Rice

Hart was challenged by the press on vague rumors that he was a 'womanizer'. Hart scoffed at the allegation and said ""Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored." And so they did. What the press came up with was a damning photo taken on the yacht "Monkey Business" with Hart in a Monkey Business T-shirt with Donna Rice on his lap. The old adage that a picture tells a thousand words overwhelmed denials of any improprieties from Hart and Rice. He immediately lost ten points in the polls and a short time later suspended his campaign. Hart retreated to his Colorado estate and became a prolific writer publishing many books and articles on politics and national issues as well as five novels. In 2014 President Obama appointed him Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. Donna Rice was not a bimbo. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina (1980). She did enter beauty contests and was chosen as Miss South Carolina, worked as a model, and was a representative of a pharmaceutical company. After the scandal she shunned the public eye and refused to capitalize on her notoriety, turning down offers for interviews or exposes. In 1994 she took over leadership of "Enough Is Enough", a non-profit organization advocating protection of children from Internet content.

From Quiz 15 Minutes

Answer: Elián González

Elián González's parents were estranged. Elizabeth Rodríguez along with her boy friend and Elian boarded an under-powered aluminum boat with nine others and began the dangerous trip to the Florida coast but a storm took the boat and the lives of nine of the passengers including Elian's mother. Another passenger had placed Elian in an intertube. When US authorities rescued him, they found that he had several maternal relatives in Miami and placed Elian in their care and began the process of the Americanization of Elian. However, Juan Miguel González, Elian's biological father, demanded that Elian be returned to his care in Cuba. This sparked protests and strained already difficult relations between the United States and Cuba. The custody battle resulted in a decision that common law would dictate that the father was the legal guardian. Even with this decision, his Miami family sought all legal ways not to comply with the order. Eventually Elian was returned to his father and the issue quickly dropped from the headlines. Elian Gonzales completed basic education in Cuba and then joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba. He applied to military school and hoped to enter college to major in engineering. Early after his return Fidel Castro was a regular visitor as he had pressured US courts for his return to Cuba. Elian's father continues to work as a waiter.

From Quiz That Was a Silly Idea

Answer: He was underneath it doing repairs as it was driven down the highway

This really is hard to believe but apparently true. Perhaps a thought popped into his head - "Ah, that's what the problem is. If I just tap it with a hammer it will probably fix it!" Unfortunately the following thought - "Perhaps I should wait until the vehicle stops" came a little late.

From Quiz Obnoxious and Irritating!

Answer: Orange

Annoying Orange was created by film student Dane Boedigheimer in 2009 as a YouTube video. Intending to make only the one video, Boedigheimer was overwhelmed with fan requests for more and shortly created the Annoying Orange YouTube channel; since then he has posted 2-3 Annoying Orange videos per week.

From Quiz Famous For a Day

Answer: Clara Peller

Peller suffered from emphysema, which might have contributed to her gruff-sounding voice. She became a sensation after Wendy's ads first aired in early 1984 with sales jumping 31%. Peller's catchphrase, although airing on TV for a limited time, contributed greatly to the fast food chain's success. Once the "Where's the beef?" campaign ended, sales dropped for two years until Dave Thomas, Wendy's founder, took over the advertising campaign.

From Quiz It's Dark Inside this Niagara Falls Barrel!

Answer: Circus performer

Bobby Leach was a performer with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. His ambitions for the Falls included going over the Falls in a barrel, travelling through the whirlpool in a barrel, and parachuting from the suspension bridge. He went over Horseshoe Falls in 1911 in a specially constructed, eight-foot long metal barrel. Rescuing Bobby took 22 minutes and his rescuers found him with two broken knee caps and a fractured jaw. A few years later he tried to swim across the rapids but failed thanks to efforts of sensible rescuers who stopped all his attempts. Bobby Leach did cash in on his barrel ride by touring North America and the UK, telling audiences of his trip over the Falls and exhibiting the barrel. Despite all that derring-do, his life ended quite unspectacularly. He died in his late 60s after slipping on a piece of fruit. His leg became infected, gangrene set in, and complications from the infection ended his life.

From Quiz Why Would You Even Do That?

Answer: because they were related to the deceased at a grieving ritual following the funeral

As a way of displaying their grief for a related tribe member who had recently died, some people would voluntarily cut off their own fingers. Generally, this ritual applies to all females, including children, related to the deceased tribe member. This custom was practiced because it was believed that the spirits were just as powerful as the people themselves, so they made these grim sacrifices to drive away these negative spirits.

From Quiz Famous for 15 Minutes

Answer: Jill Morrell

John was released in 1991 after a successful campaign by 'Friends of John McCarthy' headed by Jill Morrell. The couple published a bestselling book called 'Some Other Rainbow' about their experiences.

From Quiz Who's Next?

Answer: Larry Fortensky

The men were the husbands of film legend Elizabeth Taylor as of her 1996 divorce from Fortensky, listed in the order in which they married her.

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