People by Surname Trivia

1. Jimmy Key has to be one of my favourite Keys. He was an American major league baseball pitcher. He won the World Series with the first team to win outside of the United States. What team?

From Quiz Ten Key People

Answer: Toronto Blue Jays

Jimmy Key was a left-handed accurate-throwing pitcher who played for the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees, and the Baltimore Orioles. Key won the World Series with both the Blue Jays and the Yankees, each time beating the Atlanta Braves. Coming from Alabama, Key never thought that he would play his first years outside of the United States. However, after the Jays drafted Key in 1982, he quickly moved up into their senior team. He had successful seasons with them, notably in 1987 when he was the American League ERA leader. He would throw many strikeouts, but also gave up a fair share of home runs. All in all, he was a very good pitcher who threw very well.

From Quiz H is for Hooligan

Answer: Benjamin Harrison

Although historians rate the Benjamin Harrison administration as mediocre, he treated the office of president with respect and integrity, not always bowing to political pressure or expedience. Six states entered the union, more than any other president--North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington. He also annexed Hawaii. Harrison dealt directly with many issues of the time including tariff issues, anti-trust laws, and civil rights issues for both Blacks and Native Americans, perhaps a bit before the country was ready. His presidential campaign harkened back to his grandfather, President William Henry Harrison, as folksy and populist.

From Quiz Is it Night, Dark, or Black?

Answer: Candice Night

Ritchie met Candice in 1989 when she asked him for an autograph. The two got together and eventually moved in with each other in 1991. In 1997, Ritchie decided they should start their own group and they called themselves "Blackmore's Night". In 2008 they finally got married. It was Ritchie's fourth marriage.

From Quiz Ten Shades of Gray/Grey

Answer: Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw

Jerry (1915-76) was born Generoso Graziano in Boston, Massachusetts. He joined the Shaw organization in 1936 where he worked as a music arranger. Some of his best known work while there were "Carioca", "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" and "Begin the Beguine". When the Shaw band broke up in 1939, Glenn Miller then offered him work where he hit his stride with his famous arrangements of "A String of Pearls", "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Moonlight Cocktail" among others, which propelled the Miller band to stardom. After leaving Miller, he formed his own band. He continued to be active in the music business into the 1970s, fronting his own orchestra, but, unfortunately, succumbing to a heart attack at age 61.

From Quiz Four Collins Birds

Answer: "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White"

"The Moonstone", published in 1868, is seen as the first English detective novel. Following the success of the two novels mentioned, Collins began adding more social commentary to his works. That, along with his increasing dependence on opium to relieve the pain of his gout, resulted in a decline in his writing.

From Quiz Miller Isn't So Lite

Answer: Dennis and Von

Von played for the Denver Broncos; Dennis was a sportscaster for "ABC's Monday Night Football" for two years.

From Quiz German Beers

Answer: Jewish music

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864, nee Jacob Liebmann Beer) was an opera composer of Jewish heritage. He wrote his first cantata for the private synagogue that his father maintained at their house. At the age of 10 he was playing Mozart's music and soon after studied under Antonio Salieri. By the time he was 24, he was the director of both opera houses in Naples and soon after, he began writing a series of operas that gained him international acclaim. Though he had a very successful career, his operatic ideals were extremely different from those or Richard Wagner. Richard wrote "Jewishness in Music" in part to attack his works, and Giacomo's operas eventually fell out of style.

From Quiz Famous and Important "Kings"

Answer: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a American civil rights activist in the mid 20th century. He was known for advancing civil rights in the United States by using nonviolent civil disobedience. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day became a federal holiday in the United States in 1986 and is observed on the third Monday of January.

From Quiz That Turkey's in a Fowl Mood

Answer: Robinson

Jackie Robinson was an outstanding athlete in baseball, basketball, football and track. He was an officer in the U. S. Army and later a TV analyst, a businessman, and a financial officer. He crossed the color line as the first black major league baseball player in the 20th Century in 1947. A robin is a well known and popular red-breasted bird.

From Quiz Famous People With Objects in their Name

Answer: George Bush

43rd President of the USA, George Walker Bush led the country from 2001 to 2009. His father, George Herbert Bush, was American President from 1989 to 1993. A bush is a small woody plant with a more shallow root system than a tree and smaller than a tree in size. It usually bears flowers and sometimes fruit, but sometimes it's just a plain old bush, but still beautiful of course.

From Quiz Which Wright is Right?

Answer: Cricket

The Wrights were joined by Albert Spaulding, who later founded the Spaulding sporting goods line.The Wrights, Harry, George and Sam, all had cricket backgrounds and led Boston to the impressive wins.One victory, 107-105 over Marylebone, was described in Boston papers as "the greatest American victory over the British since the Revolution."

From Quiz R's in History...

Answer: Rembrandt

He was also well known for his landscapes and for his work entitled "The Night Watch" which he painted in 1642.

From Quiz M & Ms (Our Names Begin with M)

Answer: Mabel

Mabel is the girlfriend of Dave in Steele Rudd's classic comedy "Dad and Dave" stories about Snake Gully. This is just one song about Gundagai which does indeed have a dog on a tuckerbox statue close by.

From Quiz ZZZs! -- Z-People Names -- Stay Awake!

Answer: Boaz Yakin

Buzz Feitshans is a prolific film producer (Conan The Barbarian, Rambo 1, 2 & 3, Die Hard 3, Total Recall). Buzz Kulick is a TV director perhaps best known for "Brian's Song," and Baz Luhrmann directed "Moulin Rouge!," "Romeo and Juliet" (1996) and "Strictly Ballroom."

From Quiz The Most Important 'R' People

Answer: Rurik

Rurik (also spelled Riurik or Rörek) was a Viking, but whether he originally came from Sweden or Denmark is in dispute. What we do know is that in 862 AD he came to control Novgorod and established the first dynasty in what is now modern day Russia. He and his followers formed the Rurik Dynasty and were succeeded by the Kievan Rus, a proto-state that was the precursor to future Russian states. The name Russia is derived from the followers of Rurik.

From Quiz Famous "Mac"s

Answer: Warren Beatty

Shirley first starred in the movie "The Trouble With Harry". Her movie career progressed to many Oscar nominations and leading roles in movies like "Irma La Douce" and "The Apartment". She is the mother of actress Sachi Parker and sister to actor/director Warren Beatty.

From Quiz The Most Important 'P' People

Answer: Blaise Pascal

Though passing away at the rather young age of 39, this French mathematician and physicist managed to make a number of important contributions to human knowledge. Most importantly, he developed his mechanical calculator, albeit one that did not prove long-lasting. Nevertheless, it inspired future developers of such instruments. Pascal also developed theory in connection with probability, and laid the groundwork for Newton and Leibniz's creation of calculus. Pascal was one of the first scientists to experiment with vacuums and the concept of pressure, which helped him ultimately to invent the syringe and the hydraulic press. The SI unit of pressure is named in Pascal's honor. Later in life he turned to philosophical theology, writing his famed 'Pensées'...a fascinating read!

From Quiz The Most Important 'Q' People

Answer: WVO

Willard Van Orman Quine was probably the most important American philosopher of the 20th century, though some might bestow that honor upon John Dewey. Quine worked on establishing the foundations of mathematical logic, and is usually called a pragmatist and/or a logical positivist. His most important books include: 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism' (1951), 'Word and Object' (1960), and 'Philosophy of Logic' (1970).

From Quiz The Most Important 'O' People

Answer: Origen

Origen was born in Alexandria, then a province of imperial Rome. At a young age he saw his father, Leonides, killed during the persecution of Septimius Severus of 202. Origen developed a very powerful desire to spread the faith using his mental faculties, and began to write commentaries and exegeses on religious writings. He was extremely prolific in his writings, and there are some claims that he wrote nearly 6,000 different works (probably exaggerated). Upon Origen's death (also during a persecution), his ideas, which included an attempted marriage of Neo-Platonic philosophy with Christianity, had spread throughout the learned Christian community.

From Quiz The Most Important 'N' People

Answer: Sikhism

Located mostly in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, the Sikhs are a very significant minority group of India. Sikhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, with influences from Islam and Buddhism as well. Nanak was the first of ten gurus of the Sikhs, and he laid down many of the major tenets of the religion very early on.

From Quiz The Most Important 'M' People

Answer: Gabriel

Mohammed was born in 570 A.D. and lived until 632 A.D. During that time, he founded what has become one of the world's major religions, Islam. Mohammed was born in Mecca, the holy city of Islam, and made a famous flight to the city of Medina in 622 A.D., the year zero on Muslim calendars.

From Quiz The Most Important 'L' People

Answer: Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister's ideas on making surgery a much cleaner experience helped save millions of lives since his ideas became public in the 1860s. Interestingly, Lister was not the first to develop these ideas. Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweiss made very similar discoveries 20 years prior. Unfortunately, Semmelweiss' ideas on asepsis were largely ignored, despite his having written extensively on the topic.

From Quiz The Most Important 'K' People

Answer: al-Khwarizmi

His nickname, al-Khwarizmi, gave way to the modern term 'algorithm'. Another important math term, 'algebra', comes from the title of his greatest work, namely: 'Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala'. His algebraic work is considered to be the foundation (along with Diophantus) for much of modern mathematics, and all performed without the use of signs (his equations were all done solely with the use of words!)

From Quiz The Most Important 'J' People

Answer: Khmer

Jayavarman I is credited by some historians as the 'founder' of the great Khmer empire, which at its height dominated the entire region of southeast Asia. Centered within the country now called Cambodia (Kampuchia), the Khmer empire established suzerainty over virtually the entire region for nearly six centuries. At its height, the massive stone god-worshiping complex called Angkor Wat at its capital was central to Hindu/Buddhist worship throughout the surrounding areas. Jayavarman I's rule began in 802 A.D., and his kingdom finally fell in 1431 at the hands of the Thais.

From Quiz The Most Important 'I' People

Answer: Architect

Imhotep lived during the period of the Third Dynasty in Egypt (27th c. B.C.) and served under Djoser, for whom he built the world's first known pyramid (the step pyramid at Saqqara, burial place of the early pharaohs.) Though he was of common birth, his legacy stretched well beyond his years, he was worshiped as a god for many centuries following his death in Egypt. His step pyramid design led the way for the design of the greater pyramids, built at Giza.

From Quiz Aa People

Answer: Aaron Copland

Living until he was 90, Copland wrote music for films like "Of Mice and Men" and "Our Town."

From Quiz The Most Important 'H' People

Answer: Portugal

Prince Henry the Navigator was the son of Portuguese King John I. In the interest of expanding the empire and converting 'heathens', Prince Henry founded a school for navigators in 1419. Through the work of scholars at his school, advances in the various technologies used in navigation were made, and several excellent seamen studied under the tutelage of Henry's finest experts. Largely because of his work, Portugal became the early European leader in sailing the high seas, and Portuguese sailors were the first to round the southern tip of Africa and reach India and the 'spice islands'.

From Quiz The Most Important 'E' People

Answer: Robert Ettinger

You may not have heard of Robert C. W. Ettinger, the author of 'The Prospects of Immortality', but certainly you have heard of the science which he is responsible for creating, namely cryogenics. It was Ettinger's book which sparked the very controversial debate over whether or not human beings should be cryogenically frozen in the prime of their lives until a time when a 'cure for death' could be found. Though there hasn't yet been a great application in practice of his ideas, the debate still rages on over the morality and practicality of the issues surrounding cryonics.

From Quiz The Most Important 'D' People

Answer: John Dalton

Active during the early nineteenth century, John Dalton is one of the most influential chemists of the modern era. The concept of 'atoms' was first suggested in ancient times (by the scientists Leucippus, to be exact) it was Dalton whose experimentation with the comparative weights of different substances who first theorized atomic theory with the support of experimental research. His work influenced dozens of scientists from future generations, including Mendeleev who developed his periodic table later in the century. Also, if you're curious, yes...this is the same Dalton who identified the condition we call Daltonism (aka color blindness). He suffered from this problem himself!

From Quiz The Most Important 'C' People

Answer: Cyrus

Cyrus the Great (or Kurush, in Persian) was the founder of the Persian Empire after having succeeded his father, Cambyses I, in 558 B.C. Upon succeeding his father, Cyrus proceeded to overthrow the Medes, Lydians and Babylonians over the following decades. His empire was one of the greatest land empires in world history and the first large scale empire of the ancient world.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:49 AM

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