Entertaining 2014 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 1998 to 2004 and then attempted a movie career before returning to television as the host of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in 2009. During his time on the show (2009-2013), he also hosted the Emmy Awards in 2010 and released a Grammy Award-winning comedy album, "Blow Your Pants Off", in 2012.

In 2013, the NBC network announced that he would replace Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" when Leno retired the following year. Fallon became the sixth host of the long-running show, joining Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien and Leno.

Answer: Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey won the coveted "People" magazine title of "Sexiest Man Alive" during his heyday as a romantic lead in films such as "The Wedding Planner" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", but in the 2010s, he refocused his career on more dramatic roles, and in 2014, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as a cowboy with AIDS in the "Dallas Buyers Club".

He also won acclaim for his role in the HBO cable channel series "True Detective", picking up a Critics' Choice Award.

Other winners at the 2014 Academy Awards include "12 Years a Slave" for Best Picture, Alfonso Cuarón for Best Director ("Gravity"), Cate Blanchett for Best Actress ("Blue Jasmine"), Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor ("Dallas Buyers Club"), and Lupita Nyong'o for Best Supporting Actress ("12 Years a Slave").

Answer: How I Met Your Mother

The theme of "How I Met Your Mother" or "HIMYM" was that in 2030, Ted Mosby was telling his kids the story of how their parents met, and each episode was part of that story. Early in the story, Ted had a relationship with Robin Scherbatsky, but they later married other people, with Ted finally marrying the mystery mother, Tracy McConnell.

In the finale, we found out that Tracy had died, and Ted returned to Robin, at the urging of his kids. The ending wasn't popular with fans, and an alternate ending was included on the DVD which kept Ted with Tracy. During its run, "HIMYM" received 28 Emmy nominations and won nine for artwork, cinematography and editing.

Answer: One Direction

The pop band One Direction became famous after their appearance on the British television show "The X Factor" in 2010. Their first four albums (as of 2014) topped the charts in many countries around the world, and they were the first band to have their first four albums debut at number one on the "Billboard" charts in the U.S.

Their 2014 "Where We Are" tour started in April in Bogota, Colombia and ended in October in Miami, Florida. During the tour, the band played 69 shows in Europe, North America, and South America and earned $290 million. Coming in second place for highest-grossing tour of the year was former boy band star Justin Timberlake, and third place went to the always-on-tour Rolling Stones.

Answer: Sony Pictures

The Sony Pictures hack was made public in late November 2014 but the data breach was believed to have been ongoing for over a year. Confidential information released included e-mails and personal information on employees. Although executives had received e-mails demanding money to prevent the release, the e-mails were either missed or ignored, and the company found out about the hack when malware installed by the hackers was activated on November 24th that prevented employees from using their computers.

Besides the damage from the release of some embarrassing e-mails in which executives belittled the stars of their films, the company also lost money from the release of some films that had not yet been distributed. A few weeks later, the hackers threatened to attack theatres that played "The Interview", which was scheduled to premiere on December 18th. Because North Korea had already protested against the film at the United Nations, it was suggested that North Korea was behind the hacking of Sony, although some cybersecurity experts doubted this was likely. Sony did end up releasing "The Interview" for online purchase and rental, and the film received a limited release to theatres a few weeks later.

Answer: Taylor Swift

Named for the year of her birth, "1989" featured 1980s-inspired songs and earned accolades as one of the best albums of the year from "Rolling Stone" magazine. The album was released on October 27, 2014 and debuted at number one on the U.S. "Billboard" charts with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week of release.

It also topped the charts in other countries such as Canada, China, Norway, and the U.K. Three singles from the album, "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", also hit number one on the "Billboard" singles charts in the U.S.

Answer: Buckets of ice water

The "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge" was all the rage on the Internet in the summer of 2014. Although variations of the challenge had existed for a few years prior, the social media storm may have been ignited by "The Golf Channel" cable network when they aired a live ice bucket dump in June 2014. "The Today Show" anchor Matt Lauer then took the challenge live on the nationally broadcast American morning show in July 2014 at the urging of golfer Greg Norman, which set off the celebrity stampede. Among those posting videos were Justin Bieber, Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and Benedict Cumberbatch. One of the best videos posted as part of the Ice Bucket Challenge was from Patrick Stewart after he received a challenge from Ian McKellen.

In Stewart's video, he was shown writing out a check to the charity and then removing a couple of cubes of ice from the ice bucket, putting it in a glass with whisky and drinking it. Classy, Picard!

Answer: "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Mandatory Fun" was the best-selling album to date of Al Yankovic's thirty-year career. It debuted at number one on the "Billboard" charts, beating out Jason Mraz's "Yes!" album. It was the first comedy album to top the charts since Allan Sherman's "My Son, the Nut" in 1963.

The album featured parodies of songs by Iggy Azalea, Lorde and Imagine Dragons, among others and style parodies of artists such as the Foo Fighters, Pixies and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Along with the album release, Yankovic bombarded the Internet with eight videos released in eight days, starting with the two biggest hits from the album, "Tacky", a parody of Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and "Word Crimes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines".

The "Tacky" video featured appearances by several celebrities lip-syncing the song, including Jack Black, Aisha Tyler and Margaret Cho. "Word Crimes", a grammar police version of Thicke's risqué song and video, reached "Billboard"'s Top 40, making Yankovic one of the few artists to reach the Top 40 in four different decades.

The album won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album the following year.

Answer: Gamergate

What "Gamergate" was depended on whom you asked. On one side were game critics and independent game makers, many of whom were women, who were calling for more diversity in gaming; on the other side were gamers whose initial complaints concerned political correctness and perceived unethical journalism.

The latter complaint stemmed from an incident involving game designer Zoë Quinn whose artsy game, "Depression Quest" had received a positive review from a gaming journalist which Quinn's ex-boyfriend claimed was in exchange for favors. Quinn was one of several game designers who had been pushing for more positive portrayals of women in video games so some gamers used the allegations to protest favoritism in gaming journalism. Quinn admitted that the debate may have started with "well-meaning people who cared about ethics and transparency" but it soon evolved into a larger argument over censorship versus sexist stereotypes of women in games, with those who protested the latter being physically threatened. Given that allegations of political correctness and censorship were involved, the debate attracted more than just gamers, with conservative commentators, misogynists and Internet trolls joining the "Gamergate" side. Celebrities were involved, with actor Adam Baldwin being credited with creating the "Gamergate" hashtag on "Twitter" and actor Seth Rogen criticizing him for his involvement. Due to the violent nature of the threats, the FBI was involved, but there were no arrests by the end of 2014.

Answer: Robin Williams

Robin Williams became a star with his zany performance on the American television comedy "Mork and Mindy" (1978-1982). He then embarked on a film career which earned him an Academy Award in 1998 for Best Supporting Actor in "Good Will Hunting" as well as three additional nominations for Best Actor in "Good Morning Vietnam", "Dead Poets Society" and "The Fisher King".

He also won four Grammy Awards for his comedy albums and two Emmy Awards for performances in variety programs. His death dominated the news for several days and generated an outpouring of tributes. Broadway dimmed its lights in his honor, and the cast of the musical "Aladdin" led the audience in a sing-a-long of the song "Friend Like Me" which had been performed by Williams in the 1992 Disney film, and even President Obama commented on Williams: "He was one of a kind.

He arrived in our lives as an alien, but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit." Six months later, at the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony, his long-time friend Billy Crystal presented the "in memoriam" tribute to Williams.

After his death, it was revealed that Williams had been suffering from severe depression and Lewy body dementia.