13, 24, 31 or 42? Trivia Quiz

Answer: 24

The human chromosome set is very similar to that of the great apes in that most chromosomes in humans have a direct equivalent in the chimpanzee set, but human chromosome 2 is effectively a fusion of two chromosomes featured by the closest relatives. In addition, nine human chromosomes feature a partial inversion compared to the chimpanzee genome - a segment of DNA is read in the opposite direction.

Answer: 24

At just 24 years of age and with three very successful films to his name, the life of James Dean was tragically cut short. While he was known as an occasionally reckless driver and had, in fact, received a speeding ticket for being 10 mph over the limit just hours before his accident, Dean was, according to forensic analysis, driving within the limits and the deadly accident was the opposing driver's fault (turning left into oncoming traffic).

Answer: 42

Jump42 (which seems to be offline now) was a web comic about the sheep Ted, 42nd in a long row of sheep supposed to be jumping a fence while the human protagonist Mel is counting sheep to fall asleep. However, Ted never makes it, regardless of what the other sheep try.

In the duration of the strip, Mel is drawn into his own half-dream and forced to exist there. There also are a large number of running gags and backwards references.

Answer: 31

Quite a few state capitals are astonishingly small - the least populous is Montpelier, VT at only 8,035 inhabitants - and others have a huge difference between the actual municipal area and the metropolitan area (Albany, NY is an extreme case with over 1.1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, but only 95,993 in the municipal area). Charleston, WV and Cheyenne, WY are the only two "small" capitals that are also the most populous city in their respective state.

Answer: 13th

After conquering Gaul, Caesar was ordered back to Rome by the Senate under the leadership of Pompey. However, Caesar, fearing prosecution or political marginalisation, refused to do so. He thus invaded his own home country in the early days of 49 BC, backed by only one legion, the 13th.

The famous words "alea iacta est" ("the die is cast") documented for him to have said at this fateful moment, are a quote from the Athenian playwright Meander. One and a half years later, he had defeated Pompey and was appointed dictator of Rome.

Answer: 13

A Grand Slam is the rare event of bidding and then taking all tricks in the game. As Bridge is played with 52 cards and there are four cards to each trick, the number of tricks played is 13.

Answer: 24

The Greek alphabet has essentially remained unchanged ever since the 8th century BCE. The number of letters was so central to some Greek authors that they structured major works into 24 chapters or books. The Iliad, for example, was divided in 24 books for this aesthetic reason and later transcriptions of the Odyssey also used the 24-book structure (in the latter case, however, the structure was not by the original author).

Answer: 42

Living in Mainz, Germany, Johann Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg is not the inventor of printing as such (the general process of using inked raised areas and a press for duplication was known prior to the 1400s), but the first to use separate letters, so-called movable type, in frames holding the letters together, as the medium for printing.

This procedure meant that the letters needed to be cast or carved only once and then could be reused for many different pages instead of having to hand-carve each printing plate from scratch.

Answer: 13

"Thirteen" is a partially autobiographical account of a girl's early teenage years based on the experiences of co-writer Nikki Reed. Tackling themes such as alcohol and drug abuse as well as self-mutilation, the film, originally intended as a comedy but ultimately becoming a drama, stirred some significant controversy.

Answer: 24

In each octave, there are 12 different notes (7 without and 5 with sharp/flat). On each note, you can build a minor or a major scale, resulting in a total of 24 scales or keys. The most common key for popular music today is A major because it is the easiest to play on a guitar.

Answer: 31

Buddhism has a complex scale of levels into which one can be reborn. Humans dwell on the fifth level below which there are the four states of deprivation: Asura, Hungry Shade, Animal and Hell. Above the human existence are the six remaining levels of the sensuous world (the lowest 11 levels are called the sensuous world), states of increasing bliss. Levels 12 to 27 are called the fine-material world, consisting of three Brahma levels (12-14) and then various Deva levels (15 to 27), with a single level for "unconscious beings" inserted at position 22. Finally, the highest states are attained in the Immaterial World: Infinite Space (28), Infinite Consciousness (29), Nothingness (30) and "Neither-perception-nor-nonperception" (31). All beings in the immaterial world consist entirely of mind.

Answer: 42

The product of all the numbers 1 to 10 - 3,628,800 - is also called the factorial of 10. To easily calculate the days, however, look at the following:

An hour has 3,600 (60 x 60) seconds. This can be written as 2 x 4 x 5 x 9 x 10.
A day has 24 hours. This can be written as 1 x 3 x 8.

which leaves only the 6 and the 7 as factors, giving 42.

Answer: 13

The fielding side always has nine players on the field. To this, you need to add the batter and one runner on each base, making a total of 13. This probably makes baseball one of the very few team games that can have an odd total number of simultaneously active players without any expulsions.

Answer: 31

The Section 31 intelligence organization was first seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in the episode "Inquisition". In total, it was used in five "Deep Space Nine" episodes and three "Enterprise" episodes, hinting that it was pretty much around for the entire existence of the Federation.

Answer: 31

31 was the number of flavors offered by the chain in 1953, topping its rivals' 28 by three and advertising that you could have a different flavor every day for a whole month.