Cool Zooms, Part XV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Unicorns

Collective nouns for animals are sometimes very clever but also confusing. A tower of giraffes is a perfect description and unique but they are also known as a group using Corps or Herd, the latter being a collective noun for at least 54 different types of animals. A group of baboons is known as a congress or a troop. Yet incredibly, the term flange came from a comedy skit on a comedy TV show called "Not the Nine O'Clock News". It has thereafter been used in the scientific literature for a collection of baboons.
A blessing of unicorns has been well accepted as the collective noun but there is very little evidence of how the term originated.
Phoenixes are solitary animals - legend has it you only have one at a time. However there have been some reports of a 'myth' and an 'odyssey' as being the collective noun to describe more than one phoenix. However a blessing of Phoenix Rising teammates has a nice ring to it as we are all very fortunate to belong to the one of the best teams on Fun Trivia.

This question was written by team member 1nn1 who is as shy as a unicorn and blessed to be a member of Phoenix Rising.

Answer: Botswana and Estonia

Botswana is in southern Africa. Its flag consists of a blue field split in the center by a horizontal black stripe framed by two thin white lines. Estonia is one of the Baltic states in Northern Europe. Its flag consists of three equal horizontal bands of (from top to bottom) blue, black, and white.

The flags of Greece and Israel are blue and white. Argentina and Uruguay feature a yellow Sun of May on otherwise blue and white flags. The flags of Norway and Iceland are red, white, and blue.

Phoenix Rising's JCSon hoisted this question.

Answer: Australian Open

The Australian Open was founded in 1905, 14 years after the French Open, 24 years after the US Open and 28 years after Wimbledon (1877). The term 'Grand Slam' originates from card games, where winning all but one trick was called a 'little slam' and winning all the tricks was termed a 'slam' or 'grand slam'. This term was first used to describe winning all four of the tennis majors in 1924-25, when the French championship was 'opened up' to allow competitors from outside the French club system. The first winner of the men's Grand Slam was American Don Budge in 1938, while in 1953, his compatriot Maureen Connolly was the first woman to achieve this feat.

This question was served up by PR member MikeMaster99, who hopefully put an interesting spin on it too!

Answer: Living History

Of the four biographies, only Ronald Reagan's "An American Life" was written after he left the presidency. While it was an autobiography, it was ghost written by Robert Lindsey in 1990, two years after Mr Reagan left office.

"Profiles in Courage", was a biography of eight US senators that demonstrated exceptional courage. It was released in 1956 when John F. Kennedy was a Massachusetts senator, four years shy of becoming President. It won the Senator the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957 but in 2008 it was revealed that was ghost written by Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorensen.

"The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" was the second book written by Senator Barack Obama, in 2006 three months before he announced his presidential campaign in February, 2007. Mr Obama illustrated and explained many of the subjects that became part of his 2008 presidential campaign, which was successful.

"Living History", was Hillary Clinton's memoir, written in 2003 when she was a New York Senator. (It was written before Bill Clinton, her husband, released his memoir, "My Life" in 2004). "Living History" set a first-week sales record for a nonfiction work and sold more than one million copies in the first month following publication.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was a US First Lady, Senator from New York, Secretary of State (within Barack Obama's Presidency) and first woman to be nominated for President by a major political party. She ran for US President in 2008 and 2016 but never quite made it either time. However her place in history is secure.

Question written by several team members as this question became somewhat politically polarising, so it needed, re-shaping several times to make it Fun Trivia favourable.

Answer: Brooklyn Bridge

At the time of its opening in May, 1883, the Brooklyn bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, it was called the East River Bridge, (also Great East River Bridge and the Great East River Suspension Bridge) but was renamed Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.

London's Tower bridge opened in 1894, while the Sydney Harbour Bridge opening was in 1932 and Golden Gate Bridge in 1937

This question was constructed by leith90 who, unlike Barnum's elephants, has never crossed the Brooklyn Bridge.

Answer: The Bronx

The name "Bronx" originated with Swedish-born Jonas Bronck, one of the first settlers in 1639 of New Netherland colony. The Bronx (Bronx County) became part of New York City when Brooklyn (until then a separate city), the County of New York (Manhattan, which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond (Staten Island), and the western portion of the County of Queens agreed to consolidate in 1898.

Although the Bronx was panned by Ogden Nash in what might be poetry's shortest couplet - "The Bronx/No Thonx" (The New Yorker, 1931) - he repented "the sins of my smart-alec youth" in a prose poem 33 years later as "an older, wiser man". "Boogie Down Bronx" is the birthplace of hip-hop and breakdancing and where mambo and salsa first took root in the US. 'Da Bronx' is NYC's greenest borough, home to the "real" Little Italy on Arthur Avenue as well as Van Cortlandt Park, the site of the nation's oldest public golf course!

This question submitted by Humanist who, although born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, more often returns to Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo.

Answer: Patella (Kneecap)

Babies are born without knee-cap bones (the patella bone). Instead there is cartilage which eventually ossifies, turns into bone, at some time over the age 2-6 years depending on the individual. Typically the ossification is complete by the age of around 12 years. The lack of a bony kneecap aids in the birthing process where the cartilage ensures there is much more flexibility in the knee joint.

This question was delivered in a flexible fashion by Phoenix Rising member MikeMaster99.

Answer: Adelaide

The "City of Churches" is an epithet applied to Adelaide in South Australia. The city was named to honour Queen Adelaide (1792-1849), the consort of Great Britain's King William IV. The City of Adelaide became known for its religious tolerance and diversity, leading to its nickname.

Lima, Peru's capital city, was founded on 6 January 1535 as "Ciudad de los Reyes" (City of Kings). The date was the feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the Magi to the new-born Jesus and sometimes called "Three King's Day". However, the original name fell into disuse in favour of Lima.

São Paulo in Brazil was named after the apostle, Saint Paul. Sampa is the city's colloquial name, a contraction of São Paulo. Another nickname alludes to the city's unreliable weather: "Terra da Garoa" (Land of drizzle).

Boston is the capital and largest city in the USA's Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston has many different nicknames, including "Beantown". This is a reference to the dish, "Boston Baked Beans", a popular food involving beans slow-cooked in molasses. "Beantown" is a name used more by outsiders than native Bostonians.

Phoenix Rising's psnz, who has had to contend with many different monikers, was pleased to use his present alias as a nom-de-plume.

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Nominated several times for a Best Actor Oscar (and winning on two occasions), Dustin Hoffman has made a career on playing the anti-hero. He only took up acting because he didn't want to work, and he also saw it as a way to stay out of military service. Despite this he has taken on roles that have stretched his talents to the limits, playing the crippled street hustler Ratso in "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) to the autistic Raymond in "Rain Man" (1988), in which he won his second Oscar. He was Benjamin Braddock in "The Graduate" (1967), Carl Bernstein in "All the President's Men" (1976) and Dorothy in "Tootsie" (1982). In all of the roles mentioned above, except for Carl Bernstein, he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

This question was brought to you by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who sees himself as a "Marathon Man" but it's really "The Tale of Despereaux".

Answer: The Monkees

In 1962, the Ronettes had a big hit with "Be My Baby". "Because" was a harpsichord-tinged ballad from the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album. Eric Carmen, formerly from the Raspberries, had a Billboard Hot 100 number two with "All By Myself". "We Belong" was a top five hit for Pat Benatar in 1984. The lead single from U2's "Joshua Tree" (1987) was "With or Without You" which was their first US number one. Sheryl Crow's earned a Grammy nomination for her 1996 smash, "If It Makes You Happy".

The question was musically inserted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who seems to find musical references in every part of his life.

Answer: Australia

In the second half of the 19th century, many camels were imported into Australia, to assist in the many explorations of the desert interior of the country. However, when motorised transport became more readily available, the camels were no longer required, and most were simply turned loose. Over time, the population grew, and there are more than half a million beasts roaming the Outback. In the late 20th century, it was realised that there was a market for camels in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular. Most are used for meat, as the local stock are used for camel racing.
Camels from China and Mongolia are the two-humped Bactrians, and more suited to the cold than the heat of the Middle East. Neither Spain nor Scotland are known for camel production.

Question presented by ozzz2002, who has only seen camels in the zoo.

Answer: Poland

A popular origin of the bagel was floated in Maria Balinska's 2008 publication "The Bagel: the Surprising History of a Modest Bread", in which she theorises that the migration of Germans into Poland during the 14th century occurred at the same time as the pretzel, that thick German bread, was making its way out of the monasteries in that part of the world and being enjoyed by the general public. The secrets behind this bread would form the early basis for the bagel, which was shaped into a round bun with a hole and called an "obwarzanek".

Going back a little earlier a large number of Jews were also making their way into Poland and one of the reasons behind this was that country's tolerance toward Jews. Jews, at the time, were seen as enemies of the Church and, as such, were forbidden to bake bread, due to it being seen as the "body of Christ". This changed in time to them being allowed to bake boiled dough, which was perfect for bagel.

This question was baked by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who, when it comes to bagels, aspires to Marie Antoinette's maxim and would rather eat cake.

Answer: Not one of these weapons made the final game

Anthony E. Pratt is the inventor of the game, which was originally named "Murder!". Waddingtons' purchased it and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo" (a play on "clue" and "Ludo"). Due to postwar shortages in the UK the game was not officially launched until 1949. It was licensed to Parker Brothers in the US, where it was renamed "Clue" as the game of Ludo was not well known there. There were several differences between the original game concept and the published version. Pratt's original design had ten characters, eleven rooms and nine weapons which included the unused bomb, syringe, shillelagh (walking stick/cudgel), fireplace poker, and the later used axe and poison.

Phoenix Rising team member lg549 inserted this question into the quiz without (or maybe with) murderous intent.

Answer: Canada

In a small restaurant just outside Toronto, Greek-Canadian Sam Panopoulos, made a decision that was to prove to be one of the most controversial food topics around. Taking inspiration from Chinese sweet and sour influences, he boldly added tinned pineapple to a tomato, ham and cheese pizza, chose the 'Hawaiian' tag from the pineapple tin and created something that has polarised diners since. In Australia it is supposedly one of the most popular toppings, but discussions abound on the internet claiming that it has no place as a pizza topping at all even beating the anchovy.


This question was half-baked and sent off with a decided down vote by smpdit.

Answer: Singapore

London, a city known for its persistent drizzle and cool summers recorded a temperature of 100.6 degrees Fahrenheit in Kew Gardens in the 2003 European heat wave.

When the Meteorological Service Singapore released its 2019 report on Climate Trends, it identified that Singapore's highest recorded temperature was 37.0 °C (98.6 °F) on 17 April 1983. The lowest recorded temperature was 19.0 °C (66.2 °F) on 14 February 1989. In the 36 years between 1983 and the report date of 2016, the temperature has never exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit despite "[Singapore's] mean surface air temperature has risen by an average of 0.25°C per decade between 1948 and...[2019]".

Singapore has a tropical climate and the equator is very close (just 1.5 degrees south, so seasons are really non-existent and it's usually fairly humid.) There is usually daily rainfall - short and sharp, so take an umbrella when you go out!

May is the month with Singapore's highest average temperature, at 29 deg C. By contrast, its coolest monthly average is in January - at 28 deg C...! While it gets above 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) fairly often and can reach 35 °C (95 °F) occasionally,

This question was sweated on by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid, who has fond memories of meeting purelyqing, a fellow teamie, on a hot day in Singapore but it was not quite 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Answer: ABBA

ABBA did have a "money" song, releasing "Money, Money, Money" as a single in late 1976. It was from their album "Arrival" which also had their previously released monster hit single, "Dancing Queen".

Phoenix Rising's mike32768 is no "do goody good", um, money man. He's also just a little miffed he couldn't include the 1973 song by the O'Jays, "For the Love of Money" which has one of music's greatest bass guitar riffs. So he did anyway. And, as usual, mike32768 likes the long version.

Answer: Stefani

Neither of these American women are "Just a Girl". Both are accomplished actresses. Perhaps they were "Born this Way".

Gwen Renee Stefani was born in Orange County, California in 1969. She co-founded the pop group No Doubt in 1986 where she was the lead singer. The group had massive hits with "Don't Speak" and "Hey Baby" before embarking on a successful solo career as she has sold over 50 million records and has earned three Grammys. Her platinum blonde hair (since Grade 9 apparently) helped gain her the prized role in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" in 2004.

American singer Lady Gaga's real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. She was born in 1986, sold over 120 million records, has earned at least ten Grammys and has earned an Oscar nomination as Best Actress in 2018's remake "A Star is Born".

This question was written with a 'poker face' by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1 who has a fascination of connecting notable people by obscure facts. However other people who know 1nn1 'don't speak' about it.

Answer: Kate Winslet

Stars keep the awards they have won in some strange places. Apart from the bathroom, and the understandable mantlepiece, the statues find their way to the underwear drawer, the fridge, the floor, the wardrobe, or even the chicken coop! But if you have a speech burning in your breast, the bathroom at the home of Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon or Emma Thompson, and even Lionel Richie or Sean Connery is the place you want to be!

This award for this question is gladly accepted by Phoenix Rising's chief ham VegemiteKid. Now, where's the bathroom?

Answer: The Phantom

Lee Falk authored both comic strips, 'Mandrake the Magician' (launched 1934) and 'The Phantom' (launched 1936).
The Phantom (real name Kit Walker) was reputed to be immortal, but in reality, there was a succession of fathers and their sons. The latest incarnation is actually the 21st generation of Phantoms. Because of this, he is also known as 'The Ghost Who Walks'. He was one of the first crime-fighters to wear a mask and costume, and did not possess any superpowers.
Devil is a very intelligent animal, and very loyal to his master. Hero is a powerful stallion, that was given to the Phantom by the Maharajah of Nimpore.
Diana Palmer is an American, and a childhood friend of Kit. They got married and moved to The Phantom's home, in the Skull Cave in Bangalla, a fictional country somewhere in eastern Africa.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising team-member, ozzz2002, who has been a fan of the comic for many a year.

Answer: 28 (1961-1989)

At the end of World War II in May 1945, Berlin was divided into four sectors with West Berlin being created by the USA, UK and France, while East Berlin was formed by the Soviet Union. This then led to two states: The western Federal Republic of Germany and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR).

West Berlin was surrounded by East Germany. Both countries were part of a "Cold War" between the USA and Soviet Union. On 13 August 1961, the GDR began building a wall that would surround West Berlin and which would include guard towers and other defences which aimed to prevent East Germans emigrating to the West.

The latter part of the 1980s saw revolutions in several Eastern Bloc countries leading to the East German government allowing its citizens free passage to the West from 9 November 1989. People (including souvenir-hunters) began to chip away at the wall. Official demolition began in 1990 and was completed by the end of 1991.
The fall of the Berlin Wall eventuated in the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990.

This question was constructed by 1nn1 and smashed by Phoenix Rising's psnz who is happy to report that he has already stood for more than twice as long as the Berlin Wall did.