Cornucopia of Categories Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wisconsin

Wisconsin, a Midwestern state with two Great Lakes (Michigan and Superior), is one of the leading dairy producers in the United States. It produces 40% of the nation's cheese and 20% if its butter. Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland", and its residents (and Green Bay Packer fans) are often called "cheeseheads". Their occasional greeting might be: Gouda morning, Havarti?

Answer: Betty Crocker

Betty Crocker was not a real person. Her image was a concept from an advertising campaign for a flour-milling company called Washburn-Crosby, founded in 1877. Washburn-Crosby later became part of General Mills in 1928. Duncan Hines, Sara Lee and Chef Boyardee (named after Hector Boiardi) were all based on actual people.

Answer: Garfield

Garfield, the sardonic orange cat, was born in the kitchen of Mama Leoni's Italian Restaurant on June 19, 1978. Unfortunately, the restaurant owner had to chose between keeping the cat or closing the restaurant. While Garfield wound up with Jon Arbuckle, it does explain Garfield's love of lasagna! Garfield is a creation of Jim Davis.

Answer: John F. Kennedy

Actually, Jimmy Carter also won a Nobel Prize, but it was in 2002, long after his presidency. Barack Obama won the award in 2009. Woodrow Wilson was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919, and Theodore Roosevelt received the prize in 1906. JFK won awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for "Profiles in Courage", but never won the Nobel Prize.

Answer: Saffir-Simpson scale

A scale to measure a hurricane's intensity was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Bob Simpson. The scale ranged from 1-5, from category 1 with sustained winds of 74 miles an hour to category 5 with winds in excess of 156 mph.

The scale came into general use in 1973. The Beaufort scale measures wind speeds; the Fujita scale measures the intensity of tornadoes, and the Scoville scale measures the heat of chili peppers.

Answer: William Holden

Kim Novak starred opposite all of the choices above. However, it was the 1955 movie "Picnic" where she played a small town girl who falls for a handsome drifter played by William Holden. She was in "Bell, Book and Candle" and "Vertigo" with James Stewart, "Pal Joey" and "The Man with the Golden Arm" with Sinatra, and "The Eddie Duchin Story" with Tyrone Power.

Answer: Richard Pryor

On October 20, 1998, comedian Richard Pryor was awarded the first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The award has been given out yearly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Perfoming Arts in Washington, D.C. It is presented to someone who "has made a significant contribution to American humor".

As far as I know, the award (a small bronze statue of Mark Twain/Samuel Langhorne Clemens) has no nickname, e.g., a Twainee. While Pryor's satirical humor won in 1998, other recipients have included George Carlin (2008), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Steve Martin (2005) and Carol Burnett (2013).

Answer: The Waste Land

"April is the cruelest month" is the opening line of "The Waste Land" by Thomas Sterns Eliot. T.S. Eliot's (1888-1965) 434 line poem was first published in 1922. It is divided into five sections, with the first section called "The Burial of the Dead", discussing death and despondency.

The poem seems to deal with the emotional and social crises resulting from the aftermath of World War I. "The Waste Land" is often considered one of the most important poems of the last century.

Answer: Araminta Ross

Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913) was born Araminta Ross. She was an abolitionist, spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War (aka the War Between the States), and the conductor of the "Underground Railroad". Tubman, herself, was born into slavery in Maryland. She successfully escaped in 1849; she then went back many times to lead hundreds of others to freedom.

Answer: Jacob

Based on Social Security applications for births which occurred in the United States, Jacob was the most popular name of the 2000s until 2014 when it was replaced by Noah. The other choices, i.e, Michael, Joshua and Matthew, came right after Jacob, respectively. For girls, the female name that topped the charts for that time period was Emily, replaced in 2014 by Emma.