Quick and Easy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Speed dating

Variations on speed dating have existed for many years, but it was Yaacov Deyo who formalized the concept when he organized speed dating events as a method to help Jewish singles meet each other. At the first event, which was held at Peet's Coffee in Beverly Hills, participants were given ten minutes to chat with a prospective partner before moving on to the next contender.

The term "SpeedDating" was trademarked by Deyo, but the concept has changed over the years. Some speed dating events now only give potential couples 30 seconds or so to chat, much to the chagrin of Deyo.

Answer: Car

"Fast Car" was the first single off her self-titled debut album, and the song was a top ten hit in many countries, peaking at number six in the U.S., number four in the U.K. and Australia, and hitting number one in Canada and Ireland. A singer-songwriter, Chapman picked up six Grammy nominations for her album, winning three: Best New Artist, Best Contemporary Folk Recording, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for the song "Fast Car".

The song has also been covered by many artists, including Sam Smith, Kelly Clarkson, and Daughtry; a 2016 cover by Jonas Blue reached number two in the U.K., outperforming the original version.

Answer: Norway

Nobel prize winner William Vickrey is credited with first proposing Electronic toll collection (ETC) or cashless tolling as a way to reduce congestion on roads through the concept of congestion pricing. The technology it was based on, using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to capture data, goes back to Leon Theremin, better known for inventing the Theremin musical instrument. He used the technology to create a bug that was hidden in the US ambassador's office in Moscow for several years.

But back to Norway - the first regular use of an ETC system took place in Bergen, Norway in either 1986 or 1987 (sources vary). The system increased in popularity as environmental awareness grew, since it reduced the amount of time that cars would need to idle while waiting to pass through a toll booth.

Answer: South Africa

Reginald Edgar Walker (1889-1951) was a bank clerk and the South African 100 metre champion in 1907 but wasn't among the favorites to win the race. He only made it to the games thanks to fund-raising sponsored by a local sportswriter in his home region of Natal.

When he arrived in England, he was coached by Sam Mussabini, who later became the coach of Harold Abrahams of "Chariots of Fire" fame. In the finals of his event, he beat American John Rector and Canadian Robert Kerr with a time of 10.8 seconds to take the gold.

His time was the fastest winning time in the modern Olympics as of that date; it was tied in the 1912 Olympics by American Ralph Craig and then beaten by Abrahams in the 1924 Olympics with a time of 10.6 seconds. Walker was only 19 years old (and 128 days) when he won his gold medal; he was the first African to win a medal at the modern Olympics and was the youngest to win the 100 metres in the 20th century.

Answer: Tachyon

The name tachyon comes from the Greek word tachys as do the words tachometer and tachycardia. Gerald Feinberg came up with the name in 1967 after the existence of tachyons was proposed by Arnold Sommerfeld in 1904 and by Oleksa-Myron Bilaniuk, V. K. Deshpande, and George Sudarshen in their 1962 paper "'Meta' Relativity". According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, particles with positive rest mass travel at less than the speed of light, and particles with zero rest mass travel at the speed of light. So physicists proposed that a particle with a negative or imaginary rest mass would travel at faster than the speed of light.

The editor at "Scientific American" defined imaginary mass as "a bizarre theoretical concept that comes from taking the square root of a negative number". So it's all a thought exercise. Maybe.

Answer: Bistro

The word "bystro" means quickly in Russian (although it is pronounced "BWY stra" in Russian). According to the story, Russian soldiers would yell "Bystro! Bystro!" while waiting for their food at the cafes during the Battle of Paris in 1814, and the name stuck.

But some sources think the story is just that, a story, and believe that the source of the word for bistro comes from either the word bistraud (a French word meaning a wine seller's assistant or shepherd), bistingo (meaning a gypsy tavern) or bistouille (meaning a poor quality alcoholic drink).

Answer: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Based on the 1981 book by Cameron Crowe (who also wrote the screenplay), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was released in late 1982 and featured a famous cast including Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Ray Walston, Vincent Schiavelli, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards.

It was Nicolas Cage's first big screen role, coming just before "Valley Girl". He was credited as Nicolas Coppola in his role as "Brad's bud" working at the restaurant. It was also considered to be Forest Whitaker's first film role; he played football star Charles Jefferson in the film.

As for Penn, he played stoner Jeff Spicoli who had some of the more memorable lines in the film: "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine". Also included in the cast was Lana Clarkson, who played Mrs. Vargas.

She is perhaps better known for being killed by Phil Spector in 2003.

Answer: Time

Time is of the essence. "Getting to a hospital rapidly will more likely lead to a better recovery", according to the U.S. National Stroke Association. Face-drooping is when one side of the face appears to droop or is numb. Arm weakness occurs when a person is unable to lift their arm or it appears to drift downward. Speech difficulty can mean slurred or nonsensical words or even the inability to speak.

Other symptoms of strokes include numbness or weakness of a leg, sudden confusion or trouble understanding, sudden vision issues, dizziness or loss of coordination, or sudden severe headaches.

Answer: Opossum

The Virginia opossum and the water opossum (also known as the yapok) have a gestation period of an average of eleven to thirteen days (although it has been recorded at as little as eight days), after which time the infants make their way to the mother's pouch where they will remain for an additional two months.

The eastern quoll (also known as the eastern native cat) of Tasmania is sometimes included in the list of shortest gestation periods with the opossum, but the authoritative sources I've found list the quoll's gestation period at an average of 21 days.

Answer: Fast Food Nation

The book, which first appear as a serial in "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1999, looked at how the fast food industry developed and the social and environmental impacts of the industry. It also examined food processing in the U.S. -- the chemicals used, the health hazards from the methods of production, and the poor working conditions of the employees who produced the food. A film based on the book, also titled "Fast Food Nation", was released in 2006 and featured an ensemble cast including Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama, Patricia Arquette, Kris Kristofferson, Ethan Hawke, and Bruce Willis.