Smarty Jones Trivia Quiz

Answer: was narrowly beaten in The Belmont Stakes after winning first two legs of the Triple Crown

Smarty Jones is the Pennsylvania born and bred horse who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown of American thoroughbred racing in 2004. This became a big deal since no horse had won the three race test since Affirmed in 1978. The third and final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, was to be run on June 5th. By that time, Smarty Jones had appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and had captured the imagination of the whole sporting public in America.

His average size, "outsider" status, and feisty manner made him a natural favorite of sports fans and casual observers alike.

Unfortunately, the feel good story didn't come to pass. He finished second in the Belmont when 36-1 long shot Birdsong ran him down from behind, after several other horses ran at him early and exhausted him.

Some claimed the trainers and jockeys of the other horses ganged up on Smarty, but even if true, that's the brutal nature of the sport. Still, for a brief moment, horse racing regained the spotlight and people were reminded of the saga of Seabiscuit, another unknown horse who became the sporting hero of America and symbol of hope during the Depression era.

Answer: James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones, born in Mississippi in 1931, is the accomplished and highly respected stage and screen actor who possesses and uses one of the most recognizable voices in the industry. His dulcet baritone commands countless commercial and public service announcements, but if you catch him on Youtube singing Justin Bieber's "Baby," you know he's not a professional singer. Spike Jones was certainly a showman and an entertainer, becoming a sensation in the United States during the 1940s for his innovative use of sound effects in his popular recordings, but he was a polished drummer and bandleader first. Tom Jones is the powerful Welsh singer whose hits include "Delilah," What's New Pussycat," and "The Green Green Grass of Home." Norah Jones is the Grammy winning Jazz singer and songwriter who is also the daughter of legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar.

Answer: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

The date was September 23rd, 1779, and the setting was the battle of Flamborough Head, off Yorkshire in the North Sea. This was long before torpedoes existed. Jones commanded the "Bonhomme Richard" against a the British gunship "Serapis" and its captain Richard Pearson, who were protecting a convoy of merchant vessels.

The historical significance of the engagement is that that Jones is recognized as the first American seaman who proved America could take on the superior British navy, although what actually happened during the battle and its aftermath seems to be in some dispute, according to which version of events is read.

It is clear that Jones maneuvered his ship into close quarters with the Serapis rather than engage in a gun battle, and that despite damage to his own ship was able to board the Serapis.

His famous quote was in response to Pearson asking if he was "striking his colors," that is to say, surrendering. The "whites of their eyes" quote was supposedly spoken by American officers during the Battle of Bunker Hill, also during the Revolutionary War, but no reliable source can definitively relate it to any one man.

Answer: womanizing illegitimate son of an English lord

The character of Tom Jones is played with boisterous and lusty energy by Albert Finney in the 1963 Oscar winning film of the same name, which is based on an 18th-century novel by Henry Fielding. The plot concerns a boy abandoned to an English squire, who raises him, but can't at first bring himself to fully accept the lad because of his unfortunate birth.

Much comedy, passion and sticky situations are the order of the day as Tom chases or fights off the ladies and tries to protect himself from his nasty step brother who has it in for him.

Answer: Indiana Jones

The popular and enduring action hero of filmdom is lndiana Jones, who has managed to hold his box office cache through four incarnations. The most recent sequel, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," was released in 2008, nineteen years after "The Last Crusade"(1989). "Raiders of the Lost Ark" got it started in 1981, then came "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 1984.

The popularity of the series is due to a combination of good writing, great action, and of course the presence of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, perhaps his best known role. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" remains one of the most commercially successful films of all time, and it was nominated for nine Oscars, including best picture.

Answer: Along Came Jones

With the song "Along Came Jones," The Coasters brilliantly satirized the Western genre, which became a staple of American television in the 1950s and 1960s. It was inspired by the 1945 Gary Cooper film of the same name, a comedy in which Cooper satirizes his own long, lean, slow-talking persona. Examples of the Western genre on television include "Bonanza," Gunsmoke," "Rawhide, "The Virginian," and many others.

In the song's story, a guy "plops down in his easy chair" in front of the tube and finds nothing but "the same old shoot 'em up" on every channel, with the hero, Jones, coming along to rescue "poor sweet Sue" every time.

It's sung in their inimitable humorous, melodramatic style, augmented by the usual stellar saxophone solo from "King" Curtis.

Answer: Sam and K.C.

The "Jones Boys" carried on the backcourt legacy of Bob Cousy as the Celtics continued their domination of the NBA through the turbulent decade. Sam and K.C., along with center Bill Russell, were the only Celtics to be a part of the eight straight Boston championship teams from 1959-1966. K.C. went on be a head coach in the NBA, first with the Celtics and then with Seattle. Both Joneses are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Answer: "Casey Jones" by The Grateful Dead

"Driving' that train, high on cocaine. Casey Jones you better watch your speed..." is the opening line of the song widely interpreted as the Grateful Dead's admonition about which drugs are safe and which are not. The real Casey Jones was an American railroad engineer and folk hero who's been the subject of many songs and legends.

He was born in rural Missouri in 1864. His nickname arose because he moved with his parents to Cacey, Kentucky early on, as they looked for a more promising life. He rose through the ranks of the Mobile and Ohio railroad company, was promoted to engineer, and became known as a no nonsense guy who always got the train there on time, while pushing the engines at high speed.

He died in a train crash after telling everyone else to jump off. Typical American hero: gallant and reckless until the end.

Answer: Basketball

"Basketball Jones by Tyrone Shoelace" is a song video by the American comedy duo who made a surprisingly viable career out of playing two marijuana stoners in various movies and comedy routines during the 1970s and 1980s. The song, released in 1973, is definitely worth a listen even if you aren't into the whole free love and cannabis lifestyle the boys seemingly caricature, but perhaps embrace a little too closely.

It's a creative take on the skyrocketing popularity of basketball at that time, as told through a kid whose life becomes nothing but basketball.

The animated video is priceless. And how did "Jones" become a term associated with a craving for something? Drugs is the answer. In the 1950s, "I'm looking for Mr. Jones" was how someone new in town would ask a cabbie or street person for the location of a dealer without seeming too obvious.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

Brian Jones was the founding member and driving force behind the Rolling Stones in their early days, before his unfortunate and tragic death by drowning. He was a versatile and gifted musician, skillful on guitar, sitar, marimbas, flute and most any other instrument he picked up.

He put together the band and was responsible for most or their early bookings and musical decisions. As Mick Jagger and Keith Richards began to control the band's direction with their obvious song writing talent, Jones became more isolated from the others and turned increasingly to drugs. Eventually his performance suffered, and he was on the way out of the group when he was found dead in his swimming pool on July 3, 1969.

He was 27 years old at the time, making him a member of the "27 club" of musicians who died at that exact age, including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.

Answer: A young British woman and her angst and adventure discovering what love is about

To quote IMDB, "Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, weight, lack of a man, and her many imperfections." It sounds like a pretty whiny movie, but Renee Zellweger, as the protagonist in the 2001 film, brings it to life with a winning performance. For it, she was nominated for an Oscar in the best actress category.

It also stars Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as the key men in her life.

Answer: drink grape flavored punch and die in Guyana

If you are too young to have heard of this horrendous event, it may be hard to believe that it actually happened. The Reverend James Warren "Jim" Jones was an American religious leader who died in November of 1978 along with 909 of his followers in a jungle camp in Georgetown, Guyana.

He evidently orchestrated a mass murder-suicide as a delegation from the states, including US congressman Leo Ryan, came to Guyana to investigate rumors of a cult which was holding people captive. Among the dead were several hundred children who were either convinced or forced to drink cyanide-laced Kool-aid, as well as Jones himself, who was apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Ryan and five aides were also slain at the airport upon arrival. Earlier in the 1950s, Jones and his Peoples Temple were involved in positive social causes, fighting racial prejudice and integrating businesses in Indiana.

But after moving his operation to California and then Guyana, it all went horribly wrong.

Answer: Due largely to changes in the ancient Welsh patronymic naming system

It's complicated, and English influence plays a role. Historically, Wales had a patronymic naming system, whereby sons took their father's name as a surname (preceded by "ap" or "ab"). This was to prove land ownership. Henry VIII mandated bringing Welsh law in line with England, since he feared renegade Welsh landowners. Having fixed surnames allowed for more accurate records, tax collection and accountability.

At the same time, given names were being streamlined all over Europe, and complex Celtic names were frowned upon.

A short list of safe names were available to Welsh common people (David, John, William etc.), so when forced to adopt a surname, son of John or "Jones" became very common. Approximately one in ten Welshmen has the surname Jones.

Answer: David Bowie

David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in 1947. In the early sixties, as Bowie was getting in touch with his creativity and artistic temperament, he was already trying out different names and personas. As Davy Jones achieved more notoriety as a theater star in London, Bowie felt the urgency to make a permanent switch to distinguish himself.

He chose "Bowie" as a nod to the iconic American knife which was named after frontier hero Jim Bowie, because he liked the freedom and independence it signified. Singer/ songwriter Donovan's full name is Donovan Jerome Leitch. David Lee Roth and Arthur Ira Garfunkel are the respective birth names of those two musicians.

Answer: Yohanan (Hebrew)

"Jones" is a surname derived from the given name "John." Many English surnames are formed by adding "s" or "son" to a given name, such as Williams, Johnson, Fredricks, Franks etc. Yohanon is the Latin transliteration of the ancient Hebrew name meaning "Yahu (or Yaweh, i.e. God) is great," so "John" and therefore "Jones" can be traced at least back as far as a Hebrew name from 400-500 B.C.E.