Things I Learned From Reading 2 Quiz

Answer: Brown

Van Halen's tour promoter added the clause into a venue's contract to see if the contract was read thoroughly by the venue. M&M's aside, Van Halen also requested a lot of alcohol for their dressing room.

Answer: Mathematics

Alfred Nobel stated in his will that his fortune was to be used to award people in different categories. The people were to have created something that benefited mankind in some way. Rumors were that Alfred didn't like mathematics and Sweden already had a math award that was given out by the Swedish journal "Acta Mathematica". The Nobel Prize in Economics was first issued in 1968.

Answer: Mein Kampf

"Mein Kampf (My Struggle)" was dictated by Adolph Hitler while he spent nine months in a castle set up as a prison for him. He was originally sentenced to five years for trying to take over Bavaria in November 1923. That was known as the Beer Hall Putsch. "Four and A Half Years Of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice" was shortened by the publishers of the book to "Mein Kampf". Adolph Hitler considered "Mein Kampf" to be his autobiography.

Answer: Shakers

The Shakers were founded in Manchester, England in the year 1747. The group came about its nickname by dancing during church services. When the Shakers came to America in 1774, they were under the leadership of Mother Ann Lee. The Shakers believed in agriculture and celibacy. If a Shaker wanted a child to continue the line, a child was adopted. Shakers lived in communes of one hundred people.

They were the first conscientious objectors of the American Civil War.

Answer: Leona Helmsley

In 1980, Leona Helmsley was named president of Helmsley Palace Hotel. She was known to yell at her employees. In 1988, Leona and her husband went to prison for tax fraud, mail fraud, and extortion. Leona served eighteen months in prison and paid seven million dollars in back taxes. Leona died from heart failure while living in her summer Connecticut home. She was eighty-seven.

Answer: Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie and Fitch sent out an "A&F Quarterly". The winter quarterly issue in November 2003 had one hundred pages full of inappropriate pictures of male and female models. Sales dropped after that issue and "A&F Quarterly" ended.

Answer: The Great Dictator

The rumor was that Adolph Hitler sported a mustache similar to Charlie Chaplin's mustache so he would be better liked. In retaliation, Charlie Chaplin made the 1940 "talkie" movie, "The Great Dictator". Charlie Chaplin stars as two people in the movie: an unnamed private with amnesia who works in the ghetto and Adenoid Hynkel, a dictator out to arrest anyone who is Jewish (and who resembles real life dictator, Adolph Hitler).

Answer: Green

"The Negro Motorist Green Book" was first published in 1936 by Harlem postman Victor Hugo Green. Mr. Green noticed that there was a similar book for Jewish travelers and created one for African Americans. By 1940, the "Green Book" had over one thousand listings, including addresses of families that would take in African American travelers.

The "Green Book" sold fifteen thousand copies in one year and was available at all Esso gas stations in the United States. By 1966, the book had stopped being published because the 1964 Civil Rights Act made it less necessary.

Answer: False

"Waltzing Matilda" is recognized as the unofficial anthem of Australia. The song tells the story of a man stealing a sheep, hiding the animal in his bag, and then drowning himself to avoid arrest. "Waltzing Matilda" is another way of saying you're working your way from job to job (Waltzing) while carrying your blanket (Matilda) with you.

Answer: Haggis

To commemorate the birthday of Robert Burns on January 25, haggis is eaten. Haggis is sheep stomach filled with sheep liver and heart, and oatmeal. The stomach is sewn up on both ends and boiled for four hours. After it is cooked, the haggis is introduced by bagpipes and a reading of Burns' "Address to a Haggis".