Trivia Smorgasbord Trivia Quiz

Answer: La Sylphide

The shoes ballerinas wear are considerbly improved from the pointe shoes that Marie Taglioni first wore. Her shoes needed to be replaced at least once per performance. The old shoe tended to lose stiffness or the box became too soft to brace the toes. Newer shoes incorporate newer materials and stand up to wear-and-tear longer.

Answer: Riddle

James Riddle Hoffa was born on February 14th, 1913, and was apparently killed during the year 1975, though nobody can accurately pinpoint the actual date. He was a union boss, but was very intimately connected with organized crime. Tough he disappeared in 1975, he was declared legally dead only in 1982.

Answer: Minnesota

In the small Minnesota town of Blue Earth the statue was erected. The town's other claim to fame is that the ice cream sandwich was invented there.

Answer: Cranberries

Blueberries are one of the family of 'true berries' which includes cranberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, and currants. The Box hucleberry is one of the oldest organisms on the planet.

Answer: lemniscate

"To infinity, and beyond!" - Buzz Lightyear, "Toy Story"

Infinity is a very abstract definition of having no constraints, and it usually comes up in mathematics or philosophy. Infinity has been studied over the centuries, and no true definition exists. It is said that two parallel lines converge at infinity, that any number plus infinity is still infinity, and that and number divided by zero is infinity, but these are all concepts very hard to grasp.

Answer: A hockey player

Miles Gilbert Horton was a profesional hockey player who was a defenceman mostly for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He took over a coffee shop in 1964 and renamed it Tim Horton, and went into a partnership with Ron Joyce, who made it a successful franchise chain. Tim Horton was tragically killed in a car accident in 1974 in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Answer: Felix the Cat

Felix the Cat made his first appearance in the silent films, and was the first really famous cartoon. He was outdistanced by Mickey Mouse, but made a comeback in the television industry. Felix was so popular that he was the first balloon ever to be made for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, not just among animated characters.

Answer: Edward Craven Walker

In 1965 at the Hamburg trade show, the lava lamp was exhibited by Engishman Edward Craven Walker. It was quickly noticed by American entrepreneur Adolph Wertheimer, who bought the idea and marketed it in the States.

Answer: Empty Quarter

The Rub' al Khali is one of the largest sand deserts in the world, with dunes that rise hundreds of meters into the air and virtually no precipitation every year. Temperatures rise to 55 degrees Centigrade in the daytime, whereas as night they can drop to well below freezing. It is largely uninhabited, though underneath the treacherous sands a large deposit of crude oil exists.

Answer: Buffalo Bob

"Buffalo Bob" Smith was the host of the popular children's show. On this show the exclamation "Kowabonga!" originated, to be picked up many years later by the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". This was one of the first shows that the live audience participated in the show.