Agony of Alberta Trivia Game | Canada

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. When it comes to the province of Alberta, Canada, food has a corner of its own, and food aficionado Cymraumbyth poses a question on that topic. "Alberta is home to an internationally renowned ice cream store. Where in Alberta would you have to go to join the long line up for a Mackay's ice cream cone?"

Answer: Cochrane

To enjoy a taste of Mackay's ice cream, you'd go to Cochrane, about 46 km (29 miles) west of Calgary. Be careful as you drive down the hill into the townsite - it's steep!). In her journal Annabelle Johnson, who lived on a farm in the Cochrane area, noted that on February 9, 1948 the cream truck didn't get any further than George Mackay's because the roads were plugged with snow. One wonders if, rather than letting all that fresh cream spoil, George decided to turn it all into ice cream? However it happened, Mackay's ice cream has been delighting the palates of ice cream aficionados since 1948 and has received rave reviews from visitors from around the globe. I used to teach in Cochrane, and I'd reward myself with a Mackay's ice cream cone after a hard day in the classroom. I always chose vanilla, my favourite, but you can try Mackay's magic in 200 flavours, along with sherbets and ice cream cakes. And you don't even have to go to Cochrane for Mackay's ice cream if that's impractical. Nowadays, it's available in grocery stores and supermarkets all over Alberta.

2. For Quiz Makers Guild member stuthehistoryguy, Alberta, Canada is all about sports: "The most venerable professional wrestling promotion in this beautiful, independent province is Stampede wrestling, which put on great shows from its establishment in 1948 until its closure in 1990. Though inactive through most of the 1990s, Stampede Wrestling began promoting shows again in 1999. What well-known wrestling family has operated Stampede Wrestling since its inception?"

Answer: The Harts

Family patriarch Stu Hart, who became a member of the Order of Canada in 2001, was especially known for training some of the outstanding figures in professional wrestling. Among the wrestlers who passed through the Hart "Dungeon" (the gym in the basement of the family home) were Friz Von Erich, Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, Chris Jericho, and "Superstar" Billy Graham.

These, of course, were in addition to Hart's own sons, Bret "Hitman" Hart and Owen Hart, sons-in-law Davey Boy Smith (aka The British Bulldog) and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and grandson Teddy Hart.

The elder Hart passed away in 2003 after being sadly preceded in death by son Owen in 1999.

3. Football fan joemc37 poses the next Alberta-centric question: "What Edmonton Eskimos QB won 5 consecutive Grey Cups from 1978-82 and became the first player to ever be inducted into both the Canadian Football and the U.S. Pro Football hall of fame?"

Answer: Warren Moon

Many football historians believe that Warren Moon went undrafted in the 1978 NFL draft because of the color of his skin. Moon was adamant about wanting to be a QB and told perspective teams that he would not switch to another position. After his enormous success in the CFL, Moon signed with the Houston Oilers of the NFL in 1984. Moon made the NFL Pro Bowl team 9 times in his 17 year NFL career.

When you put Moon's career CFL and NFL stats together you see that he was indeed one of the greatest QBs of all-time.

Here are just a few of Warren Moon's career stats: 5,357 completions (Dan Marino had 4,967), 70,553 passing yards (61,361 for Marino) and 435 td passes (420 for Marino).

4. Guild member apathy100 is a history buff with a question about a tragic incident in Alberta, Canada's past: "During the 20th Century, the greatest landslide in North American history occurred in 1903 in the small town of Frank, Alberta. What was completely buried as a result of this tragic historical moment in Alberta's history?"

Answer: an underground mine

On April 29, 1903, the greatest landslide occurred in the small town of Frank, Alberta. The majority of the local coal mine's surface was completely covered with rock, over two kilometers of railway was covered, and many houses and buildings were also covered. After rescue teams were finished, the death toll was tallied at over 70 people (in a town of only 600 residents).

When the disaster occurred at approximately 4:10 am, it was estimated that over 70 million tonnes of limestone came crashing down from the top of Turtle Mountain. It has been studied and determined that a variety of factors contributed to the landslide including the aftermath of an earthquake in 1901, erosion and poor weather conditions, and the unstable geological structure of Turtle Mountain.

Following the disaster, the town was cleaned up and restored. The local coal mine was re-opened as was the Canadian Pacific Railway system. In 1911, however, Alberta's provincial government, after monitoring the mountainside and completing various geological tests ordered the permanent closure of the mine site as it was determined to be too unstable for workers to be in. Today, few people continue to live in Frank, however, the site has become a must see for tourists. There is a plaque, and visitors can view the aftermath of what was Canada's largest mountain disaster of the 20th Century.

5. Our own spanishliz turns her attention to more recent history: "In need of a place to train their armoured troops, after Gaddafi's 1969 coup denied it the use of the Libyan desert, the British Army looked to the open spaces of Canada. They found a home for the unit, known as BATUS, at a Canadian Forces Base in Alberta. Which one?"

Answer: CFB Suffield

BATUS stands for British Army Training Unit Suffield, so the acronym might have given a bit of a clue to the answer. (That was the intention.)

CFB Suffield is located near Medicine Hat, in the southeast corner of Alberta. The creation of BATUS in 1971 was actually a return to the area for the British Army, which had used it for training during World War II. After a series of leases, in 2006 an agreement was reached granting use of the area to BATUS for an indefinite period.

6. Guild member skunkee has first-hand knowledge of the great province of Alberta and even knows a few of its secrets. She poses a question about one of its more unique spots: "With a landscape that would look equally comfortable on the moon, or in the depths of Death Valley, this part of southern Alberta has to be seen to be believed. Its bleak, windblown terrain, carved by water over 70 millions years ago, offers a sharp contrast to the rich grasslands around it. What is this area of Alberta called?"

Answer: The Badlands

If you're traveling west on the Trans-Canada Highway across southern Alberta, you may never suspect that this place even exists, but it's certainly worth the short side trip to see. I will never forget how amazed I was at the first sighting of this beautiful and bleak area...it literally took my breath away. I had no idea that such a place existed in Canada.
Wandering the paths of Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is nestled in the heart of the Badlands (about 50 kilometers east of Calgary), I was surprised to see signs warning of the danger of Rattlesnakes, Scorpions and Black Widow Spiders. We also encountered, guarded by Plexiglas, the fossilized remains of a Triceratops, lying exactly where it was first uncovered. Lying in the trailer at night, we were sung to sleep by the howling of the coyotes.
With areas like this existing all over North America, the term badlands is used to describe this type of arid topography. However the expression is originally believed to have first been used by early settlers, who found the terrain more than a little difficult to traverse in their wagons, on their westward journeys!

7. Ah, leave it to the scholarly CellarDoor to come up with a question combining history and etymology. "The name "Alberta" was bestowed upon this large region before it had even become a province," she says. "Unlike the names of neighbouring lands, "Alberta" came not from a First Nations word but from the name of a popular member of the British royal family. In whose honour was this land christened?

Answer: Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Duchess of Argyle

Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939) was the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; her third name, and thus the name of the province, came from her father. (Alternate answers Queen Victoria and Princess Augusta Sophia did not really have Albert-variants in their names.) She married the Marquess of Lorne, future Duke of Argyle, at age 23 and followed him to Canada seven years later when he was appointed Governor General.

An extremely popular woman, she had a namesake not only in the district of Alberta but also one of Alberta's most beautiful natural features: Lake Louise. She died in England at 91, just two months after World War II began.

8. Not surprisingly, Guild member gretas is interested in Alberta's connection to pop culture. "Alberta is home to more than just rich history and amazing geography," she insists. "It is also the birthplace of a well-known comic book hero. Which comic book icon, who has also been portrayed in several successful films, was "born' in Alberta?

Answer: Wolverine

According to his comic book bio, James Howlett (aka Wolverine) was born into a rich family in Alberta, Canada in the late 19th century. A traumatic experience involving his mother somehow caused him to grow retractable claws and retarded his age, turning him into the Wolverine we all know and love. The character has been portrayed on screen by Hugh Jackman in the popular "XMen" films.

9. Guild member Bruyere's question showcases her domestic side. "Alberta Province is known for its production of canola oil as it produces 34 percent of the product for Canada. Which of these is NOT true about this oil?

Answer: Canola oil is derived from the olives

While Canola oil is derived from rapeseed oil, the latter has higher levels of erucic acid that are not as desirable for health. Canola oil's original name was Low erucic acid rapeseed because it was modified to have lower acid levels. The new name was coined in the seventies. Rapeseed's root word is rapum or a word for turnip.

As the word had negative associations, the new word was developed to distinguish it. Canola oil is therefore a product of bioengineering. In Alberta the canola growers are in the forefront of the use of the oil for fuel.

10. Guild member Leo Da Vinci takes us back to Alberta's prehistoric era with his question: "In the bleak, barren, weather-beaten valleys of Alberta, a large concentration of dinosaur fossils were uncovered. This spawned the creation of Dinosaur National Park. Over 150 complete skeletons have been uncovered, and countless other various bones as well. Which of the following families of dinosaurs can NOT be found at Dinosaur National Park?"

Answer: Fabrosauridae (Bipedal ornithischian dinosaurs)

The Badlands of Alberta was once (oh, about 80 million years ago) a lush marshy valley filled with rivers and foliage, and, of course, abundant dinosaurs. With the sudden and unexplained extinction of the "terrible lizards" 65 million years ago, many dinosaur bones were fossilized and preserved in the rock. They are dug up today by archaeologists around the world, and many flock to the Badlands to make discoveries and test theories as to why the dinosaurs died out. In Dinosaur Provincial Park there is a high concentration of dinosaur fossils, and the vast majority of them are from the latter stages of the age of the dinosaurs, the late Cretaceous Period.

While Hadrosauridae, Tyrannosauridae, and Ceratopsidae are all Cretaceous dinosaurs, Fabrosauridae were dominant in the Triassic and Jurassic Periods, and would not be found in Dinosaur National Park.

Source: Author gretas

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor minch before going online.
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Agony of Alberta Trivia Quiz

Ah, the joy of victory, the agony of...Alberta! This quiz on Alberta, Canada honors the home province of beloved Fun Trivia member and editor "agony" with questions posed by her friends in the Quiz Makers Guild. We love you, agony!

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