My Name is James Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cool Papa

Considered to be the fastest man to ever play the game, Bell played for five different Negro League teams during a career which spanned from the late 1920s through the mid-1940s. He began his career as a pitcher, but later moved to the outfield, and was an effective leadoff hitter and base-stealer. Later he served as a manager of the Kansas City Monarchs. Bell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. (Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website for additional information.)

Answer: Navy

During his time as an astronaut, Jim Lovell was involved in some of the most important American space missions. As pilot of Gemini 7 in 1965, he and Frank Borman set a record by staying in space for two weeks AND performed the very first rendezvous between two manned American spacecraft.

As commander of Gemini 12 in June, 1966, he watched future moonwalker Buzz Aldrin set a spacewalking record by spending over five hours outside the spacecraft. Because Michael Collins had to have surgery on a bulging disk, he wound up as the command module pilot on Apollo 8, the first manned flight to the Moon, in December 1968.

As commander of Apollo 13, he became the first human to visit the Moon twice, but the on-board explosion kept him from setting foot on it.

In 1973, when Lovell retired from the space program, he had logged more time in space than anyone else. (Thanks to NASA's website for additional information.)

Answer: Burt Lancaster

Based on the novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II, "Seven Days in May" (released in the US in 1964) featured an all-star cast, including Lancaster as a popular air force general and Presidential hopeful who disagrees with the President's support of nuclear disarmament, and Kirk Douglas as Jiggs Casey, a Marine Corps colonel who must tell the President of the plot. George C Scott also played an air force general in 1964, Buck Turgidson, in Stanley Kubrick's classic "Dr. Strangelove". Fredric March played the President in "Seven Days in May". (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database for additional information.)

Answer: 4

James K. Polk (D-Tennessee), the man who would become the 11th President of the United States, was the first James to serve as Speaker (1835-39). James L. Orr (D-South Carolina), who would later join the Confederate Senate, was next (1857-59). After him was James G. Blaine (R-Maine, 1869-75), who later served as Secretary of State under President James Garfield.

It would be over a century later when another James, in this case James Wright (D-Texas) (1987-89), became Speaker. The successor to longtime Speaker Tip O'Neill, Wright was only the second person to ever resign from the position, as the result of ethics violations.

Answer: Up Your Nose

Known as much for his height as for his singing--he's just an inch short of five feet--Dickens became a member of the Opry in 1948 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Other hits during his long career include novelty songs like "Hot Diggity Dog," "Out Behind the Barn" and "I'm Little But I'm Loud", as well as romantic ballads like "I've Just Got To See You Once More" and "My Heart's Bouquet". (Thanks to the Country Music Hall of Fame's website for additional information.)

Answer: Iredell

Born in England in 1751, James Iredell immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, settling in Edenton, North Carolina and becoming an customs officer. He began practicing law in North Carolina two years later, eventually becoming the state's attorney general and arguing successfully for the state legislature to ratify the US Constitution. President Washington appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1790, and he served until his death in 1799, at age 45.

The county that bears his name is in western North Carolina and is seated at Statesville. (Thanks to oyez.org for additional information).

Answer: James Schlesinger

President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act on August 4, 1977, merging a number of government agencies devoted to energy management and research into a single cabinet-level department. Schlesinger, a Republican who served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, was sworn in as the department's first leader the very next day.

He would stay in the position until 1979. The other Jameses listed here also made important contributions to government. James Forrestal was the first Secretary of Defense (1947-49), one of four during the Truman Administration; James Watkins was Secretary of Energy under President George H.W. Bush (1989-93); and James Fletcher served two different terms as NASA's administrator (1971-77 and 1986-89) and was instrumental in the development of the space shuttle and NASA's recovery from the Challenger disaster. (Thanks to the Department of Energy website, NASA's website, and The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004 for additional information.)

Answer: True

A superb athlete who played five sports in high school, Jim Brown is the only person to date to be enshrined in the pro football, college football and lacrosse halls of fame. He made second-team All-American in lacrosse during his junior year at Syracuse and first-team All-American in both lacrosse and football during his senior year.

In fact, he scored 43 goals in 10 games, tying him for a share of that year's scoring championship. (Thanks to www.sportsplacement.com for additional information.)

Answer: "Catch Me If You Can"

Because of his commitment to "The Sopranos", Gandolfini bowed out of the role of FBI agent Carl Hanratty in the motion picture, "Catch Me If You Can", based on the book by con man extraordinare Frank Abagnale. Tom Hanks ended up playing the role, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio's Abagnale. (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database for additional information.)

Answer: Iowa

A decorated physicist who grew up in the town of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Van Allen designed the cosmic-ray instrumentation used by Explorer I, the first successful artificial satellite launched by the United States (January 31, 1958) and the satellite which discovered the radiation belts.

He also worked on both the Mariner and Pioneer series of space probes. Van Allen was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1984. (Thanks to the University of Iowa's website and the International Space Hall of Fame's website for additional information.)