Trifecta Trivia Quiz

Answer: Evangeline

American poet and scholar Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was responsible for the 1847 epic poem "Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie". The poem is set in French Arcadie (modern day Nova Scotia) during the 1755 deportation and expulsion of the Acadian people.

Here we meet Evangeline and learn of her search for her lost love, Gabriel. As a schoolchild, I had to memorize several of Longfellow's poems, including "The Village Blacksmith" (1840), "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (1842) and "Paul Revere's Ride" (1861).

Answer: Freaky Friday

As you may know, Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh ("Psycho"). Jamie was born in Santa Monica, CA in 1958, and she went into the family business. She made her film debut in 1978 as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's horror film "Halloween". In 2003, she starred in "Freaky Friday" about switching identities with her daughter. Among her other films are: "True Lies", "Trading Places" and "A Fish Called Wanda" (my personal favorite). In 1984, she married Christopher Guest, and became Baroness Haden-Guest.

Answer: There Will Be Blood

Film director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson was born in Studio City, CA in 1970, perfect for a filmmaker-to-be. His film debut came in 1996, with "Hard Eight". He has been nominated for Academy Awards in writing for "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia", and for directing "Phantom Thread" and "There Will Be Blood". The latter is a 2007 movie about a ruthless prospector/oilman in the early 20th century. Daniel Day-Lewis (another 'trifecta') was awarded a Best Actor Academy Award for the role of Daniel Plainview.

Answer: Christine Campbell

One of television's most awarded actresses, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City in 1961. Trained in improvisation, she started out on "Saturday Night Live" from 1982 to 1985. Her breakout role, however, was as Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld" from 1989 to 1998. After the forgettable "Watching Ellie", Elaine played Christine Campbell, a self-centered divorcee on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" from 2006 to 2010, before becoming Selina Meyer on "VEEP". She made her film debut in 1986 in Woody Allen's "Hannah and her Sisters".

Answer: Annabel Lee

Bostonian Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a poet and master of the macabre. His 1841 short story "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is often considered the first modern detective story, with the award for mystery writing called the 'Edgar'. Poe's last complete poem was the poignant, lyrical "Annabel Lee", published in 1849.

It describes the death of a beautiful woman; "but we loved with a love that was more than love". Both his poems and his short stories were often dark and haunting, e.g., "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher".

Answer: Uncle Tom's Cabin

"So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war" is a quote by President Abraham Lincoln when he met author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). He was, of course, referring to her 1852 novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly". The anti-slavery tome tells of the harsh treatment and conditions suffered by African American slaves, and is said to be responsible for laying the foundation for the War Between the States, and for energizing the anti-slavery forces.

Answer: John Carter of Mars

You may be more familiar with Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) as the author of the "Tarzan" adventure series, the first of which was "Tarzan of the Apes" in 1912. In that same year, his science fiction hero, John Carter, first appeared in a magazine serial under the title "Under the Moons of Mars". John was a Virginian and a Civil War veteran who was transported to Mars.

His adventures were told in eleven volumes, the last of which, titled "John Carter of Mars", was published posthumously in 1964. Burroughs was buried in Tarzana, Los Angeles, CA.

Answer: LPGA

Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956) was a pioneer in women's sports, changing the way people viewed "the fairer sex". In the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, CA, Babe won two gold medals in track and field. Remarkably, she also won medals in javelin throw, hurdles and the high jump.

After the Olympics, in 1947 she began playing professional golf and, at the time of her death, she had become the greatest woman golfer of all time. By the end of her career, she had won ten Ladies' Professional Golf Association major championships.

Answer: Hayden Planetarium

Scientist, astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson was born in New York City in 1958. In 1996 he became the director of the prestigious Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan. If you've ever watched "The Big Bang Theory", you might have seen Raj giving lectures at a Planetarium in California. You lean back, look at the stars and learn about our planet in relation to the universe. Neil has written essays for Natural History magazine and has penned books which include "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" in 2017.

Answer: Tuskegee Institute

Our last 'trifecta' is scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864-1943). He was a professor at Tuskegee Institute, a private, historically black university in Tuskegee, Alabama, founded by Booker T. Washington. He developed a way to prevent soil depletion by planting products like peanuts and sweet potatoes instead of simply replanting cotton year after year.

This crop rotation helped the poor farmers improve the quality of their lives. He was also an environmentalist, and received the Spingarn Medal for his work.