Fill your brain with random trivia! We feature a new trivia question in each edition of the library newsletter, which is sent to subscriber’s inboxes every other Tuesday. Sign up here.
This is your place to go in case you get stumped. (Note: If this page seems a little short, that’s because we’re just getting started incorporating trivia into the newsletter. We will turn it into a trivia archive eventually.)
June 11, 2013
Trivia Q. The following were presidential pets: Checkers, Heidi, Macaroni, Rex and Misty Malarky Ying Yang. Can you name the Presidents who owned them?
Trivia A. Checkers belonged to Richard Nixon. Heidi belonged to Dwight Eisenhower. Macaroni belonged to John F. Kennedy. Rex belonged to Ronald Reagan. Misty Malarky Ying Yang belonged to Jimmy Carter’s daughter, Amy. Many of these pets traveled with their presidential owners. Where do you take your pet besides the vet? This summer we’re soliciting pictures of your pet on vacation for our pet travel photo bulletin board and an online photo blog. Come on, show us just how cute your pet is. Submit your pet photo here.
May 28, 2013
Trivia Q. What was the name of the Double A minor league baseball team that Michael Jordan played for during the 1994 season?
Trivia A. Birmingham Barons. Check out the 2010 documentary Jordan Rides the Bus about Jordan’s baseball career.
May 14, 2013
Trivia Q. What brand of golf ball is found in the whales blow hole when George pretends to be a marine biologist? A.) Titleist B.) MacGregor C.) Wilson D.) Pinnacle
Trivia A. A.) Titleist. Check out Seinfeld Seasons 1–9 from the library’s catalog!
April 30, 2013
Trivia Q. Cedar Crest is the official residence of the Kansas Governor. Who was the original owner of Cedar Crest?
Trivia Answer. Topeka State Journal publisher Frank P. MacLennan
Check out Kansas First Families at Home: Residences, Residents and Recipes by Karen Carlin, executive editor, Robert W. Richmond, editor. Or the current governor’s book From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion by Sam Brownback
April 16, 2013
Trivia Q. It’s a trivia question worthy of tweeting about! Can you identify this bird (pictured) that’s common to Kansas?
Trivia Answer. American Goldfinch
Both kids and grownups can have fun with birds when you check out our wide range of bird books. Start with the DVD Bill Nye the Science Guy: Birds and then move onto books like A Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots and The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds. We’ve got an ongoing partnership with the Topeka Audubon Society so look for nature programs in Library News.
April 3, 2013
Trivia Q. During baseball’s opening day, the Rangers’ Yu Darvish pitched a perfect game before the Astros’ Marwin Gonzalez hit a single in the ninth inning. How many perfect games have been recorded in MLB history?
Trivia Answer. 23
Get your library card ready, baseball fans. You can find stories about the perfect game and the pitchers who can claim this rare feat at the library. Start with Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made it Happen and Perfect: The Inside Story of Baseball’s 20 Perfect Games and then move onto our sports magazines for recent stories about perfect games and pitchers. For those wanting to learn the sport, we’ve got you covered too with both instructional DVDs and books.
March 19, 2013
Trivia Q. Your library just hit a milestone anniversary for one of our most beloved services. Our Bookmobile traveled the streets of Topeka for the first time on March 15 of what year?
Trivia Answer. March 15, 1943. Happy 70th Anniversary Bookmobile!
The first bookmobile was called the Traveling Branch. Bookmobiles now stop at 16 locations around the county. Find a stop nearest you on our Bookmobile page.
March 5, 2013
Trivia Q. In the Seinfeld episode The Library, what was the name of the library investigations officer who went after Jerry for not returning a copy of Tropic of Cancer?
Trivia Answer. Mr. Bookman.
Check out the TV series (episodes 1-9) on DVD and books about the show’s philosophy, including Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing – plus Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy CDs.
Feb. 19, 2013
Trivia Q. In the novel Tender Is the Night we meet Dick Diver and Nicole Warren. Readers often interpret these two characters as alter egos for which real-life married authors?
Trivia Answer. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, who were both authors. Fitzgerald penned Tender is the Night, but is best known for his novel The Great Gatsby, which the entire community is reading as part of The Big Read (Feb. 1–March 2). Learn all about The Big Read here.
Feb. 2, 2013
Trivia Q. After many years of silent films, the first full-length talking motion picture was released in the U.S. in 1927. What was its title?
Trivia Answer. The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy and Warner Oland. Jakie Rabinowitz runs away from home to become a talented jazz singer, but will the demands of a Jewish family and heritage be too much to resist? Check it out from the library. And celebrate the Roaring Twenties (and the Jazz Age) as we unite in reading The Great Gatsby as part of The Big Read 2013, a National Endowment for the Arts initiative to restore reading to the center of American culture. Roaring Twenties events going on now through March 2, when Queen Bey, a legendary jazz singer from Kansas City, performs.
Jan. 22, 2013
Trivia Q. What is the title of the novel that made F. Scott Fitzgerald famous and helped make the flapper movement a national fad? (Hint: It was his debut novel.)?
Trivia Answer. This Side of Paradise. Fitzgerald gained overnight fame when his debut novel came out – and almost as quickly a wife. Hear about Fitzgerald’s life Feb. 17 at 1pm during a presentation by Kirk Curnutt, author, scholar and expert on the Fitzgeralds. All month of February, the community will unite in reading as part of The Big Read 2013, a National Endowment for the Arts initiative to restore reading to the center of American culture. Readers will be reading and discussing another popular Fitzgerald book, The Great Gatsby, during The Big Read (Feb. 1–March 2).
Jan. 8, 2013
Trivia Q. Who is the object of Jay Gatsby’s obsessive love in the classic novel The Great Gatsby?
Trivia Answer. The beautiful Daisy Buchanan, wife of Tom Buchanan. Grab and go with your copy of this classic work by F. Scott Fitzgerald when you stop at the book display the library’s atrium. All month of February, the community will unite in reading and talking about the story as part of The Big Read 2013, a National Endowment for the Arts initiative to restore reading to the center of American culture. Or reserve your copy of Gatsby online to pick up later.
Dec. 25, 2012
Trivia Q. On what year was Christmas declared a national holiday in the U.S.? a.) 1790 b.) 1818 c.) 1854 d.) 1870 e.) 1902
Trivia Answer. d.) June 26, 1870. In the U.S., it was not consistently celebrated across ethnic, religious and geographic divides for much of our history. Puritans condemned the holiday. Louisiana was the first state to declare Christmas a state holiday in 1837. 33 years later U.S. Congress followed suit. Discover where certain Christmas traditions came from and dig up local Christmas facts with a visit to the Topeka Room (second floor).
Dec. 11, 2012
Trivia Q. What social site is the fastest growing in the history of the internet?
Trivia A. Pinterest. Did you know your library is on Pinterest? Access our boards. Browse through staff picks, get new DIY ideas and drool over pictures of food. We even have a library lounge board for you to hang out in.
Nov. 27, 2012
Trivia Q. Who plays Woodie Guthrie in the 1976 film adaptation of his autobiography Bound for Glory?
Trivia A. David Carradine. Check out Bound for Glory on DVD from the library. You can also check out the book Bound for Glory if you prefer reading to watching.
Nov. 13, 2012
Trivia Q. At McKinley High School, what is the preferred item for the popular students to throw at the unpopular students (or rather, what do the athletes throw at the Glee Club members)?
Trivia A. Slushies. Check out Glee on DVD from the library. You can also get many of the series’ music CDs here too.
Oct. 30, 2012
Trivia Q. In the children’s picture book Pinkalicious, what color of foods must the little girl eat to undo her pink color change?
Trivia A. Green. Check out Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann at the library. This is a popular book with young girls. We own several copies of titles in the Pinkalicious series.
Oct. 16, 2012
Trivia Q. Which Greek heroine refused to marry any man who could not beat her in a footrace, those who lost being killed?
Trivia A. Atalanta. Check out stories of Greek mythology at the library. Start with Greek Myths by Diane Namm
Oct. 2, 2012
Trivia Q. What major league baseball hall of famer grew up in Commerce, Oklahoma and played briefly for the Kansas City Blues in the minor leagues?
Trivia A. Mickey Mantle of the Yankees. Check out The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood by Jane Leavy
Sept. 18, 2012
Trivia Q. What Oscar-winning Best Picture film BEGINS with the title character’s death in a motorcycle crash?
Trivia A. Lawrence of Arabia. Check out the movie, plus read Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
Sept. 4, 2012
Trivia Q. On a popular CBS show, a lead character frequently wears colored comic-book themed T-shirts, with the color of the shirt worn in the scene being a clue to his mood. What is the name of this character?
Trivia A. Sheldon. Check out Big Bang Theory Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from the library!
If you just can’t get enough trivia, form a team of family, friends or coworkers and sign up for the library’s popular quarterly Trivia Night and Trivia Afternoon. Check for upcoming trivia events in Library News, our bimonthly newspaper.
And if you want to organize your own trivia night, check out our free guide, written by our Trivia Night experts! http://tscpl.org/library-stories/how-to-trivia