Author Archives: Jane

Labyrinth Movie Trivia

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Labyrinth is an imaginative fantasy film that was released in1986. The movie was directed by legendary puppeteer Jim Hensen. It was produced by George Lucas and stars David Bowie and a cast of Hensen’s famous Muppets.

The film was written by Jim Hensen, Elaine May, Dennis Lee and Terry Jones. Elaine May is not only a writer but an actress and director. She was nominated for an Oscar for her work on the film Heaven Can Wait. Dennis Lee, is an award winning, Canadian children’s author. He was also one of the writers for the television series Fraggle Rock. Terry Jones, is best known for his years as a member of the British comedy team Monty Python. Continue reading →

What is the Tallest Building in the World?

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Before you can answer that question, you have to first answer a number of other questions and define what kind of building it is.

Is the building a tower or communications antennae or does it serve some other purpose?

Where do you start measuring the building? Do you include the basement, underground supports or, in some cases, the underwater portions of the structure?

Additionally, if an antennae is added to the top of the structure, do you include it to be part of the measurement? Continue reading →

How Tall is the Eiffel Tower?

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The Eiffel Tower, including the spire, is 324 m ( 1063 feet) tall.

A world wide symbol of both Paris and France,  construction on the tower began in 1887, and was completed in 1889. The tower was originally built as one of the exhibits in the Paris World Fair of 1889.

The man behind the tower was Alexander Gustave Eiffel. It was originally built for and entered into a contest that had been organized by the French Government. The Eiffel Tower won the contest with over more than 700 other entries. Upon completion, the Tower was not universally popular. In fact, there were many who were opposed to it and considered it be an eyesore. Among those who felt this way were, Alexander Dumas, Charles Garnier, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier and Charles Gounod.
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Which Planet has the Most Moons?

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Jupiter has the most moons. As of 2009, Jupiter has 63 known satellites or moons.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It is the fifth planet from the sun and was named after the Roman god Jupiter. It is considered one of the gas planets with the others being Uranus, Neptune and Saturn. Jupiter is mainly made up of hydrogen, and is about one quarter helium. Scientists speculate that it may have a rock core. It rotates in about ten hours on its own axis and take about 12 years to make one orbit around the sun.

Jupiter’s largest moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei. Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, philosopher, mathematician and physicist. He was born on Feb. 15th 1564 and died on the 8th of Jan. in 1642. He discovered the moons of Jupiter and published his findings in 1610. Another astronomer, Simon Marius claimed to have observed the moons at the same time, however since he did not publish his findings the credit is given to Galileo.
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Who was Saint Patrick?

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Saint Patrick is one of the best known and recognized Saints. Saint Patrick lived in the 400’s and, as with many saints and historic figures, exact dates, places and events are often questioned and cannot be verified. Luckily, there is more information about this man and his life than most historic figures of his time. Regardless of the exact facts, Saint Patrick is one of the most popular of all the Saints and has come to represent not only Christianity but all things Irish.

Saint Patrick was born in Britain. The exact year of his birth and death is under debate. It is generally believed that he was born around the year 400. One date that is commonly found is the year 387. The date of his death is often listed as being the 17th of March, 461.

One of the major events relating to St. Patrick’s life claims that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. This is now questioned. Although there are no snakes in Ireland, there probably never were any. One theory suggest that the snakes were actually a symbol of how St. Patrick drove paganism and its gods out of Ireland.

Two letters that are said to have been written by Saint Patrick still exist, the Declaration and a letter to the soldiers of Coroticus. The Declaration is a letter describing his early life, captivity and his mission in Ireland. Continue reading →

Saint Patrick’s Day Trivia

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It is often said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! The feast day of Saint Patrick is a holy day in the Catholic Church. The holiday is also recognized by the Anglican church, the country of Ireland and many other English speaking countries.

St. Patrick’s Day is the 17th of March.

In Ireland St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. In North America while the Day is recognized and celebrated it is not a national holiday.

St. Patrick’s Day often falls during the period of Lent due to the fact that Easter is not celebrated on a fixed day. If the feast of St. Patrick falls during Lent, which is a fasting period, the fasting does not have to be observed. If St. Patrick’s Day falls during Holy Week, the 7 days leading up to Easter, the Catholic Church will reallocate the date of the feast. This last time this happened was in 1940, when St. Patrick’s Day would have fallen on the same day as Palm Sunday. The Church moved the date to the third of March, to avoid a conflict. Thankfully, this does not occur very often. Continue reading →

More Sports Trophy Trivia

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silver trophyThe FIFA World Cup Trophy

Every four years FIFA holds its famous world cup. The winner of this event is presented with the FIFA World Cup. This cup has been awarded since 1974. Prior to 1974 the winner was given the Rimet World Cup. This trophy was awarded from 1930 until 1970. It had organically been called “Victory” but the name was changed to honor Jules Rimet the former President of FIFA.

The Rimet trophy was made of lapis lazuli and gold plated sterling silver. The trophy was of the goddess Nike, who is known as the winged goddess of victory. It had to be replaced after Brazil won it for the third time in 1970,  since according to FIFA any team that won the trophy three times would win the trophy outright. Sadly, the trophy was stolen in 1983 while it was on display in the Brazilian Football Confederation Headquarters. Although four men were convicted of the theft, the trophy was never recovered. In 1984 a replica of the trophy was made and presented to the President of Brazil. Continue reading →

How Can You Avoid Crocodile and Alligator Attacks?

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Do not leave food in your campsite.

If you are in croc or alligator territory, stay out of the water. If there are no posted signs do not go into the water. You never know if there is a crocodile in the area. Talk to the locals, consult local authorities but do not go swimming without checking first!

If there is a warning sign, it is there for a reason. Do not think that just because you don’t see anything, that the crocodiles are not in the area. Crocodiles and alligators don’t like to be seen before they attack.

If you are fishing, do not clean your fish anywhere near the edge of the water. Get well away from the shore before you start. Make sure you do not leave any scraps in the area.

Fishermen should never throw unwanted fish or scraps into the water. Continue reading →

Sports Trophy Trivia

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NBA

The winner of the NBA is awarded the Larry O’Brien Trophy. This trophy replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy which was awarded from 1949 until 1977. The trophy was a challenge cup which means that the winning team would keep the trophy for a year and then return it to the league to be given to the next winner. The Cup was simply called the NBA Finals Trophy until 1964 when it was renamed the Walter A Brown Trophy.

Walter Brown, (1905 – 1964) was the first owner of the Boston Celtics. He played a major role in uniting the BAA and the National Basketball League into today’s NBA.  The Walter A. Brown trophy is on display in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield Massachusetts. In 1977 a new trophy was designed for the league, but the name remained the same. Continue reading →

NHL Trivia

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hockey playerWho holds the record for the longest winning streak in the NHL?

The Pittsburgh Penguins hold this record with an astounding 17 game winning streak. They set this record in the 1992-93 season. The team was coached by Scotty Bowman with Craig Patrick as the general manager. The team completed the regular season with a 56-21-7 and won the President’s Trophy which is given to the team who has the most points at the end of the regular season.

It was announced during the season that team Captain Mario Lemieux was suffering from Hodgkin’s disease, which forced him to miss 24 games during the regular season and the all star game. Despite this, he won both the Art Ross Trophy for having the most points (160) in the regular season and  he would also win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. Mario also lead his team in goals (69) and assists (91) and had an amazing +55. Goalie Tom Barrasso had 43 wins and a 3.1 goals against average for the season. Continue reading →