Saint Patrick’s Day Trivia

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Jane

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

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

The 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?

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

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

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

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

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

Who 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 →

Snowy Owl Trivia

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

One of the most recognizable birds in the world is the snowy owl. Their white plumage and yellow eyes are very unique and distinctive. Snowy owls are among the few birds that make the north their year round home. These majestic birds have been used on currency and stamps throughout the world. They have also made their way into fiction and into popular culture.

They are probably the most powerful of all the owls.

The snowy owl is also known as the great white owl or the arctic owl.

A fully grown snowy owl can have a wing span of 125 to 150 cm. They stand about 50 to 63 cm in height, and weigh between 40 60 oz (1100g to 1600g). Wild owls will live an average of 9 years whereas captive owls have been known to live for 35 years.

The snowy owl is the official provincial bird of Quebec. These birds are protected in Canada. Continue reading →

Shark Attack Trivia

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

What was the worst shark attack in history?

According to a number of sources including the Discovery Channel, the worst shark attack in history occurred in July 1945. After being hit by Japanese torpedoes the U.S.S. Indianapolis Portland-class Cruiser sank in 12 minutes. The ship had just left Guam and was enroute to Leyte with 1196 crew on board. It is estimated that at least 300 men were killed when the ship went down, and the rest of the crew were forced to wait in the ocean, for someone to rescue them.

It is estimated that 800 men went into the water on July 30th with very few lifeboats, lifejacket s, food or water. The men floated in the open sea hoping for a rescue but the Navy was unaware that the ship had not reached its destination. Although the ship, according to some sources had sent out distress signals, they were not acted upon. Three stations later reported that they heard the call. Sadly none of these stations for a number of reason including one station that thought it was a Japanese trick did anything about the message. Continue reading →

Sea Monster Trivia

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

The Loch Ness Monster is no longer alone. All over the world more and more lake monsters are making their presence known. From China to Turkey to the interior of North America the claims of lake monster sightings are on the rise. And, what is more surprising is that not only are more people seeing strange lake creatures, the scientific community is no longer simply laughing these sights off. Research teams with very sophisticated equipment are investigating lake monsters all around the globe.

The Oceanographic Institute of Bergen is using recording equipment to investigate underwater sounds in Seljordsvatnet, Norway, where Selma makes her home.

Ogopogo was officially reported 80 years before the Loch Ness Monster.

Chesapeake Bay is home to Chessie. Reports say that Chessie is somewhere between 25 and 40 feet. She has a body that is similar to a snake. One theory suggests that Chessie is actually a manatee. A manatee is a marine mammal that is closely related to elephants. Continue reading →

Scrabble Trivia

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

One of the best known board games in the world is Scrabble. There have been more than 150 million copies of this game sold throughout the world. It has been used for years by many countries to help students to learn English. Scrabble has not only been made available in countless countries, it is available in many different formats. There are travel versions, computer versions and even Braille versions of this fun word game.

Scrabble is played on a square board with 15 spaces across and 15 down, there are 225 squares on the board. When the game was first played you did not use a board, you only had the tiles.

The highest known score for a single word is 392. The word used by Dr. Saladin Khoshnaw in 1982. The word was craziques which means Indian Chief.

There are 100 tiles in the original game. If however, you are playing the game in either Portuguese or Italian there are 120 tiles. Continue reading →

Cockroach Trivia

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jane

Cockroaches are true masters of survival. They are incredibly adept at getting into homes and making themselves welcome. Do not think that roaches are only found in lower class houses or districts. These little monsters are everywhere and are spreading. Once a roach moves in they are extremely difficult to remove. If you do have a roach problem you would be well advised to seek the help of a professional and get them out as quickly as possible.

There are more than 3500 known species of cockroaches.

The largest roach in the world lives in South America. These insects can have a one foot wing span and grow to be 6 inches long.

Cockroaches can hold their breath for half an hour and go without food for a month. They can go for two whole weeks without water. A cockroach can take up to a week to die after its head has been cut off. This is because its brain is not located all in its head. Continue reading →