Today, It Is Thursday Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thor

Thor used to be one of my favorite Marvel Super-Heroes appearing as one of the Avengers in the Marvel Universe. When he is not fighting alongside Captain America and Iron Man, he serves as the Norse God of Thunder and eldest son of the all-powerful Odin. Thor marries the golden-haired earth-goddess Sif and explains why he is sometimes associated with fertility and good harvests. The word Thursday itself is derived from the Old English Thursdaeg and Middle English Thuresday. Both terms refer to Thunor or Thor the God of Thunder.

Answer: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day of extreme eating, socializing, and merry-making that commemorates a harvest feast held at the Plymouth Plantation in 1621 after a very successful harvest. The early American settlers invited the neighboring Wampanoag tribe to join the party and for three solid days there was feasting, dancing, and games.

In modern-day times the annual tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving in late November began with President Abraham Lincoln declaring a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday November 26th, 1863. Local Emergency Room doctors enjoy the annual Thanksgiving holiday for the chance to practice medicine on the many visitors who enter the ER doors after participating in back-yard super bowl championships with friends and extended family.

Answer: General Elections

Holding General Elections on a Thursday in the United Kingdom has become more of a matter of tradition rather than a specific legal mandate. The law states that elections should not be held on Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, or Christmas holidays. Market day in many British towns was also on a Thursday which suggests more people available in a central location for polling. Again as a matter of tradition, the General Elections are usually held on the first Thursday in May.

Answer: G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton was a well respected British writer and journalist in the early years of the 20th century. A prolific writer, Chesterton wrote over 80 books and hundreds of poems, essays, short stories, and columns for various newspapers. "The Man Who Was Thursday" is arguably his best known novel. It is set in Edwardian London and is considered a metaphysical thriller written in an allegorical style. Characters in a secret society are named for days of the week, and the two main characters, Syme and Gregory are vying for the position of "Thursday."

G.K. Chesterton was a BIG guy (6 foot 4 inches - 300 pounds) but with razor-like wit. In the book entitled "Literary Humor" by Cornelius Judson he relates the story of a conversation Chesterton had with his friend George Bernard Shaw. Chesterton remarked about Shaw's 'smaller' size, "To look at you, anyone would think a famine had struck England." Shaw responded with, "To look at you, anyone would think you have caused it."

Answer: Thursday's Child has far to go.

The actual rhyme first appeared in Bray's "Traditions of Devonshire" in 1838 as a means of helping children learn their days of the week. The actual poem reads as follows:
"Monday's Child is fair of face,
Tuesday's Child is full of grace,
Wednesday's Child is full of woe,
Thursday's Child has far to go,
Friday's Child is loving and giving,
Saturday's Child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay".

Answer: Mickey Rourke

"Thursday" is a dark comedic thriller that was directed and written by Skip Woods. The 1998 movie garnered largely negative reviews for its violence and stereotypes, but did earn a Special Jury Prize at the 1999 WonCognac Festival du Film Policier. After a limited nationwide release, "Thursday" was released on DVD in 2002 by Polygram/USA films. Unfortunately the company went bankrupt and only about 1,000 copies of the film ever made it to market.

Answer: Jim Croce

Jim Croce was born on January 10, 1943 and is best remembered for his #1 hit singles "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle." Sadly his blossoming career was fatally cut short on September 20, 1973 when his airplane crash landed shortly after takeoff. He was only 30 years old. "Thursday" was released on the "B" side of the hit single "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" in 1974, and interestingly does not include the word "Thursday" anywhere in the song lyrics.

The other mentioned artists in the answer-choices also released songs with "Thursday" in the title. David Bowie had a hit with "Thursday's Child." Dave Dobbyn released the song "Outlook for Thursday," and Donovan performed the song "Jersey Thursday."

Answer: Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is historically believed to be the day on which the Last Supper occurred. It is the fifth day of Holy Week and plays an important role in the Easter tradition. Scholars suggest that the descriptor "maundy" is derived from the Latin word "mandatum" which is the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" which translates as "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you." This statement is believed to be made by Jesus Christ in John's Gospel (13:34) explaining his action of washing the disciples feet.

Answer: Australia

Thursday Island is also known as Waiben and sometimes TI. The island lies 24 miles (39 km) north of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. The island was first populated by the Melanesian Torres Strait Islanders who named the island Waiben which meant "place of no water." The island became a center of the pearl-fishing industry in the early 1880's and drew fisherman from all over south-east Asia.

Thursday Island is the main island of the Torres Strait Group and is known for being the most northerly of all of the Australian townships. Today it is still a center for fishing and pearling and earns some revenue from tourism.

Answer: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur Dent, the protagonist of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" states these words just minutes before planet Earth is destroyed. The science fiction comedy first appeared as a radio broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in 1978 before being published as a novel in 1979. Since then it has developed almost a cult status and been adapted into theater, video games, a movie, and a comic book series.

Douglas Adams published over 25 books among them "The Meaning of Liff" in 1983, "Last Chance to See" in 1990, and "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" in 1980. Sadly, his brilliant writing career was cut short when he died of a heart attack in May of 2001 at the age of 49.