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Who Are These People, Anyway? Trivia Quiz

Descriptions of 14 famous people. Find out who they are, then find out what the 14 have in common!

A multiple-choice quiz by crisw. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
crisw

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
6,518

Updated
Jul 31 22

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
6175

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 108 (11/15), angostura (14/15), gable (10/15).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. Who starred in the detective TV series 'Columbo'? Hint

Don Adams

Alan Alda

Jack Klugman

Peter Falk

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Question 2 of 15

2. Who was known as the Man of a Thousand Voices? Hint

Frank Oz

Mel Blanc

Walt Disney

Mel Brooks

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Question 3 of 15

3. Which chess virtuoso beat Boris Spassky after 21 games to win the World Chess Championship in 1972? Hint

Bobby Fischer

Siegbert Tarrasch

Gary Kasparov

Anatoly Karpov

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Question 4 of 15

4. Which of these persons is someone who died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger? Hint

Sally Ride

Judith Resnik

Anna Fisher

Stephanie Wilson

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Question 5 of 15

5. What astronomer, author of 'Cosmos' is famous for his utterances about 'billions and billions of stars'? Hint

Isaac Asimov

Edwin Hubble

Carl Sagan

Neil Armstrong

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Question 6 of 15

6. Who wrote about multiple murderer Gary Gilmore in 'The Executioner's Song'? Hint

Stephen King

Norman Mailer

Truman Capote

Joseph Heller

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Question 7 of 15

7. Who wrote the famous play, turned into both a movie and a TV series, called 'The Odd Couple'? Hint

Woody Allen

Neil Simon

Thomas Meehan

Arthur Fielder

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Question 8 of 15

8. This founder of non-Euclidean geometry is probably most famous for his satirization in a song by Tom Lehrer. Hint

James Joseph Sylvester

Tullio Levi-Civita

Hermann Minkowski

Nikolay Ivanovich Lobachevsky

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Question 9 of 15

9. Who was a monetary consultant and policy advisor to the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush administrations -- and continued under Clinton as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board? Hint

Donald Trump

Andrew Grove

Newt Gingrich

Alan Greenspan

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Question 10 of 15

10. Who was the Brooklyn-born gangster who founded Las Vegas as a gambling mecca? Hint

Bugsy Siegel

Lucky Luciano

Al Capone

Big Jim Colosimo

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Question 11 of 15

11. Whose book of prophecies, written in the 1500's but still believed by many today, was the subject of a song by Al Stewart?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 12 of 15

12. What person, whose biography was written by Amy Wallace, is regarded by many as the brightest human ever born, claiming an IQ between 250-300? Hint

Marilyn vos Savant

Albert Einstein

William Sidis

Leonardo da Vinci

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Question 13 of 15

13. Who discovered the subatomic particle called a 'quark'? Hint

Niels Bohr

Ernest Rutherford

Murray Gell-Mann

Albert Einstein

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Question 14 of 15

14. What rock star's hits include 'Just the Way You Are', 'Big Shot' and 'An Innocent Man'?

Answer: (Two Words)

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Question 15 of 15

15. All of these people have one thing in common. They are all....

Answer: (One Word)

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Most Recent Scores

Apr 18 2024 : Guest 108: 11/15
Apr 09 2024 : angostura: 14/15
Feb 23 2024 : gable: 10/15

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who starred in the detective TV series 'Columbo'?

Answer: Peter Falk

He always reminded me of a basset hound...

2. Who was known as the Man of a Thousand Voices?

Answer: Mel Blanc

He was the voice of, among others, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

3. Which chess virtuoso beat Boris Spassky after 21 games to win the World Chess Championship in 1972?

Answer: Bobby Fischer

He had a volatile temperament, like many professional chess players.

4. Which of these persons is someone who died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger?

Answer: Judith Resnik

She was a biological engineer from Ohio State University.

5. What astronomer, author of 'Cosmos' is famous for his utterances about 'billions and billions of stars'?

Answer: Carl Sagan

With his early death, science lost a champion.

6. Who wrote about multiple murderer Gary Gilmore in 'The Executioner's Song'?

Answer: Norman Mailer

This was a meticulous and heartrending book.

7. Who wrote the famous play, turned into both a movie and a TV series, called 'The Odd Couple'?

Answer: Neil Simon

The saga of Oscar and Felix.

8. This founder of non-Euclidean geometry is probably most famous for his satirization in a song by Tom Lehrer.

Answer: Nikolay Ivanovich Lobachevsky

' and Nikolay Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name!'

9. Who was a monetary consultant and policy advisor to the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush administrations -- and continued under Clinton as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board?

Answer: Alan Greenspan

Greenspan had one of the longest careers in politics in the US.

10. Who was the Brooklyn-born gangster who founded Las Vegas as a gambling mecca?

Answer: Bugsy Siegel

His given name was Benjamin Siegelbaum.

11. Whose book of prophecies, written in the 1500's but still believed by many today, was the subject of a song by Al Stewart?

Answer: Nostradamus

He was also a doctor!

12. What person, whose biography was written by Amy Wallace, is regarded by many as the brightest human ever born, claiming an IQ between 250-300?

Answer: William Sidis

Sidis was born in 1898. He spoke in sentences at 8 months, read the New York Times at 18 months, passed the MIT entrance exam at age 8, and graduated from Harvard at 16. He wrote many books and was a true eccentric.

13. Who discovered the subatomic particle called a 'quark'?

Answer: Murray Gell-Mann

Quarks come in many flavors, such as "strange" and "top."

14. What rock star's hits include 'Just the Way You Are', 'Big Shot' and 'An Innocent Man'?

Answer: Billy Joel

He is also known for his piano-playing.

15. All of these people have one thing in common. They are all....

Answer: Jews

Surprise! Quite a pool of talent, eh? If I do this again, I need to include more women...

Source: Author crisw

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
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