Are You Afraid of Spiders? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Frying

A spider is simply another name for a frying pan. Originally the term referred to a heavy cast iron skillet with a rounded bottom and three long legs. Eventually the term came to be used for any type of frying pan or skillet.

Answer: Give him a free drink

A spider is the last drink in a bottle of liquor. If the bartender attempts to pour a shot and it comes up short of a full measure, the patron can call out "Spider!" and receive his drink for free. This custom is fairly universal throughout the Midwest, and may be in other parts of the country as well.

Answer: University of Richmond

The University of Richmond is a private, nonsectarian liberal arts university located in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in 1830 and was originally a Baptist seminary. It has an enrollment of about 4,000 students, and is perhaps best known as the site of a 1992 presidential debate between George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.

Originally, the University of Richmond's sports teams were known as the Colts.
In 1893, Ragland Chesterman, a reporter for the "Richmond Times-Dispatch," wrote an article about Puss Ellyson, a pitcher for a local baseball team. Ellyson's long legs and arms caused Chesterman to compare him to a spider. The baseball team soon became known as the Spiders, and the name was then adopted by the university for all its athletic teams.

The University of Richmond is the only college or university in the United States to use the name Spiders for its sports teams. Many of Richmond's alumni have gone on to play professional sports, including 1957 World Series MVP Lew Burdette.

Answer: Louis XI

Louis XI (July 3, 1423 - August 30, 1483), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was, by most accounts, an ugly, nasty little man, but he was a very successful king. He was the son of Charles VII, the man Joan of Arc restored to the French throne. He was able to limit the power of the nobility, and increase the power of the Crown. Although he occasionally resorted to the use of military force, he much preferred to achieve his ends through intrigue and diplomacy. He took advantage of the Wars of the Roses to convince the English to renounce most of their territorial claims in France, and annexed the Duchy of Burgundy in 1477.

Louis XI was known for maintaining a vast network of spies to keep him informed of the activities of both his friends and his enemies. He was a notorious miser, and an avid believer in astrology. There is an excellent historical novel, "The Spider King," by Lawrence Schoonover about this repulsive, but fascinating, man.

Answer: Cleveland

The Cleveland Spiders were founded in 1887 by Frank Robison, a businessman and baseball executive. They were originally called the Cleveland Forest Citys or the Cleveland Blues, and played in the American Association. In 1889 the club moved to the National League and became known as the Cleveland Spiders.

The team enjoyed some success, finishing in second place in 1892, 1895 and 1896. The great pitcher, Cy Young, began his career with the Spiders. But in 1899, Robison, along with his brother Stanley, bought the bankrupt St. Louis Browns and renamed them the St. Louis Perfectos. Believing they could realize greater profits with the Perfectos, the Robison brothers transferred the Spiders' best players to St. Louis. With their roster decimated, the 1899 Spiders compiled a record of 20-134, the worst in major league history. Attendance at their home games was so bad that other teams refused to travel to Cleveland, and they were forced to play 112 of their 154 games on the road. They were dropped from the National League (along with three other teams) at the end of the 1899 season. By the way, in 1900 the Perfectos changed their name to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Answer: Porsche 550

While filming "Rebel Without a Cause," James Dean purchased a silver Porsche 550 Spyder, one of only 90 ever made. To this day, many people believe that the car was cursed.

Legend says that both Eartha Kitt and Alec Guinness warned Dean that they felt a sinister aura about the vehicle and predicted it would cause his death. If this story is true, they were right.

On September 30, 1955 James Dean and his mechanic, Rolf Wuetherich, were driving to Salinas, California to compete in a road race. Near San Robles, Dean's car was struck head-on by a 1950 Ford Custom Tudor Coupe driven by Donald Turnupseed, a college student. Turnupseed sustained only minor injuries; Wuetherich's jaw and leg were broken, but he survived. Dean suffered a broken neck and massive internal injuries and died en route to the hospital.

George Barris, who had customized the car for Dean and who would later design the Batmobile, bought the wreckage of Dean's automobile to use as parts. When he brought it to his garage, the wreck slipped off its trailer, breaking a mechanic's leg. He sold the engine to Troy McHenry, and the drive train to William Eschrid. Both men were physicians who raced cars as a hobby. On October 2, 1956, at the Pomona Fairgrounds, both men raced for the first time in cars using parts from Dean's Porsche. McHenry's car spun out of control and hit a tree, killing him instantly. Eschrid was seriously injured when his car rolled over going into a curve; he was quoted as saying his car "just locked up" on him.

Barris salvaged two tires from the car and sold them. A few days later, BOTH tires blew out at the same time, causing their driver to run off the road and into a ditch.

But this deadly Spyder was far from being finished. Now a mere shell, Barris loaned the car to to the California Highway Patrol, who used it in a traveling highway safety exhibit. It slipped off its pedestal at a Sacramento, California high school and crushed the legs of a student. Later, while being towed to Salinas, the truck driver, a man named George Barhuis, lost control and crashed. He was thrown clear of the truck, but was killed when the Porsche somehow fell off the flatbed it was on and crushed him. Two years later, while being towed, it fell off another flatbed onto the highway, causing yet another fatal accident.

But the strangest part of the story was yet to come. In 1960, after being shown at an exhibit in Miami, Florida, the Porsche was placed in a crate and loaded onto a railroad car and shipped to Los Angeles. When the train arrived in California, the boxcar was still locked and the seals on the doors were intact. But the boxcar was empty. The automobile had simply vanished. In 2005, the fiftieth anniversary of Dean's death, a large reward was offered for anyone who could produce the remains of Dean's car. It was never claimed.

Answer: Cottage cheese

Cottage cheese is produced by treating milk with an agent which causes the proteins in the milk to curdle and forms clumps, or curds. Whey is the liquid left after the milk has been curdled and strained. Cottage cheese is made traditionally by treating milk with rennet, an enzyme produced in calves' stomachs, but nowadays vegetable rennet is widely used.

The nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, first appeared in print in 1805. Some claim it refers to a Dr. Thomas Muffet, a 16th century physician, and his stepdaughter, Patience. It seems Dr. Muffet was fond of using spiders as ingredients in some of his medicinal preparations. Others say that Miss Muffet represents Mary, Queen of Scots, and the spider is religious reformer John Knox. Both explanations are speculative.

A tuffet can be either " a small, grassy hillock" or a "low seat or footstool covered with fabric." It is also a unit of measure, equal to two pecks, or half a bushel.

Answer: Peter Parker

First appearing in 1962, Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker, an orphaned, nerdy teenager who gains his super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. The character has spawned comic books, numerous television programs, and a series of popular movies starring Tobey Maguire as the title character.

Spider-Man's first appearance was in "Amazing Fantasy #15." A copy of the comic book, which sold for 12 cents in 1962, was sold at auction for $227,000 in 2007. Check those attics and basements.

Answer: Robert the Bruce

Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, was one of over a dozen claimants to the throne of Scotland following the death of Alexander III in 1286. King Edward I of England, who was known as "Longshanks" due to his great height, took advantage of the situation to install a puppet king of his own choosing, and tried to make Scotland a dependency of England. At first Bruce sided with the English, but eventually decided to press his own claim to the throne.

After a series of defeats and setbacks, which included seeing his wife captured and his brother executed by the English, in 1306 Bruce found himself in a wretched hut (some versions say a cave) on the island of Rathlin off the Irish coast. Legend says he watched a spider try six times to attach its web to a roof beam of the hut, and fail each time. On the seventh attempt, it succeeded. Bruce is said to have been inspired by the spider to persevere, and eventually led the Scots to a great victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314. This victory ensured Scotland's independence for another 400 years.

The character of Robert the Bruce was played by Angus Macfadyen in Mel Gibson's epic motion picture, "Braveheart."

Answer: On your nose

Spider veins are very small (.5 mm to 1 mm in diameter) dilated blood vessels found near the surface of the skin. They occur mainly on the face and legs, and women are more likely to develop them than men. They are usually harmless, but many people have them removed for cosmetic reasons. One method of treatment is called sclerotherapy, in which a substance that hardens is injected into the vein, so that it eventually it withers away. Spider veins on the face are sometimes removed using a laser.