More Tired, Boring Questions Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deliberately increased by two feet by the surveyors

In 1802 the Great Trigonometric Survey of India started and would continue until 1870. The survey conducted a series of measurements, starting from the seacoast and moving inland. The basic calculation used triangulation from vantage points, along with advanced techniques which considered the curvature of the earth, gravitational effects, refraction, and deviations from a spherical shape. Great care was taken to use a very accurate measuring change under constant tension, shielded from temperature effects.

Sir George Everest was Surveyor General from 1830 until 1843, making critical refinements to the methodology used. Although the mountain is named after him in the Western World, contrary to his wishes, he did not conduct its measurement.

Andrew Scott Waugh was the Surveyor General when the mountain was measured in 1856. He was faced with a dilemma when the result of his calculations was exactly 29,000 feet. He announced the elevation as 29,002 feet, an incorrect figure which was more believable to the general public than its true measured height.

Answer: Finland

The movie "Miracle on Ice" showed how an American amateur hockey team managed to defeat the USSR in the 1980 Olympics. The Soviet Union at that time had not allowed its players to leave the country and play in the professional National Hockey League. Their team was among the best in the world, achieving a record of 5 wins, 3 losses and a draw against NHL teams in a series of exhibitions before the Olympics.

In an exhibition game before the Olympics, the Soviet team trounced the US by a score of 10-3. There was little expectation of a closer game when the teams were matched in the semifinal game. Both teams advanced from the early rounds of the tournament, with the Soviets going undefeated and the American record marred by a draw against Sweden.

The first period of the game ended in a 2-2 score with the U.S. scoring on a 50 foot shot and a rebound from a 100 foot shot. In a fateful move, the Soviet coach replaced his exceptional goalie. The Soviets scored the only goal in the second period and the U.S. scored twice in the third period taking a 4-3 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. The U.S. team survived a barrage of shots and pressure by the Soviet team to finish the game.

This was only the semifinal game, and the U.S. had to defeat Finland to win the gold medal. The Americans played sluggishly in the aftermath of their monumental win and trailed the Finns 2-1 after two periods. Reportedly the speech by coach Herb Brooks during the intermission break was "If you lose this game, you'll take it to your grave". The chastened team responded by scoring three goals in the last period for a 4-2 victory.

Ironically, the previous American gold medal in men's ice hockey at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics followed a similar pattern. The US defeated the USSR 3-2 in a semifinal game, triumphing over a superior team behind outstanding goalkeeping. However, in the final against Czechoslovakia the Americans trailed 4-3 after two period, only to score six times in the final period for a 9-4 victory.

Answer: John Reid

"The Lone Ranger" appeared first as a radio show in 1933, followed by several books and a popular television show. The background story was not consistent through the various appearances of the Lone Ranger. However, the generally accepted version was that Captain Dan Reid was the leader of a Texas Ranger patrol, which was ambushed by the outlaw Bartholomew (Butch) Cavendish. The only survivor was Captain Reid's younger brother.

Later a Native American, named Tonto, reached the scene of the attack and nursed the survivor back to health. Tonto recognized that the survivor had saved his life when they were younger, gave him a ring, and referred to the survivor as Kemo Sabe (trusted scout). Tonto buried the Texas Rangers and added a grave for the survivor, adding a cross with the name John Reid, to deceive the bandits.

The Long Ranger would hunt down the Cavendish gang and continue his battle for justice, following a strict moral code.

Answer: Completed nearly eight years before Lindbergh

In 1913 the Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 for the first successful non-stop flight in less than 72 hours between North America and Ireland or Britain. The prize was offered a mere ten years after the flight of the Wright Brothers and was a monumental challenge to the new industry.

It's important to note that Charles Lindbergh completed the first SOLO non-stop flight over the Atlantic, but it was not the first successful crossing. One early successful Atlantic crossing occurred in 1919, but it stopped at several islands along the way. In June 1919 Alcock and Brown won the prize by flying between St. John's, Newfoundland and County Galway, Ireland.

Their flight proved to be very dangerous. The heavily-loaded plane barely cleared nearby trees on takeoff; then their electrical generator failed, depriving them of communication and heating. A thick fog made navigation difficult. Twice they nearly crashed into the sea. Nearing Ireland, they encountered a freezing snowstorm and heavy rain. Some believe that Brown had to climb on the wings of the aircraft to prevent icing. Finally they landed in a bog field in County Galway. Both men were treated as heroes by the Irish and British and were knighted by the king.

Alcock died six months later when his plane crashed at an airshow near Paris. Brown lived until 1948.

Answer: Sudan

Egypt is famous for its large pyramids and the effort and skill which went into constructing them. However, its neighbor to the south, Sudan, has the most pyramids in the world. The Sudanese pyramids, built by the Nubian Kushite Kingdom, are smaller, but more common, than those in Egypt.

Although there is some disagreement on the number of pyramids, Sudan has approximately 255, compared to about 118 in Egypt. In the Americas, Peru and Mexico have about 20 pyramids each.

All of the pyramids in Sudan are found in the northern part of the country, and the new country of South Sudan has none.

Answer: A request by the British Queen

The official marathon distance is now 26 miles and 385 yards, or 42.195 kilometers in metric units. The race itself was first established as a part of the Modern Olympics, begun in Athens in the year 1896. The organizers wanted an event which would recall the glories of the ancient Greek civilization. Michel Breal suggested a race to recreate the real or mythical run of Philippides after the battle of Marathon to Athens; and it was supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the organizer of the Olympics.

The original marathon race in the Olympics was approximately 40 kilometers long, the approximate distance between Marathon and Athens. The distance of the race varied somewhat from a standard 40 kilometers, depending on the course selected. In the 1908 Olympics held in London, the planned distance of the race was originally set at 40 kilometers. However, Queen Alexandra made a request to start the race at Windsor Castle and end at the Royal Box at the Olympic Stadium.

The 1908 Olympic marathon was 26 miles and 385 yards, the distance used today. However, this did not become the standard distance until 1921, when the track federation decided a fixed distance was needed for establishing record times.

Answer: Chicago

The Harlem Globetrotters originated in 1926 from the South Side of Chicago when a team, known as the "Savoy Big Five", played a series of exhibitions in the Savoy Ballroom. When a dispute arose between the players, a group left to form their own team known as "The Globe Trotters" and toured southern Illinois.

Abe Saperstein became involved with the team as coach, manager, and promoter. He renamed the team as the "New York Harlem Globetrotters". He chose to incorporate Harlem in the name, because the Harlem Renaissance had made Harlem the center of African-American culture. The term "Harlem" had become synonymous with the hip, lively, and entertaining style of the area.

The team was very successful in competitive basketball, winning the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940 and defeating many white professional teams, such as the Minneapolis Lakers. In the 1940s the Globetrotters began to incorporate the entertaining tricks, which they are now noted for.
They have played over 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries.

Answer: 9

The current American flag has 50 white stars placed on a blue background in the upper left hand quadrant. The stars are arranged in nine rows, which alternate between 6 stars and 5 stars in a 6-5-6-5-6-5-6-5-6 pattern. The placement of the stars in a row are offset so that the stars in alternating rows are not placed directly under each other.

The placement of the stars was not uniform until fairly recently, and there were often different flag configurations for earlier versions of the flag. However, single flag configurations seem to have been used since a flag of 43 stars was created in 1890. Since then, the flag configurations have been:

43 states 8-7-7-7-7-7

44 states 8-7-7-7-7-8 Wyoming added

45 states 8-7-8-7-8-7 Utah added

46 states 8-7-8-8-7-8 Oklahoma added

48 states 6 rows of 8 Arizona and New Mexico added

49 states 7 rows of 7 Alaska added

Answer: Seattle

Hopefully you caught the hint that the Stanley Cup was awarded since 1893, long before the National Hockey League was formed and the use of the word "now" to indicate that the first winner didn't have to be in the NHL. The warm weather cities of Dallas and Charlotte were unlikely candidates to simplify the choice.

The Stanley Cup was originally a challenge cup, between 1893 and 1914. Between 1915 and 1926, it was a contest between the champions of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). When the New Westminster team (British Columbia) moved to Portland (Oregon), the charter of the Stanley Cup was changed to allow non-Canadian teams to claim the trophy.

In 1916, the Portland Rosebuds became the first U.S. team to play in the Stanley Cup championship series. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens to become the first U.S. team to win the trophy, In 1919 the same two teams were tied at two wins each and one draw when the series was suspended due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. Several Montreal players were hospitalized, and eventually Joe Hall would die. Montreal offered to forfeit the series; but Seattle refused and the series was terminated.

From 1927 onwards, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the champion of the National Hockey League playoffs, In 1928, the New York Rangers became the first American team to win the trophy under that format.

Answer: Declaration of Independence was approved by Continental Congress

Here was a timeline for the Declaration of Independence:

May 15: Virginia legislature instructed its Congressional representatives to vote for independence.

June 7: Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee proposed to the Continental Congress that the colonies declare independence.

June 11: Congress appointed five men, led by Thomas Jefferson, to draft a declaration of independence.

June 28: Draft declaration was submitted to Congress, including a controversial accusation that King George supported slave trade.

July 2: Congress voted for independence with New York abstaining.

July 4: Congress approved the document with slight wording changes and sent Declaration to a printer.

July 6: First printing of the Declaration of Independence occurred.

August 2: Most delegates signed the document.

Many of the delegates felt that July 2nd, when the vote for independence was approved, was the more important date than July 4th.

Many people mistakenly believe that the document was signed of the 4th of July. In reality, some of the delegates to the Congress were not available to sign the document and were replaced by other delegates. Also some signatures were added in the following year.