At Long Last Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball. They debuted in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings and changed their name to the Chicago Cubs in 1903. They were given the nickname "the Lovable Losers" as the team went 108 years without winning the World Series title.

The Cubs' championship drought finally came to an end in 2016, when the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians, who had also been on a long championship drought. Prior to 2016, the Cubs' last World Series victory came against the Detroit Tigers in 1908.

Answer: Pluto

The New Horizons space probe was launched on June 13, 2006 using an Atlas V rocket. Its main objective was to study Pluto. New Horizons was one of the fastest probes ever built. Using Jupiter for a gravity boost, the spacecraft was hurled towards Pluto at a speed of 58,500 kph / 36,400 mph.

In July, 2015, nine years after it was launched, New Horizons finally arrived at Pluto. Pluto was still classified as a planet before New Horizons left Earth and was demoted to a dwarf planet two months after the probe was launched.

The data collected by New Horizons has reinvigorated the debate on Pluto's planetary status. New Horizons has since passed Pluto and encountered another object in the Kuiper Belt named Ultima Thule in 2019. New Horizons is still traveling, searching for other objects to explore.

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

On August 10, 1519, explorer Ferdinand Magellan set out on an expedition to circumnavigate the Earth. When it left, Magellan's fleet consisted of five ships: the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Conception, the Santiago and the Victoria. The expedition also employed over 250 crew members. Magellan himself would not survive the journey as he was killed in 1521 during a skirmish in the Philippines.

The Victoria was the only ship to complete the expedition. The San Antonio deserted the fleet, while the other three ships were destroyed.

The Victoria finally completed the circumnavigation of Earth and returned to Spain on September 6, 1522 with only 18 people on board.

Answer: Ivan Koloff

Italian-American wrestler Bruno Sammartino (1935-2018) was one of the most famous performers in the history of professional wrestling. He became one of the star performers of The World Wide Wrestling Federation, the promotion now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Its inaugural champion in 1963 was the "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers (1921-1992). Bruno Sammartino defeated Rogers for the championship on May 17, 1963 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Sammartino would hold the championship for 2,803 days before losing it to "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (1942-2017) on January 18, 1971. Bruno Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.

Answer: Newark, New Jersey

Singapore Airlines Flights 21 and 22 have had the distinction of being among the longest scheduled non-stop flights in the world. The route was flown between Changi Airport in Singapore to Newark-Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, USA with a distance of over 9,500 mi / 15,000 km between the two cities.

The flight lasted roughly 18 hours, but the actual time would vary slightly based on daily wind conditions and the specific route traveled. It was initially operated using an Airbus A340-500 when the route was launched in 2004.

The flights were suspended in 2013 when the A340-500 was retired. The flights were reinstated in 2015 using a long range version of the Airbus A350-900.

Answer: Kingdom Hearts III

"Kingdom Hearts" is a highly successful video game series that merged characters from the Square Enix/"Final Fantasy" universe with characters from the Walt Disney universe. The first game debuted in December, 2002 for the PlayStation 2. It was followed up with "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories" for the Game Boy Advance (November, 2004) and "Kingdom Hearts II" for the PlayStation 2 (December, 2005).

The success of the franchise led to much anticipation for the series' next chapter. After years of prequels, remakes, spinoffs and delays, "Kingdom Hearts III" was finally released in January, 2019 for the PlayStation 4 and X-Box One.

Answer: cicada

The Magicicada septendecim is a species of cicada with a 17 year life span. Adult cicadas are only active above ground for 4-6 weeks. During this time they will mate, lay eggs and eventually die off. Once the young cicadas hatch they will remain underground for 17 years until it is time for them to mate and reproduce.

The cicadas are not harmful to humans, however their constant "singing" and "molting" may be seen as a bit of an annoyance.

Answer: Staten Island

The Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island was opened in 1948. It was originally designed to be a temporary solution to New York City's sanitation needs, but remained operational for more than 50 years until it was finally closed in March, 2001. During that time, the Fresh Kills Landfill grew to become the largest landfill in the world.

The landfill became a bane for the residents of Staten Island who had to live downwind of the landfill, as well as those who drove past it in the summer time. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the landfill was briefly reopened to allow investigators to sort out the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

It was permanently closed after the investigation.

Answer: Star Trek: Voyager

"Star Trek: Voyager" premiered on January 16, 1995. It featured Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), as the show's leading character. The plot of the show centered around the crew of the USS Voyager, who end up stranded in the Delta quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy after an encounter with an alien entity known as The Caretaker. With the Earth more than 70,000 light years away, it was surmised that it would have taken the USS Voyager 75 years to travel back home. Throughout the journey the crew encountered different alien species and developed new technology that helped to shorten the trip home.

The crew of USS Voyager would finally return home when the series concluded in 2001 after seven seasons.

Answer: Chile

On August 5, 2010 a copper and gold mine located within the Atacama Desert in northern Chile caved-in, leaving 33 workers trapped underground. After the initial collapse, rescue teams began drilling into the mine to search for the workers. After about 17 days, one drill team found the workers, who taped a note onto the drill bit assuring rescuers that they were alive. Rescue teams continued to work to free the workers and even brought in experts from NASA and around the world to help with the recovery effort. On October 13, 2010 all 33 men were finally rescued using a specially designed capsule to extract the men from the mine one by one.