Cool Zooms, Part XVII Trivia Quiz

Answer: REO Speedwagon

MTV's first day was August 1, 1981, and rather appropriately, they launched their programme with "Video Killed the Radio Star", a prophetic hit for the Buggles in 1979. In what was to be a day of many firsts, REO Speedwagon would have two tracks from their best-selling album "Hi-Infidelity" (1980) appear in the first ninety minutes of the show. The first was "Take it on the Run", which would also be the first live concert footage to be shown on MTV; however, this only ran for twelve seconds before technical difficulties saw it cut back to the studio. That was the ninth clip to be shown on MTV. The second REO video was "Keep on Loving You", which would be the seventeenth track on MTV, and it also had the distinction of being the first Billboard Hot 100 number one song to appear on the show.

This track was orchestrated by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: NoPa

Tribeca is short for "Triangle Below Canal Street". The triangle is actually a trapezoid, and its boundaries are Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Chambers Street.

SoHo is "South of Houston Street", a major east west street that crosses the width of Lower Manhattan. It is a trendy residential and commercial area. Its name has a completely different derivation than Soho in London.

DUMBO is an acronym for "Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass" and is a large Brooklyn waterfront neighbourhood located under the elevated road sections of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. It is the most expensive real estate in Brooklyn.

NoPa is short for "North of the Panhandle", a residential area in San Francisco near Golden Gate Park.

Question written by PhoRiTeMem 1nn1 who quite likes abbrevs.

Answer: Shoe store

A Brannock Device is the eponymous foot measuring tool used in the footwear industry to determine a person's shoe size. It was invented in 1925 by Charles F. Brannock (1903-1993), a shoe store proprietor in Syracuse, New York. He also developed special models for the military to help with fitting servicemen's boots and shoes during World War 2.

Using an Erector set, Charles Brannock designed his device in the mid-1920s and patented it in 1928. It soon became the industry standard and is still in use today in retail shoe stores, no doubt because of its accuracy and ease of use. According to the Brannock Device Company's website, they are always looking for ways to improve their product, with a digital version being one such enhancement.

With a measured approach, Phoenix Rising's psnz took this question in his stride.

Answer: Congo

Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the capitals of two Congolese nations on opposite sides of the Congo River. Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic of the Congo, formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Belgian Congo and later Zaire. The proximity of the two capitals is a vestige of colonialism. French and Belgian colonists constructed railroads and established settlements at the same location to get around a stretch of unnavigable rapids to the west.

The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows east through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi flows eastward from Zambia, through Angola, along the borders of Namibia and Botswana, between the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. No national capitals lie on the banks of either. The Piranhas River is in Brazil.

Since Vatican City is located completely within Rome, they are technically closer than Brazzaville is to Kinshasa. However, given the Vatican is a city-state, Vatican City's status as a capital city is contentious.

Phoenix Rising's JCSon hereby titles this question, "A Tale of Two Congos".

Answer: Tate

St Ives in Cornwall is home to one of the branches of the Tate museum, the others being The Tate Britain in London, The Tate Modern in London, and The Tate Liverpool. The Tate museums are involved in awarding The Turner Prize.

The Turner Museum is in Margate, Kent, the Jerwood is on the beach at Hastings in East Sussex and the Sainsbury's Centre for Visual Art is in the grounds of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Originally called the National Gallery of British Art, the original gallery was renamed after Henry Tate of the sugar company Tate and Lyle.

This question was given new perspective by Phoenix Rising member smpdit.

Answer: Will Rogers

William Penn Adair Rogers (1879-1935) was born a Cherokee citizen (he was just under 1/4 Cherokee) in the Indian Territory in what became Oklahoma. He was a famous actor, cowboy, columnist and humorist.

He liked to quip, "I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat".

Rogers even parodied his own epigram: "When I die, my epitaph,...is going to read: 'I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn't [sic] like'. I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved".

Unfortunately, Phoenix Rising's mike32768 has met some people he doesn't like - but he is far too polite to say so.

Answer: 1921 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa Race Massacre started when Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old black man, was accused of attacking Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator. When newspapers sensationalized the story, two separate mobs met at the courthouse: one black to protect Rowland, the other white to kill him. A weapon accidentally fired, but that was enough to trigger mayhem. It lasted over Memorial Day weekend and was successfully and officially covered up until the late '60s. Tulsa could lay claim to being the first American city bombed from the air as at least one local company was reputed to have allowed the white mob to use its planes to drop burning turpentine balls from the skies.

Such black prosperity was unusual in that time and place when segregation made it difficult for blacks to accumulate wealth and the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings made it almost impossible for blacks to keep it. Considered "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history" by the "Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture", the Massacre was featured in Episode 1 of the HBO television series "Watchmen", made even more poignant ninety-nine years later in the wake of the George Floyd protests, part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Descendants of the victims of the killings and violence filed a lawsuit in September, 2020 against the City of Tulsa and other defendants in state court seeking reparations under Oklahoma's public nuisance law.

This question written by Humanist in protest of man's inhumanity to man.

Answer: Surrender Dorothy

Shortly after Dorothy Gale and her companions reached the Emerald City in the 1939 film version of "The Wizard of Oz", a famous scene appears where the Wicked Witch of the West takes to her broomstick and indulges in a spot of skywriting to demand that the heroine surrender. It was produced via some innovative (for the time) special effects, which involved a tank of tinted water and a hypodermic needle filled with black ink to draw out the message on the bottom of the tank. Apparently the original version of the effect used in early test showings of the film included the longer message "Surrender Dorothy or Die - W W W", but this was cut back to the shorter and snappier "Surrender Dorothy" for the film's actual release.

The phrase has also been regularly graffitied on bridges in the Washington D.C. area since the early 1970s - apparently because the spires of the city's Mormon temple were described as being reminiscent of the skyline of the fictional Emerald City.

Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 sneaked in to sketch out this question before heading off on her broomstick, cackling maniacally.

Answer: Rembrandt

Rembrandt painted the canvas in 1633. It depicts Jesus calming the storm, as described in the Biblical book of Mark.

The thieves posed as policemen and they may have been acting on inside information. The "Storm" was not the only artwork stolen - there were over a dozen items, including a Vermeer, Degas, Manet, and another Rembrandt - "A Lady and Gentleman in Black".

The combined value is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and a very hefty reward is still unclaimed. Do YOU know where they are?

This question artistically presented by Phoenix Rising member, ozzz2002, who is quite adept at drawing stick figures.

Answer: James Patterson

Of the list of authors shown above, only Patterson was still alive. Mental Floss did add caveats to their list in that they discounted works written by both J. K. Rowling and Stephen King that they had written under pen names such as Robert Galbraith and Richard Bachmann, respectively. Certainly that pair, and horror writer Dean Koontz, would match or exceed Patterson's number of sales of both paperback and hard cover novels (estimated at over 300 million at the time); however, where Patterson gains an edge is through his sales of e-books, where he became the first author to sell in excess of one million stories and continued to dominate within that realm.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is still gobsmacked by the thought of someone selling 300 million novels.

Answer: DeLorean

The DeLorean was the brainchild of American automotive engineer John DeLorean who formed DMC (DeLorean Motor Company). It had planned for a revolutionary new type of sports car with a rotary engine, advanced body features and gull wing doors, none of which made the first production model in 1981. Originally it was going to be marketed as the DMC-12 (the '12' stood for $12,000, the expected selling price). When it was released it was sold simply as the DeLorean and it cost $25,000. Despite high expectations and moderate reviews, it did not sell well, and the company went into bankruptcy in 1982. A DeLorean featured as a time machine in the "Back to the Future" franchise of movies. This caused interest in people trying to buy used DeLoreans but you could not buy a new one by then.

Question brought into production without the need for gull wing doors by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1, who would buy any GMC any day over a DMC, unless of course the DeLorean was fitted with the optional Flux capacitor which gave it a power rating of 1.21 gigawatts.

Answer: Radon

Radon, with an atomic number of 86 and atomic mass of 222, is the heaviest naturally occurring noble gas. It is generated through the radioactive decay of radium, which in turn is usually found in rocks containing uranium (pitchblende for example). Despite its heavy mass, radon is a gas and hence can cause illness, including cancer, in regions where pitchblende is found. The propensity for radon to cause adverse effects is due to its easy intake into the body, simply by being in the air we breathe. And yes, Oganesson (Og) does exist! It is synthetically produced in atom quantities and was officially recognized as Element 118 in 2016.

Noble questions such as these are periodically tabled into quizzes by PR member MikeMaster99, who teaches chemistry for a living.

Answer: Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin, along with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, founded Hogwarts school for the education of witches and wizards. Students born to magical (pure-blood) and non-magical (muggle) parents were welcomed at Hogwarts, except by Slytherin, who thought that only pure-blood students should be admitted. Slytherin was alone in his dislike for muggle-born students, regarding them as untrustworthy and not worth the effort of being taught magic. Eventually he had a falling-out with the others and left the school.

This question was conjured up by Phoenix Rising's leith90, who isn't cunning enough to be in Slytherin house.

Answer: National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts - manned Crew Dragon Demo-2 flight

U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert Louis Behnken joined NASA in 2000 and has flown on two Space Shuttle missions. When the Space Shuttle program ended, Behnken became Chief of the Astronaut Office before being assigned to the SpaceX Dragon Capsule in 2018 as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. His crewmate and Commander, Naval Aviator Douglas Gerald Hurley, was the first Marine to fly the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, later joining the space program and serving as NASA Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. He has piloted two Space Shuttle missions, including its last flight (STS-135 - July, 2011). The men became fast friends and both married fellow astronauts!

On May 30th, 2020, Behnken and Hurley became the first NASA astronauts to fly a commercial spacecraft. Endeavour was the first spaceflight launched from American soil since Hurley's final mission. The flight tested SpaceX hardware, received human-rating certification and probed orbit capabilities. After arriving at the International Space Station (ISS), Behnken conducted four spacewalks with fellow NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy to replace batteries brought up by a Japanese cargo vehicle. Endeavor visited ISS Expedition 63 - whose crew also included Russian cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoli Ivanishin - for 62 days, before heading back to our Blue Marble for the first water landing since 1975.

Question submitted by Humanist whose son Benjamin studies aerospace engineering in the Air Force ROTC program at UMass Amherst and plans to be the first 'Martian'!

Answer: Evolution Day

"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" was first published on the 24th of November in 1859.

Darwin was born on the 12th of February 1809 - the same day as the 16th US President, Abraham Lincoln.

This question was selected by Phoenix Rising's mike32768 and evolved slowly.

Answer: Mastercard

Each company starts the card numbers with a set number. American Express and Diners Club begin with a 3, Visa cards start with a 4, and Mastercard has a 5.

Apart from the initial number the rest of the number signifies the account number, bank number and a check digit.

Your PIN (Personal Identification Number) is not encrypted on the card in any way; instead the ATM (Automated Teller Machine) encrypts the PIN you enter and sends it to where the PIN is stored on a database and checks for a match.

This question is credited to smpdit who hasn't really been silly enough to give you her real credit card number.

Answer: All the News That's Fit to Print

Adolph Ochs gained a controlling interest in the New York Times Publishing Company in 1896 and coined the now famous slogan shortly thereafter. It was a jab at the yellow press (a term that has come to describe poorly researched, sensationalist journalism), particularly at his chief rivals William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. The slogan first appeared in The New York Times in September of 1896 without much fanfare. In October of that year, the paper announced a contest to seek a better motto. While the $100 prize went to the best entry, "All the World's News, but Not a School for Scandal", Ochs' slogan retained its status. A second competition held in 1996 also resulted in the retention of Ochs' slogan as the best motto to represent the paper.

JCSon of team Phoenix Rising saw fit to publish this question.

Answer: Tattoo needle

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) is regarded by many as America's greatest inventor. His hand-held electric pen (1875) was part of a system for duplicating documents. It created a stencil using the electric pen with a reciprocating needle to puncture wax-coated paper at a rate of 50 times per second. An inked roller passed over the stencil would leave an impression on paper underneath and could be used to create up to 5,000 copies, according to the inventor.

Samuel F. O'Reilly (1854-1909) was a New York tattoo artist. He repurposed Edison's invention as an electric tattoo needle, patenting a machine in 1891. O'Reilly's design added a tube and ink reservoir to the needle system. Edison's device used rotary technology to drive the needle, while modern tattoo machines use electromagnets which are much lighter than O'Reilly's hefty design was.

This question was inked by Phoenix Rising's psnz without using any mechanical devices.

Answer: Congo (Democratic Republic of)

Of the 54 sovereign states in Africa (not counting Western Sahara, Reunion and Mayotte), there are fourteen countries starting with A (2), B (4) or C (8). There are 14 capitals starting with A (2), B (6) or C (2).

In 2018, Nigeria had 195 million people and a capital called Abuja. In the same year, Ethiopia had a population of 109 million. Its capital is Addis Ababa. Not far behind was Egypt with 92 million and over 10 million in its capital Cairo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital is Kinshasa and there were 84 million people in the country. By contrast Africa's 5th and 6th most populous countries, Tanzania and South Africa, both had 59 million in 2020.

This question was counted in by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who lives in a non-African country starting with A whose capital starts with a C.

Answer: Moonlight

"Moonlight" is a 2016 drama directed by Barry Jenkins. A coming-of-age film, it focuses on a young man struggling to find his identity, his place in the world and his own sexuality. Neglected by his crack addicted mother and regularly bullied, the only real advice he gets on survival in the world is from a local drug dealer.

The 2015 film "Spotlight" takes us into the world of the Boston Globe's team of investigative journalists, known as the "Spotlight" team, as they delve into the systematic child abuse conducted by a number of Roman Catholic priests.

This question, written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19, has not been nominated for any awards.