As always, here are this month’s trivia questions, published to the examiner.com leisure section every second Thursday of each month. Enjoy and good luck! Of course, remember to tune in next month.
1) Many of the highways in the United States are called ‘’turnpikes.” Where did this term come from?
a. Before the straight and fast highways, smaller windy (turning) roads with hairpin (piking) turns were used to get from one town to another
b. A pike is a freshwater fish that used to be sold on the side of the road on routes that later became highways
c. A pike is a form of weapon resembling a spear that was used in the Middle Ages. The straight and fast highways built throughout the United States are said to resemble the pike, with a few turns here and there
d. The first toll roads of the United States used to be barred by turn pikes, poles that would revolve once the toll was paid
2) What is the origin of the name of the minor-league baseball team Las Vegas 51’s?
a. Named for Area 51, a well-known UFO-studying government site 80 miles north of Las Vegas
b. There were originally 51 players chosen for the team
c. The team has been bought and traded 51 times
d. The baseball team was formed in 1951
3) Why are tornadoes of sand in the American southwest deserts sometimes referred to as “dust devils”?
a. In some Native American beliefs, these are evil spirits passing through the earth
b. They were coined after the Dirt Devil vacuum commercial in the 1960’s showed how it picks up dust in a cyclonic motion
c. They foretell how easy it is for dust to accumulate inside of desert homes, even if the windows are shut
d. They clear up and wreak havoc on anything in their paths, just like the tornados of the Midwest.
4) There is a town in AZ called Snowflake. How did it get its name?
a. It was founded by Erastus Snow and Bill Flake
b. The town was originally called Raindrop after early pioneers experienced the joy of rain in the desert, but the name was later changed to Snowflake when one of the town residents argued that one of the drops of rain was actually a flake of snow.
c. The town is actually a ski resort on Mount Lemmon, the southern-most ski resort in the United States
d. When it was founded by Mormon pioneers in 1878, the kids demanded to have a white Christmas so their parents covered the town in white cotton from the Cottonwood tree
5) Where did the Ferris Wheel get its name?
a. It was featured in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when Ferris Bueller skips school to ride the giant wheel
b. It was created by George Ferris in 1893 for an Exposition in Chicago
c. Ferris in Latin means iron and the wheel resembles the shape of the iron wheel of early pioneer stagecoaches
d. In French, “férié” is a day off from work. Many families like to take advantage of this day to go to the amusement park of which the Ferris wheel has become an attraction