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Trivia Bits by Stan Newman

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  • Trivia Bits, November 22
    STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 112 The opening of the 1960s sci-fi TV series "Lost in Space" featured a countdown. The opening of what classic sitcom featured a "count-up" — to the number 8? HOW TO WIN: Send …

  • Trivia Bits, November 21
    You may be familiar with the term "runcible spoon" as a spoon-like utensil that has the tines of a fork (aka "spork"), or a spoon with a serrated edge for eating grapefruit or squash. But the term was coined by British poet …

  • Trivia Bits, November 20
    Eponym of the week: Ohio-born Charles F. Richter. Receiving his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Caltech in 1928, he immediately went to work at Pasadena's new Seismology Laboratory, where, with co-worker Beno Gutenberg, he developed the Richter …

  • Trivia Bits, November 19
    More on non-stop flight records: The world's longest-distance non-stop passenger flight was 13,422 miles, from Hong Kong to Heathrow (eastbound) by a Boeing 777 in 2005, taking 22 hours and 40 minutes. Surprisingly, the record for the longest-time …

Trivia Bits, August 14

Eponym of the week: The Kliegl brothers: John H. and Anton T., who founded the Universal Electric Stage Lighting Company in 1896. Around 1911, they invented what came to be known as Klieg lights, used extensively on movie sets. They're intensely powerful carbon arc lamps that permit film directors to "turn night into day."

Devoted fans of the sitcom "M.A.S.H" will remember that surgeon B.J. Hunnicutt (portrayed by Mike Farrell) was named for his parents Bea and Jay. We recently discovered a similar real-life naming. The first name of actor and football Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen is a combination of his parents' first names: Merle and Lynn.

Words starting with what letter of the alphabet take up the most pages of English dictionaries?
A) A
B) C
C) R
D) S

Previous answer: Cornell University co-founder Ezra Cornell earned his fortune in the telegraph business, as an associate of Samuel Morse.

TRIVIA FANS: Send the trivia questions you've always wanted answered, or original TriviaBits ideas of your own, with your full name and hometown, to Stan Newman at StanTrivia@aol.com or on a postcard to P.O.
Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762.

COPYRIGHT 2008 STANLEY NEWMAN
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Originally Published on Thursday August 14, 2008

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Click on the title to read Stanley Newman's article from Newsday, "Exercise Your Puzzle Muscles", which explores the ways that puzzles can keep you mentally fit as you age.

Also, see the Editors's Note from this edition of Newsday recounting the history of the Newsday crossword puzzle and Stanley Newman's pivotal role in revolutionizing it.
 
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