Tuesday Trivia

1. What does the Samuel Clemens's pseudonym "Mark Twain" mean?
2. What “spokesman for a generation” has been nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature at least three times?
3. During cremation, which author’s heart simply would not burn and as a result became a keepsake for his wife?
4. Which poet was returned to his city of birth upon his death to be buried, and was hidden in a wall to prevent anyone from stealing the corpse — a hiding place was forgotten until 1865?
5. Which novelist, who published anonymously, was unintentionally insulted by her young niece when the girl threw down a copy of her aunt’s novel and exclaimed, “Oh that must be rubbish, I am sure from the title.”

Which author’s wife died as a result of her dress catching on fire as she sealed their child’s hair in a scrapbook with hot wax?


As Longfellow’s wife was adding a lock of their infant daughter’s hair to her scrap book using wax, drops of the hot wax fell onto her lap, and her dress went instantly up in flames. Although Longfellow tried to save her and was severely burned himself in the process, she suffered a few days and then died of her injuries.



Which author commissioned a portrait of himself as he expected to appear when he rose from the grave at the Apocalypse?


A few months before his death, Donne commissioned this gruesome portrait and hung it on his wall as a reminder of the transience of life. (See image above).



Which female author was also considered the world’s first computer programmer?



Augusta Ada King, a writer and the illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron, was known for her work on Babbage's analytical engine. Her copious notes on this machine that would become the precursor to the modern computer include the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine — making her the world’s first computer programmer.



Believed to be an alcoholic and opium addict, which poet and author most likely died (prematurely) of a brain tumor?


Edgar Allan Poe