Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday Trivia

  1. In the book Gone With the Wind, how many months actually pass during Melanie's' pregnancy?
  2. What book was Mark David Chapman carrying with him when he killed John Lennon on December 8, 1980?
  3. Which female author was also considered the world’s first computer programmer?
  4. What writer contemporary to T.S. Eliot nicknamed him "Old Possum"?
  5. Which word in the English language has the most definitions?


Last Week's Answers



Which French author was shot in the leg and left with a permanent limp by his nephew, a young man who suffered from paranoia?



On 9 March 1886, as Jules Verne approached his own home, his twenty-five-year-old nephew Gaston, who suffered from paranoia, shot twice at him with a gun. One bullet missed, but the second entered Verne's left leg, giving him a permanent limp. Gaston spent the rest of his life in an asylum.


True or False: Heath Ledger was named after Healthcliff in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.



True. Heath was named after Healthcliff, and his older sister, Kate, was named after Catherine Linton nee Earnshaw. Both are names of characters in Wuthering Heights.



Which 16th century Italian painter was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest poets of all time?


Though it is not widely known, the Italian painter Michelangelo (1475-1564) was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest Poets of all time. About 250 of his Poems and sonnets have come down to us today and are still read by scholars, historians, and Poets.



Which of Shakespeare’s close friends and fellow authors is buried in a standing position in Westminster Abbey?



To save costs, the body of Shakespeare’s friend and fellow dramatist, Ben Jonson, was buried standing up in Westminister Abbey, London in 1637.


Which 20th century French Journalist wrote an entire book one letter at a time — indicating the next correct letter by blinking only his left eye?


Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist suffering from “locked-in” syndrome which paralyzed his body but did not affect his mind, wrote the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly solely by blinking his left eye. When the correct letter was reached by a person slowly reciting the alphabet over and over again, Bauby would blink to indicate his choice —composing and editing the book entirely in his head.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes Heath was named after the book character,one of his sisters was as well (Kate),but the media always reports it wrong. They always say that Heath's name IS Heathcliff when it is not. His name is Heath Andrew Ledger. No cliff LOL!