Know-It-All - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) S. 2,089 pages, nearly one-sixteenth of the total, are used up by the 19th letter of the alphabet.
• A2) Dalmatian. Wikipedia disagrees, stating that other higher primates also pass uric acid, and from a genetic point of view, that makes more sense. In all other mammals, the uric acid is converted to allantoin before elimination.
• A3) Yale. The future U.S. Vice President would eventually get both a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming.
• A4) A search for intelligent life in the universe. Astronomer Frank Drake named his SETI project for Princess Ozma, the leader of Oz during most of the Oz stories.
• A5) Reggie Jackson. In game 6 of the 1977 World Series the New York Yankees slugger went deep off of three different Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers, driving in five runs, enough to clinch the championship. Jacobs attended the game with his father, who had them leave the stadium and head home before the third homer. In his father's defense, the Yankees led 7-3 before Jackson's crowning moment in the eighth inning.
• A6) Fibonacci. The 13th-century mathematician's name is synonymous with the number sequence that begins 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34... and is the basis for some flowers' petals and the Boggle word game scoring system.
• A7) The toilet. Queen Elizabeth I's godson installed one in the palace.
• A8) Jujubes. After softening and moistening in the mouth, the multicolored and multiflavored hardened gumdrops are similar in taste and texture to Gummi Bears.
• A9) LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized the hallucinogen in 1938 and needed assistance to get home after testing the drug on himself the first time.
• A10) Portugal. During the 19th century, a large wave of immigrants arrived in Hawaii from Portugal, Spain, Japan, and China.
• A11) Red blood cells. Despite calling using his phone-a-friend lifeline to call his brother-in-law Eric, Jacobs's run on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ended on this multiple choice question (he guessed "serum" after using the 50-50 lifeline). The mistake on the $32,000 question dropped him all the way down to $1,000.
• A12) False. Moses Cleaveland worked for the Connecticut Land Company. The first 'a' was cleaved out to fit better on an 1832 newspaper masthead.