Games

Answer D. The Sun Also Rises (1957)
Director: Henry King
Writers:  Peter Viertel (screenplay), Ernest Hemingway (novel)
Stars: Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn

A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920s France and Spain.

Movies Adapted From the Writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Eric Roth (screenplay), F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond

Scott Fitzgerald's short story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards.

The Great Gatsby (1926)
Director: Herbert Brenon
Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel), Elizabeth Meehan (adaptation)
Stars: Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, Neil Hamilton, Georgia Hale


The Great Gatsby (1949)
Director: Elliott Nugent
Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel), Owen Davis (play) | 2 more credits »
Stars: Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Shelley Winters

The Great Gatsby (1974)
Director: Jack Clayton
Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay)
Stars: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Sam Waterston, Karen Black, Scott Wilson

The Great Gatsby (2013)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writers: Baz Luhrmann (screenplay), Craig Pearce (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

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Post Script: 'The Great Gatsby: Copyright Expiration of the Novel Leads to Prequel.

Between the glitzy parties, secret backstories and climactic murder in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, there’s a tiny detail that readers may have missed: right before he gets in a car with antagonist Tom Buchanan — the ride that kicks off the novel’s tragic end — narrator Nick Carraway realizes he’s forgotten his own birthday. It’s a detail that stuck with author Michael Farris Smith when he re-read the novel in his 40s, and sparked a lingering question: What makes a man so detached from himself that he doesn’t remember his own birthday?

In Nick, Smith’s prequel to The Great Gatsby, out Jan. 5, the author explores Carraway’s life before he arrives in Jay Gatsby’s world in West Egg, ruminating on his travels and search for home during and after serving in World War I. The timing of the prequel may seem strange, arriving 96 years after the original book’s publication, but it’s intentional: Smith’s novel will be published just days after Gatsby enters U.S. public domain on Jan. 1. Literary works are protected from replication for a certain number of years, depending on when they came out. When the copyright for Fitzgerald’s classic novel of greed, desire and betrayal expires, anyone will be able to publish the book and adapt it without permission from his literary estate, which has controlled the text for the 80 years since his death. That freedom could yield works that add to Gatsby’s legacy — see what Wide Sargasso Sea did for Jane Eyre — or it could open the door to editions that change the text for the worse.

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The Last Tycoon (1976)
Director: Elia Kazan
Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel), Harold Pinter (screenplay)
Stars: Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, Jeanne Moreau, Ingrid Boulting, Theresa Russell

Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished and posthumous novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death. It was Kazan’s last film.

Also TV Series (2016–2017) The Last Tycoon

Tender Is the Night (1962)
Director: Henry King
Writers: Ivan Moffat (screenplay), F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Stars: Jennifer Jones, Jason Robards, Joan Fontaine

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about the rich on the Riviera in the 1920s. The story centers on a psychiatrist and his relationship with a beautiful patient.

Also: TV Mini-Series (1985)

Answer B Greed (1924); Director: Erich von Stroheim

Broken Blossoms (1919)

True Heart Susie (1919)

Way Down East (1920)

Orphans of the Storm (1921)

David Wark Griffith was born in rural Kentucky to Jacob "Roaring Jake" Griffith, a former Confederate Army colonel and Civil War veteran. Young Griffith grew up with his father's romantic war stories and melodramatic nineteenth-century literature that were to eventually shape his movies. In 1897 Griffith set out to pursue a career both acting and writing for the theater, but for the most part was unsuccessful. Reluctantly, he agreed to act in the new motion picture medium for Edwin S. Porter at the Edison Company. Griffith was eventually offered a job at the financially struggling American Mutoscope & Biograph Co, which is still in existence today and the oldest movie company in America, where he directed over four hundred and fifty short films. His experimentation with visual story-telling techniques would later be perfected in his cinematic epic, The Birth of a Nation (1915).

Griffith and his personal cinematographer G.W. Bitzer collaborated to create and perfect such cinematic devices as the shot sequence, the flashback, the iris shot, the mask and cross-cutting – in essence, the very language of film still used today. He has been called "the father of film technique," "the man who invented Hollywood," and "the Shakespeare of the screen."

He produced and directed the first movie ever made in Hollywood, In Old  California (1910), and was the first to utter the catchphrase "Lights, camera, action!" The film was rediscovered by Biograph and shown on the 6th of May 2004 at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

While he was known to have no real sense of humor, he is credited as designing the blueprint for screen slapstick. In 1908 he made a short film about a man who accidentally breaks a curtain pole. The comedy, called The Curtain Pole, starred an actor by the name of Mikhail Sinot, who changed his name to Mack Sennett.

In 1920 he established United Artists with Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

Following "Birth," Griffith never again saw the same monumental success as his signature film and, in 1931, his increasing failures forced his retirement. Though hailed for his vision in narrative film-making, he was similarly criticized for his blatant racism.

Ironically, he produced and directed the Biograph film The Rose of Kentucky (1911), which showed the Ku Klux Klan as villainous, a sharp contrast to The Birth of a Nation, made four years later, in which the KKK was portrayed in a very favorable light.

In his last years Griffith was treated as an outdated movie pioneer. He lived in a first-floor suite at the Knickerbocker Hotel on Ivar Avenue in Hollywood, just off of Hollywood Boulevard. Many have claimed that he had moved from the glamourous Roosevelt Hotel to duck an expensive divorce. He suffered a fatal stroke in its lobby in 1948. The Knickerbocker still exists as a retirement home, and a memorial plaque for Griffith can be seen in the lobby.

He has directed six films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Lady Helen's Escapade (1909), A Corner in Wheat (1909), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919).

My favorite Griffith quotation: "Move these 10,000 horses a trifle to the right, and that mob out there, three feet forward." – instructions during his direction of Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916).

Answer C. Tie with four Hitchcock films each

Cary Grant


Suspicion (1941)
Notorious (1946)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
North by Northwest (1959)

Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, to Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. His early years in Bristol would have been an ordinary lower-middle-class childhood, except for one extraordinary event. At age nine, he came home from school one day and was told his mother had gone off to a seaside resort. However, the real truth was that she had been placed in a mental institution, where she would remain for years, and he was never told about it (he would not see his mother again until he was in his late 20s).

He left school at age 14, lying about his age and forging his father's signature on a letter to join Bob Pender's troupe of knockabout comedians. He learned pantomime as well as acrobatics as he toured with the Pender troupe in the English provinces, picked up a Cockney accent in the music halls in London, and then in July 1920, was one of the eight Pender boys selected to go to the United States. Their show on Broadway, "Good Times", ran for 456 performances, giving Grant time to acclimatize. He would stay in America. Mae West wanted Grant for She Done Him Wrong (1933) because she saw his combination of virility, sexuality and the aura and bearing of a gentleman. Grant was young enough to begin the new career of fatherhood when he stopped making movies at age 62.


Earlier he had appeared in five films directed by Howard Hawks and three films each by Leo McCarey, George Cukor, George Stevens and Stanley Donen.

One biographer said the 6' 1½ Grant was alienated by the new realism in the film industry. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he had invented a man-of-the-world persona and a style - "high comedy with polished words." In To Catch a Thief (1955), he and Grace Kelly were allowed to improvise some of the dialogue. They knew what the director, Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to do with a scene, they rehearsed it, put in some clever double entendres that got past the censors, and then the scene was filmed. His biggest box-office success was another Hitchcock 1950s film, North by Northwest (1959) made with Eva Marie Saint since Kelly was by that time Princess of Monaco.

Although Grant retired from the screen, he remained active. He accepted a position on the board of directors at Faberge. By all accounts this position was not honorary, as some had assumed. Grant regularly attended meetings and traveled internationally to support them. The position also permitted use of a private plane, which Grant could use to fly to see his daughter wherever her mother Dyan Cannon, was working. He later joined the boards of Hollywood Park, the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle - Hollywood, California), Western Airlines (acquired by Delta Airlines in 1987) and MGM.

Grant expressed no interest in making a career comeback. He was in good health until almost the end of his life, when he suffered a mild stroke in October 1984. In his last years, he undertook tours of the United States in a one-man-show, "A Conversation with Cary Grant", in which he would show clips from his films and answer audience questions. On November 29, 1986, Cary Grant died at age 82 of a cerebral hemorrhage in Davenport, Iowa.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Grant the second male star of Golden Age of Hollywood cinema (after Humphrey Bogart). Grant was known for comedic and dramatic roles; his best-known films include Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Notorious (1946), An Affair to Remember (1957), North by Northwest (1959) and Charade (1963).

Spouse (5)

Barbara Harris (11 April 1981 - 29 November 1986) (his death)
Dyan Cannon (22 July 1965 - 21 March 1968) (divorced) (1 child)
Betsy Drake (25 December 1949 - 13 August 1962) (divorced)
Barbara Hutton (8 July 1942 - 30 August 1945) (divorced)
Virginia Cherrill (9 February 1934 - 26 March 1935) (divorced)

Mini Biography By: Dale O'Connor

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James Stewart


Rope (1948)
Rear Window (1954)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Vertigo (1958)

James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Ruth (Johnson) and Alexander Maitland Stewart, who owned a hardware store. He was of Scottish, Ulster-Scots, and some English, descent. Stewart was educated at a local prep school, Mercersburg Academy, where he was a keen athlete (football and track), musician (singing and accordion playing), and sometime actor.

In 1929, he won a place at Princeton University, where he studied architecture with some success and became further involved with the performing arts as a musician and actor with the University Players. After graduation, engagements with the University Players took him around the northeastern United States, including a run on Broadway in 1932. But work dried up as the Great Depression deepened, and it was not until 1934, when he followed his friend Henry Fonda to Hollywood, that things began to pick up.


After his first screen appearance in Art Trouble (1934), the lanky 6' 3" Stewart worked for a time for MGM as a contract player and slowly began making a name for himself in increasingly high-profile roles throughout the rest of the 1930s. His famous collaborations with Frank Capra, in You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and, after World War II, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) helped to launch his career as a star and to establish his screen persona as the likable "every man."

Having learned to fly in 1935, he was drafted into the United States Army in 1940 as a private (after twice failing the medical for being underweight). During the course of World War II he rose to the rank of colonel, first as an instructor at home in the United States, and later on combat missions in Europe. He remained involved with the United States Air Force Reserve after the war and retired in 1959 as a brigadier general.

Stewart's acting career took off properly after the war. During the course of his long professional life, he had roles in some of Hollywood's best-remembered films; starring in a string of Westerns by John Ford and eight Anthony Mann films.

On June 25, 1997, a thrombosis formed in his right leg, leading to a pulmonary embolism, and a week later on July 2, 1997, surrounded by his children, James Stewart died at age 89 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. His last words to his family were, "I'm going to be with Gloria now".

Spouse (1)

Gloria Stewart (1949 - 1994) (her death) (2 children)

Mini Biography by fmetz

Answer: D. Ida Lupino


Ida Lupino was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother brought Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, came to Hollywood in 1934 and played small and insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was one of her few noteworthy movies and it was not until The Light That Failed (1939) that she got a chance to get better parts. In most of her movies, she was cast as the hard, but sympathetic woman from the wrong side of the tracks. In The Sea Wolf (1941) and High Sierra (1941), she played the part magnificently.

It has been said that no one could do hard-luck dames the way Lupino could do them. She played tough, knowing characters who held their own against some of the biggest leading men of the day — Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Colman, John Garfield and Edward G. Robinson. She made a handful of films during the forties playing different characters ranging from Pillow to Post (1945), where she played a traveling saleswoman to the tough nightclub singer in The Man I Love (1946). But good roles for women were hard to get and there were many young actresses and established stars competing for those roles.


She left Warner Brothers in 1947 and became a freelance actress. When better roles did not materialize, Ida stepped behind the camera as a director, writer and producer. Her first directing job came when director Elmer Clifton fell ill on a script that she co-wrote Not Wanted (1949). Ida had joked that as an actress, she was the poor man's Bette Davis. Now, she said that as a director, she became the poor man's Don Siegel. The films that she wrote, or directed, or appeared in during the fifties were mostly inexpensive melodramas. She later turned to Television where she directed episodes in shows such as The Untouchables (1959) and The Fugitive (1963). In the seventies, she did guest appearances on various television show and small parts in a few movies.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana

Answer: B. How I Won the War (1967)

Director: Richard Lester

Writers: Patrick Ryan (novel), Charles Wood (screenplay)

Stars: Michael Crawford, John Lennon, Roy Kinnear

How I Won the War is a 1967 British black comedy film directed and produced by Richard Lester, based on a novel of the same name by Patrick Ryan. The film stars Michael Crawford as bungling British Army Officer Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody, with John Lennon of The Beatles (in his only non-musical role, as Musketeer Gripweed), Jack MacGowran (Musketeer Juniper), Roy Kinnear (Musketeer Clapper) and Lee Montague (Sergeant, although referred to by the equivalent, albeit fictional rank of "Corporal of Musket" Transom) as soldiers under his command.

The film uses an inconsistent variety of styles — vignette, straight-to-camera, and, extensively, parody of the war film genre, docu-drama, and popular war literature — to tell the story of 3rd Troop, the 4th Musketeers (a fictional regiment reminiscent of the Royal Fusiliers and the Household Cavalry) and their misadventures in the Second World War. This is told in the comic/absurdist vein throughout, a central plot being the setting-up of an "Advanced Area Cricket Pitch" behind enemy lines in North Africa, but it is all broadly based on the Western Desert Campaign in mid-late 1942 and the crossing of the last intact bridge on the Rhine at Remagen in early 1945. The film was not critically well received.

Plot

Lieutenant Goodbody is an inept, idealistic, naïve, and almost relentlessly jingoistic wartime-commissioned (not regular) officer. One of the main subversive themes in the film is the platoon's repeated attempts or temptations to kill or otherwise rid themselves of their complete liability of a commander. While Goodbody's ineptitude and attempts at derring-do lead to the gradual demise of the unit, he survives, together with the unit's persistent deserter and another of his charges who become confined to psychiatric care. Every time a character is killed, he is replaced by an actor in bright red, blue, or green-colored World War II uniform, whose face is also colored and obscured so that he appears to be a living toy soldier. This reinforces Goodbody's repeated comparisons of war to playing a game.

John Lennon


John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, which he attended) who, with the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, later became The Beatles.

After some years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, "Beatlemania" erupted in England and Europe in 1963 after the release of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me". That same year, John's first wife Cynthia Lennon welcomed their only son Julian Lennon, named after John's mother. The next year the Beatles flew to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka The Ed Sullivan Show), and Beatlemania spread worldwide. Queen Elizabeth II granted all four Beatles M.B.E. medals in 1965, for import revenues from their record sales; John returned his four years later, as part of an antiwar statement. John and the Beatles continued to tour and perform live until 1966, when protests over his calling the Beatles phenomenon "more popular than Jesus" and the frustrations of touring made the band decide to quit the road. They devoted themselves to studio work, recording and releasing albums such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Magical Mystery Tour" and the "White Album." Instead of appearing live, the band began making their own "pop clips" (an early term for music videos), which were featured on television programs of the time.

In the late 1960s John began performing and making albums with his second wife Yoko Ono, as the Beatles began to break up. Their first two albums, "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions," were experimental and flops by Beatles standards, while their "Wedding Album" was almost a vanity work, but their live album "Live Peace In Toronto" became a Top Ten hit, at the end of the 1960s.

In the early 1970s John and Yoko continued to record together, making television appearances and performing at charity concerts. After the release of John's biggest hit, "Imagine", they moved to the US, where John was nearly deported because of his political views (a late '60s conviction for possession of hashish in the U.K. was the excuse given by the government), but after a four-year legal battle he won the right to stay. In the midst of this, John and Yoko separated for over a year; John lived in Los Angeles with personal assistant May Pang, while Yoko dated guitarist David Spinozza. When John made a guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving 1974 concert, Yoko was in the audience, and surprised John backstage. They reconciled in early 1975, and Yoko soon became pregnant. After the birth of their son Sean Lennon, John settled into the roles of "househusband" and full-time daddy, while Yoko became his business manager; both appeared happy in their new life together.

After a five-year break from music and the public eye, they made a comeback with their album "Double Fantasy," but within weeks of their re-emergence, Lennon was murdered on the evening of December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman, a one-time Beatles fan angry and jealous over John's ongoing career, who fatally shot Lennon four times in the back outside his apartment building, The Dakota, as Lennon was returning from a recording session. Within minutes after being shot, John Lennon was dead at age 40. His violent death was a sudden and tragic end to the life of a talented singer and musician who wanted to make a difference in the world.

IMDb Mini Biography By: paulab

Richard Lester


Richard Lester was one of the most influential directors of the 1960s, and continued his career into the 1970s and early '80s. He is best remembered for the two films he helmed starring The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), the frenetic cutting style of which was seen by many as the predecessor of the music video a generation later.

Lester had made his name with the Oscar-nominated short subject The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959) that he made with "The Goon Show" veterans Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. He then directed Sellers in The Mouse on the Moon (1963), which was produced by Walter Shenson. The Goons were a favorite of The Beatles, and when Shenson got the rights to make a movie with The Beatles, Lester seemed to be the ideal director for the project.

That project, "A Hard Day's Night," was not only a huge box-office hit but a major critical success as well. "Village Voice" movie critic Andrew Sarris, the American promoter of the "auteur theory" in America, described "A Hard Day's Night" as "the Citizen Kane (1941) of juke box musicals." Lester had arrived, and his next film, the Swinging Sixties yarn The Knack... and How to Get It (1965), won the Palme d'Or at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the wildly satirical How I Won the War (1967), which came a year after the huge success of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), his adaptation of the smash Broadway play, which relied on the Keatonesque slapstick Lester had used so well in The Beatles films ("Forum" even featured Lester's hero Buster Keaton in a small but highly amusing role).

Aside from "A Hard Day's Night," the success of which relies as much on The Beatles themselves as auteurs (Lester claims that the script by Alun Owen was largely jettisoned during filming, and its scripted "quips" were replaced by the real things from The Beatles themselves), Lester's true '60s masterpiece is Petulia (1968). A corrosive look at the American upper-middle-class and the fragmentation of American society, "Petulia" is one of the great, if unheralded, American films. Propelled by the luminous presence of Julie Christie and the powerhouse performance of George C. Scott, "Petulia" was a success at the box office, although some critics were upset over the blackness of the comedy. It was to prove to be his last great film, as he stumbled soon after it was released. The Bed Sitting Room (1969), a Samuel Beckett-influenced satire based on a play (and script) by Spike Milligan co-starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cooke -- from the smash revue "Beyond the Fringe" -- was a resounding flop at the box office and among critics, and Lester found himself unemployable.

However, The Three Musketeers (1973), which he shot simultaneously with The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) for producer Ilya Salkind, resurrected his career. When the Salkinds (Ilya and his father Alexander Salkind) were in the midst of filming Superman (1978) simultaneously with its sequel, Lester was hired as a supervising producer, then took over the filming of the sequel, Superman II (1980), when original director Richard Donner was fired. The sequel was a financial and critical success (as much as comic book films were in the early 1980s), and he was hired to direct the far-less successful Superman III (1983).

At the end of the 1980s, Lester returned to the storyline that had revitalized his career back in the early 1970s, filming a second sequel to "The Three Musketeers." However, after his close friend, actor Roy Kinnear died during the shooting of The Return of the Musketeers (1989), Lester seemed to lose heart with the movie-making business. He has not directed another film.

Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood

Answer: A: Bolivia

In 2009, Bolivia designated Spanish and 36 indigenous languages as official tongues. While many in the country speak Spanish as a first or second language, the nation is also home to sizable populations of people who speak Quechua, Aymara, Guarani, and more. South America in general has an extremely rich linguistic diversity, due in part to a landscape of jungles, mountains, and deserts that kept communities separate from one another throughout history. In 2015, the World Bank estimated that more than 500 languages are spoken in South America today. Before Spanish colonization, that number was more than 2,000.

Source: CIA World Factbook | Date Updated: November 13, 2020

Answer: D. Toronto

The origins of the name “Toronto” are murky, but a similar word is found in at least two local indigenous languages. The term was originally used to refer to a stretch of water between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, and translates literally to “where there are trees standing in the water.” Over the years, the name shifted south to the settlement that became the city of Toronto, although it was first spelled “Tarantou.” But when the British took over the area at the end of 18th century, Governor John Graves Simcoe wanted to assign English names to locations throughout what was then Upper Canada (and is now Ontario). In 1793, he renamed the settlement York as a tribute to the Duke of York. In the 1830s, the Legislative Council changed the name back to Toronto, which was considered a more “musical” word than York — and certainly had stronger ties to the area.

Source: The Culture Trip | Date Updated: November 13, 2020

Answer: E. Jamaica

Jamaica’s newest international port of entry – The Ian Fleming International Airport (IFIA).

The airport is named after the famed Ian Fleming – creator of the world’s most famous fictional spy, JAMES BOND. Golden Eye, the Jamaican home of Ian Fleming where fourteen (14) of the JAMES BOND starred novels were penned, is located just 5km from the airport in the quaint town of Oracabessa.

Answer: A. Tuvalu

One of the tiniest and most remote countries on Earth, is a ring of coral atolls located in the Pacific Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The most populous of the atolls, and the country’s capital, is Funafuti. That’s where most of Tuvalu’s government buildings can be found, as well as the Funafuti International Airport, a hotel, and a hospital. The atoll is thought to be named for a founding ancestor chief, Funa, who came from the island of Samoa. Subsistence fishing is one of the main drivers of economic activity in Tuvalu, although in 2000 the country leased its internet top-level domain “.tv” for $50 million in royalties.

Answer: B. Arkansas

“Regnat Populus,” which is Latin for “the people rule,” is just one example of the 25 state mottos expressed in Latin. “The people rule” has been Arkansas’ state motto on the Great Seal of the State since 1836, when it was made official in the state constitution. Credit for the design of the seal goes to Samuel Calhoun Roane, the recording clerk of the first territorial assembly, although it remains unknown exactly where the phrase came from. While its origins may be vague, the motto itself is not: It refers to Arkansas’ role in both the War of Independence and the Civil War, idealizing the peoples’ values of justice, freedom, and independence. The Latin motto is nearly identical to South Dakota’s state motto, “Under God, the people rule.”

Answer: C. I Am the Walrus

The lyric ‘Yellow matter custard, Dripping from a dead dog’s eye’ in “I am the Walrus,” is based on John Lennon hearing that a Liverpudlian school teacher was teaching a course about the meaning of Beatle songs. The lyric is a Liverpudlian school boy taunt. Lennon thought the kids would get a kick out of it, so he put it into the song.

Answer: D. I Want You (She's So Heavy) – 7:47

Hey Jude – 7:08
It's All Too Much – 6:25
A Day in the Life – 5:39
Helter Skelter – 4:29

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). The song closes side one on their 1969 album Abbey Road. The song is an unusual Beatles composition for a variety of reasons, namely its length (nearly eight minutes), minimal lyrics, a three-minute descent through repeated guitar chords over a rising background of synthesized white noise, and an abrupt ending. It was the first song recorded for the Abbey Road album but one of the last songs to be finished, on  August 20, 1969, the last time all four Beatles were together in the studio.

Answer: C. Rory Storm and the Hurricanes

Ringo Starr was regarded as the best drummer in Liverpool when he left Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to officially join the join the Beatles in 1962, replacing Pete Best. After their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Best's fans were so angry about the switch that a minor riot broke out. The group's followers eventually came around, and he became the most popular member upon their arrival in the US. Though many have tried to emulate his style, drummers had difficulties due to his being left-handed, with his drum kit set for a right hander. Some people erroneously considered his style to be simple, but he diligently followed Lennon’s instructions never to ‘get in the way of the song.'

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes’ popularity rivaled the Beatles popularity, but were never able to transition to US audiences, unlike the Dave Clark Five, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Searchers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Though electric on stage – some consider Rod Stewart’s stage persona borrowed by him – he suffered from a pronounced stutter while not performing.

Answer: C. Bus driver

George Harrison was born in a modest ‘two-up and two-down’ home on a small cul-de-sac. The most low key of the lads (his moniker was ‘the quiet Beatle’) his father, Harry, continued his career as a public bus driver even after the mop tops hit fame, often driving a bus load of fans trying to find where George lived. Harry never said a word.

Answer: D. Please Please Me

On 26 November,. "Please Please Me" and "Ask My Why" were mono mixed at an unknown time on 30 November, in Studio 2. An edit and stereo mix of "Please Please Me" and a new mono and a stereo mix of "Ask Me Why" were made on 25 February 1963, in Studio 1, for inclusion on the mono and stereo Please Please Me albums.

"Please Please Me" was the second single released by the Beatles in the UK, and their first number one hit. It was also the title track of their first LP. Lennon initially conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song. "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing 'Only the Lonely', or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, 'Please lend a little ear to my pleas'. The double use of the word 'please'. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby."

Over a month after the release of the first single, "Love Me Do," the Beatles returned to Studio 2 to record their second. They also performed an original composition, "Tip of My Tongue," but producer George Martin was unhappy with the arrangement. They never recorded it again and, instead, gave it to Tommy Quickly, another artist managed by their own manager, Brian Epstein.

Answer: C. Vincent D'Onofrio: Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Vincent D'Onofrio (6' 3”) holds the record for gaining the most weight for a role after he put on 70 pounds for Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.

Russell Crowe (5' 11½) Body of Lies, 63 pounds

Robert De Niro ( 5′ 10″) Raging Bull, 60 pounds

Shelley Winter (5’ 4”) The Poseidon Affair, 43 pounds

Renee Zellweger (5’ 4”) Bridget Jones's Diary 30 pounds

NOTE: Ann-Margret gained many pounds for her appearance in 1971’s Carnal Knowledge. Our staff was unable to find the amount in pounds, but the role transitioned her image from a sex kitten to a serious actor.

Answer: D. Idaho

1. Arkansas

No. of dry counties: 34
Population living in dry counties: 32.3% in 45.0% of state
Pct. of adults who report excessive drinking in dry counties: 14.7%

The sale of alcohol is prohibited in 34 of the 75 counties in Arkansas, home to 32.3% of Arkansas’ population — the largest such share of any state. Like in most states, prohibition in Arkansas is a matter of local jurisdiction, but there are several state hurdles to passing laws allowing the sale of alcohol. Local initiatives on alcohol sales require the signatures of 38% of local registered voters to get on the ballot, far more than the 10% typically required for ballot initiatives.

Proponents for repealing prohibition often cite the economic benefits and tax revenues associated with the sale of alcohol. According to a study commissioned by the state’s largest retailer, Walmart, turning all of the state’s dry counties wet could generate an additional $100 million in economic activity annually.

2. Florida

No. of dry counties: 3
Population living in dry counties: 0.2% in 3.1% of state
Pct. of adults who report excessive drinking in dry counties: 16.4%

The three counties where the sale of alcohol is prohibited in Florida — Lafayette, Liberty, and Washington — are located in the Panhandle region and represent just 0.2% of the state’s population. Like most states with dry counties, Florida law allows local jurisdictions to hold public referendums to approve local laws and regulations relating to the sale of alcohol.

The most recent county to repeal prohibition in Florida, Madison County, voted to allow alcohol sales in August 2012. The county had previously banned the sale of alcohol in 1906, 14 years before national prohibition. Lafayette County, one of the remaining dry counties, voted for prohibition in 1912, eight years before the nationwide ban on alcohol.

3. Georgia

No. of dry counties: 5
Population living in dry counties: 2.4% in 3.7% of state
Pct. of adults who report excessive drinking in dry counties: 16.5%

Georgia first banned statewide alcohol sales in 1908, 12 years before national prohibition. Today, five of the 159 counties in Georgia still do not allow the sale of alcohol. Attitudes toward alcohol sales throughout the state were recently gauged in 2011, when Georgia held a local vote on repealing the statewide ban on Sunday alcohol sales. Some 83% of cities and counties that participated in the referendum favored an end to the ban.

Local prohibition laws may have little effect on the consumption of alcohol in Georgia’s dry counties. According to data from the research program County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 16.5% of adults in Georgia’s dry counties drink excessively, more than the 15.1% of adults who report excessive drinking across the state.

4. Kansas

No. of dry counties: 3
Population living in dry counties: 0.3% in 2.6% of state
Pct. of adults who report excessive drinking in dry counties: 15.6%

While national prohibition lasted from 1920 until 1933, a statewide ban on alcohol sales existed in Kansas from 1881 to 1948 — longer than any other state. Today, alcohol is still entirely banned in three counties in the state that cover 0.3% of the state population and 2.6% of land area.

Kansas is one of just three states that is entirely dry by default and requires localities to take specific steps to allow the sale of alcohol. While 102 of the 105 counties in Kansas have voted to legalize the sale of alcohol to the general public since the end of prohibition, alcohol sales are still subject to strict regulation in most parts of the state. In 67 counties, for example, restaurants must derive at least 30% of their revenue from food sales in order to sell liquor by the drink.

5. Kentucky

No. of dry counties: 15
Population living in dry counties: 3.8% in 11.3% of state
Pct. of adults who report excessive drinking in dry counties: 13.3%

While Kentucky is home to some of the most famous bourbon brands in the country, such as Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, the sale of alcohol is prohibited in 15 of the state’s 120 counties. Dry counties are home to 3.8% of Kentucky’s population, the third largest share of any state.

While the relationship between the legality of alcohol sales and consumption is complicated and is heavily affected by factors such as income and religion, states with more dry counties tend to have lower levels of excessive drinking. In Kentucky’s dry counties, just 13.3% of adults report drinking excessively, compared to 15.8% of adults throughout the state and 18.0% of adults nationwide.

Answer: A. Congo River

1. The Congo River

From its tributaries to where it meets the Atlantic Ocean, the massive river includes rapids, wetlands, floodplains, lakes and swamps. In addition, the Congo River is the world's deepest recorded river at 720 feet (220 meters) deep in parts — too deep for light to penetrate. The Congo discharges 43,300 cubic meters (1,460,000 cubic feet) of water into the Atlantic Ocean each second. The only river on Earth with a greater rate of discharge is the Amazon. The Congo River gets up to 90 inches of rainfall a year. It has within its banks 30 waterfalls and thousands of islands, at least 50 of which are more than 10 miles in length.

5. The Mekong River ~ 100 meters (328 ft)

The Mekong River is the longest river in the Southeast Asian region. It is 2,700 miles (or 4,350 kilometers) and flows through through China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of biodiversity. Biota estimates for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) include 20,000 plant species, 430 mammals, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians  and an estimated 850 fish species.

4. The Zambezi River ~ 116 meters (381 ft)

The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is 1,390,000 square kilometers (540,000 sq mi), slightly less than half that of the Nile. The 3,540-kilometre-long river (2,200 mi) has its source in Zambia and flows through Angola, along the borders of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia again, and Zimbabwe, to Mozambique, where it empties into the Indian Ocean.

The Zambezi's most spectacular feature is the beautiful Victoria Falls. Other notable falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls, near Sioma in Western Zambia.

3. The Danube River ~ 178 meters (584 ft)

The Danube is Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway. The river originates in the Black Forest mountain range in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town of Donaueschingen. After that it is known as the Danube and flows southeastward for a distance of some 2,872 km (1,785 mi), passing through four Central and Eastern European capitals, before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. The Danube flows through four capital cities, more than any river in the world.

2. The Yangtze River~ 200 meters (656 ft)

The Yangtze River is the longest river in China and Asia, and the third longest river in the world. The Three Gorges section is the most important and famous section of the Yangtze River for tourism, flood protection, electricity generation and water conservation.

Answer: B. Hermann Goering, WW1 German war hero

Answer: E. Norway

The Norwegian Armed Forces (Norwegian: Forsvaret, "The Defence") is the military organization responsible for the defense of Norway.

• Military age: Male: 17-44 (55 for officers) years
• Reserve personnel: 40,000 in the Norwegian Home Guard (2019)
• Reaching military age annually: 31,980 males, 30,543 females
• Active personnel: 23,250 (2019)

Comments about Japan:

• Reason 1: After WW II, Japan's new constitution was made and enacted under the Allied occupation. Japan cannot keep a standing army, although it keeps a small armed force called the Self Defense Forces, to deal with internal disorders.
• Reason 2: Japan is riding on the United States for its security.

Answer: B. Andrew Jackson

On May 26, 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which relocated most members of the Native American tribes in the South to Oklahoma Indian Territory in order to allow white settlement of their ancestral lands. Although many tribes resisted, they were forcibly removed by the United States government in a march to the west that later became known as the Trail of Tears. This legislation has been referred to as an act of genocide as the relocated peoples suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their newly-designated reserve in Oklahoma, and approximately 4,000 died before reaching their destinations or shortly after from disease.

Read more about the Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears.

Answer: C. Preston Brooks attacking Charles Sumner in the House of Representatives

The Brooks–Sumner Affair or the Caning of Charles Sumner, occurred on May 22, 1856, in the United States Senate, when Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts, in retaliation for a speech given by Sumner two days earlier in which he fiercely criticized slaveholders, including a relative of Brooks. The beating nearly killed Sumner and it contributed significantly to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery. It has been considered symbolic of the "breakdown of reasoned discourse" and the use of violence that eventually led to the Civil War. Brooks was praised by Southern newspapers. The Richmond Enquirer editorialized that Sumner should be caned "every morning", praising the attack as "good in conception, better in execution, and best of all in consequences" and denounced "these vulgar abolitionists in the Senate" who "have been suffered to run too long without collars. They must be lashed into submission." Southerners sent Brooks hundreds of new canes in endorsement of his assault. One was inscribed "Hit him again."

Answer: E. They lived in a “GHETTO”

The word "GHETTO" comes from the Jewish area of Venice, the Venetian Ghetto in Cannaregio. However, there is no agreement among etymologists about the origins of the Venetian language term. The various theories trace it to: a special use of Venetian getto, or "foundry" (there was one near the site of that city's ghetto in 1516); Yiddish get, or "deed of separation;" a clipped form of Egitto ("Egypt"), from Latin Aegyptus (presumably in memory of the exile); or Italian borghetto, or "small section of a town" (diminutive of borgo, which is of Germanic origin; see borough). By 1899 the term had been extended to crowded urban quarters of other minority groups. If you’re referencing historical ghettos, such as those where Jewish people were forced to live, the word is accepted in writing and polite conversation.

"GYPPED" means fraud; cheat or swindle. It stems from "Gypsy" (Romani people from India). Europeans thought the nomadic Romani were from Egypt, hence Gypsy.

"WELSHED" is a derogatory Anglo-Saxon expression directed at the people of Wales, with whom they felt were wild and inferior, who did not pay their bets.

TRICK QUESTION: Though many perceive the term “CRACKER” as a semi-literate “GOOD OLE BOY” from the southern US, others wear the moniker proudly. Think, ”Cracker Barrel” restaurant. The real story is that in the late 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, Georgia ranchers came to be known as "Georgia Crackers" by Floridians when they drove their cattle down into the grassy flatlands of Central Florida to graze in the winter. In order to get the cattle's attention they became very adept at cracking a bullwhip. Here’s an interesting election stat: counties with “Cracker Barrel” restaurants went to outgoing President Trump, while counties with “Whole Foods” voted for President-Elect Joe Biden.

"MIDGET" is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered to be a pejorative. While not a medical term, it has been applied to persons of unusually short stature, often with the medical condition dwarfism, particularly proportionate dwarfism. Although preferred terms vary by person and community, according to the Little People of America website, many short people prefer the term "little person." Also, the Little People of America states that dwarfism is "a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4 ft. 10 inches or shorter, among both men and women." An example of this slur is outgoing President Trump referring to former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg as "Midget Mike."

Answer: B. Tom Hanks slept 14 straight nights in a space craft in preparation for his role in Apollo 13.

ACTORS’ COMMENTS:

Amanda Brugel said the rocks in her shoe help define Rita's "Martha-swagger" while filming The Handmaid's Tale’s

Foster, in preparation for “Silence of the Lambs” said the one thing she learned at Quantico was, "You can't rely on the MOs (Methods of Operation) when investigating serial killers. Killers have been known to travel 3,000 miles to kill somebody and then travel 3,000 miles back. There are no clues. Makes no sense."

For playing Christy Brown, an artist with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot, Daniel Day Lewis remained in his wheelchair in between takes and even had crew members feed him. He also taught himself to put a record on a turntable with his toes.

As the wounded Vietnam vet, Nicolas Cage had two teeth removed for his role in “Birdy,” without anesthesia to better his understanding of the character.

Answer: A. Fame

John Lennon co-wrote the song Fame with David Bowie. It was Bowie’s first number one hit in the US. Along with co-writing the song, Lennon, also played guitar and sang backup vocals, credited under the pseudonym Dr. Winston O'Boogie.

Answer: E. West Virginia


The panhandles of Florida and Oklahoma are probably the most recognizable, but look closely at a map and you’ll notice them on several other U.S. states: Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas among them — a northern one that hugs the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania and an eastern one that sits directly below Maryland’s panhandle. The state was originally part of Virginia, and its boundaries stretched west to the Ohio River, which formed the northern panhandle between Pennsylvania and Ohio. In 1861, West Virginia separated from Virginia when it joined the Confederacy, splitting mostly along the Allegheny Mountain range and extending the eastern panhandle to include the town of Harper’s Ferry.

Answer: E. Quebec


Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! — apparently the only town in the world with two exclamation points in its name — sits at the top of the Témiscouata valley. Some believe that the exclamatory portion of the town’s name comes from the sound that newcomers would make upon seeing the valley’s shining lake for the first time: ha! ha! Others say that the name comes from the fact that “haha” was once a synonym for cul-de-sac (a possible reference to Lake Témiscouata presenting an obstacle to roads). Either way, this funny Canadian town name has had visitors chuckling for generations.

As well as being apologetic, Canadians are pretty funny. This town, in Quebec, is up there with some of the most amusing names we've heard. There is a little more to it than just wanting to sound amusing, though. The expression ha-ha was used in the country to explain an unexpected obstacle, in this case, nearby Lake Témiscouata. What’s more, the town is the only place name in the world with two exclamation marks. It’s so surprising, they exclaimed it twice.

Answer: E. Wagner

As a child, Wagner showed little interest in music. He was the only child in his family not to receive piano lessons. Wagner's musical career remained on shaky ground; he was no child prodigy. It was through the theater group at Magdeburg that Wagner met his first wife, Minna Planer, an attractive, though somewhat disturbed, young actress Born in Germany on May 22, 1813, Richard Wagner went on to become one of the world's most influential — and controversial — composers. He is famous for both his epic operas, including the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler. There is evidence that Wagner's music was played at the Dachau concentration camp to "re-educate" the prisoners. Wagner had a tumultuous love life, which involved several scandalous affairs. He died of a heart attack in Venice on February 13, 1883.

Answer: B. Manitoba


If you’re afraid of snakes, then Manitoba may well not be the place for you, especially in May. The snake population in the early 2000s was dangerously low, so the Narcisse Snake Pits Wildlife Management Area was born. Today, the area has the largest population of snakes in the world, around 70,000, in fact. The most prolific are the red-sided garter snakes.

Answer: A. The original recipe called for equal parts of one pound of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, keeping it simple for those with illiteracy.

If you've never had a pound cake, it's essentially a very sweet, heavy, and rich cake from a recipe that's been passed down through generations. But where did it start? The original recipe called for one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. That's right — no yeast, no baking powder or soda, no leaveners. The simplicity of the recipe may explain why it has stuck around through the yingredien tears; pound cake was invented in the 1700s, an era with low literacy, so knowing all you needed was a pound of each ingredient made it a snap to remember and make. As you can imagine, with such big portions of each ingredient, a finished pound cake was large and meant to serve multiple families. Over time, the recipe was adapted and altered to make a lighter, smaller cake, but the name stuck around, as did the core four ingredients.

Answer: E. Rigoletto — Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Gioachino Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him.

Answer: E. 20th century

English playwright William Shakespeare's iconic Romeo and Juliet remains a huge tourist attraction in Verona. Even though it's a work of fiction, visitors flock to Juliet's house in the city. The house itself is said to date back to the 13th century, but the famous balcony was only added in the 20th century. There is also no evidence Shakespeare visited Verona before or after writing the tragedy.

Answer: B. Canada

Poutine is a hearty, heavenly combination of French fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. The dish was invented in Canada’s Quebec province in the 1950s, though like many popular national dishes, its origins are somewhat unclear. Many accounts point to the farming town of Warwick in 1957, where a customer at L’Idéal restaurant ordered French fries and cheese curds (which are simply fresh, unaged cheddar cheese) together in the same bag because he was in a rush. He called it “poutine,” a Québécois slang word for “mess.” Later, the gravy was added in nearby Drummondville at Le Roy Jucep restaurant. Today, poutine is so ubiquitous in Canada that it appears on the menu at McDonald’s and Burger King, and you can even find it across the border in many U.S. cities.

Answer: A. Denmark


Denmark's flag might look simple, but there's more to it than meets the eye. This impressive flag is actually a Guinness World Record holder since it's. It was first adopted in 1625, which makes it nearly 400 years old. Still, some version of this flag was in use as long ago as the 1370s. The red and white flag can be spotted in a watercolor from 1585 and was flown during Denmark's naval battles against Sweden in the 1560s. As with other Nordic flags, the cross on the flag is a symbol of Christianity. Interestingly, the white-on-red design was used by the kings of Denmark as far back as the 14th century.

Answer: E. Wyoming

As the first territory to give women the right to vote in 1869 and the first state to swear in a female governor in 1924, Wyoming has a long history to back up its nickname of the “The Equality State.” Wyoming’s official state motto, “Equal Rights,” adorns the state flag and state seal. But while the state may have had progressive views on women’s suffrage for the time, one reason they were the first state to pass the women’s vote was due to the state’s population size — or lack thereof. Without women being granted the vote, the state would have fallen short for the population requirement for statehood. But they did kick off a trend for women’s suffrage, with Utah, Washington, Montana, and Alaska soon following suit.

Connecticut: “Constitution State”

Delaware: “Liberty and independence”

Vermont: "Freedom and Unity"

The Washington state motto "Al-ki" or "Alki" is Native American (Chinook) and in English it means "Bye and Bye" or "Hope for the Future."

List of U.S. State Mottos

State	Motto	Translation (if applicable)
Alabama	Audemus jura nostra defendere	(Latin, "We dare to defend our rights" or "We Dare Maintain Our Rights")
Alaska	North to the Future
Arizona	Ditat Deus	(Latin, "God enriches")
Arkansas	Regnat populus	(Latin, "The people rule")
California	Eureka	(Greek, "I have found it")
Colorado	Nil sine numine	(Latin, "Nothing without Providence" or "Nothing without the Deity")
Connecticut	Qui transtulit sustinet	(Latin, "He who transplanted sustains")
Delaware	Liberty and independence
Florida	In God we trust
Georgia	Wisdom, Justice, Moderation
Hawaii	Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Aina i ka Pono	(Hawaiian, "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness")
Idaho	Esto perpetua	(Latin, "Let it be perpetual")
Illinois	State sovereignty, national union
Indiana	The crossroads of America
Iowa	Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain
Kansas	Ad astra per aspera	(Latin, "To the stars through difficulties")
Kentucky	English: United we stand, divided we fall Latin: Deo gratiam habeamus	(Latin, "Let us be grateful to God"; adopted in 2002)
Louisiana	Union, justice, and confidence
Maine	Dirigo	(Latin, "I direct")
Maryland	Fatti maschi, parole femmine	(Italian, "Strong deeds, gentle words")
Massachusetts	Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem	(Latin, "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty")
Michigan	Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice / Tuebor	(Latin, "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you") / (Latin, "I will defend")
Minnesota	L'étoile du Nord (Official state motto) / Quae sursum volo videre (Territorial motto never repealed)	(French, "The star of the North") / (Latin, "I long to see what is beyond")
Mississippi	Virtute et armis	(Latin, "By valor and arms")
Missouri	Salus populi suprema lex esto	(Latin, "The Welfare of the People is the Highest Law")
Montana	Oro y plata	(Spanish, "Gold and silver")
Nebraska	Equality before the law
Nevada	All for our country
New Hampshire	Live free or die
New Jersey	Liberty and Prosperity
New Mexico	Crescit eundo	(Latin, "It grows as it goes")
New York	Excelsior!	(Latin, "Ever Upward!")
North Carolina	Esse quam videri	(Latin, "To be, rather than to seem")
North Dakota	Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable / Strength from the soil	Daniel Webster quote used on the Great Seal / motto used on the Coat of Arms
Ohio	With God, all things are possible
Oklahoma	Labor omnia vincit	(Latin, "Hard work conquers all things")
Oregon	The Union, and Alis volat propriis	(Latin, "She flies with her own wings")
Pennsylvania	Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Rhode Island	Hope
South Carolina	Dum spiro spero	(Latin, "While I breathe, I hope")
South Dakota	Under God the people rule
Tennessee	Agriculture and commerce
Texas	Friendship
Utah	Industry
Vermont	Freedom and Unity and Stella quarta decima fulgeat	(Latin, "May the 14th star shine bright")
Virginia	Sic semper tyrannis	(Latin, "Thus always to tyrants")
Washington	Al-ki	(Chinook Jargon, "By and by")
West Virginia	Montani semper liberi	(Latin, "Mountaineers are always free")
Wisconsin	Forward
Wyoming	Equal Rights

District of Columbia and United States Territories

Jurisdiction	Motto	Translation (if applicable)
American Samoa	Samoa, Muamua Le Atua	(Samoan, "Samoa, Let God be First")
District of Columbia	Justitia Omnibus	(Latin, "Justice for all")
Puerto Rico	Joannes Est Nomen Eius	(Latin, "John is his name") In honor of San Juan, i.e. John the Baptist
Guam	Where America's Day Begins
Virgin Islands	United in Pride and Hope

Answer: E. Mark Twain

Answer: E. World Kindness Movement

The World Kindness Movement celebrates World Kindness Day  annually on  November 13th. On this day, participants attempt to make the world a better place by celebrating and promoting good deeds and pledging acts of kindness, either as individuals or as organizations.

World Kindness Day was first launched in 1998 by The World Kindness Movement, an organizations formed at a 1997 Tokyo conference of like-minded kindness organizations from around the world. There are currently over 28 nations involved in The World Kindness Movement which is not affiliated with any religion or political movement. The mission of the World Kindness Movement and World Kindness Day is to create a kinder world by inspiring individuals and nations towards greater kindness.

Answer: B. The island nation of Fiji

“Bula” is the most common word you'll hear right across Fiji and it is used to greet people or say hello. When you say “Bula” to someone, you are actually wishing them happiness, good health and the energy of life.

Answer: B. No

The Swedish/Norwegian/Danish word “skål” simply means "bowl" or "cup" — referring to a communal bowl (often filled with beer) that was passed around. Each person would take a drink and then say “skål,” similar to the English version of “Cheers.”  This is related to the Old Norse word “skalli” which mean "bald head," which is bowl-shaped. Vikings initially drank from horns of cattle or goats. But later used glass cups and wooden or metal beakers too. The word itself dates back more than a thousand years, and is pronounced with a rounder “O” than the version known in the U.S. today.

“It was a greeting of warmth and camaraderie,” says Gregg White, Executive Director of the Swedish Council of America.

White says there is no evidence that “skål” was used as an ancient war cry by the Vikings, despite the word’s use by fans of today’s Minnesota Vikings football team.

And, for the story that skol came from Vikings drinking beer from the skulls of their enemies? White calls it “a wonderful myth,” but not fact.

Answer: D. Hamana Kalili, descendant of Hawaiian chiefs


Hamana Kalili was there to greet me, his right hand extended in the gentle “shaka” symbol of all is well. His statue stands at the entrance of the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. A descendant of Hawaiian ali’i (chiefs), Kalili (1882-1958) lost the middle, index and ring fingers on his right hand in sugar mill accident. Reassigned to oversee train safety, he would wave his right hand, devoid of the middle three fingers, indicating to the train conductor that all is clear and the train is ready to go. For this, Kalili is considered the originator of the iconic “shaka.” Hawaiian children and surfers would emulate the “shaka” and soon the symbol would traverse around the globe and transition to other uplifting meanings:  “Hang loose,” “Right on,” “Thank you,” “Things are great,” primarily by surfers.

Answer: C. God Save the Queen

Our World was the first live, international, satellite television production, which was broadcast on 25 June 1967. Creative artists, including the Beatles, opera singer Maria Callas, and painter Pablo Picasso – representing nineteen nations – were invited to perform or appear in separate segments featuring their respective countries. The two-and-a-half-hour event had the largest television audience ever up to that date: an estimated 400 to 700 million people around the globe watched the broadcast. Today, it is most famous for the segment from the United Kingdom starring the Beatles. They performed their song "All You Need Is Love" for the first time to close the broadcast. With an orchestral arrangement by George Martin, the song begins with a portion of the French national anthem and ends with musical quotations from works such as Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", "Greensleeves", Bach's Invention No. 8 in F major, and the Beatles' 1963 hit "She Loves You."

"All You Need Is Love" was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution to Our World, the first live global television link, for which the band were filmed performing it at EMI Studios in London on 25 June. The program was broadcast via satellite and seen by an audience of over 400 million in 25 countries. Lennon's lyrics were deliberately simplistic, to allow for the show's international audience, and captured the utopian ideals associated with the Summer of Love. The single topped sales charts in Britain, the United States and many other countries, and became an anthem for the counterculture's embrace of flower power philosophy.

Our World coincided with the height of the Beatles' popularity and influence, following the release of their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rather than perform the song entirely live, the group played to a pre-recorded backing track. Adding to the broadcast's festive atmosphere, the studio was adorned with signs and streamers, and filled with guests dressed in psychedelic attire, including members of the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Small Faces. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, described the performance as the band's "finest" moment.

Answer: D. Praia do Cassino Beach, Brazil

1. At over 150 miles in length, Praia do Cassino Beach is the longest beach in the entire world. Brazil’s beaches are known for their white sand, warm temperatures and welcoming locals. Any trip here is going to be hot, hot, hot! All sorts of water activities can be enjoyed here but surfing is the most popular pastime.



2. Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

This beach has the distinction of being the world’s longest ‘natural sand’ beach, stretching across 150 miles. It’s an interesting place which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh but remains relatively little known amongst travelers in general since Bangladesh is not considered a top destination for the average family. The people who do go here will find that there are three separate spots to enjoy: Laboni Beach which is the main beach close to town, Humchari which is loved for its waterfalls and Inani Beach which is favored for suntanning. You may hear people here calling the beach Panowa; the term means ‘little flower’ and is the nickname that locals know the place by.



3. Padre Island, Texas

This beach is about 130 miles long and is known for being one of the longest drivable beaches in the world. Located in Texas, the water here is from the Gulf of Mexico so it’s a place where the water is warm enough for swimming nearly all year round. There are two distinct sides to this beach; the north side is a party spot for spring break kids and the south side is a National Seashore where visitors can see the dunes and tides preserved in their original state. Make sure to look for the sea turtles which are a favorite tourist attraction here.



4. Ninety Mile Beach, Australia

At just over ninety miles, this is a beautiful Australian beach dotted with charming coastal towns. Unfortunately, there aren’t terrific swimming or surfing conditions here most of the time so it’s not necessarily a favourite beach for watersports. Nevertheless, people who are seeking to get great beach photographs will find miles and miles of picture perfect spots here.



5. Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand

Not to be outdone by Australia, this neighboring country also has a Ninety Mile Beach. However, this one is slightly shorter at about 88 miles in length. It’s a popular tourist destination because the sand dunes here look a lot like desert land which provides an interesting contrast to the ocean.

Answer: C. Peru

Before the Incas or the Spanish, the Moche and Chimu cultures inhabited the north of Peru. Their communities along the coast depended greatly on fishing as a means for food. Each morning the fishermen would fish on their boats made of bounded reeds. To get back to shore, the fisherman would surf the waves with their fish-filled nets in hand. Peru’s north coast, where there is evidence of the Moche and Chimu’s presence, is also home to some of the world’s best waves, especially at Chicama. According to Moche and Chimu pottery art, this method of riding waves after fishing has been practiced for at least the last 2000 years. There is even evidence in the pottery art that the waves were ridden for fun and not just out of necessity.

The western world considered the Tahitians the first to surf, using large wooden boards to ride waves as we do today. This history has for the most part gone unchallenged until it was discovered that a civilization has been riding waves for at least 2000 years off the north coast of Peru. One of the most famous written accounts of surfing is the diary of European captain James Cook who witnessed Tahitian surfers in 1778. He and his crew were shocked to see men riding the waves on planks on wood. James Cook’s diary provided readers with lots of valuable information about sailing in the Pacific. Still, the Europeans had never seen anything like surfing. They were even worried about the surfers because they expected the waves to throw them on jagged rocks near the shore. Of course, those Tahitian surfers came from a culture where everyone knew how to hold their own in the water. The men jumped off their boards before reaching the rocks, and even smiled while doing it. For them, it was just another day of sunshine and surf.



The Polynesians colonized the uninhabited Hawaiian Islands and brought surfing along with them. When European settlers first came to Hawaii, locals were steered away from surfing by Protestant Christian missionaries along with other sacred Hawaiian traditions. Sadly, plantation owners and missionaries introduced the Hawaiian people to canned meat which resulted in obesity, in which there was none before. Still, surfing was such an essential part of Hawaiian culture that people never stopped doing it entirely. Around the end of the 19th century, tourism began to develop, and surfing started to make a huge comeback. People from all over the world started to notice how awesome surfing is, and this was fantastic for Hawaiian tourism. One of the most prominent early players in modern surfing was Duke Kahanamoku. Born in 1890, “The Duke” was one of the best surfers of his time and also an accomplished Olympic swimmer. Once Duke’s fame as an athlete reached a certain point, he decided to go on a world tour to showcase his skills and spread the love of surfing. From California to Australia, he traveled, surfed, and caught the eyes of thousands of eager spectators. He single-handedly popularized the Hawaiian surf tradition. While we can’t say that The Duke invented surfing, but surfing was a massive part of his legacy, and his influence played a pivotal role in the history of surfing. Thanks to his enthusiasm and athleticism, the sport gained more attention than ever before. Today, Hawaii has established itself as the de-facto surfing capital of world.

Answer: G. Waimea Beach, Kauai, Hawaii


The rare  black sand Waimea Beach is located on Kauai’s relatively undeveloped western shore. This Kauai gem does not present conditions ideal for surfing or swimming, but as the island’s only black sand beach, it will absolutely enchant you. Usually black sand beaches are found near volcanoes, and these magical glossy fragments are made up of lava when it touches the ocean waters.

Pink Sand Beaches

Elafonisi Beach – Crete, Greece: Elafonisi has the amenities of a popular vacation beach (parking lot, nearby bathrooms) but the feel of a remote oasis, thanks to its location removed from major cities. After swimming in the shallow waters, walk across the sandbar to snap some photos of wildflowers.

Horseshoe Bay – Bermuda: Horseshoe Bay is situated on Bermuda’s south coast. It’s tucked between astounding natural limestone cliffs and glistening pink sand that skims the Atlantic Ocean, which is filled with a plethora of coral reefs, a variety of fish, and other marine life. The bay is a fantastic location for snorkeling, volleyball, and kickball. The bay’s long trails are also awesome for jogging or hiking.

Crane Beach – Barbados: Located on the rugged east coast of Barbados, the pink shoreline of Crane Beach is flanked by lush vegetation and turquoise waters. The beach is known for its boogie board–ready waves, and luxe hotels where you can dry off after pulling yourself out of your beach chair.

Spiaggia Rosa – Northern Sardinia, Italy: As gorgeous as its pink sand beach might be, Italy’s Spiaggia Rosa is off-limits to the public. The beach can be viewed via boat or from a nearby cliff that overlooks it, but no one is allowed onto the beach itself. This is due to preserving the beach’s vibrant pink hues, which believe it or not, used to be brighter before visitors began taking jars of it with them.

Playa de Ses Illetes –  Formentera, Spain:  Formentera is a less-crowded alternative to nearby Ibiza, and Playa de Ses Illetes is its most fashionable beach. For a full day, share some rosy sand with yacht-owning vacationers, then enjoy a plate of fish at one of the island's glitzy restaurants.

Thunder Cove Beach – Prince Edward Island, Canada: If you want to see red sand, one hidden gem is Thunder Cove Beach. The beach is only a short drive from the famous Cavendish Beach which attracts Anne of Green Gables fans and is an excellent spot to escape the crowds.

Answer: B. Emily Dickinson

The influential American poet Emily Dickinson wrote "I started Early – Took my Dog –" sometime around 1862. In the poem, a young woman walks to the shore with her dog and looks at the sea. The boats and mermaids seem to call out to the speaker, while the water, treated as a male figure in the poem, begins to creep up the speaker's body. She initially seems excited by this, but as the tide turns and the sea makes to consume the speaker, she abruptly turns away and rushes back to town. According to many readers, these events suggest that the speaker experiences a sexual awakening yet struggles to embrace her own sexual desires. The poem can also be read as being more generally about the allure of adventure, escape, and temptation, and about the simultaneous thrill and fear of embracing the new and unknown. The poem features common meter, as is the case with much of Dickinson's writing. Dickinson left her work untitled, and this poem's title is taken from its first line.

Answer: A. Coronado Beach, California



Regularly cropping up near the top of Best Comedy of All Time lists (and boasting the best last line ever), the exteriors for Billy Wilder’s classic were filmed in a mere seven days at Coronado Beach near San Diego, standing in for 1920s 'Florida.'

The ‘Miami’ hotel, where ‘Daphne’ and ‘Josephine’ (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) hide out with Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe) and the girl band, is the Hotel Del Coronado, This 700-room Victorian fantasy, built in 1888, has long been frequented by the rich and famous, including no less than eight US presidents, stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, Charlie Chaplin, and – according to legend – it’s where king-to-be Edward met Mrs. Wallis Simpson.