Good evening, everyone, and welcome back to trivia. Tonight’s theme: VA-VA-Voom. 1. Many people know that Virginia is one of four U.S. states that are technically not states at all, but rather commonwealths. What are the other three? 2. Virginia played a prominent role in the Civil War, being the site of the Confederacy’s first capital, at Richmond, and a number of its most significant battles, including the first (Bull Run/Manassas) and the last (Appomattox). But it was by no means a given that the commonwealth would secede from the Union; there was significant opposition, especially in the mountainous western counties, which would eventually secede from Virginia to form the new state of West Virginia. In fact, Virginia only seceded in April, 1861, four months after South Carolina and the eighth state to do so. Three other states followed. Name them. 3. What wonderful, punny nickname was given to twin brothers Ronde and Tiki, who played football for the University of Virginia in the 1990s? 4. The “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” letter, written by eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon to the New York Sun in 1897, has become a part of Christmas and newspaper lore, reprinted in papers all over the country every Christmastime. Who wrote the newspaper’s response, which captured the country’s imagination at a troubled time in U.S. history? 5. In 2006, it was announced that what retired dignitary, who had already been named to the ceremonial role of chancellor of the College of William and Mary in nearby Williamsburg, would become the honorary chair of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Jamestown colony in 2007? 6. Owen Wister, author of the novel “The Virginian,” and considered the father of Western fiction, was actually a consummate patrician Easterner, born and raised in Philadelphia and educated in Switzerland, Britain, and New England; he didn’t visit the West for the first time until his mid-twenties. But he was immediately taken with the region, and wrote about it extensively, making lifelong friends there, including Theodore Roosevelt and what fellow Easterner (from Canton, New York) who became identified with the West? 7. What twin cities on the Virginia/Tennessee border, with a combined population of about 43,000, have the state line as the boundary between them? 8. Longtime talk show hostess (she disdained being called “host”) Virginia Graham stumbled her way into the business when, in 1929, as a 16-year-old high school student with an assignment to write about a current event, she noticed several police cars parked outside a garage. What news story had she blundered onto? 9. Complete this lyric from one of my favorite P.D.Q. Bach pieces, the “Virgo” movement of “Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs (Arie Proprie Zodicale)”: “Virginia, fairest Virginia. ’Tis for her I sing this song...” 10, The 1966 movie Burton/Taylor movie “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” was the first movie to be nominated for an Oscar in every category for which it was eligible since what 1931 Western based on a novel by Edna Ferber? 11. What entertainer got her start in show business when she joined her two older sisters, Mary Jane “Suzy” and Dorothy Virginia “Jimmie” (who later married Bobby Sherwood), in the family act? 12. The existence of Virginia Dare, the first child born to English settlers in the North American colonies, is known because her grandfather, John White, returned to England in 1587 to resupply the colony. Meanwhile, the other settlers, including Virginia, presumably all perished under circumstances that continue to be mysterious. What was the name of the colony, and in what present-day state was it located? 13. “The Waltons,” a rural, prime time drama series set in the fictional town of Walton’s Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II, presented a idealized portrait of a poor but honest and loving family coping with the ups and downs of life. The patriarch of the family, Grandpa Walton, was played by actor Will Geer until his death after Season 6. But Geer did not originate the role; Grandpa was played by what notable radio performer in the show’s 1971 pilot? 14. The traditional folk song “East Virginia” is often sung to the tune of what other folk song, whose name refers to U.S. currency? 15. In 1968, the Philip Morris Company introduced a new cigarette brand, Virginia Slims, designed to appeal to women, particularly women in the emerging feminist movement, using the scurrilous and ridiculous ad slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” In order to connect the brand to youthfulness and energy, the company also sponsored what series of events in the 1970’s and 1980s, until the link between smoking and disease became too obvious to ignore?
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 02:29:54 +0000
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