Monday, May 12, 2008 | 2:45 a.m.

Trivia Bits by Stan Newman

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  • Trivia Bits, May 12
    Word of the week: "paraph." It is a handwritten flourish made under a person's signature, once popularly used as a forgery deterrent. Some famous Americans whose autograph often included a paraph: John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Sam …

  • Trivia Bits, May 10
    STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 84 What famous name from 19th-century world history was once the president of three countries simultaneously? HOW TO WIN: Send your answer, with your full name and address, either by e-mail to TriviaBits@…

  • Trivia Bits, May 9
    The word "fiasco," as in "spectacular failure," means "flask" in Italian. Specifically, the flask commonly used for Chianti that is enclosed in a straw basket. The word took on its unpleasant connotation as an Italian …

  • Trivia Bits, May 8
    Small-town celebrity birthplace of the week: Byron, in northern Illinois (current population about 4,000). Baseball Hall of Famer and sporting-goods entrepreneur Albert Goodwill Spalding was born there in 1850. Impressionist painter Wilson Irvine …

Trivia Bits, March 6

Small-town celebrity birthplace of the week: Sun Prairie, Wis., (current population about 20,000), a suburb of Madison. Artist Georgia O'Keeffe (middle name Totti -- bet you didn't know that) was born there in 1887. Punxsutawney, Pa., take note: The town has declared itself "Groundhog Capital of the World."

In "The Echo of Yesterday," a 1967 episode of the CBS series "Mission: Impossible," the photograph of one of the agents that Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) rejects (with a sly shaking of his head) in his ritual review of available personnel, is that of William Paley, who was the head of CBS at the time. Did "in-joke" photos appear on any other episodes of the series? If you're aware of any, please let us know.

The National Trapshooting Hall of Fame, located in Vandalia, Ohio, honors about 150 shooters, administrators and writers.
The two members whose names would be most familiar to non-fans of the sport are sharpshooter Annie Oakley and what other famous American?
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) John Philip Sousa
C) Donald Trump
D) Lucille Ball

Previous answer: The Leaning Tower of Pisa was originally built to be the bell tower of the city's cathedral.

TRIVIA FANS: Send the trivia questions you've always wanted answered, or original TriviaBits ideas of your own, with your full name and hometown, to Stan Newman at StanTrivia@aol.com or on a postcard to P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762.


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Originally Published on Thursday March 06, 2008

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Click on the title to read Stanley Newman's article from Newsday, "Exercise Your Puzzle Muscles", which explores the ways that puzzles can keep you mentally fit as you age.

Also, see the Editors's Note from this edition of Newsday recounting the history of the Newsday crossword puzzle and Stanley Newman's pivotal role in revolutionizing it.
 
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