Monday, June 5

When President George W. Bush established the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii in 2006, it covered 139,797 square miles in the Pacific Ocean — more area than all the U.S. national parks combined. In 2016, President Barack Obama enlarged the park area to 582,578 square miles, making it the largest marine protected area on earth. Its boundaries encompass the habitats of several critically endangered species, the submerged wreck of the USS Yorktown, and the Battle of Midway National Memorial on Midway Atoll.

What place became uninhabitable after the U.S. military's Operation Crossroads in 1946?

A) Antipodes Islands

B) Bechar Province, Algeria

C) Bikini Atoll

D) Cogo, Equatorial Guinea

Previous answer: Illustrator Grace Drayton created the Campbell's Kids for Campbell's Soup.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, June 6

The heaviest bird on earth is the ostrich. Weighing more than 200 pounds — sometimes more than 300 pounds — it's much too heavy to fly. So, which is the heaviest flying bird? That would be the African kori bustard. At an average weight of 40 pounds, kori bustards are not especially aerodynamic, but once airborne they're reasonably good flyers. Even so, they will usually try to outrun predators before they attempt to fly away from danger.

In chemistry, which of these makes "heavy water" heavy?

A) Deuterium

B) Hydrochloric acid

C) Lead

D) Salt

Previous answer: Operation Crossroads, the U.S. military nuclear weapons tests in 1946, made Bikini Atoll unsafe for habitation to this day.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, June 7

Frederic Chopin's "Waltz in D-Flat Major, Op. 64 No. 1" is best known as the "Minute Waltz," although Chopin called it "Valse du petit chien" ("Waltz of the Little Dog") and he never intended for it to be played in a minute. It's said the composition was inspired by a small dog chasing its tail — possibly Marquis, a pup belonging to Chopin's friend, the writer George Sand. Played at a quick tempo, the piece typically clocks in between 90 seconds and two minutes.

Which city's main airport is named for Frederic Chopin?

A) Bratislava, Slovakia

B) Budapest, Hungary

C) Kiev, Ukraine

D) Warsaw, Poland

Previous answer: Heavy water, or deuterium oxide, contains the hydrogen isotope deuterium, or heavy hydrogen.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, June 8

Portland is the most populous city in Oregon. It's also the most populous city in Maine. Okay, they're not the same Portland. The Portland in Oregon, with a population of more than 630,000 is nearly ten times the size of the Portland in Maine. Still, this is the sort of fact that comes in handy for quiz fans and trivia hounds.

In which of these states is the capital city also the state's largest city?

A) Delaware

B) Maine

C) New Jersey

D) Ohio

Previous answer: The main airport in Warsaw, Poland, is named for Frederic Chopin, who was born near the city in 1810.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, June 9

Clarence Nash provided the voice of Donald Duck for nearly 50 years, starting with Donald's debut in "The Wise Little Hen" in 1934. When Donald's family expanded, so did Nash's repertoire. He voiced Donald's girlfriend, Daisy, and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. Nash even dubbed Donald's voice for foreign language versions of Disney films, quacking in French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.

Geppetto's cat in "Pinocchio" had what operatic name?

A) Don Giovanni

B) Figaro

C) Pagliacci

D) Rigoletto

Previous answer: Columbus is Ohio's capital and its largest city.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, June 10

Nearly 600 years ago, Ferdinand Magellan named the southernmost region of South America, Patagonia. That was most likely a reference to Patagon, a fictional giant in a Spanish novel called "Primaleon" from the early 1500s. A chronicle of Magellan's travels recounts an encounter with a race of "giants" in southern Argentina. In fact, he and his crew met the local Tehuelche people, who weren't giants, but generally were taller than the average 16th-century European.

The Oscar-winning film "Giant" marked the last screen appearance of which Hollywood star?

A) Montgomery Clift

B) James Dean

C) Rock Hudson

D) Sal Mineo

Previous answer: Figaro was Geppetto's cat.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF JUNE 12

Monday, June 12

Bitterroot is the state flower of Montana. Its scientific name is Lewisia rediviva for Meriwether Lewis, who collected samples of it for botanical research. The "rediviva" part of the name refers to the plant's capacity to revive even after it had been without soil or water for its extended trip back east. Lewis boiled the plant's root and ate it, as the local Shoshone people did, but he said it had "a very bitter taste" that he found "naucious to my pallate." Thus, we get bitterroot's common name.

Which TV series that ended in 1991 brought back much of its original cast for a 2017 limited-run revival on Showtime?

A) "China Beach"

B) "Northern Exposure"

C) "thirtysomething"

D) "Twin Peaks"

Previous answer: James Dean made his last screen appearance in the 1956 film "Giant."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, June 13

Among U.S. households, English is the most commonly spoken language. In most states, Spanish is second. However, in Louisiana, Maine and Vermont, French is the second-most commonly spoken language. And in Hawaii, it's Tagalog, a Pacific Island language widely spoken in the Philippines.

In 1869 Ebenezer Bassett, the USA's first black diplomat, became minister to which Francophone nation?

A) Chad

B) Haiti

C) Luxembourg

D) Seychelles

Previous answer: After more than 25 years, "Twin Peaks" is back for a limited run on Showtime.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, June 14

Nineteenth-century medical researchers knew you couldn't give a person a blood transfusion from another mammal. What they didn't know was why some human-to-human blood transfusions were successful and others were not. In the early 1900s, Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner answered that question by identifying the blood types A, B and O — each with distinctive antigens that cause it to work with or against the other types. The United Nations World Health Organization commemorates Landsteiner's birthday, June 14, as World Blood Donor Day.

Which human blood type is the most common?

A) A negative

B) B positive

C) AB positive

D) O positive

Previous answer: Ebenezer Bassett, the USA's first black diplomat, became minister resident to Haiti in 1869.

Thursday, June 15

What do you say about a person who has an inflated sense of self-importance? "He thinks he's God's gift to creation"? Or "She thinks she's all that"? If you want to be creative, try the French expression "Se croire le premier moutardier du pape." ("He thinks he's the first mustard-maker to the Pope.") The expression refers to the 14th-century French pope, John XXII, who reputedly employed his ne'er-do-well nephew as the papal mustard-maker to keep him out of trouble. (Was there really a mustard-maker to the pope? Probably not.)

From 1309 to 1377, the seat of the pope was in which French city?

A) Avignon

B) Dijon

C) Lourdes

D) Paris

Previous answer: O positive is the most common blood type.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, June 16

Barbara McClintock is the only woman to have been awarded an unshared Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. She received the honor in 1983 for her work in genetics. Of the 211 people to receive the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, only 12 are women. The most recent is Chinese scientist Youyou Tu, who received a Nobel Prize in 2015 for the development of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin.

Whose experiments with pea plants in the mid-19th century laid the groundwork for modern genetics research?

A) Gregor Mendel

B) Dmitri Mendeleev

C) Louis Pasteur

D) Booker T. Washington

Previous answer: From 1309 to 1377, the seat of the pope was in Avignon, France.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, June 17

The 2003 America's Cup yacht race was won by Alinghi, a yacht representing the Societe Nautique de Geneve. That's a yacht club based in Geneva, Switzerland — a country without a sea coast. The unprecedented win presented the victors with a dilemma. Traditionally, winners host the next America's Cup competition in their home nation, but Switzerland wasn't a suitable yacht-racing venue. After a bidding process, Valencia, Spain, was chosen instead. The Alinghi team successfully defended its title in 2007, but lost in 2010 to USA 17 representing California's Golden Gate Yacht Club.

Where are the 2017 America's Cup races taking place?

A) Bahamas

B) Barbados

C) Bermuda

D) Bora Bora

Previous answer: By identifying dominant and recessive traits in pea plants, Gregor Mendel sowed the seeds of modern genetics research.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF JUNE 19

Monday, June 19

Vincent Van Gogh painted "The Starry Night" in June 1889, while he was residing in a mental asylum in the south of France. The scene matches the view from his bedroom window in many respects. Astronomers and art historians have even found that it replicates the position of stars and planets in the night sky at the time it was painted, including the bright planet Venus, "the Morning Star." In his depiction of the moon, however, Van Gogh took artistic license. He made it a waning crescent when history shows it would have been in the waning gibbous phase.

"Good Morning Starshine" is a song from what hit Broadway musical of the 1960s?

A) "Hair"

B) "Half a Sixpence"

C) "Hello, Dolly!"

D) "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"

Previous answer: Oracle Team USA is defending its America's Cup title in Bermuda.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, June 20

Gerrymandering is the political tactic of redrawing the boundaries of voting districts to favor one political party. Gerry refers to Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who, it should be noted, pronounced his name with a hard G. He reportedly had misgivings about the scheme to give his Democratic-Republican party an advantage at the polls in 1812, right up until he signed the plan into law. While sketching the new voting district map, Elkanah Tisdale, a noted artist and loyal Federalist, noticed it resembled a salamander. A "Gerry-mander," he called it. The name endures.

In January 2017, Nikki Haley resigned as governor of South Carolina to take what political appointment?

A) Secretary of Veterans Affairs

B) U.S. ambassador to China

C) U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

D) U.S. trade representative

Previous answer: "Good Morning Starshine" was a song from the 1960s Broadway musical "Hair."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, June 21

Ullortuneq, Greenlandic for the "longest day," is celebrated as a national holiday in Greenland on June 21. Throughout history, the summer solstice has been a traditional day of celebration, especially in northern locations. June 21 gained official status as Greenland's National Day in 1983.

In Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," who is the queen of the fairies?

A) Hermia

B) Thisbe

C) Titania

D) Viola

Previous answer: In January 2017, Nikki Haley resigned as governor of South Carolina to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, June 22

The 8,040 students who took the first Scholastic Aptitude Test in 1926 were given 97 minutes to answer 315 questions measuring their mathematical and verbal skills. (They were not expected to complete all the questions in the time allotted.) When all the SAT scores were tallied and analyzed, the test administrators reported that the girls had outperformed the boys on the test.

The SAT was devised by Carl Bingham, a psychology professor at which institution?

A) Cornell University

B) University of Notre Dame

C) Princeton University

D) Swarthmore College

Previous answer: Titania is the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, June 23

Satellites and space probes have found evidence of volcanoes all over the universe, including Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest known volcano in the solar system. Enceladus and Triton, moons of Saturn and Neptune respectively, have volcanoes, too, but theirs are unusual. Instead of erupting with lava, they spew water and ice.

Dry ice is the solid form of what chemical compound?

A) Carbon dioxide

B) Carbon monoxide

C) Ethylene glycol

D) Propane

Previous answer: The SAT was devised by Carl Bingham, a psychology professor at Princeton.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, June 24

Fans of the Disney Channel show "Phineas and Ferb" probably know that the tips on the ends of your shoelaces have a name. They're called aglets. (If you haven't seen Phineas and Ferb's rendition of the song "A-G-L-E-T," you might want to check it out.) The word aglet comes from the French word for needle and it's been part of vocabulary in French and English since the mid-14th century.

Which TV dad worked as a shoe salesman?

A) Philip Banks

B) Al Bundy

C) Dan Conner

D) Jason Seaver

Previous answer: Dry ice is carbon dioxide in solid form.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

WEEK OF JUNE 26

Monday, June 26

Equus simplicidens is commonly known as the Hagerman horse, for Hagerman, Idaho, where its fossilized remains were discovered in 1928. Closely related to zebras — although possibly lacking a striped coat — Hagerman horses disappeared from North America about 10,000 years ago, so finding their remains was big news for paleontologists. Three tons of specimens were excavated by the Smithsonian Institution in 1929 alone. Some of those specimens are in the collections of natural history museums from Los Angeles to Ontario, and Idaho's Hagerman Fossil Beds is now a national monument.

Which U.S. president had a summer job as a ranger at Yellowstone National Park?

A) Bill Clinton

B) Gerald Ford

C) Lyndon B. Johnson

D) Ronald Reagan

Previous answer: On "Married, With Children," Al Bundy was a salesman at Gary's Shoes.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Tuesday, June 27

Play-Doh, every kindergartner's favorite modeling compound, wasn't originally intended for kids. Produced by the Kutol Products Company of Cincinnati, the flour, water and salt-based mixture was made to clean wallpaper of grime and soot, especially the residue from coal-burning heating systems. When sales dipped as households switched from coal to other heating fuels, Kutol Wall Cleaner was repositioned as Play-Doh, a soft, nontoxic alternative to modeling clay that was easier for little hands to shape and mold.

Which was the first toy to be advertised on television?

A) Barbie

B) Matchbox cars

C) Mr. Potato Head

D) Tinkertoy

Previous answer: In the summer of 1936, Gerald Ford worked as a ranger at Yellowstone National Park.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Wednesday, June 28

Writing poetry isn't necessarily a solitary occupation. In fact, Japanese renga "linked-verse" poetry requires collaboration. A poet begins by crafting a three-line poem of 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern — what we generally call a haiku. A second poet continues the poem with two lines of seven syllables each. Another poet adds another three lines, and then another poet adds two, continuing the pattern until the poem totals 100 lines or more. Renga has been around since the 12th century, producing poetry that may be formal or funny or sometimes even naughty.

Because of a dispute over sovereignty of the Kuril Islands, Japan and what other nation never signed a peace treaty ending World War II?

A) China

B) North Korea

C) Russia

D) United States

Previous answer: In 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Thursday, June 29

Czar Paul I had big shoes to fill when he succeeded his mother Catherine the Great to the Russian throne in 1796. The powerful Catherine had ruled for more than 30 years, but Paul was never her biggest fan. Soon, her political allies became Paul's rivals and he lived in fear of assassination. Seeking a safe haven, he had the "assassination-proof" St. Michael's (Mikhailovsky) Castle built for himself in St. Petersburg. Paul moved into the castle in February 1801. He was assassinated there 40 days later.

What ruler was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle and forced to abdicate power in 1567?

A) Macbeth

B) Mary, Queen of Scots

C) Richard the Lionhearted

D) Robert the Bruce

Previous answer: Because of a dispute over sovereignty of the Kuril Islands, Japan and Russia never officially signed a peace treaty ending World War II.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Friday, June 30

Laura Ingalls Wilder couldn't have written the "Little House on the Prairie" books without the help of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose edited and critiqued the manuscripts. In fact, some scholars speculate she ghostwrote the books for her mother. Rose was a professional journalist and an early proponent of the libertarian movement in the United States. She also wrote a biography of Herbert Hoover. That's why the Rose Wilder Lane archives are housed at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa.

Who portrayed Laura Ingalls in the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series?

A) Melissa Sue Anderson

B) Melissa Gilbert

C) Melissa Joan Hart

D) Melissa Manchester

Previous answer: Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle and forced to abdicate power to her son James in 1567.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].

Saturday, July 1

Five performers have received Academy Awards for portraying other real-life actors and actresses on screen. The first was Luise Rainer as Broadway actress Anna Held in "The Great Ziegfeld" in 1936. Then came James Cagney as George M. Cohan in 1942's "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Barbra Streisand received a best actress Oscar for portraying Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" in 1968. Martin Landau received a supporting actor Oscar for his role as Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood" in 1994. Cate Blanchett, best supporting actress as Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator" in 2004, is the only person to win an Oscar for portraying an Oscar winner.

Katharine Hepburn graduated from Bryn Mawr College with majors in what two fields of study?

A) Astronomy and chemistry

B) Comparative literature and French

C) Education and anthropology

D) History and philosophy

Previous answer: Melissa Gilbert portrayed Laura Ingalls on the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at [email protected].