Daily Trivia

February 9, 2011

     • Today is National Stop Bullying Day. the first day of National  Stop Bullying Week, a time for schools to conduct classes on how to stop bullying in schools and neighborhoods. Sponsored by Hey U.G.L.Y. (Unique Gifted Lovable You).

    • Today is National Toothache Day and St. Apollonia's Day, honoring the patron saint of dentists and people with toothaches.

     • Today is Read in the Bathtub Day. Read a novel a year in the bathtub. Try not to drop the book. 

     • Today is National Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day.

     • Today is Fish Protection Day. The U.S. Fish Protection Office, the forerunner of the Fish & Wildlife Service, was established on February 9, 1871.

     • Today is Ernest Tubb Day, marking the singer's birth on February 9, 1914, in Crisp, Texas. Tubb was a regular for over 40 years at the Grand Ole Opry and was the first country performer to headline at Carnegie Hall. He died in 1984.

     • Today is National Bagels and Lox Day.



On this date in . . .

1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1865: American YMCA director Lewis E. Jones was born . He wrote the enduring hymn, "Power in the Blood."

1922: President Warren Harding had the first radio installed in the White House.

1960: Congress opened an investigation into widespread charges of "payola" that disc jockeys were being paid to play certain records. The accused included deejays Alan Freed and Dick Clark. Clark came through the scandal unscathed, but Freed never worked in radio again.

1968: The film "Planet of the Apes," starring Charleton Heston, Roddy McDowell, and Kim Hunter, opened through the U.S.

1986: Hosting "Saturday Night Live," Ron Reagan sang "Old Time Rock & Roll" in his shorts.

1989:A reedited version of the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" opened in New York City. Director David Lean revealed that due to an earlier editing mistake, for 20 years the camels had been moving in the wrong direction and nobody noticed.

1990: Singer Del Shannon shot himself in the head with a .22 caliber rifle at his home in Santa Clarita, California. He was 50 years old. Shannon’s first and biggest hit was "Runaway," number one in the U.S. for four weeks beginning April 24, 1961

1994: Actor Jack Nicholson attacked a car with a golf club.

1998: A rat grounded a 60-ton Swissair jetliner for two days until airline workers finally trapped it using cured ham as bait. Officials refused to say if the rat was traveling first class or coach.
2000: A man allegedly tricked Little Rock police into immediately searching for his stolen car by telling them that his daughter was asleep in the back seat. Police found the car in less than two hours. But the 30-year‐old man was charged with a felony for filing a false police report. Police said he had no daughter.

2003: A romeo was stuck on the frozen roof for two hours after his romantic encounter was interrupted by his lover's husband. The naked man climbed through the bedroom window when the husband arrived unexpectedly. The window lead on to the roof and the man was too scared to jump down so he was stuck for two hours in the middle of the night until a neighbor spotted him and called police.

2004: At the Grammy Awards, OutKast won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx‐The Love Below" and Beyonce took home five Grammies, tying the record for female performers held by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keyes and Norah Jones.

     Q: Was child actor Gary Coleman’s first TV role in the Norman Lear flop: (a) "The Little Jeffersons;" (b) "The Little Rascals;" or (c) "The Little People?"
     A: The remake of "The Little Rascals." When it failed, Lear developed "Diff’rent Strokes" specifically for Gary.

     Q: Your risk of being in an auto accident increases 34% if you: (a) listen to Howard Stern; (b) have a cell phone in your car; or (c) are under 21 years old?
     A: Have a cell phone in your car (Rochester Institute of Technology, New York).

16 years ago today: The #1 song was "Creep" by TLC. The #1 country song was "(If You're Not in it For Love) I'm Outta Here!" by Shania Twain.