Trivia Quiz?

[phkrause]

We Hope You Gobble Up This Thanksgiving Trivia

Happy Thanksgiving, folks!  Let's see what tasty tidbits of trivia you know about this historical holiday.

Which President Pardoned the First Turkey?

What Dinner-Time Staple Got Its Start Due to a Surplus of Turkey Following Thanksgiving?

The Woman Who Got Us to Make Thanksgiving a National Holiday Also Wrote What Iconic Children's Song?

Why Does Canada Celebrate Thanksgiving So Much Earlier Than the United States?

[phkrause]

Thanksgiving Quiz

How much do you and your family know about Thanksgiving?

(Fyi: more than one answer could be correct.)

1. When was the first Thanksgiving feast and what did it celebrate?

1. In November, 1620, a group of about 130 Pilgrims landed in modern-day Massachusetts. After disembarking, they designated the third Thursday in November a day to give thanks.

2. On March 21, 1621, after a miserable winter spent sheltering in the Mayflower, the Pilgrims finally emerged to build houses on land and designated a Sunday for their first feast, calling it a day of Jubilee.

3. The first Thanksgiving feast occurred sometime around the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, in 1621, after the Pilgrims had reaped their first crops planted in the new land and invited local Indian tribes to celebrate and give thanks with them in an echo of the Biblical festival.

4. In 1653, the Pilgrims’ descendants designated the first Sunday in November a day for giving thanks and recalling their parents’ journey to America.

2. Turkeys are indigenous to the Americas. Can this uniquely New World delicacy be found in Israel?

1. Yes. Israelis are the biggest fans of turkey in the entire world, eating more turkey per capita than people in any other country, an average of 28 lbs. per person per year, nearly double that in the United States.

2. No. As a New World bird, some Jews didn’t believe that turkey could be kosher, and Israel banned the importation and breeding of turkeys until 2012, when some limited amounts were approved for consumption.

3. Yes. In fact, many Middle Eastern and Jewish treats are now made using turkey in Israel: turkey shwarma, turkey schnitzel and turkey pastrami are all Israeli favorites.

4. Yes. Not only do Israelis love turkey, Israel consistently ranks in the top-ten of major turkey producers worldwide, despite its small size. Half of Israel’s turkey is exported, so it’s possible that the turkey on your family table was raised in the Jewish state.

3. President George Washington decreed a National Day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789 to celebrate the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. How did the nation’s Jews respond?

1. The small Jewish American community at the time objected to the religious character of Washington’s remarks, and refrained from celebrating the days of Thanksgiving.

2. Pres. Washington’s proclamations were addressed to "all Religious Societies and Denominations, and to all Persons whomsoever within the United States", in what many Jews saw as an explicit desire to acknowledge them as full Americans, and the American Jewish community embraced Thanksgiving.

3. Small and unorganized, American Jews lacked the ability to respond to Pres. Washington’s calls for a day of thanksgiving in an organized way.

4. New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel, one of the first synagogues in the United States, held a special holiday service of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789, reciting Psalms and other traditional Jewish thanksgiving prayers.

4. Green-bean casserole is a staple of American Thanksgiving tables. This humble recipe can be traced to which origin?

1. Green-bean casserole as millions of Americans know it first appeared in a 1950s Midwestern church cookbook.

2. The dish came to prominence when Dorothy Snively, the wife of Florida citrus magnate John Snively, Jr., served it to the Shah of Iran and his wife. The queen was so taken with Mrs. Snively’s casserole that she kept asking questions about its ingredients, until the Snively butler finally snapped “Listen, lady, it’s just beans and stuff!”

3. The dish as we know it was created by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955, using the company’s iconic cream of mushroom soup as a primary ingredient.

4. Jewish Canadian journalist and editor Cecily Brownstone introduced green-bean casserole to American cooks, popularizing the dish.

5. President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. In 1863, in the depths of the Civil War, he asked that Americans “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving”. What was Pres. Lincoln’s relationship with Jews?

1. Mixed. Pres. Lincoln did business with Jews throughout his professional career, but made it clear he never regarded Jews as personal friends.

2. Pres. Lincoln was aligned with Pennsylvania Governor John. W. Geary, who in 1868 issued a proclamation of his own, that the new holiday of Thanksgiving was to be celebrated in a specifically Christian manner that excluded his state’s Jews.

3. Pres. Lincoln was beloved of America’s Jews, some of whom called him “Rabbi Abraham”. He insisted on appointing Jews as chaplains in the American army, pivoted away from calling America a Christian country and asserted it should be called “a nation under God” instead, and counted Jews among his very closest friends.

4. When Abraham Lincoln was born, the United States was home to about 3,000 Jews. By the time of his death, approximately 150,000 Jews called the US home. Like many of his compatriots, Pres. Lincoln was wary of this growing minority, and warned against Jewish political power.

6. The Hebrew word for turkey is Tarnegol Hodu. In a Thanksgiving coincidence, what other Hebrew word is a homonym for “Hodu”?

1. Cranberries are also called Hodu in Hebrew.

2. Stuffing is pronounced Hodu in Hebrew.

3. Family is also called Hodu in Hebrew.

4. Hodu is the Hebrew word for “thanks” and “praise”.

7. When a penniless Jewish immigrant, Adam Gimbel, immigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s, no one knew that one day the Gimbel family would profoundly affect the quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving. How did Gimbel, who ran a post on the Indiana frontier trading with the local Shawnee Indians, shape Thanksgiving?

1. From his original trading post, Gimbel founded a department store in Milwaukee, eventually opening grand stores in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Abraham Lincoln was so fond of Gimbels department stores that he asked Adam Gimbel for advice when contemplating establishing a national Thanksgiving Day.

2. The Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia initiated a Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1920, with store clerks donning clown costumes and dancing down Market Street. Other stores copied Gimbels and the tradition of Thanksgiving Day Parades was born.

3. After trading with Native Americans for many years, Adam Gimbel lobbied for Thanksgiving, a national holiday that would feature friendship with the original Americans.

4. In 1939, Frederic A. Gimbel, then owner of Gimbels Department Stores, led a lobbying effort to move Thanksgiving from its original date of the last Thursday in November to the third Thursday in November, in order to give shoppers more time to do their Christmas shopping. In 1941, Congress voted the new date into law.

8. The Pilgrims were led by William Bradford, who would later serve as governor of Plymouth Colony. When the Pilgrims made landfall in Massachusetts in 1620, Bradford opened his Bible and led a brief service, reading selections from Psalm 107. Bradford’s Bible contained Annotations written by the Puritan scholar Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622). What did these annotations say about the Psalm that Bradford selected as the Pilgrim’s first prayer in America?

1. Bradford’s Puritan Bible contained references to the Jews’ passage from slavery to freedom in ancient Egypt.

2. Bradford’s annotated Bible spoke of the Americas as a new Promised Land.

3. Henry Ainsworth provided the original Hebrew text of Psalm 107.

4. Henry Ainsworth’s commentary on Psalm 107 quoted the Medieval Jewish sage Rambam’s legal code the Mishna Torah on the Jewish custom of publicly recite a prayer (derived from Psalm 107) after times of great danger, including after making a difficult journey by sea.

9. For Jews, every day is Thanksgiving: Jewish liturgy contains multiple thanks and blessings to thank the Divine for everything in our lives. How many times does Jewish tradition advise us to pause to say blessings of thanks each day as a minimum?

1. At least once each day.

2. We say thank you for our blessings at least three times each day.

3. Eighteen.

4. One hundred.

10. In 2016, November 24 is being celebrated by Jews throughout the United States as the festival of Thanksgiving. 2180 years ago, Jews were feasting and celebrating on this calendar day, too. What major festival was observed for the first time on November 24, 164 BCE?

1. On this day in 164 BCE, Jews completed construction of the first Temple in Jerusalem.

2. On this day in 164 BCE, the Babylonian potentate Ahaseurus granted Jews the right to defend themselves from those who sought to wipe them out, and arrested his minister Haman, who had organized the attempted genocide.

3. On this day in 164 BCE, Judas the Maccabee and the Jews of Jerusalem rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem, which they’d just recaptured from Greek forces.

4. On this day in 164 BCE, Jews fled Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and offering praises and thanksgiving to God.

[phkrause]

On 11/24/2016 at 5:31 PM, phkrause said:

Which President moved Thanksgiving up one week to help stimulate the economy?

Dwight D. Eisenhower Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman None of the above. It was never changed.

FDR

Answer: In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to help stir up the economy during the Depression so that the Christmas shopping season could last longer. It was a disaster. Some governors refused to recognize the earlier holiday, resulting in Thanksgiving celebrations taking place on separate days in different states. The country became split on which Thanksgiving they should observe, when 23 states chose to celebrate the holiday on its original date, rather than move it up a week. Unfortunately, a 1941 Commerce Department survey concluded that the earlier date did nothing to increase sales. In 1941 Congress ruled that Thanksgiving always be the 4th Thursday in November.

[phkrause]

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

1. When was the first Thanksgiving feast and what did it celebrate?

1. In November, 1620, a group of about 130 Pilgrims landed in modern-day Massachusetts. After disembarking, they designated the third Thursday in November a day to give thanks.

2. On March 21, 1621, after a miserable winter spent sheltering in the Mayflower, the Pilgrims finally emerged to build houses on land and designated a Sunday for their first feast, calling it a day of Jubilee.

3. The first Thanksgiving feast occurred sometime around the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, in 1621, after the Pilgrims had reaped their first crops planted in the new land and invited local Indian tribes to celebrate and give thanks with them in an echo of the Biblical festival.

4. In 1653, the Pilgrims’ descendants designated the first Sunday in November a day for giving thanks and recalling their parents’ journey to America.

Question 1: C

After making landfall in November 1620 in present-day Cape Cod, the Pilgrims were unable to build houses before the brutal New England winter, and sheltered in the Mayflower ship all winter. Half of the Pilgrims and ship crew perished. On March 21, 1621, the Pilgrims finally left the ship; they built buildings and planted crops, and after their harvest they invited local Native Americans to a three-day festival of Thanksgiving to give thanks for their good fortune. Religious Christians, the Pilgrims were familiar with the Biblical account of Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival. They saw themselves as modern-day pilgrims, echoing the experiences of the Jewish pilgrims who used to bring offerings up to Jerusalem on Sukkot in ancient times. No one knows exactly when the first Thanksgiving was celebrated, but historians estimate it occurred sometime between September 21 and November 9, 1621, near the festival of Sukkot.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

2. Turkeys are indigenous to the Americas. Can this uniquely New World delicacy be found in Israel?

1. Yes. Israelis are the biggest fans of turkey in the entire world, eating more turkey per capita than people in any other country, an average of 28 lbs. per person per year, nearly double that in the United States.

2. No. As a New World bird, some Jews didn’t believe that turkey could be kosher, and Israel banned the importation and breeding of turkeys until 2012, when some limited amounts were approved for consumption.

3. Yes. In fact, many Middle Eastern and Jewish treats are now made using turkey in Israel: turkey shwarma, turkey schnitzel and turkey pastrami are all Israeli favorites.

4. Yes. Not only do Israelis love turkey, Israel consistently ranks in the top-ten of major turkey producers worldwide, despite its small size. Half of Israel’s turkey is exported, so it’s possible that the turkey on your family table was raised in the Jewish state.

2. A, C and D.

Despite it being a New World bird, Israelis love turkey, and the fowl is one of Israel’s major agricultural exports.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

3. President George Washington decreed a National Day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789 to celebrate the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. How did the nation’s Jews respond?

1. The small Jewish American community at the time objected to the religious character of Washington’s remarks, and refrained from celebrating the days of Thanksgiving.

2. Pres. Washington’s proclamations were addressed to "all Religious Societies and Denominations, and to all Persons whomsoever within the United States", in what many Jews saw as an explicit desire to acknowledge them as full Americans, and the American Jewish community embraced Thanksgiving.

3. Small and unorganized, American Jews lacked the ability to respond to Pres. Washington’s calls for a day of thanksgiving in an organized way.

4. New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel, one of the first synagogues in the United States, held a special holiday service of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789, reciting Psalms and other traditional Jewish thanksgiving prayers.

3. B and C.

Pres. George Washington enthusiastically embraced the many American Jewish patriots who called the United States home at that time. He personally was indebted to the Jewish financier Chaim Salomon, who gave $200,000 of his own money, an enormous sum, to the American Congress during the War of Independence. The year after his Thanksgiving decree, Pres. Washington visited the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, and famously assured American Jews of their place in the the United States, saying “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in the land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants. While everyone shall sit safely under his own vine and fig-tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

4. Green-bean casserole is a staple of American Thanksgiving tables. This humble recipe can be traced to which origin?

1. Green-bean casserole as millions of Americans know it first appeared in a 1950s Midwestern church cookbook.

2. The dish came to prominence when Dorothy Snively, the wife of Florida citrus magnate John Snively, Jr., served it to the Shah of Iran and his wife. The queen was so taken with Mrs. Snively’s casserole that she kept asking questions about its ingredients, until the Snively butler finally snapped “Listen, lady, it’s just beans and stuff!”

3. The dish as we know it was created by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955, using the company’s iconic cream of mushroom soup as a primary ingredient.

4. Jewish Canadian journalist and editor Cecily Brownstone introduced green-bean casserole to American cooks, popularizing the dish.

4. A, B, C and D.

Citrus magnate Dorothy Snively found a recipe for green-bean casserole in a Midwestern church cookbook, and cooked the dish when the Shah and Queen of Iran visited the couple’s home. According to local press accounts, the Queen was so impressed with the casserole she kept asking what ingredients it contained. Sensing a good story, the Jewish Canadian journalist Cecily Brownstone, who at the time was the food editor at Associated Press, wanted to write about the casserole. Seeking a tasty version, she asked the Campbell soup company up with one, and printed their version in 1955. It was an instant creamy, crunchy, delicious hit.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

5. President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. In 1863, in the depths of the Civil War, he asked that Americans “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving”. What was Pres. Lincoln’s relationship with Jews?

1. Mixed. Pres. Lincoln did business with Jews throughout his professional career, but made it clear he never regarded Jews as personal friends.

2. Pres. Lincoln was aligned with Pennsylvania Governor John. W. Geary, who in 1868 issued a proclamation of his own, that the new holiday of Thanksgiving was to be celebrated in a specifically Christian manner that excluded his state’s Jews.

3. Pres. Lincoln was beloved of America’s Jews, some of whom called him “Rabbi Abraham”. He insisted on appointing Jews as chaplains in the American army, pivoted away from calling America a Christian country and asserted it should be called “a nation under God” instead, and counted Jews among his very closest friends.

4. When Abraham Lincoln was born, the United States was home to about 3,000 Jews. By the time of his death, approximately 150,000 Jews called the US home. Like many of his compatriots, Pres. Lincoln was wary of this growing minority, and warned against Jewish political power.

5. C.

A staunch philo-Semite, Lincoln was an early Zionist, expressing his hope that persecuted Jews in Europe could find safety in their ancient homeland. At home, he pressed for an inclusive vision of the United States, pivoting away from depictions of the country as a purely Christian nation and embracing the country’s Jews. He opposed Pennsylvania Gov. Geary’s insistence that Thanksgiving be celebrated in a purely sectarian manner, as did Pennsylvania’s large Jewish population, who sent letters to the Governor asking him to change his mind, to no avail.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

6. The Hebrew word for turkey is Tarnegol Hodu. In a Thanksgiving coincidence, what other Hebrew word is a homonym for “Hodu”?

1. Cranberries are also called Hodu in Hebrew.

2. Stuffing is pronounced Hodu in Hebrew.

3. Family is also called Hodu in Hebrew.

4. Hodu is the Hebrew word for “thanks” and “praise”.

6. D.

Hodu means “thanks” and “praise” in Hebrew. It also means India. (The word Hindi comes from the same source.) Turkey in Hebrew is Tarnegal Hodu, which literally means “Indian chicken”!

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

7. When a penniless Jewish immigrant, Adam Gimbel, immigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s, no one knew that one day the Gimbel family would profoundly affect the quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving. How did Gimbel, who ran a post on the Indiana frontier trading with the local Shawnee Indians, shape Thanksgiving?

1. From his original trading post, Gimbel founded a department store in Milwaukee, eventually opening grand stores in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Abraham Lincoln was so fond of Gimbels department stores that he asked Adam Gimbel for advice when contemplating establishing a national Thanksgiving Day.

2. The Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia initiated a Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1920, with store clerks donning clown costumes and dancing down Market Street. Other stores copied Gimbels and the tradition of Thanksgiving Day Parades was born.

3. After trading with Native Americans for many years, Adam Gimbel lobbied for Thanksgiving, a national holiday that would feature friendship with the original Americans.

4. In 1939, Frederic A. Gimbel, then owner of Gimbels Department Stores, led a lobbying effort to move Thanksgiving from its original date of the last Thursday in November to the third Thursday in November, in order to give shoppers more time to do their Christmas shopping. In 1941, Congress voted the new date into law.

7. B and D.

Adam Gimbel did build the Gimbels Department Store empire from his original trading post in Indiana, though there is no evidence he played any role in the establishment of Thanksgiving. His motto was “Fairness and equality of all patrons, whether they be residents of the city, plainsmen, traders or Indians.” Gimbel’s descendants shaped the holiday, though, starting the first Thanksgiving Day Parade, and leading a group of merchants to ask Congress to change Thanksgiving date to the third Thursday in November.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

8. The Pilgrims were led by William Bradford, who would later serve as governor of Plymouth Colony. When the Pilgrims made landfall in Massachusetts in 1620, Bradford opened his Bible and led a brief service, reading selections from Psalm 107. Bradford’s Bible contained Annotations written by the Puritan scholar Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622). What did these annotations say about the Psalm that Bradford selected as the Pilgrim’s first prayer in America?

1. Bradford’s Puritan Bible contained references to the Jews’ passage from slavery to freedom in ancient Egypt.

2. Bradford’s annotated Bible spoke of the Americas as a new Promised Land.

3. Henry Ainsworth provided the original Hebrew text of Psalm 107.

4. Henry Ainsworth’s commentary on Psalm 107 quoted the Medieval Jewish sage Rambam’s legal code the Mishna Torah on the Jewish custom of publicly recite a prayer (derived from Psalm 107) after times of great danger, including after making a difficult journey by sea.

8. D.

Some Pilgrims learned Hebrew and even read some Jewish texts in an effort to understand their Bible. The concept they borrowed in 1620, reciting a public blessing after times of danger, continues to this day as Jews offer public thanks following difficult or dangerous experiences.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

9. For Jews, every day is Thanksgiving: Jewish liturgy contains multiple thanks and blessings to thank the Divine for everything in our lives. How many times does Jewish tradition advise us to pause to say blessings of thanks each day as a minimum?

1. At least once each day.

2. We say thank you for our blessings at least three times each day.

3. Eighteen.

4. One hundred.

9. D.

It is traditional to recite at least 100 blessings of praise and thanks each day. This starts first thing in the morning with the Jewish prayer thanking God for allowing us to wake up. Jewish liturgy provides prayers of thanksgiving for our ability to go about our day, for having clothes to wear and food to eat, for being able to live our lives as free people. All these blessings are a powerful way to keep gratitude in the front of our minds and to go about our days feeling thankful.

23 hours ago, phkrause said:

10. In 2016, November 24 is being celebrated by Jews throughout the United States as the festival of Thanksgiving. 2180 years ago, Jews were feasting and celebrating on this calendar day, too. What major festival was observed for the first time on November 24, 164 BCE?

1. On this day in 164 BCE, Jews completed construction of the first Temple in Jerusalem.

2. On this day in 164 BCE, the Babylonian potentate Ahaseurus granted Jews the right to defend themselves from those who sought to wipe them out, and arrested his minister Haman, who had organized the attempted genocide.

3. On this day in 164 BCE, Judas the Maccabee and the Jews of Jerusalem rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem, which they’d just recaptured from Greek forces.

4. On this day in 164 BCE, Jews fled Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and offering praises and thanksgiving to God.

10. C.

In the year 164 BCE, November 24 corresponded to the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. On this day, the Maccabees and the Jewish army they led finally recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem; it was the culmination of a seven-year revolt against the ruling Greeks. The Jews cleaned the Temple, removed the idols placed in it by the Greeks, and relit the golden Menorah. Only one container of pure oil could be found; although there was only enough oil to burn for one day, miraculously the Menorah remained lit for eight days. Today Jews the world over celebrate this miracle, and the Jews’ miraculous military triumph over the mighty Greek empire, in the holiday of Chanukah.

[phkrause]

On 11/24/2016 at 6:37 PM, phkrause said:

Which President Pardoned the First Turkey?

As is the case with many Presidential pardons, this issue is a bit controversial. There are stories linking both Lincoln and Truman to the first pardon of a turkey, though both are unverified, and the Truman one has been disputed by the Truman Presidential Library. And, you'd think if anyone would be in favor of good press for Truman, it would be the library set up in his honor.  Others have credited JFK who, somehow, in a way that only JFK can, got credit for pardoning a turkey that he actually just sent back to the farm so it could put on a few more pounds before being eaten. Reagan joked about pardoning a turkey during Iran-Contra, but the long, proud history of pardoning a turkey started officially in... 1989 with George H.W. Bush. The tradition has continued every year since.

 

On 11/24/2016 at 6:37 PM, phkrause said:

What Dinner-Time Staple Got Its Start Due to a Surplus of Turkey Following Thanksgiving?

The TV dinner owes its existence to Thanksgiving, an order miscalculation and a salesman named Gerry Thomas. In 1953, the folks at Swanson had overestimated how much turkey they would sell. Like, by 260 tons. They finished the holiday with ten refrigerated railroad cars full of the stuff. Luckily for them, they had Gerry Thomas on their team. The clever salesman came up with the idea of a frozen dinner. Using the food trays from airplane flights for inspiration, he put together an assembly line of women to throw some turkey, cornbread, gravy, peas and sweet potatoes on a tray, then sell the whole meal as a frozen dinner. And thus, the TV dinner was born. The new product was a hit. In 1954, Swanson sold 10 million turkey dinners. 

 

On 11/24/2016 at 6:37 PM, phkrause said:

The Woman Who Got Us to Make Thanksgiving a National Holiday Also Wrote What Iconic Children's Song?

Sarah Josepha Hale was a woman truly dedicated to the cause of there being a Thanksgiving holiday. So dedicated in fact that she spent 17 years campaigning for it and wrote letters to five different presidents. Until then, Thanksgiving was celebrated, but not recognized as a national holiday. She finally got her wish when Abraham Lincoln officially placed the holiday on the last Thursday in November. (How did it get moved to the fourth Thursday in November? You'll have to read tomorrow's post to find out.) She is also responsible for much of our current Thanksgiving menu. The pilgrims and Native Americans didn't eat most of the dishes we commonly associate with the holiday today. Instead, those came from editorials she wrote giving recipes for things like turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and, for dessert, pumpkin pie.What's another Sarah Josepha Hale claim to fame? She wrote, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

 

On 11/24/2016 at 6:37 PM, phkrause said:

Why Does Canada Celebrate Thanksgiving So Much Earlier Than the United States?

Canada's earlier celebration, on the second Monday of each October, is the result of Parliament finally putting its foot down because apparently no one else could make up their minds. The first Canadian Thanksgiving was meant as a celebration of gratitude back in the 1500s, but it was not an official repeat affair. After another gratitude celebration in April 1872 to commemorate the King of England's recovery from illness, the holiday was moved to autumn but continually moved from day to day and week to week. It wasn't until 1957 that the country finally decided on a standard date. The United States wasn't much better about consistent dates at first, but the country settled on a stable day for Thanksgiving in 1863, almost 100 years earlier than Canada.

[phkrause]

Introduced in 1954, what was the entrée in the very first frozen "TV Dinner"?

Chicken Turkey Salisbury steak Lasagna

Turkey??

[phkrause]

4 Trivia Questions about the Iran-Contra Affair

On November 25th, 1986, Attorney General Edwin Meese announced that the United States was selling arms to Iran in an attempt to free seven US hostages being held there, then sending the money to the Contras, a group of Nicaraguan rebels fighting against their elected government, the Sandinista. So today we're taking a look back and inviting you to see how much you know about the scandal that rocked the presidency of Ronald Reagan: The Iran-Contra affair.

What Future Vice President Supported Reagan's Actions During the Iran-Contra Affair?

When Reagan Left Office, He Had the Highest Approval Rating Since What President?

Who Pardoned Six Key Players in the Iran-Contra Affair on Christmas Eve?

What Video Game Came Out in 1987 with a Name Eerily Reminiscent of the Iran-Contra Affair?

[phkrause]

In which U.S. city did the term "Black Friday" originate?

New York City Los Angeles Baltimore Philadelphia

Philadelphia!!

 

[phkrause]

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

Introduced in 1954, what was the entrée in the very first frozen "TV Dinner"?

Chicken Turkey Salisbury steak Lasagna

Turkey??

Answer: The TV dinner owes its existence to Thanksgiving, an order miscalculation and a salesman named Gerry Thomas. In 1953, the folks at Swanson had overestimated how much turkey they would sell. Like, by 260 tons. They finished the holiday with ten refrigerated railroad cars full of the stuff. To get rid of them all, salesman Gerry Thomas came up with the idea of filling 5,000 aluminum trays with the turkey – along with cornbread dressing, gravy, peas, and sweet potatoes. They were sold for 98 cents, and thus, the TV dinner was born. The new product was a hit. In 1954, Swanson sold 10 million turkey dinners.

[phkrause]

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

What Future Vice President Supported Reagan's Actions During the Iran-Contra Affair?

The goings on of the Iran-Contra affair violated all sorts of rules. The US had an arms embargo with Iran, Reagan was violating his pledge not to negotiate with terrorists, and Congress had passed the Boland Amendment which really didn't leave much room for ambiguity when it said you couldn't use federal money "for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Nicaragua." Congressional hearings would ultimately determine that neither Reagan nor Vice President George Bush broke any laws, but they contributed to a "concerted effort to deceive Congress and the public." (Not to editorialize or anything here, but that does seem like the kind of thing that should probably be illegal).

After the investigation, a minority report was published arguing that the hearings were just grandstanding and that the president should have tremendous latitude when it came to foreign affairs, and it was now Congress that was overstepping its bounds in trying to restrain the president's authority. That minority report was written mainly by Michael J. Malbin, but came with the support of a more noteworthy name. A congressman from Wyoming named Dick Cheney, who a couple decades later, as Vice President of the United States, would again be arguing for the president's freedom in the foreign policy realm. When asked in 2005 by a reporter about the authority he felt the president should be granted in such matters, Cheney answered, "If you want a reference to an obscure text, go look at the minority views that were filed with the Iran-Contra committee."

 

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

When Reagan Left Office, He Had the Highest Approval Rating Since What President?

If you thought such a scandal might sink Reagan's presidency, you are mistaken. While Reagan took a hefty hit in the polls when news first broke, his image recovered just fine. By the time he left office, he had the highest approval rating since FDR.

 

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

Who Pardoned Six Key Players in the Iran-Contra Affair on Christmas Eve?

Then-vice-president George HW Bush managed to avoid much of the criticism connected to the Iran-Contra affair until pretty much the worst moment possible: Four days before the 1992 election. That's when Caspar Weinberger, Reagan's Secretary of Defense who had served with Bush, was indicted for lying to independent counsel. Bush lost the election, and while serving out the last few months of his presidency, pardoned six key players in the Iran-Contra affair on Christmas Eve.

 

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

What Video Game Came Out in 1987 with a Name Eerily Reminiscent of the Iran-Contra Affair?

The Contra video game came out just a few months after word of the scandal broke. The video game was a smash hit and spent the next few decades spitting out sequels. So was the name a giant coincidence or a direct attempt to capitalize on the word suddenly on the tip of every American's lips? Well, several decades later, game developers have refused to answer that question, but it does seem pretty likely. After all, it's a game about guerilla soldiers, and one of the songs in it is actually called Sandinista. And while it may seem tasteless to name your video game after an actual war happening at the time of release as well as a major political scandal, it sure as heck was a name people at the time would recognize.

[phkrause]

17 hours ago, phkrause said:

In which U.S. city did the term "Black Friday" originate?

New York City Los Angeles Baltimore Philadelphia

Philadelphia!!

 

Answer: The name “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia, when it was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1966 to describe the chaos caused by massive traffic jams, car accidents and congested sidewalks that resulted from the shopping day after Thanksgiving. Contemporary use of the term now refers to it as the point in the year at which retailers begin to turn a profit, thus going from being "in the red" to being "in the black". Since 2006, there have been 7 deaths and 98 injuries as a result of Black Friday events.

[phkrause]

Florence Henderson was a spokesperson for which product for twenty years?

Jiffy Pop Popcorn Wesson Oil Palmolive Dish Soap I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

Wesson Oil

[phkrause]

What was Fidel Castro’s profession before he become involved in politics?

Accountant History teacher Lawyer Major league baseball player

Lawyer??

[phkrause]

On 11/26/2016 at 2:48 PM, phkrause said:

Florence Henderson was a spokesperson for which product for twenty years?

Jiffy Pop Popcorn Wesson Oil Palmolive Dish Soap I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

Wesson Oil

Answer: Florence Henderson, best remembered for her starring role as mom Carol Brady on the TV show “The Brady Bunch,” died yesterday at age 82. Henderson was the spokesperson for Wesson oil (because it had that "Wessonality") and appeared in television commercials for Wesson from 1976 until 1996. Henderson remained busy until her death, hosting shows, doing guest roles, and popping up frequently in live shows and public appearances.

[phkrause]

On 11/26/2016 at 5:26 PM, phkrause said:

What was Fidel Castro’s profession before he become involved in politics?

Accountant History teacher Lawyer Major league baseball player

Lawyer??

Answer: Fidel Castro was a talented student, and decided to pursue a career in law, entering the University of Havana Law School in 1945. After graduating law school, he opened a law office that primarily catered for poor Cubans, although it proved a financial failure. Fidel Castro orchestrated the Cuban Revolution and ruled over Cuba for nearly five decades, until handing off power to his younger brother Raúl in 2008. Castro died yesterday, November 25, 2016 at the age of 90.

[phkrause]

All of these pop stars died in plane crashes except one. Which was it?

A. Jeff Buckley
B. John Denver
C. Otis Redding
D. Aaliyah

My guess D??

[phkrause]

Which U.S. state has the highest life expectancy?

Idaho Montana Hawaii Florida

Hawaii??

[Gail]

14 minutes ago, phkrause said:

All of these pop stars died in plane crashes except one. Which was it?

A. Jeff Buckley
B. John Denver
C. Otis Redding
D. Aaliyah

My guess D??

I would say Jeff Buckley, A.

[phkrause]

Trivia: Celebrity Bar Mitzvah Appearances That Cost Way More Than 50 Cents

On November 27th, 2005, Aerosmith and 50 Cent had a unique kind of show: They headlined a Bat Mitzvah. One whose price tag rang in at $10 million. See how much you know about that and some other celebrity Bar/Bat Mitzvah appearances with some trivia questions...

Why Did the Dad Who Threw That $10 Million Bat Mitzvah Get in Trouble?

What Billionaire Came to His Lawyer's Son's Bar Mitzvah?

Beyonce Performed at a Bar Mitzvah in 2005. What Was Unique about the Synagogue They Did It in?

What Celebrity Had His Third Bar Mitzvah at Age 96?

[phkrause]

Which actor was originally cast as Indiana Jones?

Tom Selleck John Travolta Kevin Costner Sylvester Stallone

Well I was thinking Tom Cruise when I first saw the question! but his name is not there!! I thought I remember one of the Tom's saying he was offered that job, so my guess than is Tom Selleck!

[phkrause]

19 hours ago, phkrause said:

All of these pop stars died in plane crashes except one. Which was it?

A. Jeff Buckley
B. John Denver
C. Otis Redding
D. Aaliyah

My guess D??

 

19 hours ago, Gail said:

I would say Jeff Buckley, A.

A. Jeff Buckley

Up-and-coming artist Jeff Buckley, known for his rendition of "Hallelujah," drowned at the age of 30 in 1997.

Source: various web sites.

[phkrause]

19 hours ago, phkrause said:

Which U.S. state has the highest life expectancy?

Idaho Montana Hawaii Florida

Hawaii??

Answer: According to data from Measure of America's Human Development study, citizens of different states have very differing average life expectancies, ranging from 75 to over 81 years. Hawaii has remained the state with the longest life span for quite some time. With an expectancy of 81.3 years, Hawaii exceeds the national age of 79 by 2.3 years. Mississippi was ranked the state with the shortest life span out of all US territories. Their life expectancy at birth, 75 years, is four years below the country average.

[phkrause]

20 hours ago, phkrause said:

Why Did the Dad Who Threw That $10 Million Bat Mitzvah Get in Trouble?

That $10 million Bat Mitzvah was pretty impressive. In addition to Aerosmith and 50 Cent, it also featured performances from Tom Petty, Kenny G and the Eagles along with $1,000 gift bags. If you're like us, you hear about a party like that and you think, "Man, I would totally throw a party like that, I just don't have the money to do it." Well, apparently, that was David Brooks' problem too. So he embezzled it. The money for that party? It came from DHB, a company that was the leading body armor supplier for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Brooks was the CEO and he used his company's expense account to pay for all sorts of stuff, including facelifts for his one-time wife, an armored car and, of course, a diamond-studded belt buckle worth 100 grand. Because 50 grand diamond belt buckles are so passe. Although expensing ultra expensive parties wasn't the only thing Brooks was up to. He was also accused of securities fraud, insider trading, tax evasion and more.

 

20 hours ago, phkrause said:

What Billionaire Came to His Lawyer's Son's Bar Mitzvah?

Donald Trump was pretty busy this past year running for president and all, but back when all he had to worry about was running a multibillion-dollar international business, he found time to stop by his lawyer's kid's Bar Mitzvah. TMZ covered the event and said, "We're told Trump hung around and schmoozed for a while -- and even gave a speech at the coming of age celebration. One source at the event tell us, [sic] 'It was very heartfelt ... everybody loved it ... and he took tons of photos with everyone who asked.'"

 

20 hours ago, phkrause said:

Beyonce Performed at a Bar Mitzvah in 2005. What Was Unique about the Synagogue They Did It in?

Billionaire Philip Green threw a super expensive Bar Mitzvah for his kid, and then actually paid for it with his own money! The party, rumored to have cost 4 million pounds, was in France, and he paid to fly the 300 guests there and put them up at a pricey hotel and then put on a three-day celebration featuring opera singer Andrea Bocelli one night and Beyonce the next. But somehow this wasn't the part that caught everyone's eye.

The eye-catching part was the massive synagogue specially built for the occasion. One that, according to guests, did not at all look like something built for one-time use. Said Mr. Green at the time, "We will probably ship it to Israel afterwards but we haven't decided exactly where yet." But amidst the synagogue, the concerts and the 300 plane tickets, there is one item Green didn't spend money on. He didn't get his son a gift.

 

20 hours ago, phkrause said:

What Celebrity Had His Third Bar Mitzvah at Age 96?

Bar Mitzvahs are a special time for Jewish boys, but in most cases, one is enough. Not the case for Kirk Douglas. The Spartacus star had a second one at age 83, 13 years after age 70, a sort of standard length life. At the ceremony, he announced, "Today I am a man." But in spite of having already achieved manhood, he decided to do it again, another 13 years after the second one at age 96. Apparently you're never too old to have a celebrity at your Bar Mitzvah, even when that celebrity is you.

[phkrause]

20 hours ago, phkrause said:

Which actor was originally cast as Indiana Jones?

Tom Selleck John Travolta Kevin Costner Sylvester Stallone

Well I was thinking Tom Cruise when I first saw the question! but his name is not there!! I thought I remember one of the Tom's saying he was offered that job, so my guess than is Tom Selleck!

Answer: Tom Selleck was originally cast as the lead in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but unfortunately he had already filmed a pilot for a CBS detective show called "Magnum P.I." and couldn't get out of the contract. In the end, filming for "Magnum" was delayed for six months due to a writers strike, meaning that Selleck could have played both Indy and Magnum without disrupting either filming schedule. While George Lucas initially did not want Harrison Ford for the role, in retrospect Lucas said, "He was perfect for the part. I can't imagine anybody else in that part."

[phkrause]

What is one of the germiest items you can consume at a fast-food restaurant?

A. Red meat
B. Ice
C. French fries
D. Ice cream

Ice??