Did you miss any of the daily trivia questions this week? Not to worry: they're all right here!
The daily trivia question airs every weekday at 5:30pm on 99.5 WCRB.
FRIDAY, October 14
Q: Now that the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, has passed away, who is the world's longest-reigning monarch?
A: Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of England. She took the throne in 1952, and now, in her 90th year, has reigned for 64 years. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in his 88 years, had ruled Thailand for 70 of them, taking the throne back in 1946.
Other fun facts:
- Queen Elizabeth is 45th-longest-reigning monarch (according to this Wikipedia page...), and King Bhumibol Adulyadej was the 17th.
- King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the only monarch ever to be born in the United States. He was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge in 1927.
- The longest-reigning monarch ever was King Sobhuza of Swaziland, who ruled from 1899 (when he was 4 months old) until 1988!
THURSDAY, October 13
Q: Today, Bob Dylan became the first American in over two decades to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Prior to today, who was the last American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, back in 1993?
A: Toni Morrison, author of several novels, including the 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning Beloved, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Of her, the Swedish Academy said, "[Toni Morrison], who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality," and credited Bob Dylan with having "created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
WEDNESDAY, October 12
Q: Despite being formed long after many European nations, The United States actually has the third-oldest "original" flag still in use today. What are the only other two nations with original flags still in use older than ours?
Hint: they are both European nations and their flags both use the same color scheme.
A: Austria, which adopted its flag somewhere around 1200, and Denmark, which adopted its flag in 1625.
TUESDAY, October 11 (Tyler Alderson edition)
Q: What is the most remote settlement in the world?
A: The island of Tristan da Cunha is 1,200 miles from the nearest inhabited land and 1,500 miles off the coast of South Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It was first settled in 1810 by a few men led by Jonathan Lambert of Salem, Massachusetts, but the settlement was unsuccessful, and in 1816 the island was annexed by the UK. It now has a population of 266 but no airport, meaning a very long boat journey is needed to get to the island.
MONDAY, October 10 (Tyler Alderson edition)
Q: What is the Waffle House Index?
A: It's an informal index used by FEMA and other organizations to judge disasters. Waffle House restaurants are very common in areas where hurricanes and tornadoes occur frequently, and are also known for staying open through any disaster, even if the power goes out. A "green" rating means that all Waffle Houses in an area are open; "yellow" means they're on a limited menu, and "red" means they're closed - which means the area is probably desperately in need of help.
The Daily Trivia Question airs every weekday at 5:30 on 99.5 WCRB. If you would like to submit a trivia question, do so by sending Chris a message via Twitter.
