To anyone who is interested in Leonard Nimoy trivia, there is another name which is almost as commonly associated with the face of this man as his own – that name is of course Mr. Spock, the character that Nimoy portrayed in the popular 1960′s television show, Star Trek. Even though Star Trek was only on the air for a few years, a much shorter time than many of today’s more popular television shows, the characters that were created in that short time have gone on to become among the most popular in American today. That original show spawned several other television programs including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, and of course nine feature films, including several in which Nimoy would reprise his character of Spock.

 

            Any Leonard Nimoy quiz is going to be mostly filled with questions about his portrayal of the half vulcan half human Spock, and so we will be sure to give that its due regard here. Did you know that the original show only ran for 80 episodes? While this was the origination of the character of Mr. Spock, Nimoy would continue to play the character several other times over the years, right up until today. He played the character in the Star Trek films I-VI, as well as also reprising the role again in the most recent film “Star Trek” released in 2009.

 

            Did you know that in addition to playing Mr. Spock on so many different occasions, Nimoy was also the director of a few of the Star Trek films? This is a little piece of Leonard Nimoy trivia that many who can only identify with him as his character are totally unaware of. He directed both Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – which was, until the release of the new movie the most successful of any of the movies in the Star Trek franchise. His only other significant hit as a director was “Three Men and  Baby” which was actually the highest grossing film the year of its release.

 

            Did you know that Leonard Nimoy has also enjoyed considerable success in several other artistic arenas? He has released several recording albums, has published books of his photography, is a writer, including two autobiographies offering viewpoints of his reconciliation between himself and the character he is so famous for portraying, as well as being a published poet.

           

With the political rise and fall of power, a country relies on trade in many aspects. So, when Christopher Columbus told Queen Isabella of Spain about a shorter route to Asia, she took the opportunity. But did she take a chance on a man with a bright idea and no skills or a class “A” navigator from Genoese? Christopher Columbus trivia questions can answer many of these questions.

 

Columbus began his apprenticeship in 1473. He decided to become a personal agent for a very important man from Genoese. From there, he grew his reputation. He didn’t have many hours at sea but his skills were still good. Christopher Columbus quizzes can highlight his strong points and his weaknesses.

 

Columbus started his journey out with his knowledge of navigation and sailing. He set his course with the idea that earth’s diameter was smaller than it really was and he read his map wrong. He believed that Asia was closer than it really was. A Christopher Columbus quiz will show you that he read the map in Italian miles.

 

The journey was extremely important for Spain to get better access to the spice trade. He used three boats to make his journey. The names of those boats were as follows: The Santa Maria, The Santa Clara, which most of us know as the Nina, and The Pinta. So, when Columbus landed near the Bahamas in 1492, he thought he reached East-Asia. After his new discovery, he came back four more times. During his last journey around the area, he traveled to Jamaica. His ships ended up becoming badly damaged from a storm and they became stranded on Jamaica.

 

Columbus was rescued off of Jamaica only to be sent back to Spain in chains. He was sent to trial and later released. Finally, in May 1506, Columbus died a wealthy man.

 

Columbus’s journey to the West Indies and North America might have marked an important time in history but it came with a price. Many native people of that area died of sickness and disease. They were not immune to the European sicknesses and had never been exposed to them. So, over time, there were many casualties. Due to this, a big part of their culture was lost in time.

 

Today, Columbus Day is celebrated for the journey he made. Spain celebrates this day on October 12^th every year but the United States has a different tradition. They also celebrate it in the month of October, but it is always on the second Monday of the month every single year.

                                                                                            

 

Today, most of us take for granted the fact that we can pick up a newspaper, magazine, book or periodical at nearly any store and easily read it. Well, we’ve come a long way. Years ago, books and periodicals were completely handwritten. Imagine the time it would take an individual to create one single book, let alone mass quantities of it! Ah, yes, you would hear of the book, but you wouldn’t be able to get your hands on a copy for years…that is, unless of course you were one of the elite and extremely wealthy. Even then, you would likely still have to wait nearly a year for a copy to be produced.

So, how do you think it affected society and the world in general when someone finally invented a way to mass produce content? Well, let’s just say that one man’s contribution likely forged the beginnings of modern day publishing, thus giving our ancestors a reason to want to learn how to read and actually relishing the chance to own a piece of literary history.

The full name of Johannes Gutenberg was actually Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg. Although his actual birth date is unknown, it is assumed that he was born sometime in the year of 1398 in Mainz, Germany. He was the son of Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden and Else Wyrich (who was his father’s second wife).

One of the pivotal figures credited with having a hand in the European Renaissance was Johannes Gutenberg. This German born printer and goldsmith changed the publishing world forever with the invention and use of two major publishing needs; moveable type and the mechanical printing press. In fact, this man and the work that he committed himself to nearly 570 years ago is, astonishingly, still being honored today! Most recently, he was honored by Time-Life Magazine in 1997 and the A&E Network in 1999.)

The printing press was invented by Gutenberg at some point during the years of 1439 – 1449, though his ideas of the press and moveable type were reportedly revealed as early as 1440. By the year 1450, the printing press was up and running and word traveled fast. Gutenberg ended up partnering with Johann Fust. The partnership ended in a courtroom and the result left Gutenberg nearly bankrupt and his age left little time to replace what had been lost.

Then, 10 years later and 3 years prior to his death, Gutenberg’s contributions were recognized by Archbishop von Nassau. This earned Gutenberg the title of Hofmann and included grain, wine, a special court outfit and a generous stipend. Finally, he had earned a portion of the recognition he so deserved.

To find out more about Johannes Gutenberg or play Johannes Gutenberg trivia, the Johannes Gutenberg quiz or Johannes Gutenberg quizzes, please visit MastersOfTrivia.com.

Since 1975, one actress has been stealing the stage and the screen; proving that age has nothing on ability. Though an American, this actress is world renowned as she has won numerous awards all over the world for the variety of roles that she has played throughout her lengthy acting career, not to mention her many nominations! She was born Mary Louise Streep on the 22nd of June, 1949, in Summit, NJ to Mary and Harry Streep. She soon became accustomed to the nickname Meryl (which is somewhat of a combination of her first and middle names).

After high school, she attended Vassar College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Drama. Streep briefly attended Dartmouth as well, but later graduated from Yale School of Drama with her Masters in Fine Arts Degree.

Starting out as many actors do, on the stage, she got her first taste of true acting in 1971 while playing the role of Imogene Parott in Trelawney of the Wells.  She met her first fiancé, John Cazale, while performing in Measure for Measure.  Shortly afterward, she landed a role alongside Cazale in The Deer Hunter, which premiered in 1978. Cazale died of bone cancer in March of that same year.

Streep buried herself in her work after Cazale’s death. However, in late 1978, she married sculptor Don Gummel. As gathered from Streep’s own quotes throughout the years, she had obviously developed the theory that life is too short; a theory which many realize much too late in life. Perhaps this is why she married so quickly after Cazale’s passing. Regardless of reason, the marriage has withstood the tests of time for nearly 31 years.  The pair has four children, Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa.

Streep’s work has been continuous throughout the years, but her best known role is likely that of Sophie Zawistowski, a surviving woman of the Polish Holocaust. Though Streep has stated time and time again that she cares nothing about fashion, her role as the editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda Priestly, in the movie The Devil Wears Prada forced her to act otherwise. This 2006 film became number 2 on Streep’s list of highest grossing films; with the first being the 2008 film adaptation of Broadway hit Mama Mia! Both of these films garnered worldwide appreciation; allowing Streep to once again earn new fans the world over.

Streep currently has two films in production mode. Surely, her obsession with perfecting her roles will continue to entertain fans for years to come.

Find out more about Meryl Streep by playing the Meryl Streep quiz, Meryl Streep quizzes and Meryl Streep trivia games at MastersOfTrivia.com.

There are few musical artists in the last century which have been as important as Paul McCartney. Popular music in the last fifty years can almost all be directly traced to the music created by Paul McCartney and his three band mates in the most famous pop band of all time, The Beatles. John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr completed the rest of the group. The music created by this band completely revolutionized the popular music industry, and is not only among the most influential, but also the most covered music that has ever been created.

Paul McCartney’s story starts in Liverpool in 1940. From humble beginnings in a poor, working class town, he has gone on to become the person who is generally considered to be the most successful musician of all time. He has sold over a hundred million singles, and has over 60 gold records. During those early years in Liverpool he met George Harrison in 1954, and a few years later he would meet John Lennon. Once these three began to play music together, history began to unfold in front of them.

In 1962 the band would take its legendary form after the firing of Pete Best and the hiring of Ringo Star. On October 5th, 1962, “Love Me Do” was released, and after that The Beatles quickly shot to international stardom to become the most successful band of all time.

Despite having written some of the most famous songs of all time with The Beatles and John Lennon, such as “Yesterday” “All you Need is Love”, and “ Hey Jude”, McCartney proved himself able to go on and have a vital and thriving solo career after the break-up of the band in the early seventies.

Although performing and writing music has remained an important part of Paul McCartney’s career in the last several years, but he has increasingly focused his attention on his political causes and a variety of causes. He has publicly promoted the vegetarian lifestyle for many years now and fights extremely hard for animal rights. One of the most common places to find Paul McCartney over the last several years has been playing at a variety of benefits and aid concerts to raise money for various international causes. His vast amount of star power has been one of the major contributing factors to many concerts and benefits being able to raise huge amounts of money for a wide variety of causes.

To find out more about Paul McCartney, visit MastersOfTrivia.com and play the Paul McCartney trivia games and Paul McCartney quizzes.

Igor Stravinsky was born in 1882 and raised in St. Petersburg where his love for music was kindled at the age of 8 after seeing a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, “The Sleeping Beauty”. Throughout his life, Stravinsky would travel the world. This included spending significant portions of his life and career in places such as Switzerland, France, and finally in the United States where he would live out the rest of his life. During his time living in the U.S. he resided in the Los Angeles area but later chose to make the move to New York City, where he passed away in 1971.

The work of Stravinsky has continued to be influential and important in the realms of composition and classical music, and is broken into three large categories of work. The Russian period is generally thought to consist of the work which he created between the years of 1908 and 1919. Significant work from this period included three ballets that he composed; which include L’Oiseau de Feu, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring.  This period is also noted for a riot which was caused by the premiere of the first of those ballets in 1913.

The next period in his career was significantly longer, and runs from roughly 1920 to 1954. This period is characterized by his attention which was turned to the music of the classical period.   He spent time working with the material of Mozart and Bach. The music he wrote in this period was characterized of sparser arrangements than that of his earlier work, which typically employed extremely large and full orchestras, as opposed to the Neoclassical work which was much more typically using wind orchestration with a piano, as well as choral arrangements.

The final period of his career started in 1953, and is known as the serial period. He turned to a type of composition which included dodecaphony. This is a twelve tone method that was created by Shoenberg.  Interestingly enough, these two lived very near to each other during this period in L.A., but they never became friends or spent much time together. The compositions from this time such as Cantata, Septet, and Three Songs from Shakespeare were composed with serial techniques which were NOT twelve-tone based.

Stravinsky contributed many innovations to the field and his particular use of rhythm and of the large orchestra were both considered innovations of the time. His compositional techniques during all of his significant musical periods have provided significant influence on both his contemporaries and on those who have come afterwards.

Learn more about Stravinsky by playing Igor Stravinsky Trivia games, the Igor Stravinsky trivia Quiz and Igor Stravinsky trivia questions at MastersOfTrivia.com.