| #5745, aired 2009-07-24 | 25 YEARS & COUNTING: In 2009 she was on a world tour at age 69; when "Jeopardy!" premiered in September 1984, she had the USA's No. 1 hit Tina Turner |
| #5744, aired 2009-07-23 | FOOD: This cheese was created in 1892 by Emil Frey & named for a New York singing society whose members loved the cheese Liederkranz |
| #5743, aired 2009-07-22 | 19th CENTURY PRESIDENTS: His letter accepting his nomination concluded, "Let us have peace", which became the GOP campaign slogan Ulysses Grant |
| #5742, aired 2009-07-21 | BOOKS INSPIRED BY HISTORY: "Follow the Drinking Gourd" tells how slaves escaped to freedom guided by a song about this star group the Big Dipper |
| #5741, aired 2009-07-20 | POETS ON POETS: Longfellow began a poem about this earlier poet, "Tuscan, that wanderest through the realms of gloom" Dante Alighieri |
| #5740, aired 2009-07-17 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: He's the only president since 1900 whose last name contains more vowels than consonants Barack Obama |
| #5739, aired 2009-07-16 | WOMEN AUTHORS: As a child, she liked to play witches & wizards with her friends Ian & Vikki Potter J.K. Rowling |
| #5738, aired 2009-07-15 | WORLD GEOGRAPHY: Other than Antarctica, the 2 continents without a landlocked country Australia & North America |
| #5737, aired 2009-07-14 | SCIENTISTS: He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics primarily for his work on the photoelectric effect, not for relativity Albert Einstein |
| #5736, aired 2009-07-13 | AMERICAN HISTORY: The area that's now the State of Indiana was acquired in this war the Revolutionary War |
| #5735, aired 2009-07-10 | THE CALENDAR: This U.S. event was set after the harvest, on a day when rural folk could get there without having to travel on Sunday Election Day |
| #5734, aired 2009-07-09 | MUSIC WORDS: Before it acquired its musical meaning in the early 20th century, it was baseball slang for "pep" or "energy" jazz |
| #5733, aired 2009-07-08 | ROYALTY: This man whose titles include Baron Greenwich is, like his wife, a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria Prince Philip |
| #5732, aired 2009-07-07 | EUROPEAN REGIONS: This arboreally named area was made famous by a prince in the region noted for impaling enemies on stakes Transylvania |
| #5731, aired 2009-07-06 | NAPOLEON: Napoleon died before some of his officers could sneak him to this U.S. state where his death mask now resides Louisiana |
| #5730, aired 2009-07-03 | THE SOLAR SYSTEM: One of the 2 moons in our solar system larger than Mercury; one orbits Jupiter & one orbits Saturn Ganymede or Titan |
| #5729, aired 2009-07-02 | U.S. TRANSPORTATION HISTORY: Not standardized as the shape we know, the first of these alliterative items, black on white metal, appeared in Detroit in 1915 a stop sign |
| #5728, aired 2009-07-01 | PHRASE ORIGINS: A 19th century gambling term meaning a desirable prize, its use in reference to NYC stems from a 1921 newspaper sports column the Big Apple |
| #5727, aired 2009-06-30 | AMERICAN HISTORY: History was made on December 1, 1955 when bus driver James Blake called the police & had this person arrested Rosa Parks |
| #5726, aired 2009-06-29 | THE BEATLES: Fittingly, the cover of this Beatles album shows the Fab Four engaging in a semaphore message Help! |
| #5725, aired 2009-06-26 | 19th CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE: At the end of this novel, the title object "ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness" The Scarlet Letter |
| #5724, aired 2009-06-25 | SLANG TERM ORIGINS: Now referring to a scapegoat, this term originated as someone designated as a "proxy for correction" a whipping boy |
| #5723, aired 2009-06-24 | EXPLORERS: On March 29, 1912 he wrote, "We are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far... I do not think I can write more" Robert Scott |
| #5722, aired 2009-06-23 | LEADING MEN: Up for producing, directing, acting & writing for 1978 & 1981, he's the only man to twice get 4 Oscar nominations for one film Warren Beatty |
| #5721, aired 2009-06-22 | PRESIDENTS ON FILM: Filmed signing a bill into law, in 1895 he became the first U.S. president to appear on moving film Grover Cleveland |
| #5720, aired 2009-06-19 | WORDS IN PHYSICS: Also found before "pack" & "team", it's defined as increase in volume resulting from increase in temperature expansion |
| #5719, aired 2009-06-18 | STATE SONGS: It was originally dedicated to a Midwest football team; it's said that Sousa called it the best college song he'd ever heard "On, Wisconsin!" |
| #5718, aired 2009-06-17 | THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: Of the 30 corporations that make up the Dow Jones index, it's the only one that began as an entertainment company Disney |
| #5717, aired 2009-06-16 | HISTORICAL POEMS: Poem that tells us: "Cossack and Russian reel'd from the sabre-stroke shatter'd and sunder'd" "The Charge of the Light Brigade" |
| #5716, aired 2009-06-15 | ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS: Her 48-year span between her first & last Oscars, 1933 & 1981, is the longest for a performer in Academy history Katharine Hepburn |
| #5715, aired 2009-06-12 | CLASSIC LITERATURE: This novelist is credited as the first to call Route 66 the "Mother Road" John Steinbeck (in The Grapes of Wrath) |
| #5714, aired 2009-06-11 | HISTORIC AMERICANS: A 2007 book about these 2 men is subtitled "Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian" Ulysses S. Grant & Robert E. Lee |
| #5713, aired 2009-06-10 | INVENTIONS: In the 1870s this innovation revolutionized ranching & made John W. Gates a millionaire barbed wire |
| #5712, aired 2009-06-09 | SIGNS OF THE TIMES: First turned on in 1989 in Times Square, the "clock" measuring this ran out of digits in October 2008 the national debt |
| #5711, aired 2009-06-08 | ACTING FAMILIES: Last name of the father & son actors who have played 2 different real U.S. presidents, one on film & one on TV Brolin |
| #5710, aired 2009-06-05 | STATE QUARTERS: Of the U.S. state quarters that feature sail-powered craft, the state depicting the oldest ship Florida |
| #5709, aired 2009-06-04 | EUROPEAN LANDMARKS: Completed in 1791, it was reopened in 1989 after being closed for 28 years the Brandenburg Gate |
| #5708, aired 2009-06-03 | 20th CENTURY AMERICANS: Rhyming last names of the 2 men pictured here, who had two very different professions Barrow & Darrow |
| #5707, aired 2009-06-02 | GEOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE: The first 2 sections of this Hemingway novel, published 9 years after his death, are titled "Bimini" & "Cuba" Islands in the Stream |
| #5706, aired 2009-06-01 | CARTOON SCIENCE: According to Chuck Jones, whenever possible, this force of nature was to be Wile E. Coyote's greatest enemy gravity |
| #5705, aired 2009-05-29 | THE ACADEMY AWARDS: Peter Finch was the first winner of a posthumous Best Actor Oscar; he was first to get 2 posthumous acting nominations James Dean |
| #5704, aired 2009-05-28 | WORD ORIGINS: This word for a distinguishing mark of office or honor comes from the Latin for "badge" insignia |
| #5703, aired 2009-05-27 | BIG COUNTRIES: Forbes magazine uses "BRIC", an acronym for these 4 large nations advancing in economic power Brazil, Russia, India & China |
| #5702, aired 2009-05-26 | BRITISH LEGENDARY POETRY: The first edition of this collection of poems did not include "The Last Tournament"; it was added in the 1870s Idylls of the King |
| #5701, aired 2009-05-25 | THE ELEMENTS: Once called radium F, this element was named for the homeland of one of its discoverers polonium |
| #5700, aired 2009-05-22 | 20th CENTURY POLITICS: On September 23, 1952 some 60 million people, the largest TV audience to that time, tuned in for this live address the Checkers Speech |
| #5699, aired 2009-05-21 | BIG BOOKS: When they began in 1879, the creators of this thought they'd finish in 10 years; 5 years later, they reached "ant" the Oxford English Dictionary |
| #5698, aired 2009-05-20 | ENGLISH HISTORY: It was the "they" in the medal issued by Elizabeth I reading, "God breathed and they were scattered" the Spanish Armada |
| #5697, aired 2009-05-19 | FAMOUS AMERICANS: Ayn Rand wrote to him, "I felt that 'The Fountainhead' had not quite completed its destiny until I had heard from you about it" Frank Lloyd Wright |
| #5696, aired 2009-05-18 | NO. 1 HITS OF THE 1970s: In 2008 doctors said that, aptly, this Bee Gees song provides an ideal beat to follow "Stayin' Alive" |
| #5695, aired 2009-05-15 | 19th CENTURY AMERICANS: This New Englander began building his house in March 1845 & later wrote that it cost exactly $28.12 1/2 Henry David Thoreau |
| #5694, aired 2009-05-14 | SCIENCE TERMS: In medieval England, it meant the smallest unit of time, 1/376 of a minute; it didn't refer to matter until the 16th century atom |
| #5693, aired 2009-05-13 | THE HISTORY OF FLIGHT: In 1784 these 2 future presidents saw an early manned balloon flight in Paris &, in 1793, America's 1st, in Philadelphia John Adams & Thomas Jefferson |
| #5692, aired 2009-05-12 | WORDS OF INSPIRATION: A professor's 2007 address at Carnegie Mellon on "really achieving your childhood dreams" inspired millions under this title The Last Lecture |
| #5691, aired 2009-05-11 | WORD ORIGINS: Before its use in journalism, it meant a boundary beyond which straying prisoners would be shot deadline |
| #5690, aired 2009-05-08 | EUROPEAN HISTORY: He filed for divorce citing Leviticus 20:21, "If a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing" Henry VIII |
| #5689, aired 2009-05-07 | B.C. THINKERS: The name we know him by was actually a nickname given him for his wide, disc-like shoulders Plato |
| #5688, aired 2009-05-06 | WASHINGTON, D.C.: Since 1974, the official residence of this public servant has been at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue & 34th Street the vice president |
| #5687, aired 2009-05-05 | ON THE MOON: It's the last word of the inscription on Apollo 11's plaque on the Moon & is also found in a related quotation mankind |
| #5686, aired 2009-05-04 | THE 50 STATES: An 1881 resolution established that this state's name was to be spelled one way but pronounced another Arkansas |
| #5685, aired 2009-05-01 | GLAND FINALE: This human gland important in the immune system takes its name in part from its resemblance to an herb the thymus gland |
| #5684, aired 2009-04-30 | EUROPEAN PLACE NAMES: The ancient Greek name of this country means "one house", maybe reflecting that the area had only 1 temple Monaco |
| #5683, aired 2009-04-29 | THE U.S. MONEY MAP: The 3 richest U.S. counties, by median household income, are not in N.Y. or Calif. but are suburbs of this city Washington, D.C. |
| #5682, aired 2009-04-28 | WORLD AUTHORS: Chapters in an 1831 work by this author include "Maitre Jacques Coppenole" & "A Tear for a Drop of Water" Victor Hugo |
| #5681, aired 2009-04-27 | MOVIE DIRECTORS: Since 1971 he has directed only 6 films, but those 6 have averaged more than $283 million each at the box office George Lucas |
| #5680, aired 2009-04-24 | SHAKESPEARE'S TITLE CHARACTERS: Though he reigned for only 2 years, this king has the second-longest role in a single Shakespeare play, speaking 1,164 lines Richard III |
| #5679, aired 2009-04-23 | 20th CENTURY SCIENCE: The 1970s saw the coining of the term "runner's high" & the discovery of these opiate proteins that produce it endorphins |
| #5678, aired 2009-04-22 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: Besides Carter, 1 of 2 20th century presidents to live at least 30 years past the day he entered office (1 of) Gerald Ford & Herbert Hoover |
| #5677, aired 2009-04-21 | BOOKS ABOUT ACTORS: Stefan Kanfer's 2008 biography of this star is titled "Somebody", a nod to one of his most famous lines Marlon Brando |
| #5676, aired 2009-04-20 | AMERICAN LEGENDS: Chippewa legend says Nanabojo grew angry at this person for tearing up trees & beat him to death with a fish Paul Bunyan |
| #5675, aired 2009-04-17 | BROADWAY HISTORY: On Oct. 30, 2008 Playbill changed its logo color to green for a special edition marking this show's 5th anniversary on Broadway Wicked |
| #5674, aired 2009-04-16 | AMERICAN BUSINESS: On Sept. 29, 2008 every stock in the S&P 500 dropped except this maker of comforting food, founded in 1869 Campbell's |
| #5673, aired 2009-04-15 | EXPLORERS: In 1611 Henry Greene led a successful mutiny against this captain, but soon after was killed by Eskimos Henry Hudson |
| #5672, aired 2009-04-14 | COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES: This 2-word term for a famous group of colleges 1st appeared in an AP story that ran in the Providence Journal in 1935 Ivy League |
| #5671, aired 2009-04-13 | VIVE LA FRANCE!: AKA "Chant de guerre pour l'armee du Rhin", it was banned by Napoleon, Louis XVIII & Napoleon III "La Marseillaise" |
| #5670, aired 2009-04-10 | COMPOSERS: In 1912, midway through one of his works, he wrote, "I have penetrated the secret of the rhythm of spring" Igor Stravinsky |
| #5669, aired 2009-04-09 | NAME'S THE SAME: This cartoon character debuted in 1930, the same year the object he shares a name with was discovered Pluto |
| #5668, aired 2009-04-08 | FILM QUOTES: From a 1942 movie, No. 2 on Guinness' top 10 film quotes is a line that mentions this liquor gin |
| #5667, aired 2009-04-07 | SPORTS VENUES: The last names found on these 2 sports venues, both in Queens, are anagrams of each other Arthur Ashe Stadium & Shea Stadium |
| #5666, aired 2009-04-06 | SCIENCE HISTORY: An experiment with mirrors on Mt. Wilson & Mt. San Antonio, Calif. determined what became an accepted figure for this the speed of light |
| #5665, aired 2009-04-03 | AUTHORS' LESSER-KNOWN NOVELS: A manipulative widow goes husband-hunting in "Lady Susan", finally published in 1871, 54 years after her death Jane Austen |
| #5664, aired 2009-04-02 | TV CHARACTERS: She was born on February 22, 10,000 B.C. weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces Pebbles Flintstone |
| #5663, aired 2009-04-01 | BETTING TERMS: This word is from the custom of hiding bets in a hat before odds were announced handicapping |
| #5662, aired 2009-03-31 | STORY INSPIRATIONS: The 1949 shooting of Philly 1B Eddie Waitkus by Ruth Steinhagen inspired this novel, later a 1984 film The Natural |
| #5661, aired 2009-03-30 | ARTISTS: The 2 famous painters who share a March 30 birthday, one born in Spain in 1746, the other in Holland in 1853 Goya & van Gogh |
| #5660, aired 2009-03-27 | 19th CENTURY CONSTRUCTION: It was first designed as "Egypt carrying the light to Asia", & its original intended site was Port Said in 1869 the Statue of Liberty |
| #5659, aired 2009-03-26 | 16th CENTURY THINKERS: In 1517 he wrote, "The treasures of indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the wealth of men" Martin Luther |
| #5658, aired 2009-03-25 | AUTHORS: In 1865 he wrote the line "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" Lewis Carroll |
| #5657, aired 2009-03-24 | BRITISH ROYALTY: Born in 1683, the second British king of this name was the last one not born in the British Isles George |
| #5656, aired 2009-03-23 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: You have to go back over a century to find him, the last president who never had a vice president Chester Arthur |
| #5655, aired 2009-03-20 | CIVIL WAR SITES: Of the 6 Civil War-related national military parks, the northernmost & southernmost are in these 2 states Pennsylvania & Mississippi |
| #5654, aired 2009-03-19 | GODS OF ANCIENT EGYPT: Appropriately, the center of cult worship for this ancient Egyptian god was in Cynopolis, "City of the Dog" Anubis |
| #5653, aired 2009-03-18 | ELVIS PRESLEY: Though Elvis was known as the King of Rock & Roll, the only 3 Grammy Awards he ever won were in this Grammy genre gospel music |
| #5652, aired 2009-03-17 | RIVERS: The name of this river whose lower reaches run through Ghana is from Portuguese for "turn" or "bend" the Volta |
| #5651, aired 2009-03-16 | BRITISH PAINTERS: Tennyson called this British painter, Constable's contemporary, the "Shakespeare of Landscape" J.M.W. Turner |
| #5650, aired 2009-03-13 | WORLD MONEY: Amounts on the banknotes in this country, one of the world's 10 largest, are in 17 different official languages India |
| #5649, aired 2009-03-12 | FRENCH CLASSICAL MUSIC: This 1928 work repeats a theme, almost entirely in C major, in an unvarying rhythm & has a crescendo lasting 17 minutes Boléro (by Ravel) |
| #5648, aired 2009-03-11 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: The name of this character from an 18th century French work is from the Greek for "all tongues" Dr. Pangloss |
| #5647, aired 2009-03-10 | WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS: Much of this 2001 movie remake was filmed at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas Ocean's Eleven |
| #5646, aired 2009-03-09 | HISTORIC PEOPLE: The life story of this man who died in 1801 was chronicled in an A&E biography DVD titled "Triumph and Treason" Benedict Arnold |
| #5645, aired 2009-03-06 | CELEBRATIONS: Homecoming Scotland is a yearlong celebration of this man's 250th birthday on Jan. 25, 2009 Rabbie Burns |
| #5644, aired 2009-03-05 | FRANCO-AMERICAN HISTORY: After a large French army was wiped out by yellow fever on this island in 1802, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana Hispaniola (or Haiti) |
| #5643, aired 2009-03-04 | DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS: Of the 4 countries in the world that the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with, the one that's farthest north North Korea |
| #5642, aired 2009-03-03 | ASTRONOMY: In 1610 Galileo called the moons of this planet the "Medician stars", for the Medici brothers Jupiter |
| #5641, aired 2009-03-02 | FIRST NAMES: This first name of a patron saint of a country comes from a Roman word referring to a social class Patrick |
| #5640, aired 2009-02-27 | ADVERTISING ICONS: On Advertising Age's list of the Top 10 Ad Icons of the 20th c., they're the 2 alliterative entries that end in "Man" the Michelin Man & the Marlboro Man |
| #5639, aired 2009-02-26 | 18th CENTURY SCIENTISTS: This N. European said his grave-stone should be inscribed Princeps botanicorum, "prince of botanists" Carolus Linnaeus |
| #5638, aired 2009-02-25 | SPORTS TEAM NAMES: It's the only Major League Baseball team name whose first 4 letters match the first 4 letters of its city the Philadelphia Phillies |
| #5637, aired 2009-02-24 | AMERICAN NOVELISTS: "What is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after", he wrote in 1932 Ernest Hemingway |
| #5636, aired 2009-02-23 | WORLD RIVERS: With 4, more national capitals are located on this river than any other river in the world the Danube |
| #5635, aired 2009-02-20 | ANCIENT WORKS: Astronomers used clues in the text of this epic to figure out the date of its archery contest: April 16, 1178 B.C. The Odyssey |
| #5634, aired 2009-02-19 | EXPLORERS: In 1871 he answered, "Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you" Dr. Livingstone |
| #5633, aired 2009-02-18 | POLITICAL TERMS: The first known use of this word is a 1763 entry in John Adams' diary describing a club meeting in a friend's attic caucus |
| #5632, aired 2009-02-17 | AMERICAN BUSINESS: In 1945 Mr. & Mrs. Shoen founded it after no one locally would rent them a trailer for their move from L.A. to Portland U-Haul |
| #5631, aired 2009-02-16 | POP CULTURE: Also the title of one of the best-selling albums of all time, it was first seen in Russian photos taken in 1959 the dark side of the Moon |
| #5630, aired 2009-02-13 | CLASSIC MOVIE CHARACTERS: The parents of this 1942 film character are an unnamed mother & a father known as "the great prince of the forest" Bambi |
| #5629, aired 2009-02-12 | INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: The Air Force's C-130 "Hurricane Hunters" are the only U.S. military aircraft allowed to enter this country's airspace Cuba |
| #5628, aired 2009-02-11 | 1950s LITERATURE: In 2007 this novel celebrated its 50th anniversary as its manuscript, a 120-foot-long scroll, toured the U.S. On the Road |
| #5627, aired 2009-02-10 | 20th CENTURY CORRESPONDENCE: A telegram from these 2: "Average speed...thirty-one miles. Longest fifty-nine seconds.
Inform press.
Home Christmas" the Wright Brothers |
| #5626, aired 2009-02-09 | HOLIDAYS: Some believe a Roman celebration of the coming of spring, including fertility rites, led to the holiday we observe on this date February 14 |
| #5625, aired 2009-02-06 | MUSIC LEGENDS: His 2003 People magazine obituary was headlined "Fade to Black" Johnny Cash |
| #5624, aired 2009-02-05 | AMERICAN FICTION WRITERS: He was also the U.S.'s best-paid sportswriter, with stories of people like Chicago O'Brien & Jack the Bookie Damon Runyon |
| #5623, aired 2009-02-04 | 20th CENTURY FIRSTS: On Oct. 14, 1947 in the Mojave Desert the first of these sounds was made by man; it was the byproduct of another first sonic boom |
| #5622, aired 2009-02-03 | CIVIL WAR PEOPLE: He was the only person who died during the Civil War to be featured on Confederate currency Stonewall Jackson |
| #5621, aired 2009-02-02 | STATE CAPITALS: It's the only state capital that bears the name of a U.S. vice president Jefferson City |
| #5620, aired 2009-01-30 | WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR II: This nickname given a bomber at a 1935 test flight reflected the early belief that it wouldn't need fighter protection the Flying Fortress |
| #5619, aired 2009-01-29 | THE GRAMMYS: In 2002 the soundtrack to this George Clooney film won Album of the Year, only the third to do so O Brother, Where Art Thou? |
| #5618, aired 2009-01-28 | MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS: The libretto for Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" was based on this epic English poem Paradise Lost |
| #5617, aired 2009-01-27 | THE 20th CENTURY: On June 5, 1989 a young man never positively identified became world famous for actions he took in this city Beijing |
| #5616, aired 2009-01-26 | 19th CENTURY POETS: He wrote, "The mason singing... the boatman... the hatter... singing what belongs to him or her and to none else" Walt Whitman |
| #5615, aired 2009-01-23 | MYTHOLOGICAL WORDS & PHRASES: This prized object was the coat of the winged ram that flew Phrixus to safety the Golden Fleece |
| #5614, aired 2009-01-22 | CELEBRITY MARRIAGES: Her 3rd husband won a Best Actor Oscar in the '90s; her 2nd husband, like her dad, is a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lisa Marie Presley |
| #5613, aired 2009-01-21 | PLAYS OF THE 1980s: This Pulitzer Prize-winning play was inspired by the writer's own experiences selling real estate in Chicago Glengarry Glen Ross |
| #5612, aired 2009-01-20 | GEOGRAPHIC PROCESS OF ELIMINATION: This country borders the most "stan"s:
Afghanistan,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan &
Turkmenistan Uzbekistan |
| #5611, aired 2009-01-19 | INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: "Neutrality" & "Voluntary Service" are 2 of the 7 Fundamental Principles of this humanitarian org. founded in Europe the Red Cross |
| #5610, aired 2009-01-16 | CULINARY HISTORY: This fruit dessert was created to celebrate Queen Victoria's decades on the British throne cherries jubilee |
| #5609, aired 2009-01-15 | WRITER/DIRECTORS: His headstone, using a line from one of his scripts, says, "I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect" Billy Wilder |
| #5608, aired 2009-01-14 | CHARACTERS IN PLAYS: This woman wished to be taken to "Bucknam Pellis... don't you know where it is? In the Green Park, where the king lives" Eliza Doolittle |
| #5607, aired 2009-01-13 | HISTORIC ROYAL RELATIVES: This wife of Henry VIII was the aunt of the powerful Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Catherine of Aragon |
| #5606, aired 2009-01-12 | ENGLISH SPELLING: There are at least 50 common exceptions to the rule expressed by this popular rhyming mnemonic couplet I before E, except after C |
| #5605, aired 2009-01-09 | ALPHABETS: In the phonetic alphabet used by the U.S. military, it's the only letter that has the same name as a warrior people Zulu |
| #5604, aired 2009-01-08 | MUSICAL THEATRE: It opens with a widow & her son arriving by boat from Singapore to accept a job that pays 20 pounds a month The King and I |
| #5603, aired 2009-01-07 | INDEPENDENCE DAYS: Poland's Independence Day commemorates this month & day in 1918 November 11 |
| #5602, aired 2009-01-06 | HISTORIC STRUCTURES: Pope Sixtus' death in 1590 ended his plan to convert this, still in Rome today, to a wool factory to employ city prostitutes the Colosseum |
| #5601, aired 2009-01-05 | CHARACTERS IN NOVELS: Molly, the wife in this 1922 novel, represents a modern-day Penelope Ulysses |
| #5600, aired 2009-01-02 | EUROPEAN HISTORY: On April 13, 1895 he entered the Devils Island penal colony to serve a life sentence, but he was out by 1899 Alfred Dreyfus |
| #5599, aired 2009-01-01 | GAMES: In German, this chess piece is "der Springer" the knight |
| #5598, aired 2008-12-31 | ADVERTISING ICONS: This advertising icon who debuted in the 1950s is known as Pron-Tito in Spanish-speaking countries Speedy Alka-Seltzer |
| #5597, aired 2008-12-30 | POLITICAL ROCK & ROLL: In 2008 John McCain used this 1958 Top 10 hit by Chuck Berry as an anthem for his presidential bid "Johnny B. Goode" |
| #5596, aired 2008-12-29 | PHRASE ORIGINS: Sails that ran free & fluttered without control caused a ship to stagger like a drunk, giving rise to this phrase three sheets to the wind |
| #5595, aired 2008-12-26 | HISTORIC NAMES: A recent biography of this 13th century man is subtitled "From Venice to Xanadu" Marco Polo |
| #5594, aired 2008-12-25 | THE GRAMMYS: In 1959 the first Grammy for Album of the Year went to the soundtrack composed by Henry Mancini for this TV show Peter Gunn |
| #5593, aired 2008-12-24 | 19th CENTURY BOOKS: Its author called it "a Ghostly little book... which shall not put my readers out of humour... with the season" A Christmas Carol |
| #5592, aired 2008-12-23 | PEOPLES OF THE WORLD: Numbering about 25 million, they're the largest ethnic group in the world with no home nation the Kurds |
| #5591, aired 2008-12-22 | ALMA MATERS: Former governor & onetime presidential hopeful Mitt Romney earned his B.A. in 1971 from this university BYU (Brigham Young University) |
| #5590, aired 2008-12-19 | THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: This country's largest lake shares its name with the country; its second-largest lake has the same name as its capital Nicaragua |
| #5589, aired 2008-12-18 | HISTORIC AMERICAN QUOTATIONS: On April 29, 1861 he said, "We seek no conquest… all we ask is to be let alone" Jefferson Davis |
| #5588, aired 2008-12-17 | NOVEL INSPIRATIONS: The house in Canada seen here inspired this beloved novel that's celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008 Anne of Green Gables |
| #5587, aired 2008-12-16 | NOVELS: Amazon.com said this novel, set in Iowa, was "the romantic classic of the 1990s" The Bridges of Madison County |
| #5586, aired 2008-12-15 | PERFORMERS & HOMETOWN VENUES: He's the only singer to headline Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium & Shea Stadium, closing Shea in 2008 Billy Joel |
| #5585, aired 2008-12-12 | STATE CAPITALS: It's the only state capital whose city limits lie on an international border Juneau, Alaska |
| #5584, aired 2008-12-11 | MUSICAL THEATER: The set for this 1878 work was a reproduction of the quarterdeck of Lord Nelson's flagship H.M.S. Pinafore |
| #5583, aired 2008-12-10 | AMERICANA: An 1890 act of Congress says these can be redesigned no more than once every 25 years coins |
| #5582, aired 2008-12-09 | AMERICAN LITERARY SITES: In the 20th century it became a popular recreation site, with crowds of 25,000; its most famous visitor might disapprove Walden Pond |
| #5581, aired 2008-12-08 | ACTOR-DIRECTORS: The only woman to win a Golden Globe for directing, she won for a 1983 film that she had also co-written Barbra Streisand |
| #5580, aired 2008-12-05 | HISTORIC PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS: On May 15, 1768 France bought this island from Genoa for 2 million livres Corsica |
| #5579, aired 2008-12-04 | COUNTRY NAMES: Some people in this Asian country named for a European king now want to call it by an indigenous name, Maharlika the Philippines |
| #5578, aired 2008-12-03 | FAMOUS SCIENTISTS: Alexander Pope wrote the epitaph "Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night, God said, let" him "be and all was light" Isaac Newton |
| #5577, aired 2008-12-02 | BREAKFAST CEREALS: The first & middle names of this breakfast cereal "spokesman" are Horatio Magellan Cap'n Crunch |
| #5576, aired 2008-12-01 | FRENCH: A sequence of 3 vowels creates this common French word, a homophone of a different vowel altogether eau |
| #5575, aired 2008-11-28 | 19th CENTURY NOVELS: Its title refers to an imaginary place where things like "honors, preferments... silver, gold, pearls" are sold Vanity Fair |
| #5574, aired 2008-11-27 | HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES: The only public state holiday in the U.S. honoring a monarch is one honoring this ruler King Kamehameha |
| #5573, aired 2008-11-26 | FOOD BRANDS: In 1954 Swift chose this word that means "a chubby person" as its new brand's name to convey plumpness & tenderness Butterball |
| #5572, aired 2008-11-25 | IN THE NEWS 1952: Her final testament, read in public after her death, asked for protection of the poor workers she called grasitas Eva Peron |
| #5571, aired 2008-11-24 | SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN: The last words spoken by this character are "What's done cannot be undone: to bed, to bed, to bed" Lady Macbeth |
| #5570, aired 2008-11-21 | GREEK MYTHOLOGY: King Salmoneus dragged bronze kettles behind his chariot to imitate this; Zeus killed him thunder |
| #5569, aired 2008-11-20 | STATE CAPITALS: Baton Rouge & this other state capital both have 2-word French names; neither is named for a person Des Moines |
| #5568, aired 2008-11-19 | NONFICTION WRITERS: On July 21, 1944 she wrote, "I'm finally getting optimistic... an assassination attempt has been made on Hitler's life" Anne Frank |
| #5567, aired 2008-11-18 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: In a 1914 novel, as a boy he could "drop twenty feet at a stretch from limb to limb in rapid descent to the ground" Tarzan |
| #5566, aired 2008-11-17 | 19th CENTURY POLITICS: When the GOP convened in 1888, he became the 1st black man to earn a vote for president at a major party convention Frederick Douglass |
| #5565, aired 2008-11-14 | HIGHER EDUCATION: The 1st public one of these schools began in Illinois in 1901 for students who wanted to pursue higher education in their home area a community college (or junior college) |
| #5564, aired 2008-11-13 | WASHINGTON, D.C.: Unveiled in 1923, the statue seen here of this man is located on the south side of the Treasury Building Alexander Hamilton |
| #5563, aired 2008-11-12 | WORD ORIGINS: The name of this branch of mathematics comes from the Arabic for "reuniting" algebra |
| #5562, aired 2008-11-11 | EARTH FACTS: Because of the Earth's rotation, a person at sea level is lightest when standing at this degree of latitude 0 degrees |
| #5561, aired 2008-11-10 | 19th CENTURY INVENTIONS: When this was explained to Chief Sho-kup, he gave it a Shoshone name that means "wire rope express" the telegraph |
| #5560, aired 2008-11-07 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: One of the 2 presidents to win the national popular vote 3 times but only be elected president twice (1 of) Grover Cleveland & Andrew Jackson |
| #5559, aired 2008-11-06 | WORLD CURRENCY: With inflation raging there at more than 2.2 million%, this nation issued $100 billion notes in 2008 Zimbabwe |
| #5558, aired 2008-11-05 | POP MUSIC FIRSTS: Covering the years 1971-1975, their first greatest hits album was the first ever certified platinum The Eagles |
| #5557, aired 2008-11-04 | INVENTORS & INVENTION: In April 2008, a man successfully completed a jump using a parachute designed by this man 523 years before Leonardo da Vinci |
| #5556, aired 2008-11-03 | PULITZER-WINNING NOVELS: From this book's penultimate paragraph: "There had never been a man she couldn't get, once she set her mind upon him" Gone with the Wind |
| #5555, aired 2008-10-31 | MOVIE MAKERS & REMAKERS: Howard Hawks directed this film with Paul Muni as Tony Camonte; Brian De Palma remade it Scarface |
| #5554, aired 2008-10-30 | INVENTORS: A key to Alexander Graham Bell's experiments was one of these, procured by a doctor friend, Clarence Blake an ear |
| #5553, aired 2008-10-29 | 2008: Though not elected to the position, a man from this state became the 1st blind governor & the 4th black governor in the U.S. New York |
| #5552, aired 2008-10-28 | ASIAN NATIONS: Of the world's 11 countries whose English names start with "A", the only 2 whose names don't end with "A" Afghanistan & Azerbaijan |
| #5551, aired 2008-10-27 | INTERNATIONAL MOTORING: It's the largest nation in area where all cars legally drive on the left Australia |
| #5550, aired 2008-10-24 | PEOPLE ON CURRENCY: Though born 4,000 miles from Havana, he adorns the Cuban 3-peso note Che Guevara |
| #5549, aired 2008-10-23 | FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: This character, created in Europe in the 19th c., has a name that can be translated as "eye of pine" Pinocchio |
| #5548, aired 2008-10-22 | THE EMMY AWARDS: A former Screen Actors Guild president, he's the only actor to win both comedy & drama Emmys for playing the same character Ed Asner |
| #5547, aired 2008-10-21 | PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS: The first president to cross the Atlantic Ocean while in office, he did so to meet with other world leaders Wilson |
| #5546, aired 2008-10-20 | U.S. GEOGRAPHY: Of the non-state U.S. territories, areas & districts, the only one that is larger in area than the smallest state Puerto Rico |
| #5545, aired 2008-10-17 | ORGANIZATIONS: The co-founder of this respected organization refused to appear on the cover of Time magazine, even with his back turned Alcoholics Anonymous |
| #5544, aired 2008-10-16 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION HISTORY: Due to the large numbers of men away from home, it was the first year a majority of states counted absentee votes 1864 |
| #5543, aired 2008-10-15 | MUSICALS: Profession of the title character of "Little Johnny Jones", featuring the song "The Yankee Doodle Boy" jockey |
| #5542, aired 2008-10-14 | ENGLISH LIT: The line "We had everything before us, we had nothing before us" is found in the 1st paragraph of this 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities |
| #5541, aired 2008-10-13 | HISTORICAL SHAKESPEARE: In "Henry VI, Part I" this woman is described as "a holy prophetess new risen up" Joan of Arc |
| #5540, aired 2008-10-10 | BIBLICAL AKA: This second king of Israel was "the sweet singer of Israel" King David |
| #5539, aired 2008-10-09 | 1960s HIT SONGS: The singer/songwriter of this 1960s mega-hit has revealed that it was inspired by a president's daughter "Sweet Caroline" |
| #5538, aired 2008-10-08 | EPIC MOVIES: An actress named Martha Scott played Charlton Heston's mother in both of these epics Ben-Hur & The Ten Commandments |
| #5537, aired 2008-10-07 | EUROPEAN LITERATURE: An 1870 novel by this man mentions Moby Dick as well as a sea monster called a Kraken Jules Verne |
| #5536, aired 2008-10-06 | 20th CENTURY WOMEN: The state building that houses Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection is named in her honor Rachel Carson |
| #5535, aired 2008-10-03 | AWARD NAMESAKES: His "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" from 1744 was one of the 1st books published specifically for children John Newbery |
| #5534, aired 2008-10-02 | MODERN MONARCHIES: Of the 3 African countries ruled by monarchs, it's the farthest north Morocco |
| #5533, aired 2008-10-01 | 1960s OSCAR NOMINATIONS: One of the 2 male actors nominated in the '60s for playing more than one character in the same film (1 of) Peter Sellers or Lee Marvin |
| #5532, aired 2008-09-30 | PENINSULAR NATIONS: It's the largest country in the world without any permanent natural rivers or lakes Saudi Arabia |
| #5531, aired 2008-09-29 | 20th CENTURY AMERICA: Experts say Glenn McDuffie is the mystery man in the classic Eisenstaedt photo taken in this year 1945 |
| #5530, aired 2008-09-26 | ROYALTY: Since 1066, the only British monarch to have 3 children ascend to the British throne Henry VIII |
| #5529, aired 2008-09-25 | ISLAND CHAINS: Before an 1867 sale, this island group was known as the Catherine Archipelago the Aleutian Islands |
| #5528, aired 2008-09-24 | NOVELS: This title character of an 1851 work doesn't show up until Chapter 133 Moby-Dick |
| #5527, aired 2008-09-23 | TENNIS: This Grand Slam stadium is named for a WWI pilot who pioneered the use of machine guns on fighter planes Roland-Garros Stadium |
| #5526, aired 2008-09-22 | SYMBOLS: This symbol incorporates the semaphore signs for the letters N & D, for nuclear disarmament the peace symbol |
| #5525, aired 2008-09-19 | NBA LOGOS: The logo of this NBA team has a rowel on it the San Antonio Spurs |
| #5524, aired 2008-09-18 | PLAYS: In a 16th century work, the feud between these 2 groups is described as an "ancient grudge" the Capulets & the Montagues |
| #5523, aired 2008-09-17 | U.S. GEOGRAPHY: It's 277 miles long, it's up to 18 miles wide, it's 6 million years old & at a given time temperatures within it can vary by 25 degrees the Grand Canyon |
| #5522, aired 2008-09-16 | PRESIDENTIAL LASTS: He was the most recent president who had not previously been a state governor George H.W. Bush |
| #5521, aired 2008-09-15 | SIGNS & SYMBOLS: Created in 1970 & made up of 3 arrows, the universal symbol for this was based on the Mobius strip recycling |
| #5520, aired 2008-09-12 | ROYALTY: It's the name of today's longest-ruling family in Europe, in power for most of the last 711 years Grimaldi |
| #5519, aired 2008-09-11 | LINES FROM 19th CENTURY NOVELS: "My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them" Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde |
| #5518, aired 2008-09-10 | BRAND NAMES: To feature its "Strong enough to stand on" product, in 1965 Shwayder Bros., Inc. changed its name to this Samsonite luggage |
| #5517, aired 2008-09-09 | POP SINGERS: Charting her 18th No. 1 single in April 2008, she now has more Billboard No. 1 pop hits than any other solo artist Mariah Carey |
| #5516, aired 2008-09-08 | THE VATICAN: A statue of this man is being erected inside the Vatican's walls near where he was locked up in 1633 Galileo |
