| #8045, aired 2019-07-26 | HISTORIC SHIPS: 215 passengers were rescued when it sank in July 1918, about 500 fewer than it had rescued 6 years earlier the Carpathia |
| #8044, aired 2019-07-25 | 1970s ALBUM REVIEWS: Rolling Stone said this 1976 album had "the best & worst tendencies of L.A.-situated rock" & was an "unflattering portrait of the milieu" Hotel California |
| #8043, aired 2019-07-24 | CHILDREN'S AUTHORS: This author & illustrator who won the 1964 Caldecott Medal was dubbed the "Picasso of children's books" Maurice Sendak |
| #8042, aired 2019-07-23 | TOYS & GAMES: The prototype for this game that was introduced in 1948 was called Lexiko Scrabble |
| #8041, aired 2019-07-22 | LANDMARKS: David Livingstone wrote of this discovery of his, "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" Victoria Falls |
| #8040, aired 2019-07-19 | STATES' GOVERNORS: It's the only state to have had 4 female governors, 3 of whom served consecutively between 1997 & 2015 Arizona |
| #8039, aired 2019-07-18 | NOTORIOUS: The death penalty has been carried out only once under Israeli law--in 1962, for this man Adolf Eichmann |
| #8038, aired 2019-07-17 | 17th CENTURY NAMES: In the 1670s English author Charles Cotton built a fishing cabin on the banks of the River Dove to honor this friend & author Izaak Walton |
| #8037, aired 2019-07-16 | EUROPEAN COUNTRY NAMES: Resolving a decades-long dispute with its neighbor to the south, in 2019 this 28-year-old republic added "North" to its name North Macedonia |
| #8036, aired 2019-07-15 | WOMEN AUTHORS: An award for works of horror, dark fantasy & psychological suspense honors this author who came to fame with a 1948 short story Shirley Jackson |
| #8035, aired 2019-07-12 | WORD ORIGINS: 19th c. boots made with India rubber made one quieter, leading to this slang term for one whose job involves surveillance a gumshoe |
| #8034, aired 2019-07-11 | WOMEN ON TV: This character featured in a 1992 Time magazine cover story on "Hollywood & Politics" returned to television in 2018 Murphy Brown |
| #8033, aired 2019-07-10 | BESTSELLING NOVELS: For help with research, the author of this 2003 novel acknowledged the Louvre, Catholic World News & "five members of Opus Dei" The Da Vinci Code |
| #8032, aired 2019-07-09 | ANCIENT TIMES: In 1955 King Paul of Greece unveiled a statue of this hero near the cliffs where he died in the 5th century B.C. Leonidas |
| #8031, aired 2019-07-08 | NORTH AMERICAN CITIES: In 2017 this city celebrated its 375th birthday & the 50th anniversary of an event that made it an international tourist destination Montreal |
| #8030, aired 2019-07-05 | 16th CENTURY NAMES: Hoping to stop Dominican friar Johannes Tetzel from preaching for indulgences, in 1517 he wrote a series of debate topics Martin Luther |
| #8029, aired 2019-07-04 | ON BROADWAY: This play opens in Vienna in 1823, 32 years after the death of its title character Amadeus |
| #8028, aired 2019-07-03 | MYTHOLOGY: In Homer there's only one of these, from the Greek for "terrible"; later they became 3 scary sisters the Gorgons |
| #8027, aired 2019-07-02 | WORD ORIGINS: Meaning cobbled together, it once referred to a temporary fix replacing a broken mast on a ship jury-rigged or jerry-rigged |
| #8026, aired 2019-07-01 | ON THE MAP: 9-letter name for an area of 10 million square miles--4/5 the size of Africa--but only about 120,000 square miles of it is dry land Polynesia |
| #8025, aired 2019-06-28 | PLACES OF LORE: The first mention of this locale is in Chretien de Troyes' 12th century poem "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart" Camelot |
| #8024, aired 2019-06-27 | INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: The first time this organization invoked Article 5 was on September 12, 2001 NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) |
| #8023, aired 2019-06-26 | 19th CENTURY LITERARY CHARACTERS: "Hard and sharp as flint... he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas" Ebenezer Scrooge |
| #8022, aired 2019-06-25 | OTHER NATIONS' PRESIDENTS: This nation's 1st 8 presidents were all born in the U.S.; the 1st local-born president came in 1884, 37 years after independence Liberia |
| #8021, aired 2019-06-24 | COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES: Starting a university after his only son died in 1884, this man said, "The children of California shall be our children" Leland Stanford |
| #8020, aired 2019-06-21 | COMPOUND WORDS: This 8-letter word can follow nuclear to refer to a dangerous accident, or mean a total loss of emotional control meltdown |
| #8019, aired 2019-06-20 | 18th CENTURY AMERICANS: "Essays to Do Good" by Cotton Mather inspired Silence Dogood, the newspaper pseudonym of this man Benjamin Franklin |
| #8018, aired 2019-06-19 | ANCIENT LITERATURE: If you were using an alternate name, the title of this work could be translated as "Troy Story" the Iliad (by Homer) |
| #8017, aired 2019-06-18 | KINGS, QUEENS & PRESIDENTS: 17 U.S. presidents served all or part of their terms during the reign of this British monarch Queen Victoria |
| #8016, aired 2019-06-17 | NEW ENGLAND: Neighborhoods in this city include Federal Street, Gallows Hill & Witchcraft Heights Salem, Massachusetts |
| #8015, aired 2019-06-14 | MEDICAL NEWS 2018: For the first time, the FDA approved a drug for the treatment of this, though there hadn't been a new case in 40 years smallpox |
| #8014, aired 2019-06-13 | WORD HISTORY: This word for a bug or malfunction was popularized in the 1962 book "Into Orbit" by the Mercury astronauts glitch |
| #8013, aired 2019-06-12 | POPULAR PRODUCTS: This product that brought virtual tourism into homes in 1939 introduced its first virtual reality device in 2015 View-Master |
| #8012, aired 2019-06-11 | LANDMARKS: Poet Rabindranath Tagore compared this landmark to a teardrop glistening on the cheek of time the Taj Mahal |
| #8011, aired 2019-06-10 | 20th CENTURY THEATER: The final scene of this play takes place by a grave & includes the line "He had the wrong dreams" Death of a Salesman |
| #8010, aired 2019-06-07 | CANADIAN CITIES: City Hall in this Western provincial capital is on Victoria Avenue near the corner of Albert Street Regina |
| #8009, aired 2019-06-06 | AMERICAN MUSIC LEGENDS: Steinbeck called him "just a voice and a guitar" but said his songs embodied "the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression" Woody Guthrie |
| #8008, aired 2019-06-05 | THE NATO PHONETIC ALPHABET: This discovery of November 8, 1895 by a German physicist represents a letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet X rays |
| #8007, aired 2019-06-04 | WORLD TIME ZONES: This European country is still an hour ahead of GMT, a move made in 1940 to be on the same time as Nazi Germany Spain |
| #8006, aired 2019-06-03 | SHAKESPEARE'S TIME: The line "a great reckoning in a little room" in "As You Like It" is usually taken to refer to this author's premature death Christopher Marlowe |
| #8005, aired 2019-05-31 | OSCAR-NOMINATED FAMILIES: It's the last name of Alfred, Lionel, David, Emil, Thomas & Randy, who with 90 nominations, are the most Oscar-nominated family Newman |
| #8004, aired 2019-05-30 | NATIONAL ANTHEMS: Its anthem was adopted in 1947 to replace one by Joseph Haydn that had been tainted by association with Nazis Austria |
| #8003, aired 2019-05-29 | 19th CENTURY NOVELS: The author of this tale dedicated the novel to British philosopher William Godwin, her father Frankenstein |
| #8002, aired 2019-05-28 | ANIMATED CHARACTERS: This cartoon character was based on a character in the educational comic "The Intertidal Zone" SpongeBob SquarePants |
| #8001, aired 2019-05-27 | GAMES: When this game was introduced in 1860, it had squares like Intemperance & Poverty & if you hit the Suicide square your game was over The Game of Life |
| #8000, aired 2019-05-24 | AROUND THE USA: Astronomy buffs visit Idaho for the USA's first dark sky reserve; oddly, part of it is this resort area with a bright name Sun Valley |
| #7999, aired 2019-05-23 | JAZZ CLASSICS: In one account, this song began as directions written out for composer Billy Strayhorn to Duke Ellington's home in Harlem "Take The 'A' Train" |
| #7998, aired 2019-05-22 | 19th CENTURY AMERICAN HISTORY: In 1832, by a narrow margin, this state's legislature rejected considering abolition; a split was completed in 1863 Virginia |
| #7997, aired 2019-05-21 | POETRY & THE MOVIES: Robert Lowell's "For the Union Dead" honored the 54th Massachusetts, the infantry unit in this 1989 film that won 3 Oscars Glory |
| #7996, aired 2019-05-20 | NAME THE FRENCH AUTHOR: "I am making myself liable to Articles 30 & 31 of the law of 29 July 1881 regarding the press, which make libel a punishable offense" Émile Zola |
| #7995, aired 2019-05-17 | PHOTO SHARING: Publishing its first photo in 1889, today it has more than 4 billion likes & 100 million followers on Instagram National Geographic |
| #7994, aired 2019-05-16 | 20th CENTURY BESTSELLING AUTHORS: He once said, "In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage...who we are and where we have come from" Alex Haley |
| #7993, aired 2019-05-15 | RUSSIAN COMPOSERS: A 1913 piece by him was conceived of as the symphonic equivalent of a pagan ritual, to be titled "Great Sacrifice" Igor Stravinsky |
| #7992, aired 2019-05-14 | AMERICAN WOMEN: In 2006 Arizona State University renamed its college of law in honor of this history-making woman & longtime Arizona resident Sandra Day O'Connor |
| #7991, aired 2019-05-13 | AMERICANA: John & Priscilla Alden lie in the USA's oldest maintained cemetery, which like a poem about the couple, is named for this person Myles Standish |
| #7990, aired 2019-05-10 | U.S. STATES: This state entered the Union in 1820 after separating from another state that began with the same 2 letters Maine |
| #7989, aired 2019-05-09 | THE COLD WAR: The Cold War became entrenched in the mid-1950s after the formation of these 2 rival military alliances NATO and the Warsaw Pact |
| #7988, aired 2019-05-08 | WORDS FROM THE COMICS: Used to describe secrecy during WWII, this 2-word term had its psychological meaning popularized by Charles Schulz security blanket |
| #7987, aired 2019-05-07 | TEACHERS: As a teenager this woman regained her sight thanks to 2 surgeries in 1881 & 1882 Annie Sullivan |
| #7986, aired 2019-05-06 | POETS: A poem by him includes, "It was grassy and wanted wear;/
though...the passing there/
had worn them really about the same" Robert Frost |
| #7985, aired 2019-05-03 | WORDS OF THE 2000s: In 2008 Time magazine described this new practice as "one part social networking and one part capital accumulation" crowdfunding |
| #7984, aired 2019-05-02 | AMERICAN PLAYS: A character in this 1944 play is said to be like a piece in her own collection, "too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf" The Glass Menagerie |
| #7983, aired 2019-05-01 | THE KING JAMES BIBLE: Of the 4 riders mentioned in Revelation 6, only this one is explicitly named Death |
| #7982, aired 2019-04-30 | EUROPEAN CITIES: Founded, according to tradition, in 11 B.C., this former capital lies about halfway between Paris & Berlin Bonn |
| #7981, aired 2019-04-29 | ORGANIZATIONS: The oldest of these business booster groups, formed in Marseille in 1599, uses "de" instead of "of" in the name a chamber of commerce |
| #7980, aired 2019-04-26 | 19th CENTURY NOVELS: The title character of this 1841 novel says he got his name because he kills bucks & does, but not people The Deerslayer |
| #7979, aired 2019-04-25 | THE ELEMENTS: Oddly, mining of this rare earth element with a geographic name, atomic no. 63, is mostly in Asia & with some in South America & Australia europium |
| #7978, aired 2019-04-24 | GEOGRAPHIC NICKNAMES: This term for an area of the Atlantic originated in 1964 in Argosy, a pulp magazine the Bermuda Triangle |
| #7977, aired 2019-04-23 | AMERICAN HISTORY: On May 1, 1869 these 2 men met at the White House, 4 years & 3 weeks after a more historic meeting between them Ulysses S. Grant & Robert E. Lee |
| #7976, aired 2019-04-22 | 19th CENTURY BRITS: In a poem Lord Byron, a lover of Greece, calls this diplomat & fellow lord a "plunderer" (Lord) Elgin |
| #7975, aired 2019-04-19 | BRITISH MONARCHS: A "VI" has followed these 3 royal names of English kings George, Edward & Henry |
| #7974, aired 2019-04-18 | COMIC BOOK SUPERHEROES: During his years with the Justice League of America, this superhero sometimes used the secret identity "C. King" Aquaman |
| #7973, aired 2019-04-17 | 20th CENTURY LITERARY CHARACTERS: His first name refers to the ancient district in which you'd find the Greek capital; his surname is a bird Atticus Finch |
| #7972, aired 2019-04-16 | INTERNATIONAL NEWS: In 2014 this 10,000-square-mile region moved its clocks forward 2 hours to Moscow Standard Time Crimea |
| #7971, aired 2019-04-15 | STAMPS: Living people are rarely seen on a stamp, but in July 1945 the USPS issued one depicting this military event raising the flag on Iwo Jima |
| #7970, aired 2019-04-12 | LITERARY ADAPTATIONS: The director of the 2018 TV version of this 1953 classic said, yes, books were harmed in the making of this motion picture Fahrenheit 451 |
| #7969, aired 2019-04-11 | CELEBRITIES: This inductee into the Video Hall of Fame sold 17 million copies of a videocassette she released in 1982 Jane Fonda |
| #7968, aired 2019-04-10 | EUROPEAN HISTORY: In 2000 the Russian Orthodox church canonized 7 members of this family, 82 years after their deaths the Romanovs |
| #7967, aired 2019-04-09 | PHYSICS TERMS: Ironically, it's a metaphor meaning a huge step forward, but this 2-word process only occurs on a subatomic scale a quantum leap |
| #7966, aired 2019-04-08 | HOLLYWOOD HISTORY: On June 6, 2018 the Chinese Theatre dimmed its lights to honor Jerry Maren, who lived to the greatest age of any of this 1939 group the Munchkins |
| #7965, aired 2019-04-05 | EUROPEAN CAPITALS: Remove 2 letters from within the 6-letter name of this capital & you get the name of a capital from a neighboring country Berlin |
| #7964, aired 2019-04-04 | U.S. BODIES OF WATER: The Jordan, Bear & Weber Rivers deposit over a million tons of minerals into it annually, much of that chloride & sodium the Great Salt Lake |
| #7963, aired 2019-04-03 | INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS: From the name of the world capital it serves, DEL is the 3-letter code for the Asian airport named for her Indira Gandhi |
| #7962, aired 2019-04-02 | MUSIC LEGENDS: These 2 “monarchs” of popular culture both passed away on August 16, one in 2018, the other 41 years earlier Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin |
| #7961, aired 2019-04-01 | FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: In a 1947 collection he solved 12 mysteries, including "The Cretan Bull" & "The Girdle of Hyppolita" Hercule Poirot |
| #7960, aired 2019-03-29 | CHILDREN'S BOOKS: This 1883 classic ends with the words "A well-behaved little boy!" Pinocchio |
| #7959, aired 2019-03-28 | FAMOUS PHRASE ORIGINS: One theory says a phrase for euphoria comes from plate No. 9 in an 1896 meteorological "atlas" of these clouds |
| #7958, aired 2019-03-27 | WORLD WAR II: In 1943 millions of matchbooks were distributed in the Philippines with this 3-word quote to boost morale "I shall return" |
| #7957, aired 2019-03-26 | 19th CENTURY AMERICANS: Though he became a Cabinet secretary & chief justice, once he wanted to change his name because of its "awkward, fishy" sound Salmon Chase |
| #7956, aired 2019-03-25 | FOREIGN TRANSPORTATION: Operating for only one week a year, a train line to this city moves over half a million people a day Mecca |
| #7955, aired 2019-03-22 | HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES: This day created in the U.S. in 1872 is observed in Florida & Louisiana in January, but Maine & Alaska hold it in May Arbor Day |
| #7954, aired 2019-03-21 | AMERICAN AUTHORS: Alfred Hitchcock wrote, "It's because I liked" his "stories so much that I began to make suspense films" Edgar Allan Poe |
| #7953, aired 2019-03-20 | ROYAL HOUSES: Family name of Bonnie Prince Charlie's brother Henry, whom his supporters called Henry IX of England Stuart |
| #7952, aired 2019-03-19 | COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD: Because its overseas empire was dwindling, Spain declared war on this much closer country across the water on October 22, 1859 Morocco |
| #7951, aired 2019-03-18 | BEST PICTURE OSCAR WINNERS: These 2 films, recent back-to-back winners, both have 9 letter titles that end with the same 5 letters Moonlight & Spotlight |
| #7950, aired 2019-03-15 | 19th CENTURY NAMES: In 1854 he became official musical instrument maker to Emperor Napoleon III; an instrument he invented is named for him Adolphe Sax |
| #7949, aired 2019-03-14 | STATE CAPITALS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI: The last 2 letters of this city's name are the U.S. postal abbreviation for the state that it's the capital of Albany |
| #7948, aired 2019-03-13 | NOVEL QUOTES: A boy at the end of this 1952 novel says to the main character, "Say it ain't true, Roy" The Natural |
| #7947, aired 2019-03-12 | 20th CENTURY HISTORY: Constructed in the 1930s, it extended from La Ferté to the Rhine River, though it also had sections along the Italian frontier Maginot Line |
| #7946, aired 2019-03-11 | PLAYWRIGHTS: Before his death in 2018 at age 91, he received 4 Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize & was nominated for 4 Oscars Neil Simon |
| #7945, aired 2019-03-08 | 20th CENTURY NEWSMAKERS: In 1982 a probate judge in his home state of Michigan declared him legally dead Jimmy Hoffa |
| #7944, aired 2019-03-07 | ART: This famous work of art was damaged in 1652 when a door was cut into a wall, removing Jesus' feet The Last Supper |
| #7943, aired 2019-03-06 | WORD ORIGINS: This 8-letter word for a reaction against a trend comes from an engineering term for a jolt caused by a gap in machine parts backlash |
| #7942, aired 2019-03-05 | CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT MATH: Total of the numbers of the amendments banning state-sponsored official religion, ending slavery & repealing Prohibition 35 |
| #7941, aired 2019-03-04 | ANCIENT WRITINGS: Its principles still used today, this treatise has chapters called "Weak Points & Strong" & "Tactical Dispositions" The Art of War |
| #7940, aired 2019-03-01 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEARS: Prior to 2016 it was the last election year in which the winning candidate had never held public elected office 1952 |
| #7939, aired 2019-02-28 | BRITISH LITERATURE: A chapter of "The Jungle Book" has this double-talk title, echoing the opening line of a Brit's poem some 100 years prior "Tiger! Tiger!" |
| #7938, aired 2019-02-27 | 20th CENTURY HISTORY: Interpreting for Vaclav Havel, future ambassador Rita Klimova gave us this phrase for a smooth change of government the velvet revolution |
| #7937, aired 2019-02-26 | EUROPEAN ARTISTS: His seldom-used last name reflects his birth near the mouth of a river that flows from the Alps to the North Sea Rembrandt van Rijn |
| #7935, aired 2019-02-22 | WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY: In 1901 this activist was jailed for inspiring the assassination of William McKinley, but the charge was later dropped Emma Goldman |
| #7934, aired 2019-02-21 | AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY: The 7-letter names of these western- & easternmost mainland countries begin with the same letter Senegal & Somalia |
| #7932, aired 2019-02-19 | BROADWAY MUSICALS: The title of this musical that opened in 1956 came from the last line of a nursery rhyme about a structure that spanned the Thames My Fair Lady |
| #7931, aired 2019-02-18 | BRITISH AUTHORS: Born in 1866, he has been called "the Shakespeare of science fiction" H.G. Wells |
| #7930, aired 2019-02-15 | 19th CENTURY INVENTORS: He spent his life improving a plant-based substance he described as a "vegetable leather" or "elastic metal" Charles Goodyear |
| #7929, aired 2019-02-14 | COLORFUL GEOGRAPHY: Named for a soldier killed in 1846 at the start of a war, it was in the news again as a port of entry to the U.S. in 2018 Brownsville |
| #7928, aired 2019-02-13 | POETS: He gave his pets names like Wiscus, Pettipaws, George Pushdragon & Jellylorum, the last of which he used in a poem T.S. Eliot |
| #7927, aired 2019-02-12 | ISLANDS: 650 miles off the U.S., it was the site of a 1609 shipwreck of colonists bound for Jamestown that may have inspired "The Tempest" Bermuda |
| #7926, aired 2019-02-11 | PRIMETIME TV: "Complications" was a suggested title for this ABC drama that was renewed for a 15th season in 2018 Grey's Anatomy |
| #7925, aired 2019-02-08 | SHAKESPEARE COMEDIES: At the end of this play: "Why are our bodies soft & weak... but that our... hearts should well agree with our external parts?" The Taming of the Shrew |
| #7924, aired 2019-02-07 | PRESIDENTS & THE MOVIES: 3 presidential films, all directed by Oliver Stone, have a total of only 9 letters in their titles--"Nixon" & these 2 W and JFK |
| #7923, aired 2019-02-06 | INTERNATIONAL BORDERS: Germany has land borders with 9 countries & only maritime boundaries with 2 countries, the U.K. & this one across the Baltic Sweden |
| #7922, aired 2019-02-05 | THE 19th CENTURY: In his autobiography, Buffalo Bill Cody remembered this venture as "a relay race against time" the Pony Express |
| #7921, aired 2019-02-04 | THE U.S. SENATE: An 1890 resolution by Senator Aldrich was killed by this, the very technique it sought to limit; a 1917 rule set some boundaries on it the filibuster |
| #7920, aired 2019-02-01 | THE SOLAR SYSTEM: For a while in the 1840s, the French wanted to name this new discovery "Le Verrier" & the British wanted "Oceanus" Neptune |
| #7919, aired 2019-01-31 | FEMALE SINGERS: In the 1990s this New York native had 8 of her first 10 Billboard Top 40 hits reach No. 1 Mariah Carey |
| #7918, aired 2019-01-30 | WOMEN WRITERS: One of her circle described her as "a lacy sleeve with a bottle of vitriol concealed in its folds" Dorothy Parker |
| #7917, aired 2019-01-29 | 20th CENTURY DISASTERS: On the radio in 1937 this 3-word exclamation came after "the smoke and the flames now...not quite to the mooring mast" "Oh, the humanity!" |
| #7916, aired 2019-01-28 | 19th CENTURY NOVELS: Ambrose Bierce, a Civil War veteran, said of this 1895 book, the author "knows nothing of war, yet he is drenched in blood" The Red Badge of Courage |
| #7915, aired 2019-01-25 | LAW ENFORCEMENT HISTORY: This U.S. group was formed to protect settlers in an area that had recently gained independence from Spain the Texas Rangers |
| #7914, aired 2019-01-24 | U.K. PRIME MINISTERS: He was the first U.K. prime minister born after Elizabeth II became queen Tony Blair |
| #7913, aired 2019-01-23 | 20th CENTURY LITERATURE: The writing of this novel, the author's first with no Canadian setting, appropriately began in 1984 The Handmaid's Tale |
| #7912, aired 2019-01-22 | COMIC STRIP TITLE CHARACTERS: These 2 were named for a European "theologian who believed in predestination" & a "philosopher with a dim view of human nature" Calvin & Hobbes |
| #7911, aired 2019-01-21 | BROADWAY MUSICALS: Premiering in 2005, its story is divided into spring, summer, fall & winter, each narrated by one of the 4 male leads Jersey Boys |
| #7910, aired 2019-01-18 | TV PERSONALITIES: In 2000 this man was the host of a No. 1 rated network show & a No. 2 rated syndicated talk show Regis Philbin |
| #7909, aired 2019-01-17 | CONTEMPORARY ART: After it was auctioned in 2018, a work by this artist was renamed "Love is in the Bin" Banksy |
| #7908, aired 2019-01-16 | PEOPLE & PLACES: In 1790 Thursday October Christian became the first child whose birth was recorded on this remote island Pitcairn Island |
| #7907, aired 2019-01-15 | PRESIDENTIAL QUOTES: He said, "Victory over (the) Depression will be... by the resolution of our people to fight their own battles in their own communities" Herbert Hoover |
| #7906, aired 2019-01-14 | FAMILIAR PHRASES: Originally a folk term for a chronic rash, this phrase got a new meaning as a title for a 1952 stage comedy & later a movie seven year itch |
| #7905, aired 2019-01-11 | FAMOUS DOCTORS: Not an artist himself, he inspired the Surrealists but thought them "absolute cranks" until he met Dali in London in 1938 Sigmund Freud |
| #7904, aired 2019-01-10 | AMERICAN LANDMARKS: Eyewitness Jose Marti wrote, "Luckless Irishmen, Poles, Italians... run toward the wharves" to see its dedication the Statue of Liberty |
| #7903, aired 2019-01-09 | TV DRAMAS: So that viewers wouldn't think it was about opera, the "R" in this show's logo was turned into a gun The Sopranos |
| #7902, aired 2019-01-08 | 1950s TRAVEL: In March 1958 Hilton opened a hotel in this Western Hemisphere capital but 2 1/2 years later was out of business there Havana |
| #7901, aired 2019-01-07 | 19th CENTURY NOTABLES: When he died in Samoa in 1894 his obituary said, "He loved Samoa better than any other place, except Scotland" Robert Louis Stevenson |
| #7900, aired 2019-01-04 | TRANSPORTATION: Carretera Transistmica, AKA the Boyd-Roosevelt highway, runs parallel to this waterway the Panama Canal |
| #7899, aired 2019-01-03 | 1940s HISTORY: Air Force pilot Gail Halvorson earned the nickname "Candy Bomber" for his actions during this 1948-49 event the Berlin airlift (or Berlin air drop) |
| #7898, aired 2019-01-02 | BRITISH MEMOIRS: Before his death in 1996, this famous son wrote the memoirs "The Enchanted Places" & "The Hollow on the Hill" Christopher Robin Milne |
| #7897, aired 2019-01-01 | U.S. NAVY SHIPS: "Peace through strength" is the motto of the U.S. aircraft carrier named for this man who professed the same policy Ronald Reagan |
| #7896, aired 2018-12-31 | 21st CENTURY OSCARS: Before she was 25, she became the youngest performer to receive a second Best Actress nomination Jennifer Lawrence |
| #7895, aired 2018-12-28 | AUTHORS: The first novelist on Forbes' list of billionaires, this author fell off in 2012 after giving an estimated $160 mil. to charity J.K. Rowling |
| #7894, aired 2018-12-27 | COASTLINES: At 3,700 miles, the longest ocean trench is named for these 2 nations that share most of South America's Pacific coast Chile and Peru |
| #7893, aired 2018-12-26 | HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Most of the land fighting in the first Punic war between Rome & Carthage was on this island Sicily |
| #7892, aired 2018-12-25 | THE SUPREME COURT: Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes once referred to this 1857 decision as the court's first self-inflicted wound the Dred Scott decision (Dred Scott v. Sanford) |
| #7891, aired 2018-12-24 | BRITISH NAMES: The last name of this 17th c. baronet who held many offices is synonymous with the govt. & especially the PM's residence (Sir George) Downing |
| #7890, aired 2018-12-21 | GEOGRAPHY & THE MOVIES: Named the first U.S. national monument in 1906, it was featured prominently in a blockbuster movie 71 years later Devils Tower |
| #7889, aired 2018-12-20 | THE WORKS OF MOZART: Composed in 1791, the year he died, & last in the Kochel catalog of all his works, K. 626 is this work Requiem |
| #7888, aired 2018-12-19 | POETS' BIRTHPLACES: 5 Cwmdonkin Drive was the address of the family home where he was born in 1914 Dylan Thomas |
| #7887, aired 2018-12-18 | U.S. LANDMARKS: The 1st segment of this was dedicated on July 4, 1930; the next, August 30, 1936; section 3, on September 17, 1937 & the last, on July 2, 1939 Mt. Rushmore |
| #7886, aired 2018-12-17 | NORSE MYTHOLOGY: After turning himself into a mare, he gave birth to an 8-legged horse that was later the prized steed of Odin Loki |
| #7885, aired 2018-12-14 | BUSINESS & INDUSTRY: After it stopped U.S. operations in 2018, its website said, "Promise us just this one thing: don't ever grow up" Toys"R"Us |
| #7884, aired 2018-12-13 | 19th CENTURY AUTHORS: In the preface to a book of his stories, he thanks a herpetologist of upper India & an elephant named Bahadur Shah Rudyard Kipling |
| #7883, aired 2018-12-12 | SCI-FI TV: One of the twin planets this alien race called home was Remus the Romulans |
| #7882, aired 2018-12-11 | BIBLE BOOKS: The title of this Old Testament book is from the Greek for "song sung to a harp" Psalms |
| #7881, aired 2018-12-10 | 2-WORD WORLD CAPITALS: From 1936 to 1941 this city was the capital of Italian East Africa Addis Ababa |
| #7880, aired 2018-12-07 | OPERA: In Act I of this opera, a messenger says, "Barbarous Ethiopians" have invaded & "are already marching on Thebes" Aida |
| #7879, aired 2018-12-06 | WORLD AFFAIRS 2018: An Arab League summit final statement rejected "interference" by this country often mistakenly called an Arab land itself Iran |
| #7878, aired 2018-12-05 | NAMES IN AMERICAN HISTORY: In 1999 the U.S. government was ordered to pay his family $16 million for less than 30 seconds of film Abraham Zapruder |
| #7877, aired 2018-12-04 | THE NFL: For the 2018 draft this team tried to use a parrot to make a pick; the bird got stage fright the Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| #7876, aired 2018-12-03 | AMERICAN BUSINESS: Last name of John, Daniel, Elisha & Edward, whose firm turned 200 in 2018 & has dressed 40 U.S. presidents Brooks |
| #7875, aired 2018-11-30 | THE OLD WEST: On October 27, 1881 this town's local newspaper reported on "a day when blood flowed as water" Tombstone, Arizona |
| #7874, aired 2018-11-29 | CATHOLICISM: A liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, which is the Sunday closest to the feast day of this "first apostle" St. Andrew |
| #7873, aired 2018-11-28 | HISTORICAL FIRSTS: In a tribute with no precedent, the band played this at the Buckingham Palace changing of the guard on September 13, 2001 "The Star-Spangled Banner" (or the U.S. national anthem) |
| #7872, aired 2018-11-27 | ACTRESSES: In 1997 she became the first to win an Oscar for a film directed by her husband; her brother-in-law produced the film Frances McDormand |
| #7871, aired 2018-11-26 | AMERICAN AUTHORS: The 1877 novel "Garth", about a New Hampshire family cursed by an ancestor's crime, is by Julian, son of this novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| #7870, aired 2018-11-23 | OLYMPIC CITIES: Of the 4 "M" cities that consecutively hosted Summer Olympics in the 20th century, these 2 aren't national capitals Munich and Montreal |
| #7869, aired 2018-11-22 | 1980s MOVIES: Ebert: This film "works as science fiction, it's sometimes as scary as a monster movie & at the end...not a dry eye in the house" E.T. |
| #7868, aired 2018-11-21 | PRESIDENTIAL IRONY: 1 of the 2 presidents who offered Daniel Webster the VP slot; he declined both, thinking the job went nowhere Zachary Taylor or William Henry Harrison |
| #7867, aired 2018-11-20 | AMERICANA: It's the official fruit of the District of Columbia cherry |
| #7866, aired 2018-11-19 | AMERICAN WRITERS: In a twist of irony, he accidentally set fire to some 300 acres of woods at Fair Haven Pond near the Concord River in 1844 Henry David Thoreau |
| #7865, aired 2018-11-16 | MAMMALS: Scientific name Mellivora capensis, this 2-word weasel family member was named "most fearless mammal" a honey badger |
| #7864, aired 2018-11-15 | THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ERA: She was disowned by the Quakers after marrying an Episcopalian upholsterer in 1773 & later took over his business Betsy Ross |
| #7863, aired 2018-11-14 | 19th CENTURY NAMES: In the 1870s he wrote that "man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits" Charles Darwin |
| #7862, aired 2018-11-13 | 20th CENTURY LITERATURE: Chapter 1 of this 1954 British novel is entitled "The Sound of the Shell" Lord of the Flies |
| #7861, aired 2018-11-12 | INTERNATIONAL GROUPS: The economic bloc known as the G8 became the G7 in 2014 upon the expulsion of this country Russia |
| #7860, aired 2018-11-09 | HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES: Puebla is the only Mexican state that officially celebrates this spring holiday that is now more popular in the U.S. Cinco de Mayo |
| #7859, aired 2018-11-08 | HISTORIC LEADERS: One of his many horses was named Roitelet & was ridden on the way home from Russia in 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte |
| #7858, aired 2018-11-07 | BROADWAY MUSICALS: Winner of 6 Tonys in 2017, it's the first Broadway musical to focus on the subject of teens & social media Dear Evan Hansen |
| #7857, aired 2018-11-06 | ALPHANUMERIC ANATOMY: Alphanumerically, it's at the top of the spine & lets you nod C1 |
| #7856, aired 2018-11-05 | CHARACTERS IN CHILDREN'S LIT: Memories of refugees in British train stations before & after WWII helped inspire the creation of this character Paddington Bear |
| #7855, aired 2018-11-02 | SURNAMES: Evoking speed & luxury, this one of the 10 most common Italian surnames goes back to the Latin word for iron Ferrari |
| #7854, aired 2018-11-01 | HISTORIC GEOGRAPHY: A northern limit of the Roman Empire was a fortified road in Germany stretching 350 miles between these 2 rivers the Danube and the Rhine |
| #7853, aired 2018-10-31 | 1960s FILMS: Chocolate syrup, casaba melon & Playboy model Marli Renfro were enlisted to create an iconic scene in this film Psycho |
| #7852, aired 2018-10-30 | TODAY'S INNOVATORS: The Ballbarrow was an early invention by this British man who's had greater success with sophisticated household devices James Dyson |
| #7851, aired 2018-10-29 | SHAKESPEARE: Aptly, Shakespeare used "moon" & "moonlight" more times in this play than in any other A Midsummer Night's Dream |
| #7850, aired 2018-10-26 | EUROPEAN HISTORY: Legend says this, weighing 336 lbs., came from the Holy Land & Kenneth MacAlpin brought it to Perthshire c. 840 the Stone of Scone |
| #7849, aired 2018-10-25 | STATE BIRDS: The 2-word name of this black & orange or black & golden state bird derives in part from the Latin for "golden" Baltimore oriole |
| #7848, aired 2018-10-24 | AFRICAN CITIES: Also a judicial capital, this aptly named city is known for an annual rose festival that began in 1976 Bloemfontein |
| #7847, aired 2018-10-23 | OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE: This "creature of evil, grim and fierce, was quickly ready, savage and cruel, and seized from their rest thirty thanes" Grendel |
| #7846, aired 2018-10-22 | PLACES IN THE NEWS: In a hint of the future, in 1973 Marjorie Post gave it to the U.S. govt. as a warm-weather presidential retreat, but it was returned Mar-a-Lago |
| #7845, aired 2018-10-19 | SPORTS: A low center of gravity is a key to success in this sport with moves including gaburi-yori & uwate-dashinage sumo wrestling |
| #7844, aired 2018-10-18 | CHARACTERS IN CHILDREN'S LIT: This winged character from an early 20th century work is so named "because she mends the pots and kettles" Tinker Bell |
| #7843, aired 2018-10-17 | WORLD CITIES: The northernmost city with a population over 5 million, it was founded in 1703 & its name was changed 3 times in the 20th century St. Petersburg |
| #7842, aired 2018-10-16 | THE SOLAR SYSTEM: Features on this body include Tombaugh Regio & Sleipnir Fossa, named for a horse that carried Odin to the underworld Pluto |
| #7841, aired 2018-10-15 | AMERICA IN THE 1930s: In March 1933 CBS Radio's Robert Trout said, "The president wants to come into your home... for a little" this a fireside chat |
| #7840, aired 2018-10-12 | CHARLES DICKENS: Both "Barnaby Rudge" & this other famous Dickens novel begin in 1775 & deal with mob violence A Tale of Two Cities |
| #7839, aired 2018-10-11 | BROADWAY MUSICALS: The title of this 1947 Lerner & Loewe musical may come from the construction seen here Brigadoon |
| #7838, aired 2018-10-10 | MYTHOLOGICAL HEROES: The second half of his service to Eurystheus took him to 6 different places, like Crete, Thrace & the Underworld Hercules |
| #7837, aired 2018-10-09 | WORLD LEADERS: He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice & the Literature Prize 7 times, winning for the latter in 1953 Winston Churchill |
| #7836, aired 2018-10-08 | U.S. CAPITOL ART: Of the 23 lawgivers depicted on marble portraits over doors in the U.S. House chamber, he's the only one in the Bible Moses |
| #7835, aired 2018-10-05 | MILITARY HISTORY: Prepared by the Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, the "COSSAC Plan" outlined the details of this D-Day |
| #7834, aired 2018-10-04 | INTERNATIONAL CRIME: Italy's agromafia enriches itself through counterfeit versions of this "liquid gold" mentioned by Homer & Plato olive oil |
| #7833, aired 2018-10-03 | CITIES IN HISTORY: The Cathedral of St. Pierre was the center of the Calvinist Reformation in this lakeside city Geneva |
| #7832, aired 2018-10-02 | OSCAR HYPHENATES: This actor has never been nominated for acting--he won, though, as a writer for 1997 & as a producer for 2012 Ben Affleck |
| #7831, aired 2018-10-01 | WORLD LITERATURE: In a recent poll of 125 authors, this long 1870s novel about a woman ranked as the greatest work of fiction of all time Anna Karenina |
| #7830, aired 2018-09-28 | CLASSIC FILMS: In this '70s Oscar-winning film, the title character's 1st words are "Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?" The Godfather |
| #7829, aired 2018-09-27 | U.S. LANDMARKS: In 1883 a Catholic diocese sold this to the state of Texas for $20,000 the Alamo |
| #7828, aired 2018-09-26 | AUTHORS: After this woman's death, her daughter wrote, "As far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y" Sue Grafton |
| #7827, aired 2018-09-25 | 20th CENTURY PLAYS: From its preface:
"It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman...hate him" Pygmalion |
| #7826, aired 2018-09-24 | BRITISH ROYALTY: In Sept. 2017 Prince Charles became the longest-serving Prince of Wales, passing the man who became this king Edward VII |
| #7825, aired 2018-09-21 | COLOR ETYMOLOGY: This word for a gem & a shade of blue derives from the name of a Eurasian country from which gems came to Western Europe turquoise |
| #7824, aired 2018-09-20 | FOLKLORE: In legend, he called all the animals together but only 12 came, including a rat & a dragon the Buddha |
| #7823, aired 2018-09-19 | 18th CENTURY AMERICANS: In a famous 1775 speech, he said, "Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!" Patrick Henry |
| #7822, aired 2018-09-18 | ANIMAL CHARACTERS: Items bought by this predator:
iron bird seed, an iron carrot, earthquake pills & dehydrated boulders Wile E. Coyote |
| #7821, aired 2018-09-17 | 20th CENTURY NOVELS: "I've killed my brother" is said near the end of this 1952 book with a Biblical title & a plot echoing a Biblical story East of Eden |
| #7820, aired 2018-09-14 | SPORTS HALLS OF FAME: Posthumously, Axel Paulsen was among the first group of inductees into the World Hall of Fame for this in 1976 figure skating |
| #7819, aired 2018-09-13 | BEFORE THEY WERE PRESIDENT: On October 4, 1940, for the premiere of what's been called his most famous movie role, Ronald Reagan was in this city South Bend, Indiana |
| #7818, aired 2018-09-12 | 18th CENTURY NAMES: In 1789 this doctor proposed 6 articles on penal reform to the French Assembly, including one on capital punishment Joseph Guillotin |
| #7817, aired 2018-09-11 | DESIGN: Switching the syllables in the German word for building of a home gave this design & architecture school its name Bauhaus |
| #7816, aired 2018-09-10 | THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: To set a record for longest solo journey by kayak, 2,010 miles, Helen Skelton traveled through this nation for a month Brazil |
