| #5515, aired 2008-07-25 | ADJECTIVES: Meaning "painful", it literally refers to the type of pain inflicted on Jesus & on the followers of Spartacus excruciating |
| #5514, aired 2008-07-24 | FAMOUS NAMES: In 1906 he launched Conjurer's Monthly, a magazine that he pretty much wrote & edited himself Harry Houdini |
| #5513, aired 2008-07-23 | CIVIL WAR HISTORY: Though 1863's Emancipation Proclamation applied only to the Confederacy, this Union state, one of the original 13, ended slavery November 1, 1864 Maryland |
| #5512, aired 2008-07-22 | WORLD LEADERS: Born in Kiev & later a U.S. citizen, this leader became prime minister in 1969 of a country founded in the 20th century Golda Meir |
| #5511, aired 2008-07-21 | NONFICTION: In 1947 editor William Styron said this book was a long, "tedious Pacific voyage best suited" for National Geographic Kon-Tiki (by Thor Heyerdahl) |
| #5510, aired 2008-07-18 | CHARACTERS IN SHAKESPEARE: This character is described as "a howling monster", "a most scurvy monster" & "some monster of the isle" Caliban |
| #5509, aired 2008-07-17 | 1970s HITS: In 1970 2 performers reached the Top 20 with this hit whose 6-word title was inspired by Boys Town "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" |
| #5508, aired 2008-07-16 | RECENT HISTORY: In 1986 & again in 2001, people power protests in this nation pushed out male presidents & replaced them with females the Philippines |
| #5507, aired 2008-07-15 | OLYMPIC CITIES: This city's Olympics were exactly 200 years after the death of the British cabinet secretary it was named for Sydney |
| #5506, aired 2008-07-14 | MYTHS: Seen here with 2 other troubled mythic figures, he's the man on the left who can never quite reach the fruit Tantalus |
| #5505, aired 2008-07-11 | BASEBALL HISTORY: For nearly 30 years, California's Catalina Island was the spring training camp for this non-California Major League team the Chicago Cubs |
| #5504, aired 2008-07-10 | SECRETARIES OF STATE: In 1947 he said Europe's food needs require "substantial additional help" to prevent social deterioration George C. Marshall |
| #5503, aired 2008-07-09 | CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: Her illustrations for 1890's "A Happy Pair" included elegantly dressed rabbits Beatrix Potter |
| #5502, aired 2008-07-08 | AMERICAN AUTHORS: In 1900 the Atlantic Monthly published his story "An Odyssey of the North", his literary breakthrough Jack London |
| #5501, aired 2008-07-07 | THE QUOTE OF THE MONTH CLUB: In a poem, these 5 words precede "breeding Lilacs out of the dead land... stirring Dull roots with spring rain" April is the cruellest month |
| #5500, aired 2008-07-04 | FOREIGN COUNTRIES: Of the world's 10 largest countries in total area, the 2 whose names start & end with "A" (Algeria is number 11) Australia & Argentina |
| #5499, aired 2008-07-03 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: The first man to receive a million votes for president in one election, he didn't get to enjoy the victory for long William Henry Harrison |
| #5498, aired 2008-07-02 | AFI's TOP 100 MOVIE QUOTES: This quote, No. 31 on the list, comes 2 minutes after the No. 1 quote, & is the last line of its movie After all, tomorrow is another day! |
| #5497, aired 2008-07-01 | PRESIDENTIAL RELATIVES: Before George W. Bush, he was the last president to have both his parents attend his inauguration John F. Kennedy |
| #5496, aired 2008-06-30 | PLAYWRIGHTS: On his death in 1950, he left part of his estate to promote a new phonetic alphabet George Bernard Shaw |
| #5495, aired 2008-06-27 | THE U.S. POPULATION: With about 5 people per square mile, it's the most sparsely populated of the lower 48 states Wyoming |
| #5494, aired 2008-06-26 | THE OSCARS: He holds the record for total acting, directing & writing Oscar nominations--1 acting, 6 directing, 14 writing Woody Allen |
| #5493, aired 2008-06-25 | THE HEISMAN TROPHY: One of the 2 Heisman Trophy winners who share their surnames with U.S. presidents Reggie Bush or Bo Jackson |
| #5492, aired 2008-06-24 | WORLD ORGANIZATIONS: It was founded after Portuguese students were jailed for toasting freedom during Salazar's dictatorship Amnesty International |
| #5491, aired 2008-06-23 | PRESIDENTIAL BIRTHPLACES: 4 U.S. presidents serving in 3 different centuries have been born in the same county in this state Massachusetts |
| #5490, aired 2008-06-20 | 19th CENTURY SCIENCE: In 1824 Anglican priest William Buckland wrote a pioneering paper on Megalosaurus, a creature whose name means this lizard |
| #5489, aired 2008-06-19 | BUSINESS TRADEMARKS: Registered in 1893, this product's trademark is written in the Spencerian script of bookkeeper Frank Robinson Coca-Cola |
| #5488, aired 2008-06-18 | THE ACADEMY AWARDS: In 1981 he received an honorary Oscar for his body of work; a year later, he won an acting Oscar for his final film Henry Fonda |
| #5487, aired 2008-06-17 | FAMOUS NAMES: Jefferson called him "Attila of the age dethroned... shut up within the circle of a little island of the Mediterranean" Napoleon |
| #5486, aired 2008-06-16 | AMERICAN AUTHORS: In 1958 he wrote, "Brazil was beastly but Buenos Aires was the best. Not Tiffany's, but almost" Truman Capote |
| #5485, aired 2008-06-13 | HOLIDAYS: The Society for Human Resource Management says, of the 10 federal holidays, it's the least observed by the private sector Columbus Day |
| #5484, aired 2008-06-12 | FUN WITH NUMBERS: It's the only whole number that when spelled out has all its letters in reverse alphabetical order one |
| #5483, aired 2008-06-11 | MOVIE STARS: No. 18 on the AFI's list of the greatest American screen actors, he starred in just 3 films James Dean |
| #5482, aired 2008-06-10 | COLONIAL PEN NAMES: For gossip columns, he wrote under the name Busy Body; to discuss marriage, he became Anthony Afterwit Benjamin Franklin |
| #5481, aired 2008-06-09 | THE INTERNET: On March 10, 2003 this nation got control of the .af Internet domain Afghanistan |
| #5480, aired 2008-06-06 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: He's the last person to receive a state's electoral votes while not running as a Democrat or as a Republican George Wallace |
| #5479, aired 2008-06-05 | THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE: Living from 1846 to 1935, this celebrated Frenchman was known as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings" Georges Auguste Escoffier |
| #5478, aired 2008-06-04 | ENTERTAINERS: In 2007 this entertainer & former sitcom star was made an honorary corporal by the U.S. Marine Corps Jim Nabors |
| #5477, aired 2008-06-03 | BUSINESS: In 1951 this company whose origins date back to 1876 became the first U.S. company to have 1 million stockholders AT&T |
| #5476, aired 2008-06-02 | THE BILLBOARD HOT 100: A song by this artist hit No. 1 in 1999, making her at age 52 the oldest female to have a Billboard No. 1 single Cher |
| #5475, aired 2008-05-30 | WWII: FDR liked to rest near water, but because of fears after Pearl Harbor, this inland place was created for him Camp David |
| #5474, aired 2008-05-29 | ANNUAL SPORTING EVENTS: With an estimated sellout crowd of 267,925 people, it claims to be the best-attended single-day sporting event in the U.S. the Indy 500 |
| #5473, aired 2008-05-28 | 20th CENTURY LEADERS: He said, "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last" Winston Churchill |
| #5472, aired 2008-05-27 | FILMS OF THE 1950s: The action in this film begins at 10:30 A.M. & plays out in almost-real time until 12:15 High Noon |
| #5471, aired 2008-05-26 | DEMOGRAPHICS: In 2005 the World Health Organization appropriately decided to stop hiring people who do this smoke |
| #5470, aired 2008-05-23 | RELIGION: A Mennonite leader who was pro-foot washing & anti-beard trimming gave his name to this group the Amish |
| #5469, aired 2008-05-22 | EARLY 20th CENTURY PLAYS: Its preface says, "The English have no respect for their language, & will not teach their children to speak it" Pygmalion |
| #5468, aired 2008-05-21 | WORLD HISTORY: One of history's largest refugee migrations, about 15 million people, took place 1947-1951 between these 2 countries Pakistan & India |
| #5467, aired 2008-05-20 | CHILDREN'S AUTHORS: In 1896 he said his mother had lost her childhood at 8; he "knew a time would come when I also must give up the games" J.M. Barrie |
| #5466, aired 2008-05-19 | THE MOVIES: A famous scene from this 1976 film was completely ad-libbed; the script simply read, "Travis looks in the mirror" Taxi Driver |
| #5465, aired 2008-05-16 | ALLIANCES: The Quadruple Alliance began in 1813 against this country; in 1818 it let this country in & became the Quintuple Alliance France |
| #5464, aired 2008-05-15 | HISTORIC JOURNALS: On January 18, 1912 he arrived at a tent near the pole & found "a record of five Norwegians having been there" Robert F. Scott |
| #5463, aired 2008-05-14 | AMERICAN HISTORY: In the last week of the John Tyler administration, this republic was offered statehood Texas |
| #5462, aired 2008-05-13 | CIVIL WAR-ERA FICTION: A Northerner whose sympathies exiled him to the Confederacy, Bermuda & Canada inspired this 1863 tale The Man Without A Country |
| #5461, aired 2008-05-12 | INVENTORS: In 1894, in his West Orange lab, Thomas Edison shot this sport, the first sporting event ever filmed boxing |
| #5460, aired 2008-05-09 | ANCIENT TIMES: Plutarch's chapter on Romulus quotes this much later man as saying, "I love treason but hate a traitor" Julius Caesar |
| #5459, aired 2008-05-08 | FAMOUS AUSTRIANS: The home on Vienna's Domgasse where he lived in the 1780s was reopened amid fanfare in January 2006 Mozart |
| #5458, aired 2008-05-07 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: Only 50 years old when he left office, he was our nation's youngest ex-president Teddy Roosevelt |
| #5457, aired 2008-05-06 | THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD: Philo of Byzantium called it a ploughed field "above the heads of those who walk between the columns below" the Hanging Gardens of Babylon |
| #5456, aired 2008-05-05 | AMERICAN THINKERS: "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude", he wrote in a chapter on solitude in an 1854 work Henry David Thoreau |
| #5455, aired 2008-05-02 | ANCIENT HISTORY: Circled 7 times by the Israelites in Joshua, it's said to be the world's oldest walled city Jericho |
| #5454, aired 2008-05-01 | HISTORIC NAMES: Born at Chateau Chavaniac in 1757, he was later hailed as "the hero of two worlds" the Marquis de Lafayette |
| #5453, aired 2008-04-30 | BUSINESS: In 1952 Glen Bell was selling burgers; he then added these to the drive-in menu for 19¢, & the rest is history tacos |
| #5452, aired 2008-04-29 | BASEBALL TERMS: Hall of Famer Willie Stargell called it "a butterfly with hiccups" a knuckleball |
| #5451, aired 2008-04-28 | ROYAL WIVES: Her marriage to Henry VIII lasted less than a year, but she had the last laugh, surviving him by 10 years Anne of Cleves |
| #5450, aired 2008-04-25 | PRESIDENTS: Besides James & John, more U.S. presidents have had this first name than any other William |
| #5449, aired 2008-04-24 | STATE CAPITALS: This Plains State capital of only 14,000 people is the only U.S. capital with no letters of its state in its name Pierre, South Dakota |
| #5448, aired 2008-04-23 | 21st CENTURY OSCAR WINNERS: She's the only performer to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar winner Cate Blanchett |
| #5447, aired 2008-04-22 | POETS: This poet wrote, "I love thee freely, as men strive for right; I love thee purely, as they turn from praise" Elizabeth Barrett Browning |
| #5446, aired 2008-04-21 | MILITARY MEN: In a 1944 speech, he said, "Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge" George Patton |
| #5445, aired 2008-04-18 | THE OSCARS: They're the only 2 trilogies in which all 3 of the films were nominated for Best Picture Oscars The Godfather & The Lord of the Rings |
| #5444, aired 2008-04-17 | WWII: In English, it's the word that Mussolini was the first to use to describe the partnership between Berlin & Rome axis |
| #5443, aired 2008-04-16 | CONSUMER PRODUCTS: This product was reintroduced in 1906 with trimethylxanthine as the sole remaining stimulant Coca-Cola |
| #5442, aired 2008-04-15 | WORLD LEADERS: Unable to say this future leader's tribal name, a teacher gave him a new name, perhaps after a British naval hero Nelson Mandela |
| #5441, aired 2008-04-14 | SCIENCE FICTION: The idea for these TV creatures sprang from rabbits in Australia that multiplied at an incredible rate tribbles |
| #5440, aired 2008-04-11 | WORLD HISTORY: Beginning in 1932 all this country's kings have been the country's founder or his sons Saudi Arabia |
| #5439, aired 2008-04-10 | U.S. AGRICULTURE: In the 50 states, the highlighted area seen here is by far the most important for producing this coffee |
| #5438, aired 2008-04-09 | 1950s FICTION: Later translated into Russian by the author, it was dubbed both one of the best books of 1955 & one of the filthiest Lolita |
| #5437, aired 2008-04-08 | OLYMPIC CITIES: Of all the cities to host the modern Olympic Games, this one lies closest to the equator Mexico City |
| #5436, aired 2008-04-07 | ASSASSINATIONS: For a short time, Diego Rivera was a suspect in the 1940 murder of this man Leon Trotsky |
| #5435, aired 2008-04-04 | SHOW BUSINESS: The wings on this, created in 1948, represent the "muse of art"; the atom represents the "electron of science" the Emmy Award |
| #5434, aired 2008-04-03 | SPORTS FIRSTS: The first baseball World Series game played outside the U.S. was played in this city in 1992 Toronto |
| #5433, aired 2008-04-02 | EUROPEAN RIVERS: 20 miles from Frankfurt is the meeting place of these 2 rivers, whose names rhyme despite the spelling the Rhine & the Main |
| #5432, aired 2008-04-01 | VICE PRESIDENTS: He's the only sitting vice president since Martin Van Buren elected to the presidency George H.W. Bush |
| #5431, aired 2008-03-31 | BEFORE THEY WERE SENATORS: Later a U.S. senator, in 1962 he made a famous 75,000-mile trip John Glenn |
| #5430, aired 2008-03-28 | PROS & CONS IN HISTORY: The two 3-letter words applied to those for & against the 18th Amendment, & states with differing laws on the issue dry & wet |
| #5429, aired 2008-03-27 | CLASSICAL MUSICIANS: In 1793, Haydn wrote he will be "one of Europe's finest composers, & I shall be proud to be called his teacher" Ludwig van Beethoven |
| #5428, aired 2008-03-26 | THE ACADEMY AWARDS: In 1954 he won a record 4 Oscars, including one for "Best Documentary Feature" for a film set in the American desert Walt Disney |
| #5427, aired 2008-03-25 | ANCIENT NAMES: Appropriately, the name of this dramatist comes from Greek words meaning "wise" & "famous" Sophocles |
| #5426, aired 2008-03-24 | THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: Coined in 1899, this word suggests that things like rivers & boundaries affect nations' foreign affairs geopolitics |
| #5425, aired 2008-03-21 | WORLD LITERATURE: "If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake" refers to a murderer in this 1866 novel Crime and Punishment |
| #5424, aired 2008-03-20 | PLAGUES & PESTILENCE: Having first escaped from a South American research lab in 1957, they became a threat to the U.S. in 1990 killer bees |
| #5423, aired 2008-03-19 | BEATLES TUNES: It's the Beatles' only U.S. No. 1 hit single whose title is the name of an actual place "Penny Lane" |
| #5422, aired 2008-03-18 | HISTORIC NAMES: James I said of this plotter, "The gentler tortures are to be first used... and so proceed by steps to the worst" Guy Fawkes |
| #5421, aired 2008-03-17 | BOOK TITLE REFERENCES: It "had been built... for pigs about to be butchered. Now it was going to serve as a home... for 100 American P.O.W.s" Slaughterhouse 5 |
| #5420, aired 2008-03-14 | FOOD & DRINK: In 2001 a 5,861-gallon version of this drink was served up at a Jimmy Buffett-owned place in Orlando a margarita |
| #5419, aired 2008-03-13 | AUTHORS: Sherwood Anderson told him, write about what "you know... that little patch... in Mississippi where you started from" William Faulkner |
| #5418, aired 2008-03-12 | THE WORLD MAP: 1 of the 2 South American countries whose mainland you'll fly over when heading due south from Miami, Fla. Ecuador or Peru |
| #5417, aired 2008-03-11 | SCIENCE FICTION: A recent re-issue of this Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel includes an introduction by Michael Crichton The Lost World |
| #5416, aired 2008-03-10 | ACTORS: He never won an Oscar, but this 1960s movie star got a patent for a low-slung bucket seat for race cars Steve McQueen |
| #5415, aired 2008-03-07 | HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS: According to its earliest ads, .56% of this product was made up of carbonates, mineral matter & uncombined alkali Ivory soap |
| #5414, aired 2008-03-06 | '60s MOVIES: The tagline to this movie with a 7-word title was "Everybody who's ever been funny is in it!" It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
| #5413, aired 2008-03-05 | HISTORIC NEW YORK CITY: The USA's first Labor Day parade, in 1882, went from City Hall to this square just north of 14th Street Union Square |
| #5412, aired 2008-03-04 | SPACE: 2007: A NASA Mars lander has this mythic name because it was made of parts from a scrapped 2001 mission Phoenix |
| #5411, aired 2008-03-03 | U.S. GEOGRAPHY: Of the USA's 50 tallest peaks, all are in Alaska, Colorado & California except this peak Mt. Rainier (in Washington) |
| #5410, aired 2008-02-29 | NAME'S ALMOST THE SAME: This 900-mile Eastern European mountain range shares most of its name with a ship famous for its April 1912 actions the Carpathian Mountains |
| #5409, aired 2008-02-28 | THE NFL: It's the only NFL team to play its home games out-of-state in a stadium named for another team the New York Jets |
| #5408, aired 2008-02-27 | WORD ORIGINS: It's from the Latin for "hemp" because it was often made of hemp; add a letter & it means to take a survey canvas |
| #5407, aired 2008-02-26 | 1910s HISTORY: World Book said it "ranks as one of the greatest engineering achievements in the world" the Panama Canal |
| #5406, aired 2008-02-25 | BIBLICAL PLACE NAMES: In "Return of the Jedi", a planet shares its name with this home of a woman who summons a spirit for Saul Endor |
| #5405, aired 2008-02-22 | U.S. GOVERNMENT HISTORY: This man cast the first tie-breaking vote in U.S. Senate history John Adams |
| #5404, aired 2008-02-21 | FAMOUS AMERICANS: In 1733 he wrote, "The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart" Benjamin Franklin |
| #5403, aired 2008-02-20 | NOTABLE NAMES: At his death in April 1955, his brain was preserved & his ashes scattered in the Delaware River Albert Einstein |
| #5402, aired 2008-02-19 | STATE CAPITALS: One of the two state capitals whose names end with the Greek word for "city" (1 of) Annapolis or Indianapolis |
| #5401, aired 2008-02-18 | SHAKESPEAREAN HEROINES: The name of this heroine known for her filial devotion is probably derived from the Latin for "heart" Cordelia |
| #5400, aired 2008-02-15 | AMERICAN POETRY: Walt Whitman called this "the beautiful uncut hair of graves" grass |
| #5399, aired 2008-02-14 | AFRICAN AMERICANS: As U.S. Solicitor General in the 1960s, he won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall |
| #5398, aired 2008-02-13 | THE ANIMAL WORLD: C. familiaris, it has one of the largest size ranges, from a 2-pound Mexican variety to 200 pounders a dog |
| #5397, aired 2008-02-12 | CHARACTERS IN BOOKS: This character says, "It's Christmas Day! I haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night" Ebenezer Scrooge |
| #5396, aired 2008-02-11 | THE 50 STATES: It's the only state name that when spelled officially contains a diacritical mark Hawaii |
| #5395, aired 2008-02-08 | NORTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY: This 1,980-mile river that starts in Canada is the longest in the Western Hemisphere that flows to the Pacific Ocean the Yukon River |
| #5394, aired 2008-02-07 | EUROPE: Its use dates back to 1360; on January 1, 2002 Belgium dropped it but Switzerland kept it the franc |
| #5393, aired 2008-02-06 | WORLD AUTHORS: In 1898 he wrote, "As for the persons I have accused... they are... embodiments of social malfeasance" Émile Zola |
| #5392, aired 2008-02-05 | 19th CENTURY POLITICIANS: As Territories Committee chair, this Midwest senator helped draw the borders of 7 territories, including Kansas & Nebraska Stephen Douglas |
| #5391, aired 2008-02-04 | BRITISH ACTORS: The first man to win Tonys as Best Actor & Best Actor in a Musical, he won for playing a king & a professor Rex Harrison |
| #5390, aired 2008-02-01 | COMMUNICATION: A government website says it's "a complete, complex language... said to be the 4th most commonly used" in the U.S. American Sign Language |
| #5389, aired 2008-01-31 | WORLD CAPITALS: This capital city of 113,000 is the closest national capital to the Arctic Circle Reykjavík |
| #5388, aired 2008-01-30 | NOTABLE WOMEN: Denied a college education in her own country, in 1903 she became the first woman in France to earn her doctorate Marie Curie |
| #5387, aired 2008-01-29 | PUBLISHING: Founded in 1856, this company introduced a numbering system for U.S. highways in 1917 Rand McNally |
| #5386, aired 2008-01-28 | TV CELEBRITIES: Not an actor, he is the highest-paid foreign-born personality on the 2007 Forbes list of top television earners Simon Cowell |
| #5385, aired 2008-01-25 | CLASSIC TV: Among those who objected to this drama series that premiered in October 1959 were Frank Sinatra & J. Edgar Hoover The Untouchables |
| #5384, aired 2008-01-24 | RICH & FAMOUS: At $900 million, his fortune was once 2% of the GNP; by his death in 1937, he was down to about $26 million John Rockefeller |
| #5383, aired 2008-01-23 | FAMOUS ENGLISHMEN: Andrew Carnegie's future fortune & career were inspired by an 1873 visit with this inventor & engineer Henry Bessemer |
| #5382, aired 2008-01-22 | ADJECTIVES: This word meaning "gruesome" was inspired by the deaths of the leaders of a Jewish revolt in the 100s B.C. macabre |
| #5381, aired 2008-01-21 | SHAKESPEAREAN GEOGRAPHY: This land, named for an Italian, is mentioned just once in a Shakespeare play--in "The Comedy of Errors" America |
| #5380, aired 2008-01-18 | BIBLICAL NAMES: The name of this rebellious young man of the Old Testament can be translated from the Hebrew as "father of peace" Absalom |
| #5379, aired 2008-01-17 | THE SUPREME COURT: Britannica said the court's ruling in his case "seemed a mortal blow to the newly created Republican Party" Dred Scott |
| #5378, aired 2008-01-16 | FOREIGN FILMS: A series of novels includes "Iron Knight, Silver Vase", "Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin" & this one, made into a film in 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| #5377, aired 2008-01-15 | BABY NAMES: Once among the top 100 girls' names, in 2006 it made a sudden drop to 382, many hesitant to use it Katrina |
| #5376, aired 2008-01-14 | CLASSIC MOVIE DUOS: Around the world they're known variously as "Flip i Flap", "Dick und Doof" & "El Gordo y el Flaco" Laurel & Hardy |
| #5375, aired 2008-01-11 | OPERA INSPIRATIONS: Scholars think that a panpipe found by Captain Cook in what is now Vanuatu inspired this 18th century opera The Magic Flute |
| #5374, aired 2008-01-10 | "C"INEMA: 2 movies whose 1-word titles are cities; they won the Oscar for Best Picture, 59 years apart Casablanca & Chicago |
| #5373, aired 2008-01-09 | THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: First mentioned in a letter by Clement IV in 1265, this item worn by the Pope features an image of St. Peter in a boat a ring |
| #5372, aired 2008-01-08 | WORLD HISTORY: This world-changing event was first announced in a Barcelona banquet hall in April 1493 discovery of the New World |
| #5371, aired 2008-01-07 | MIDWEST TOPOGRAPHY: This state has the largest sand dunes complex in the U.S., just north of a river named for its flatness Nebraska |
| #5370, aired 2008-01-04 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: When this president & his wife didn't want to be understood by others, they spoke to each other in Chinese Herbert Hoover |
| #5369, aired 2008-01-03 | AVIATION HISTORY: He was the 118th man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean Charles Lindbergh |
| #5368, aired 2008-01-02 | THE BOX OFFICE: Rated "R" for violence, this 2004 film set in ancient times is the highest-grossing "R" movie ever in the U.S. The Passion of the Christ |
| #5367, aired 2008-01-01 | U.S. TRADE: It's the country from which the U.S. imports the most oil Canada |
| #5366, aired 2007-12-31 | POETRY: In a poem about this battle, Robert Browning wrote, "To Akropolis! Run, Pheidippides, one race more" the Battle of Marathon |
| #5365, aired 2007-12-28 | U.S. STATES: 2 of the 4 states whose names were those of independent republics before they entered the Union (2 of) Hawaii, Texas, California, & Vermont |
| #5364, aired 2007-12-27 | AUTHORS' OBITUARIES: In 1991 the N.Y. Times said English was "too skimpy for so rich an imagination"; his language & meter were irresistible Dr. Seuss |
| #5363, aired 2007-12-26 | STRUCTURES: When completed, it stretched for 73 1/2 miles from Bowness to Wallsend Hadrian's Wall |
| #5362, aired 2007-12-25 | FRENCHMEN IN HISTORY: He was nicknamed "The Robespierre of the Brush", but unlike his friend Robespierre, he was jailed but not guillotined Jacques-Louis David |
| #5361, aired 2007-12-24 | SPACE MEN: He was the oldest man to walk on the Moon, & the only World War II veteran Alan Shepard |
| #5360, aired 2007-12-21 | POETS: Fired from a job for laziness, he wrote, "I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass" Walt Whitman |
| #5359, aired 2007-12-20 | SNACK BRANDS: Each unit in this brand, introduced in 1968, is a hyperbolic paraboloid, & they fit together for perfect storage Pringles potato chips |
| #5358, aired 2007-12-19 | CLASSIC ROCK: As there was another album by that title, this classic from 1973 was at one point going to be called "Eclipse" The Dark Side of the Moon (by Pink Floyd) |
| #5357, aired 2007-12-18 | THE 1970s: For an historic February 1972 trip, Richard Nixon & Henry Kissinger each learned to use these; Nixon was better at it chopsticks |
| #5356, aired 2007-12-17 | 19th CENTURY NAMES: He got his name because Mexican victims of his attacks would cry out in terror to St. Jerome Geronimo |
| #5355, aired 2007-12-14 | ACADEMY AWARD FIRSTS: On March 5, 1936 screenwriter Dudley Nichols did this; it didn't happen again until an actor did it April 15, 1971 refused his Oscar |
| #5354, aired 2007-12-13 | AFRICAN RIVERS: The course of this river that's almost 3,000 miles long is an immense counter-clockwise semi-circle the Congo |
| #5353, aired 2007-12-12 | 20th CENTURY PERSONALITIES: In 1921 he got a patent for a diving suit that allowed one to quickly discard the suit & escape to the surface Harry Houdini |
| #5352, aired 2007-12-11 | SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY CHARACTERS: To the consternation of the title character, we learn that this character was born by C-section Macduff |
| #5351, aired 2007-12-10 | LANDMARKS: The landmark site known to the Lakota as "6 Grandfathers" was renamed this after a prominent lawyer Mt. Rushmore |
| #5350, aired 2007-12-07 | MOTOWN SINGERS: He added an "E" to his last name to avoid being teased Marvin Gaye |
| #5349, aired 2007-12-06 | NOTABLE WOMEN: In 1963 she said, "I feel as though I'm suddenly on stage for a part I never rehearsed" Lady Bird Johnson |
| #5348, aired 2007-12-05 | BRITISH ENTREPRENEURS: In 1839 Queen Victoria awarded him the first ever license to deliver mail across the Atlantic (Samuel) Cunard |
| #5347, aired 2007-12-04 | U.S. POLITICS: Since 1960, only Massachusetts & this state have produced more than one of the 10 Democratic presidential nominees Minnesota (Hubert Humphrey & Walter Mondale) |
| #5346, aired 2007-12-03 | AUTHORS: Her first published writings appeared in the Shanghai Mercury when she was 7 Pearl Buck |
| #5345, aired 2007-11-30 | WORD HISTORY: This term for a deadly substance may derive from the name of a love goddess venom |
| #5344, aired 2007-11-29 | 19th CENTURY BOOKS: "Political power... is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another" is from this work The Communist Manifesto |
| #5343, aired 2007-11-28 | THE SEA: National seas include the Irish, the Philippine & this one bordered to its west by Iceland the Norwegian Sea |
| #5342, aired 2007-11-27 | CURRENT AMERICAN BUSINESS: This co.'s name is a variation on a word coined by Milton Sirotta & used in the book "Mathematics and the Imagination" Google, Inc. |
| #5341, aired 2007-11-26 | WOMEN IN HISTORY: Born an infanta in 1485, she died at Kimbolton Castle in England in 1536 with the official title Princess Dowager of Wales Catherine of Aragon |
| #5340, aired 2007-11-23 | PRO SPORTS TEAM NAMES: It's the only NBA team name that uses a state nickname in place of a city or state the Golden State Warriors |
| #5339, aired 2007-11-22 | FAMOUS NAMES: In the 19th century he created a new type of reference work, a dictionary named from the Greek for "treasury" Roget |
| #5338, aired 2007-11-21 | 19th CENTURY AUTHORS: In 1833 a French historian said that this author had built "a cathedral as solid as the foundations of the other (one)" Victor Hugo |
| #5337, aired 2007-11-20 | AMERICAN ANCESTRY: According to the Census Bureau, at 15.2% & 10.8%, they are the 2 leading national ancestries of Americans German & Irish |
| #5336, aired 2007-11-19 | PHRASE ORIGINS: This 2-word phrase may be traced to a line in a Sherlock Holmes story, "The chaplain stood with a... pistol in his hand" smoking gun |
| #5335, aired 2007-11-16 | COLONIAL AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: From the Latin for "fortified town", this term later referred to a person--the representative of a town or borough burgess |
| #5334, aired 2007-11-15 | SCIENTISTS: In 2007 this 1962 American Nobel laureate became the first person to receive his own personal genome map James Watson |
| #5333, aired 2007-11-14 | NEWSPAPER PEOPLE: In 1887 her assignment for the New York World was an expose of the insane asylum on Blackwell's Island Nellie Bly |
| #5332, aired 2007-11-13 | THE MOVIES: The title of this award-winning 1963 film refers to the number of films its director felt he had made to that point 8½ |
| #5331, aired 2007-11-12 | ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITERS: In his journal of 1710 to 1713, he referred to himself as "Presto" Jonathan Swift |
| #5330, aired 2007-11-09 | HISTORIC ARCHITECTS: He designed S.C.'s State Capitol, burned during the Civil War; his most famous building had burned during the War of 1812 James Hoban |
| #5329, aired 2007-11-08 | THE PERSIAN GULF: Its national anthem begins, "O Lord, protect for us Our Majesty the Sultan" Oman |
| #5328, aired 2007-11-07 | EARLY AMERICAN SHORT STORIES: This short story, written around 1820, contains the line "If I can but reach that bridge... I am safe" "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" |
| #5327, aired 2007-11-06 | HISTORIC NAMES: He is quoted as saying, "Another such victory over the Romans, and we are undone" Pyrrhus |
| #5326, aired 2007-11-05 | THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: Referring to the Great Bear constellation, this area's name is from the Greek meaning "opposite the bear" Antarctica |
| #5325, aired 2007-11-02 | POETS: One of her poems says, "I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I tried to die and get back, back, back to you" Sylvia Plath |
| #5324, aired 2007-11-01 | MUSICAL THEATER: He's the only songwriter to have Broadway premieres in every decade from the '50s to the present; his first was in 1957 Stephen Sondheim |
| #5323, aired 2007-10-31 | ANIMALS: For 2006, between Oct. 25 & Nov. 1, the Los Angeles SPCA, like many other shelters, banned adoption of these black cats |
| #5322, aired 2007-10-30 | LICENSE PLATES OF THE FAMOUS: In 2006 his car was auctioned for charity, along with its personalized Nebraska plate reading "thrifty" Warren Buffett |
| #5321, aired 2007-10-29 | AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY: From 1889 until 1961, this mountain's highest point was known as Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze Mount Kilimanjaro |
| #5320, aired 2007-10-26 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: This hero is the son of Ecgtheow & the grandson of Hrethel Beowulf |
| #5319, aired 2007-10-25 | 16th CENTURY NAMES: Paul III roared at him, "I have waited 30 years for your services. Now I'm pope, can't I satisfy my desire?" Michelangelo |
| #5318, aired 2007-10-24 | DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS: A documentary from ESPN is based on the premise that this Louisville-born man "invented" rap in the 1960s Muhammad Ali (or Cassius Clay) |
| #5317, aired 2007-10-23 | GEOMETRY: It's an ellipse with an eccentricity of zero a circle |
| #5316, aired 2007-10-22 | QUOTATIONS FROM B.C.: This work says, "Victorious warriors win first & then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first & then seek to win" The Art of War (by Sun Tzu) |
| #5315, aired 2007-10-19 | AMERICAN HISTORY: It was the main cause of the 1803 jump in the national debt to $86.4 million the Louisiana Purchase |
| #5314, aired 2007-10-18 | BROADWAY: The original 1994 Broadway cast of this musical based on a film featured Alan Oppenheimer as Cecil B. DeMille Sunset Boulevard |
| #5313, aired 2007-10-17 | THE EARTH: As Earth wobbles slowly on its axis, this moves in a "Chandler Circle" with a diameter of about 1 to 70 feet the North Pole |
| #5312, aired 2007-10-16 | ECONOMICS: In 2007 this 18th century professor & writer became the first Scotsman to appear on an English banknote Adam Smith |
| #5311, aired 2007-10-15 | ARTISTS: In 1881 he wrote to Emile Zola, "I must soon leave Vetheuil, and I am looking for a pretty place by the Seine" Claude Monet |
| #5310, aired 2007-10-12 | THE MOVIES: This 2003 film spawned a craze for clown fish in home aquariums Finding Nemo |
| #5309, aired 2007-10-11 | TRAVELING THE GLOBE: Flying due west from Los Angeles, it's the first foreign country you would reach Japan |
| #5308, aired 2007-10-10 | SCIENTIFIC NAMES: It was first given a scientific name meaning "flat-footed duck"; it was later given one meaning "birdlike snout" a platypus |
| #5307, aired 2007-10-09 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: He's the only U.S. president who never lived in the District of Columbia George Washington |
| #5306, aired 2007-10-08 | LITERARY TITLE ADJECTIVES: The 2 adjectives that describe Miss Wheaton in the title of an award-winning book & TV movie set in the Midwest plain & tall |
| #5305, aired 2007-10-05 | SPORTS BUSINESS: In 1993 this man said, "What Phil & Nike have done is turn me into a dream" Michael Jordan |
| #5304, aired 2007-10-04 | MEET THE PRESS: With 63 appearances, this ex-senator & pres. nominee has been on "Meet the Press" more than any other guest Bob Dole |
| #5303, aired 2007-10-03 | ISLANDS: In 2003 Emily Rose Christian became the first baby born on this island in 17 years, bringing the population to nearly 50 Pitcairn Island |
| #5302, aired 2007-10-02 | TRAINS: As of 2006, you can take a 48-hr. ride between these 2 cities, with a stretch on the world's highest railroad Beijing & Lhasa |
| #5301, aired 2007-10-01 | CHARLES DICKENS: The title setting of this novel includes figures in china, iron & ivory; suits of armor; old carvings & furniture The Old Curiosity Shop |
| #5300, aired 2007-09-28 | NATIONAL HOLIDAYS: June 23, National Day in this country, began as a celebration of the birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte Luxembourg |
| #5299, aired 2007-09-27 | MEN OF MEDICINE: After giving birth in Paris, American Marjorie Karmel wrote "Thank You" him & co-founded an organization now named for him Dr. Fernand Lamaze |
| #5298, aired 2007-09-26 | THE 5 W's: The names of the president & premier of the world's most populous nation are homophones of these 2 words who & when |
| #5297, aired 2007-09-25 | 20th CENTURY FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: In 1997 the Alabama Bar Association erected a monument to this lawyer at the Old Courthouse in Monroeville Atticus Finch |
| #5296, aired 2007-09-24 | AUTHORS: Chapters in a 1914 novel by this author include "Jungle Battles", "His Own Kind" & "The Call of the Primitive" Edgar Rice Burroughs |
| #5295, aired 2007-09-21 | HISTORIC PURCHASES: The English received this teenager from the Burgundians in 1431 for the sum of 10,000 francs Joan of Arc |
| #5294, aired 2007-09-20 | CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS: In 2007 this university became the 1st to hold national titles in both football & basketball in the same year the University of Florida |
| #5293, aired 2007-09-19 | 19th CENTURY INVENTIONS: One description of it said its "spokes look like cobwebs; they are after the fashion of those on the newest... bicycles" the Ferris Wheel |
| #5292, aired 2007-09-18 | MUSICAL HISTORY: It's the nursery rhyme that inspired the title of a famous musical based on a 1913 G.B. Shaw work London Bridge |
| #5291, aired 2007-09-17 | AMERICAN PUBLISHING: The 1860 frontier novel "Malaeska", the first of its kind, sold 300,000 copies for total sales revenue of this $30,000 |
| #5290, aired 2007-09-14 | BREAD: Larousse spread the tale that after a 17th Century triumph, the victors ate this as a symbol of the beaten Muslims croissants (crescent rolls) |
| #5289, aired 2007-09-13 | GREAT MOMENTS IN THE 20th CENTURY: On 9/20/1904, about 9 months after making a great advance, these 2 made another advance by going in a circle Orville and Wilbur Wright |
| #5288, aired 2007-09-12 | MILITARY MEN: Books about this American are subtitled "Warrior as Wordsmith" & "The Far Eastern General" Douglas MacArthur |
| #5287, aired 2007-09-11 | AFRICAN CITIES: Africa's most populous city not on a navigable body of water; its settlers didn't need water when they had gold Johannesburg |
| #5286, aired 2007-09-10 | AUTHORS: In 1949 he wrote, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--forever" (George) Orwell |
