| #9155, aired 2024-07-26 | ANCIENT ANIMALS: The first fossils of these creatures with an elongated 4th digit were described in 1784 by naturalist Cosimo Collini pterodactyls |
| #9154, aired 2024-07-25 | FAMOUS WOMEN: Adding to her nickname, one legend claimed that earlier in life, she was saved from drowning by family friend Mark Twain Molly Brown |
| #9153, aired 2024-07-24 | U.S. PLACE NAMES: This name of a national forest means "fool" & may be one Apache group's name for another group; it's also a problematic TV character Tonto |
| #9152, aired 2024-07-23 | HISTORIC SPOTS: Known for a fabled event of 1881, it housed an auto repair shop after the disappearance of the horse & buggy the O.K. Corral |
| #9151, aired 2024-07-22 | AUTHORS: "Love" is within the titles of 3 of his most famous books; a fourth, "The Rainbow", calls love "the flower of life" (D.H.) Lawrence |
| #9150, aired 2024-07-19 | 19th CENTURY WOMEN: The National Park Service says there are more statues of her, often with her infant son, than any other American woman Sacagawea |
| #9149, aired 2024-07-18 | SHOW BIZ MARRIAGES: Married since 1977, the year of this band's 1st album, 2 members referenced another album with their 2023 "Remain in Love" tour Talking Heads |
| #9148, aired 2024-07-17 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: In a 1980 National Book Award winner, we learn this title character gets his name from the rank of his late dad--technical sergeant (T.S.) Garp |
| #9147, aired 2024-07-16 | 1960s PEOPLE: He said that California prison psych tests he took were ones he had designed, so he made himself look docile & unlikely to escape; then he did Dr. Timothy Leary |
| #9146, aired 2024-07-15 | NEWER WORDS: Philosophers use it for language that accompanies an action, like "I dub thee knight"; it also means done for show or signal performative |
| #9145, aired 2024-07-12 | NAMES IN MEDICINE: He got a special presidential citation in 1955, passed away in 1995 & was dubbed "the man who saved the children" (Dr. Jonas) Salk |
| #9144, aired 2024-07-11 | COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD: Until 1991 this country named for a river had a capital whose name means "lakes" in Portuguese Nigeria |
| #9143, aired 2024-07-10 | FAMOUS AMERICANS: In his 1999 memoir he wrote, "I had been shot down a short walk's distance from the French-built prison, Hoa Lo" (Senator John) McCain |
| #9142, aired 2024-07-09 | LITERATURE: In one story he is enslaved by the Old Man of the Sea & uses apes to pick fruit so he can afford his fare back to Baghdad Sinbad (the Sailor) |
| #9141, aired 2024-07-08 | OPERA: The melody of a traditional piece for the koto called "Echigo-Jishi" is used in Act 1 of this opera Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) |
| #9140, aired 2024-07-05 | WORLD LANGUAGES: The flag of Aruba features a 4-pointed star symbolizing its 4 major languages: the local Papiamento & these 3 imported ones Dutch, English & Spanish |
| #9139, aired 2024-07-04 | TECH TALK: In 1992 Jean Polly told new web users to do this & later explained they "need some skill... never know if there are going to be sharks" surf the web |
| #9138, aired 2024-07-03 | HISTORIC WOMEN: In the 16th century, she changed the "EW" in her family name to a "U" to help her new French in-laws spell it more easily Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart) |
| #9137, aired 2024-07-02 | STAGE & MOVIE CHARACTERS: Acquitted of shooting her lover in 1924, Beulah Annan was the inspiration for this character in a play, film & musical Roxie Hart |
| #9136, aired 2024-07-01 | GERMAN BOOKS: First published in 1812, this anthology included "The Water Nymph" & "The Booted Tom Cat" Grimms' Fairy Tales |
| #9135, aired 2024-06-28 | NOTABLE AMERICAN WOMEN: In her autobiography she tells of a rather "singular coincidence", that one of her Swiss ancestors was a teacher of the deaf Helen Keller |
| #9134, aired 2024-06-27 | BUSINESSMEN: After joining the Army at 16 in 1906 for a brief stint, he received a much higher honorary rank from the governor of his state 29 years later Colonel Sanders |
| #9133, aired 2024-06-26 | LITERATURE: The British Library says of this 19th c. man, "One of his most famous poems... is a warning about the arrogance of great leaders" (Percy Bysshe) Shelley |
| #9132, aired 2024-06-25 | NATIONAL MONUMENTS: From its ramparts, you can see the mouth of the Patapsco River as it flows into Chesapeake Bay Fort McHenry |
| #9131, aired 2024-06-24 | NAMES IN THE HEAVENS: When this body was discovered in 1978, Persephone was suggested as its name Charon |
| #9130, aired 2024-06-21 | SPORTS: 50 years ago Vin Scully announced he got "a standing ovation in the Deep South" for breaking a longtime record Hank Aaron |
| #9129, aired 2024-06-20 | AUTHORS' WIVES: When asked if she was the inspiration for the wife in a 1922 novel, this woman replied, "No. She was much fatter" Nora Joyce |
| #9128, aired 2024-06-19 | BRANDS: In 1978 a new cologne for men came out called this, what's being played in the company's iconic logo Polo |
| #9127, aired 2024-06-18 | GEOGRAPHIC NAME'S ALMOST THE SAME: Legend says in 1876 a dragon built for the first "Ring" cycle had its neck sent to this Mideast capital, not the right German city Beirut |
| #9126, aired 2024-06-17 | 2 LAST NAMES, SAME FIRST LETTER: Born 344 years apart, they are the 2 real people mentioned by name in the titles of 1990s Best Picture Oscar winners Shakespeare & Schindler |
| #9125, aired 2024-06-14 | 1960s AMERICA: Helping draft an executive order in 1961, Hobart Taylor Jr. almost used the word "positive", but instead chose this alliterative phrase affirmative action |
| #9124, aired 2024-06-13 | 1960s BRITISH NOVELS: The author of this novel said of the last chapter left off U.S. editions, "My young thuggish protagonist grows up" A Clockwork Orange |
| #9123, aired 2024-06-12 | FAMOUS NAMES: Vying with Eiffel, this engineer wanted to create big; an admiring account said the obelisk of Luxor is too short to be a spoke (George) Ferris |
| #9122, aired 2024-06-11 | U.S. GEOGRAPHY: Of the 10 U.S. states with 2-word names, this one stretches the farthest south New Mexico |
| #9121, aired 2024-06-10 | NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWS: In 1958 a review of this book now considered a classic called it repulsive, disgusting & "highbrow pornography" Lolita |
| #9120, aired 2024-06-07 | WORLD LEADERS: During a 1972 presidential visit, Richard Nixon discussed a poem by this leader called "Ode to the Plum Blossom" Chairman Mao Zedong |
| #9119, aired 2024-06-06 | U.S. HISTORY: Challenged in a courtroom that same year, 1925's Butler Act in Tennessee outlawed this activity & wasn't repealed until 1967 teaching evolution |
| #9118, aired 2024-06-05 | BRITISH PLACES: This city owes much of its early history to a temple dedicated to Sulis Minerva & a "sacred spring" found there Bath |
| #9117, aired 2024-06-04 | FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: This character in a series of popular books begun in 1934 promises, "I'll stay till the wind changes" Mary Poppins |
| #9116, aired 2024-06-03 | COLLEGES: Of the Seven Sisters colleges, this one located in a place of the same name is the farthest south Bryn Mawr |
| #9115, aired 2024-05-31 | HISTORIC PEOPLE: An island near Cebu City has a statue of Lapulapu & a monument to this man that Lapulapu is said to have killed in 1521 Magellan |
| #9114, aired 2024-05-30 | AMERICAN BANKING: Around 1930 a bank named for this NYC area known as a slum was the USA's largest savings bank by total deposits the Bowery |
| #9113, aired 2024-05-29 | HISTORIC GEOGRAPHY: This city attracted thousands of visitors even before a new shrine to a murder victim was dedicated there July 7, 1220 Canterbury |
| #9112, aired 2024-05-28 | EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS: On the 2022 Bicentennial of his birth, the body of this man was exhumed & DNA used to determine his genetic afflictions Gregor Mendel |
| #9111, aired 2024-05-27 | FEMALE SINGERS: In December 2023 she became the oldest solo artist, at 78, to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with a song she recorded in 1958 Brenda Lee |
| #9110, aired 2024-05-24 | LITERATURE: Preserved in a single manuscript called Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, this epic begins with the word "Hwæt", often translated as listen Beowulf |
| #9109, aired 2024-05-23 | ARTWORK: Rembrandt's only seascape is set here, where the main figure once said, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" the Sea of Galilee |
| #9108, aired 2024-05-22 | COUNTRIES' LANGUAGES: About 70% of its people can speak Portuguese; about 20% can speak Umbundu, 8% Kikongo & 8% Kimbundu Angola |
| #9107, aired 2024-05-21 | THE MOVIES: Louise & Lisa Burns, twins featured in this 1980 film, told a magazine, "We're naturally spooky!" The Shining |
| #9106, aired 2024-05-20 | THE THEATER: Of the 14 roles in a production of this play that opened on Broadway on October 28, 2004, none were played by females 12 Angry Men |
| #9105, aired 2024-05-17 | BOOK & MOVIE TITLE REFERENCES: The title of this 2001 book, also a 2003 film, forms a partial border between Boston, Chelsea, Medford & Everett Mystic River |
| #9104, aired 2024-05-16 | THE EARLY 20th CENTURY: Before entering history, this man visited the grave of Bogdan Zerajic, who had died just a few years earlier Princip |
| #9103, aired 2024-05-15 | 19th CENTURY LITERARY CHARACTERS: John Elwes, a millionaire Member of Parliament who would go to bed before dusk to save on candles, inspired this character (Ebenezer) Scrooge |
| #9102, aired 2024-05-14 | BUSINESS LOGOS: Early 1900s labels for this beverage brand featured a beaver sitting on a log at the top of a map Canada Dry |
| #9101, aired 2024-05-13 | CINEMA HISTORY: Films made outside the U.S. in the '50s like "3 Coins in the Fountain" & "Quo Vadis" led to an era dubbed "Hollywood on" this river the Tiber |
| #9100, aired 2024-05-10 | 20th CENTURY BOOKS: A review said this 1966 book about real events "will cause a good deal of myopic squabbling about just what a novel is" In Cold Blood |
| #9099, aired 2024-05-09 | 1980s FADS: A November 29, 1983 N.Y. Times article about these used "near-riot", "adoptable", "waiting for 8 hours" & "my life (is) in danger" Cabbage Patch Kids |
| #9098, aired 2024-05-08 | RHYME TIME: OPERA VERSION: Telling the story of a duke, a jester & the jester's daughter, it was written by poet Francesco Maria Piave the Rigoletto libretto |
| #9097, aired 2024-05-07 | FAMOUS CHARACTERS: She's introduced in an 1845 novella in which she wears a short skirt with her mantilla thrown back to show her shoulders Carmen |
| #9096, aired 2024-05-06 | HISTORIC GROUPS: Like their uniform, the flag of this group created in 1506 has stripes of red, blue & yellow, the colors of the Medici family the Swiss Guard |
| #9095, aired 2024-05-03 | 1990s NO. 1 SONGS: This title character of the top song from 1996 can't stand her boyfriend Vitorino & spurns him to be with his 2 friends Macarena |
| #9094, aired 2024-05-02 | COUNTRIES WITH SPACE PROGRAMS: It launched its first satellite, Asterix, in 1965 France |
| #9093, aired 2024-05-01 | EXECUTIVE ORDERS: On Nov. 15, 1961 JFK suspended the 8-hour workday at this agency, saying its work needed to proceed "with all possible speed" NASA |
| #9092, aired 2024-04-30 | FICTIONAL GROUPS: Maybe because he was too Baroque, Bernini was rejected as a name for a member of this group created in 1983 the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| #9091, aired 2024-04-29 | NICKNAMES: Surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku has been called by this 2-word nickname that describes any dominant person or expert Big Kahuna |
| #9090, aired 2024-04-26 | U.S. GEOGRAPHY: At 14,410', it's one of North America's highest volcanoes; a Puyallup name for it can be translated to "bring the water" Mount Rainier |
| #9089, aired 2024-04-25 | STATUES: The 42-foot-high statue of Athena in this state capital is the tallest indoor statue in the United States Nashville |
| #9088, aired 2024-04-24 | HISTORIC TRANSPORTS: Decorated with an illustration of the Montgolfiers' craft, the smoking room aboard this could be accessed only via an airlock the Hindenburg |
| #9087, aired 2024-04-23 | BUSINESS: In the 1850s the .925 sterling silver standard was instituted by this company, the first American one to do so Tiffany |
| #9086, aired 2024-04-22 | 20th CENTURY AUTHORS: Best known for a novel, she wrote at least 6 full-length plays & collaborated with Moms Mabley on a 1931 Broadway revue Zora Neale Hurston |
| #9085, aired 2024-04-19 | COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS: Featured in a 2020 film, she gets her name from a 16th c. Italian stock character who often wore diamond-patterned outfits Harley Quinn |
| #9084, aired 2024-04-18 | ALPHABETICAL AMERICA: Until Alabama became the 22nd state, this one was first alphabetically Connecticut |
| #9083, aired 2024-04-17 | ORGANIZATIONS: The press called the donations received after this org.'s 1938 founding "a silver tide which actually swamped the White House" the March of Dimes |
| #9082, aired 2024-04-16 | WORDS & THEIR MEANINGS: Churchill gave a word a new meaning when he called for a "talk with Soviet Russia upon the highest level... a parley at" this the summit |
| #9081, aired 2024-04-15 | GREAT BRITS: From 1689 to 1690 & 1701 to 1702, he served as a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Cambridge University (Isaac) Newton |
| #9080, aired 2024-04-12 | AUTHORS' AFTERLIVES: After his death his son Michel reworked & published manuscripts like one about a meteor made of gold heading for Earth Jules Verne |
| #9079, aired 2024-04-11 | SPACE SHUTTLES: 2 space shuttles were named for craft commanded by this man who died far from home in 1779 (Captain) Cook |
| #9078, aired 2024-04-10 | ANIMATED FILM CHARACTERS: In this 2017 film Dante is a hairless breed known as a Xolo dog Coco |
| #9077, aired 2024-04-09 | BODIES OF WATER: The smallest inland sea in the world, it's completely within the territory of a single country & connects 2 other larger seas the Sea of Marmara |
| #9076, aired 2024-04-08 | MYTHOLOGY: A peasant who became the king of Phrygia created this intricate problem that was solved in 333 B.C. the Gordian Knot |
| #9075, aired 2024-04-05 | U.S. GOVERNMENT: The formation of the Brownell Committee out of concern over U.S. communications intelligence led to the 1952 creation of this body the NSA |
| #9074, aired 2024-04-04 | STATE CAPITALS: It was named for a nearby river that explorer Gabriel Moraga named for one of a religious grouping of 7 Sacramento |
| #9073, aired 2024-04-03 | PHYSICISTS: This man with a force named after him published an 1835 scientific treatise on the physics of billiard balls (Gaspard-Gustave de) Coriolis |
| #9072, aired 2024-04-02 | HISTORIC GROUPS: The Kipchak Khanate is another name for this group that was eventually defeated by Tamerlane in 1395 the Golden Horde |
| #9071, aired 2024-04-01 | NOVEL TITLE OBJECTS: A girl in a 1950 novel walks into this & "got in among the coats and rubbed her face against them" a wardrobe |
| #9070, aired 2024-03-29 | U.S.S.R.I.P.: Of the 15 countries formed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this one is alphabetically last Uzbekistan |
| #9069, aired 2024-03-28 | 20th CENTURY BOOKS: TIME mentioned "cruelty & enforced conformity" when summing up this novel with a "stonily silent narrator" One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| #9068, aired 2024-03-27 | OLD WORDS: First appearing in an English dictionary in 1623, mesonoxian means pertaining to this word midnight |
| #9067, aired 2024-03-26 | ELEMENTS: In his "Natural History" Pliny described it as "argentum vivum" mercury |
| #9066, aired 2024-03-25 | NOTORIOUS FIGURES: Never even a soldier, this man lied that his nickname came from a shrapnel wound while fighting in the Argonne Al Capone |
| #9065, aired 2024-03-22 | FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD: "Captured in Egypt by the British Army 1801" is painted on the side of this artifact named for the city where it was found the Rosetta Stone |
| #9064, aired 2024-03-21 | 20th CENTURY NOVELS: Virginia Woolf disliked this book that was "cutting out the explanations and putting in the thoughts between dashes" Ulysses |
| #9063, aired 2024-03-20 | TRAILBLAZERS: The foremost member of the "Sochi Six", which was similar to a previous U.S. group, he died in a plane crash in 1968 (Yuri) Gagarin |
| #9062, aired 2024-03-19 | THE HUMAN BODY: This glandular organ that starts to shrink at puberty is known for being where the cells key to adaptive immunity develop the thymus |
| #9061, aired 2024-03-18 | EURASIA: Zvartnots International Airport serves this capital & has the code EVN, all letters found in the city's name Yerevan, Armenia |
| #9060, aired 2024-03-15 | HISTORIC AMERICANS: Near Kirkbean on Solway Firth, U.S. Vice Admiral Jerauld Wright presented a memorial plaque honoring this man John Paul Jones |
| #9059, aired 2024-03-14 | THE UNITED NATIONS: Of the 9 countries that have produced a U.N. Secretary-General, this nation is the only one from its hemisphere Peru |
| #9058, aired 2024-03-13 | BOOKS OF THE BIBLE: This book is named for a tribe of Israel that carried out judgment of the idolaters of the golden calf Leviticus |
| #9057, aired 2024-03-12 | WORLD THEATER: This 1867 play has a reindeer hunt & a king dwelling in snowy mountains but its title character also spends time in Morocco & Egypt Peer Gynt |
| #9056, aired 2024-03-11 | WORD ORIGINS: A radical in an 1833 failed uprising in Germany, Ludwig von Rochau coined this term for acts taken for practical reasons not ethics Realpolitik |
| #9055, aired 2024-03-08 | LITERATURE & RELIGION: This city now in Turkey is the addressee of one of the New Testament epistles & the setting for "The Comedy of Errors" Ephesus |
| #9054, aired 2024-03-07 | ANCIENT DRAMA: From the 470s B.C., Aeschylus' earliest surviving work has this title; he'd fought them repeatedly in the preceding years The Persians |
| #9053, aired 2024-03-06 | AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY: "The country is celebrating 100 years of freedom 100 years too soon", says "The Fire Next Time", published in this year 1963 |
| #9052, aired 2024-03-05 | CHEMICAL ELEMENTS: Isolated in 1945 during uranium fission research, it was named for an ancient deity to suggest humans gaining a new power promethium |
| #9051, aired 2024-03-04 | POETS OF ANCIENT ROME: Far from Rome, this first century poet wrote, "The leader's anger done, grant me the right to die in my native country" Ovid |
| #9050, aired 2024-03-01 | COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD: Fearful of independence in 1975, around 120,000 of this country's people, a third of the population, fled to the Netherlands Suriname |
| #9049, aired 2024-02-29 | WORLD TRAVEL: The name of this service that began Nov. 14, 1994 echoes the Étoile du Nord, which linked Paris, Brussels & Amsterdam from 1927 Eurostar |
| #9048, aired 2024-02-28 | 1950s POLITICS: In 1959 Bob Bartlett & Hiram Fong each won a coin flip to gain this alliterative title senior senator |
| #9047, aired 2024-02-27 | MILITARY HISTORY: A prototype of this craft was deployed in August 1955; it made headlines in May 1960 the U-2 |
| #9046, aired 2024-02-26 | ART HISTORY: The Royal Academy of Arts has this man's "La Fornarina" & in the 1800s the RAA's love of him made some artists retreat to an earlier style Raphael |
| #9045, aired 2024-02-23 | FRENCH AUTHORS: Trained as a priest & a physician, in 1532 he published his first novel under the pen name Alcofribas Nasier (François) Rabelais |
| #9044, aired 2024-02-22 | ON VACATION IN ITALY: About 30 miles from Florence, a little hill gives this tiny Tuscan town its name, familiar to American visitors Monticello |
| #9043, aired 2024-02-21 | 19th CENTURY AMERICANS: In 1896, 15 years after a famous showdown, this man was accused of fixing a championship boxing match Wyatt Earp |
| #9042, aired 2024-02-20 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: He's the most recent presidential candidate to have officially declared his opponent in that campaign the victor Al Gore |
| #9041, aired 2024-02-19 | CANADIAN MEDICINE: Nova Scotian William Knapp Buckley devised a widely used antitussive, meaning a drug used against this cough(ing) |
| #9040, aired 2024-02-16 | THEATER: A 1955 play review noted "restless Delta folk" & "lives as uncomfortable & insecure as the proverbial" this title Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
| #9039, aired 2024-02-15 | LANDMARKS: The distance between its 2 legs at ground level is 630 feet, making it as wide as it is tall the Gateway Arch |
| #9038, aired 2024-02-14 | BROADWAY PLAYS: Rita Moreno & Sally Struthers were the first to star in the female version of this comedy, their characters becoming Olive & Florence The Odd Couple |
| #9037, aired 2024-02-13 | SOUTHERN POLITICIANS: An article written after his 1935 death asked, "Will some crown prince arise to take his place?" Huey Long |
| #9036, aired 2024-02-12 | U.S. STAMPS: This Roman numeral appeared on stamps in a 2022 series for the 50th anniversary of an anti-discrimination law IX |
| #9035, aired 2024-02-09 | NOVEL CHARACTERS: It's this character who's spoken of in the line "Reader, I forgave him at the moment & on the spot" Mr. Rochester |
| #9034, aired 2024-02-08 | COUNTRY MUSIC: "It was kind of a prodding to myself to play it straight", said Johnny Cash of this 1956 hit "I Walk The Line" |
| #9033, aired 2024-02-07 | WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: Achilles Tatius wrote that it "was like a mountain... at the top of this mountain rose a second sun" the Lighthouse at Alexandria |
| #9032, aired 2024-02-06 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: A 1902 work says an enigmatic character has a half-English mom & a half-French dad, but this name of his is German for "short" Kurtz |
| #9031, aired 2024-02-05 | WORLD FLAGS: The flag of this Asian nation features part of a World Heritage Site built in the 12th century Cambodia |
| #9030, aired 2024-02-02 | ARMY TECHNOLOGY: Bearing the name of a man who died in Iowa in 1838, these began service in 1979 & today number in the thousands Black Hawk helicopters |
| #9029, aired 2024-02-01 | GEOGRAPHY: The first city in Australia with a municipal government, this state capital bears the name of a queen Adelaide |
| #9028, aired 2024-01-31 | AMERICAN MUSICIANS: Also an author, this singer who had 5 Top 40 hits in the 1970s was called the "Pirate Laureate" Jimmy Buffett |
| #9027, aired 2024-01-30 | NAMES IN HISTORY: The scientific name of Jamaica's ackee fruit honors this captain who brought it to England in 1793 Captain Bligh |
| #9026, aired 2024-01-29 | HISTORICAL FICTION: Stan Lee said the alias-using title character of this novel set during the French Revolution "was the 1st superhero I... read about" The Scarlet Pimpernel |
| #9025, aired 2024-01-26 | LEADING LADIES: NEXT IN LINE: Janet Gaynor,
Judy Garland,
Barbra Streisand,
her Lady Gaga |
| #9024, aired 2024-01-25 | CLASSIC LITERATURE: An intended sequel to this 1869 work centered on the Decembrists, a group of veterans who largely served in the Napoleonic Wars War and Peace |
| #9023, aired 2024-01-24 | 1980s MOVIE CHARACTERS: Oliver Stone, screenwriter of this 1983 movie, named its main character to honor the Super Bowl-winning QB from 1982 Scarface |
| #9022, aired 2024-01-23 | U.S. BUSINESS FOUNDERS: A 1934 note to him: "Received hunting clothes... and thank you for those wonderful shoes they fit perfect... your friend, Babe Ruth" L.L. Bean |
| #9021, aired 2024-01-22 | PRESIDENTS & VICE PRESIDENTS: The first vice president & the first president not born in one of the original 13 states were both born in this state Kentucky |
| #9020, aired 2024-01-19 | AMERICAN ARTISTS: In the 1920s he used wire, string & other materials to fabricate "models in motion" for a miniature circus scene (Alexander) Calder |
| #9019, aired 2024-01-18 | 20th CENTURY HISTORY: After the Vietnam War, Vietnam got bogged down in a campaign against this leader whom it managed to overthrow in 1979 Pol Pot |
| #9018, aired 2024-01-17 | 19th CENTURY AMERICA: An 1884 article calls this newly completed structure "the highest work of man" & disagrees with those who call it "a great chimney" the Washington Monument |
| #9017, aired 2024-01-16 | NEW NATIONS: In September 2023 the U.S. recognized 2 new nations in free association with New Zealand: Niue & this archipelago the Cook Islands |
| #9016, aired 2024-01-15 | ON THE STAGE: Paul Robeson said that even as this character "kills, his honor is at stake... the honor of his whole culture is involved" Othello |
| #9015, aired 2024-01-12 | RIVERS: A European capital got its name as a consequence of flooding on this river the Amstel River |
| #9014, aired 2024-01-11 | BRAND NAMES: Originally called Fruit Scones, the name of this food brand introduced in 1964 was influenced by an art movement of that time Pop-Tarts |
| #9013, aired 2024-01-10 | SPACE: Since it has caused spacecraft to malfunction, a region called the South Atlantic Anomaly is known as this area "of space" Bermuda Triangle |
| #9012, aired 2024-01-09 | THE ANCIENT WORLD: This text helped the soul, or ka, navigate a journey into a region called Amenti the Book of the Dead |
| #9011, aired 2024-01-08 | STATE CAPITALS: The 2 closest state capitals, at about 40 miles apart, one was founded by someone no longer allowed in the other Providence & Boston |
| #9010, aired 2024-01-05 | CHILDREN'S BOOKS: A 2020 edition of this beloved 1911 novel came with a glossary of horticultural terms & a location guide The Secret Garden |
| #9009, aired 2024-01-04 | HISTORIC AMERICANS: They went their separate ways in 1806 & both became territorial governors: one of Upper Louisiana, the other of Missouri Lewis & Clark |
| #9008, aired 2024-01-03 | FROM THE FRENCH: With murder, shadows, a nosy reporter & Peter Lorre, 1940's "Stranger on the Third Floor" is the first example of this, some say film noir |
| #9007, aired 2024-01-02 | LANDMARKS: During Pope John Paul II's 1987 visit to Los Angeles, pranksters covered up this letter in a local landmark L |
| #9006, aired 2024-01-01 | LANDMARKS: 213 feet wide, this late 18th c. European structure has 5 portals, the middle of which was--at first--for royals only the Brandenburg Gate |
| #9005, aired 2023-12-29 | FAMOUS NAMES: In 2023, shortly after his death, his name was added to a Brazilian dictionary to describe one who's superior or out of the ordinary Pelé |
| #9004, aired 2023-12-28 | THOSE ZANY ANCIENT ROMANS: In the 20s B.C. the emperor's sister Octavia had a sitcom-worthy home including the boy & girl twin children of this man & woman Antony & Cleopatra |
| #9003, aired 2023-12-27 | AMERICANA: After "Black Monday" in 1987, sculptor Arturo Di Modica put a statue of one of these in Manhattan to symbolize strength & power a bull |
| #9002, aired 2023-12-26 | BOOK CHARACTERS: Early on in a 1966 novel, this title character beats the protagonist in maze races; later on he bites him Algernon |
| #9001, aired 2023-12-25 | FAMOUS NAMES IN AMERICA: The name of this animal that died in 1885 after being struck by a train that subsequently derailed lives on as an adjective Jumbo |
| #9000, aired 2023-12-22 | THE 20th CENTURY: On July 19, 1940 Hitler called this man a warmonger & wrongly predicted he would flee to Canada Winston Churchill |
| #8999, aired 2023-12-21 | FROM PAGE TO STAGE: The opera based on this 1993 memoir was staged at a prison for the first time in 2023, at Sing Sing with a chorus of 14 inmates Dead Man Walking |
| #8998, aired 2023-12-20 | COUNTRIES: Of the 14 countries that border China, it's the only monarchy & the only one with a population under 1 million Bhutan |
| #8997, aired 2023-12-19 | INVENTIONS: Invented in 1816, it takes its name from Greek for "chest" & "observe" a stethoscope |
| #8996, aired 2023-12-18 | NATIONAL MONUMENTS: Designated in 2016, a New York City monument named for this place of business includes nearby Christopher Park (the) Stonewall (Inn) |
| #8995, aired 2023-12-15 | THE WILD WEST: In 1888's "Ranch Life & the Hunting-Trail" Teddy Roosevelt wrote his 2 ranch hands were "able to travel" like this animal a bull moose |
| #8994, aired 2023-12-14 | BUSINESS: Of the Big 4 U.S. airlines, the 4 that each have over 15% of the domestic market, it's the youngest Southwest |
| #8993, aired 2023-12-13 | MOVIE MUSICALS: Of the musicals to win an Oscar for Best Picture, 1 of the 2 with one-word titles based on & named for literary characters (1 of) Gigi or Oliver! |
| #8992, aired 2023-12-12 | AMERICAN LITERATURE: Chapter 100 of this novel introduces the one-armed Captain Boomer of the Samuel Enderby Moby-Dick |
| #8991, aired 2023-12-11 | 20th CENTURY LITERATURE: Thomas Pynchon wrote that this novelist "in 1948 understood that despite the Axis defeat... fascism had not gone away" Orwell |
| #8990, aired 2023-12-08 | ANCIENT HISTORY: Before visiting Achilles' tomb, this man threw his spear onto the ground in Asia & declared the continent "spear-won" Alexander the Great |
| #8989, aired 2023-12-07 | LANGUAGES: Since it can make someone "Japanese laugh as heartily as a Dane", Lillian Gish saw film as an aesthetic this, the name of a language Esperanto |
| #8988, aired 2023-12-06 | FAMOUS NAMES: Subject of a 2003 film, his 1947 obituary said he fathered at least 100 & died of a heart attack at 14, at a California ranch Seabiscuit |
| #8987, aired 2023-12-05 | 2020s TELEVISION: The title locale of this series is really the Belnord, dating to 1908 & located at 86th & Broadway on NYC's Upper West Side Only Murders in the Building |
| #8986, aired 2023-12-04 | 20th CENTURY NOVELS: The Atlanta History Center says this novel was "both beloved & condemned from almost the moment of its publication" in 1936 Gone with the Wind |
| #8985, aired 2023-12-01 | BODIES OF WATER: The Goshute, a Western people, called this vast body of water Teittse Paa, meaning "bad water" the Great Salt Lake |
| #8984, aired 2023-11-30 | AMERICAN HISTORY: Established in 1963, this group had its conclusions questioned in books, reports & a special 1970s congressional committee the Warren Commission |
| #8983, aired 2023-11-29 | A BIT OF BRITAIN: In disarray, it was sold at auction in 1915 to a local Wiltshire man, who would donate it to the British government 3 years later Stonehenge |
| #8982, aired 2023-11-28 | LITERARY GEOGRAPHY: This state university's Writers' Workshop has had famous alumni who wrote about the state, like Jane Smiley & W.P. Kinsella the University of Iowa |
| #8981, aired 2023-11-27 | BRITISH CITIES: Over the motto "Fortis est Veritas", the coat of arms of this city features a beast of burden crossing over some water Oxford |
| #8980, aired 2023-11-24 | BUSINESS: This company announced, "On September 29th, 2023, we will send out the last red envelope" Netflix |
| #8979, aired 2023-11-23 | SCIENCE ETYMOLOGY: First detected in the Sun's atmosphere in 1868, it got its name from an old word for sun helium |
| #8978, aired 2023-11-22 | MUSICIANS: An Esquire profile said, "The most distinguishing thing" about the face of this singer "are his eyes, clear blue & alert" Frank Sinatra |
| #8977, aired 2023-11-21 | TELEVISION: This series grew out of a screenplay titled "Murdoch" Succession |
| #8976, aired 2023-11-20 | U.S. PRESIDENTS: 7 U.S. presidents were born in the state of Ohio, beginning with this man who entered West Point in 1839 Ulysses Grant |
| #8975, aired 2023-11-17 | LITERARY CHARACTERS: In his first appearance in 1902, he was described as "betwixt-and-between" a boy & a bird Peter Pan |
| #8974, aired 2023-11-16 | POETS: 1793 reports of the killing of Hector Munro by a wild animal in India may have inspired one of this man's best-known poems William Blake |
| #8973, aired 2023-11-15 | WASHINGTON, D.C.: It was proposed in Congress in 1926 in honor of a big 150th anniversary; it opened 17 years later the Jefferson Memorial |
| #8972, aired 2023-11-14 | HISTORIC OBJECTS: The inscription on this, made in 1753, concludes, "unto all the inhabitants thereof" the Liberty Bell |
| #8971, aired 2023-11-13 | ICONIC BRANDS: In 1916 it began packaging its flagship product in a variety of glass called Georgia green Coca-Cola |
| #8970, aired 2023-11-10 | THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: The 1456 posthumous annulment of this woman's sentence by the Church was witnessed by her mother Isabelle Joan of Arc (Joan, Jeanne) |
| #8969, aired 2023-11-09 | AMERICAN AUTHORS: In 1950 the Swedish Academy said this Nobel Prize winner "is a regional writer" but called "his regionalism universal" William Faulkner |
| #8968, aired 2023-11-08 | EXPLORERS: Perhaps inspiring a line 2 centuries later, in 1774 he wrote that he was headed "farther than any other man has been before me" Captain James Cook |
| #8967, aired 2023-11-07 | WORLD HISTORY: This African capital renamed an area Mexico Square to honor Mexico's WWII-era support of its sovereignty during Italian occupation Addis Ababa |
| #8966, aired 2023-11-06 | MUSIC & LITERATURE: John Steinbeck called this "one of the great songs of the world" & wanted the music & lyrics printed in one of his novels "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" |
| #8965, aired 2023-11-03 | BRITISH HISTORY: At Leicester Cathedral in March 2015, the Archbishop of Canterbury led a religious ceremony for this deceased English monarch Richard III |
| #8964, aired 2023-11-02 | ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY: Britain became an island less than 10,000 years ago, as warming weather & melting ice filled in this sea the North Sea |
| #8963, aired 2023-11-01 | 21st CENTURY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: It was the first election since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president nor the incumbent vice president was a candidate 2008 (Barack Obama & John McCain) |
| #8962, aired 2023-10-31 | NAME'S THE SAME: This first name is shared by a character introduced in 1941 & a member of royalty who is sixth in line to the British throne Archie |
| #8961, aired 2023-10-30 | DRIVING THE USA: It's the state with the most miles of Interstate Highway, more than 3,200; one Interstate accounts for 1/4 of that mileage Texas |
| #8960, aired 2023-10-27 | FAMOUS AMERICANS: On March 23, 1779 he became the first U.S. diplomat to serve overseas by presenting his credentials to a foreign government Benjamin Franklin |
| #8959, aired 2023-10-26 | FAMOUS FAMILIES: In 2020 a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, the last of 9 siblings in this dynastic family, died at 92 Kennedy |
| #8958, aired 2023-10-25 | HISTORIC LETTERS: A letter from him begins, "On the thirty-third day after I had left Cadiz, I reached the Indian Ocean" (Christopher) Columbus |
| #8957, aired 2023-10-24 | AWARDS & HONORS: As of 2023 the only 2 to win a Nobel Prize in Literature & an Academy Award were George Bernard Shaw & this singer-songwriter Bob Dylan |
| #8956, aired 2023-10-23 | MUSIC MEN: Before creating this record label in 1959, its founder worked on a Lincoln-Mercury assembly line Motown |
| #8955, aired 2023-10-20 | LANGUAGES OF ASIA: Meaning "palace", this word in the name of a UNESCO World Heritage Site follows Jal & Lal in the names of other historic structures Mahal |
| #8954, aired 2023-10-19 | NAMES: The name Jennifer is an alteration of this name that in early Welsh literature belonged to the "first lady of the island" Guinevere |
| #8953, aired 2023-10-18 | NATURAL LANDMARKS: The Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition happened upon it in 1870 & named it for the regularity of its activity Old Faithful |
| #8952, aired 2023-10-17 | MILITARY HISTORY: A 1918 article titled "Do Not Shoot at" these said hunters were interfering with the U.S. Signal Corps' training of them (carrier or homing) pigeons |
| #8951, aired 2023-10-16 | THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS: Barry Barish, who shared the 2017 Prize for detecting gravitational waves, called his award "a win for" this predecessor (Albert) Einstein |
| #8950, aired 2023-10-13 | ROYALTY: Before his death in 2005, he said he was "probably the last head of state to be able to recognize all his compatriots in the street" Prince Rainier (III of Monaco) |
| #8949, aired 2023-10-12 | WORD ORIGINS: Though it meant "seasickness" in Latin, this 6-letter word now refers to a more general feeling of sickness nausea |
| #8948, aired 2023-10-11 | FINE ART: An early owner of this 1889 painting full of blue & green noted how well the artist "understood the exquisite nature of flowers!" Irises |
| #8947, aired 2023-10-10 | NEW ZEALAND: Christchurch is the largest city in this New Zealand region that shares its name with an English city known for a church begun in the 6th century Canterbury |
| #8946, aired 2023-10-09 | WOMEN AUTHORS: In "A Room of One’s Own", the "four famous names" are Austen, 2 Brontës & this author who died closest to Virginia Woolf’s own time George Eliot |
| #8945, aired 2023-10-06 | COMPOSERS: He was given piano lessons by Madame Mauté de Fleurville, the mother-in-law of Paul Verlaine, whose poetry he would later set to music (Claude) Debussy |
| #8944, aired 2023-10-05 | GLOBAL GEOLOGY: In this nation of 360,000 people, you can walk along the boundaries of the Eurasian & North American tectonic plates Iceland |
| #8943, aired 2023-10-04 | AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS: His 1904 will stipulated that "all the sums hereinbefore specified for prizes shall be used for prizes only" Joseph Pulitzer |
| #8942, aired 2023-10-03 | THE 1500s: In the early 1500s he produced a codex in words & pictures on the flight of birds, one of many subjects that interested him Leonardo da Vinci |
| #8941, aired 2023-10-02 | PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS: Both issued in April, 80 years apart, the first proclamations by these 2 presidents each declared national days of mourning Andrew Johnson & Harry Truman |
| #8940, aired 2023-09-29 | U.S. SENATE HISTORY: In 1805, after 4 years presiding over the Senate, he left the chamber, calling it "a sanctuary; a citadel of law, of order" Aaron Burr |
| #8939, aired 2023-09-28 | SYMPHONIES: Debuting at Carnegie Hall in 1893, it was written by a European living in New York & partly inspired by "The Song of Hiawatha" the New World Symphony |
| #8938, aired 2023-09-27 | MYTHOLOGY: Chrysomallus was the name of the creature that was the source of this sought-after item, vellus aureum in Latin the Golden Fleece |
| #8937, aired 2023-09-26 | PUBLICATIONS: A collection of achievements bearing this name was established in the early 1950s to help resolve pub disputes The Guinness Book of World Records (The Guinness Book of Records) |
| #8936, aired 2023-09-25 | SCIENTISTS: A 1953 article by this pair says, "The specific pairing we have postulated... suggests a... copying mechanism for the genetic material" (James) Watson & (Francis) Crick |
| #8935, aired 2023-09-22 | COMPOSERS: A fireworks display followed the April 27, 1749 premiere of a work by this man that had been commissioned by George II (George Frideric) Handel |
| #8934, aired 2023-09-21 | FIRST NAMES IN SCIENCE: First name of the paleontologist who in 1990 noticed some large vertebrae jutting from an eroding bluff in South Dakota Sue |
| #8933, aired 2023-09-20 | 20th CENTURY PEOPLE: In 2022 the Dept. of Energy noted "a flawed process" & vacated a 1954 commission's decision "in the matter of" this man (J. Robert) Oppenheimer |
| #8932, aired 2023-09-19 | HISTORIC GEOGRAPHY: Of Spain's colonial possessions in the Americas, this 3,400 square mile one in the Antilles never gained independence, but did change hands Puerto Rico |
| #8931, aired 2023-09-18 | AUTHORS: He dedicated books to each of his 4 wives, including Hadley Richardson & Martha Gellhorn Ernest (Papa) Hemingway |
| #8930, aired 2023-09-15 | ASTRONOMY: The only dwarf planet located in the inner Solar System, it's named for an ancient deity of planting & harvests Ceres |
| #8929, aired 2023-09-14 | WORLD CAPITALS: In English, name of 1 of the 2 4-letter capitals with the same first & last letter, one in the N. & one in the S. Hemisphere Apia or Oslo |
| #8928, aired 2023-09-13 | ARTISTS: On October 26, 1886 he said, "The dream of my life is accomplished... I see the symbol of unity & friendship between 2 nations" Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi |
| #8927, aired 2023-09-12 | MYTHOLOGICAL PLACES: "Paradise Lost" says it's "abhorred" & "the flood of deadly hate" & in Dante's "Inferno" it's fed by a "gloomy brook" the River Styx |
| #8926, aired 2023-09-11 | BRITISH MONARCHS: The most recent British monarch not to succeed a parent or a sibling was this ruler who succeeded an uncle Queen Victoria |
| #3, aired 2024-02-02 | LANDMARKS: Then 71, a reluctant Michelangelo took on the design of this building "only for the love of God and in honor of the Apostle" St. Peter's Basilica |
| #2, aired 2024-01-12 | LITERARY INSPIRATION: A book by historian Thomas Carlyle that Dickens said he'd read 500 times has this title subject that Charles would write about himself the French Revolution |
| #1, aired 2024-01-12 | TOURIST SPOTS: Originally known as Longacre, it got its name after a newspaper moved its offices there in 1904 Times Square |
