Jolly Julia Child
Fantastic Frida Kahlo
Novel Newspapers
Lovely Ada Lovelace
(Not So) Grouchy Groucho Marx
100
What was Julia Child famous for?
She was famous for being a chef, author and television personality.
Julia Child revolutionized American cuisine through her French cooking school, award-winning cookbooks, and world-renowned television programs by presenting an approachable version of sophisticated French cooking to her eager audience for four decades. She began with a sincere passion for good food and the pleasures of cooking, studying in France in the '50s with chef/friend Simone Beck. With the help of Louisette Bertolle, another dedicated food lover, they created a cooking school called L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes and later, in 1961, completed their groundbreaking cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her book and the popular television show that followed made the mysteries of fancy French cuisine approachable, introducing gourmet ingredients, demonstrating culinary techniques, and most importantly, encouraging everyday "home chefs" to practice cooking as art, not to dread it as a chore.
100
What was Frida Kahlo known for?
Being an artist and cultural icon!
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form.
100
Who was a newspaper editor and printer for the Pennsylvania Gazette?
Benjamin Franklin
At the age of 23, Franklin became a newspaper editor and printer, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette and later creating and publishing Poor Richardâs Almanack under the pseudonym âRichard Saunders.â He was part of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and was a delegate at the U.S. Constitution. Franklin also served as the first ambassador to France and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783) with England. He was a founder of the University of Pennsylvania and late in life petitioned Congress on behalf of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society to end slavery.
100
Ada Lovelace has been called the first computer...
a. User
b. Programmer
c. Creator
b. Programmer
In 1848, Ada translates a French article about his second project, the "Analytical Engine", into English. She also provides her own comments on the text. Her annotations, simply called "notes", turn out to be three times as long as the actual transcript. They show that Ada recognizes the machine's potential beyond a device for numerical calculations. Since the functions of the Analytical Engine are not defined, they can also be applied to other things than numbers. The Analytical Engine, Ada writes 'holds a position wholly its own'. Her vision of a machine that could also process musical notes, letters and images, anticipates modern computers by a hundred years. In her now famous note "G", Lovelace also adds a step-by-step description for computation of Bernoulli numbers with Babbage's machine - basically an algorithm - which, in effect, make her the world's first computer programmer.
100
What was Groucho Marx known for?
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, writer, singer, stage, film, radio, television star and vaudeville performer.
He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit and one of America's greatest comedians. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, a large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
200
What was the name of Julia Child's famous cookbook?
Hint: It used a lot of French food!
Mastering the Art of French Cooking!
Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle break down the classic foods of France into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of dishesâfrom historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. Throughout, the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborationsâbound to increase anyoneâs culinary repertoire.
200
Frida Kahlo's childhood home was nicknamed "La Casa Azul", what color was it?
Blue!
Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in a building nicknamed "La Casa Azul" for its vivid blue exterior. She died in the same building at age 47.
200
Where was the first American Newspaper published?
Hint: It's a city in Massachusetts.
Boston
In Boston in 1690, Benjamin Harris published Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. This is considered the first newspaper in the American colonies even though only one edition was published before the paper was suppressed by the colonial officials, possibly due to censorship and control issues. It followed the two-column format and was a single sheet, printed on both sides. In 1704, the governor allowed The Boston News-Letter, a weekly, to be published, and it became the first continuously published newspaper in the colonies. Soon after, weekly papers began publishing in New York and Philadelphia.
200
Ada Lovelace was the daughter of which Romantic poet?
Lord Byron!
Ada Lovelace was born on 10 December 1815 in London, as Augusta Ada Byron, and was the only legitimate child of Lord George Gordon Byron and his wife Lady Annabella Byron. Today considered one of Britainâs greatest Romantic poets, Lord Byron was infamous for his many affairs and dark moods. Though an unconventional match for the deeply religious and morally strict Annabella, in January 1815 they were married, with the young woman believing it her religious duty to guide the troubled poet to virtue.
200
What were Groucho Marx's brothers' names?
Bonus: What were they famous for?
Zeppo, Chico, Gummo, Harpo
The Marx Brothers was an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' fourteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively.
300
What is displayed at Julia Child's exhibition at the Smithsonian?
Her kitchen!
Donated the kitchen from her Cambridge, MA, home to the Smithsonianâs National Museum of American History, where it was displayed in a 2002 exhibition, Bon AppĂŠtit! Julia Childâs Kitchen at the Smithsonian.
300
What caused Frida to become an artist?
a. The death of her father
b. A meeting with Picasso
c. A dream
d. A traffic accident
d. A traffic accident
On September 17, 1925, Kahlo and her boyfriend were on their way home from school when the wooden bus they were riding collided with a streetcar. Kahlo suffered near fatal injuries. An iron handrail impaled her through her pelvis, fracturing the pelvic bone. During the three months in which she was forced to stay bedridden, she made several paintings and decided to become an artist.
300
True or False: The New York Times is the top U.S. newspaper by circulation.
False, it's the Wall Street Journal!
The Wall Street Journal is Americaâs largest newspaper by paid circulation with more than 2.2 million subscribers. Building on its heritage as the leading source of business and financial news, the Journal has expanded its core content offering in recent years to include coverage of the arts, culture, lifestyle, real estate, sports and personal health.
300
True or False: Ada's mother encouraged her to pursue mathematics and science.
True!
Ada's mother was terrified she would turn out like her father. As a young girl, she was encouraged by her mother to pursue mathematics and science rather than the arts as her father had â fearing that it may lead her down a similar path of debauchery and madness. She had her watched by close friends for any sign of moral deviation, and Lovelace termed these informants the âFuriesâ, later stating they exaggerated and falsified stories about her behaviour.
300
Where was Groucho Marx born?
Bonus: What year?
Groucho Marx was born in New York City, New York, United States.
Marx was born Julius Henry Marx on October 2, 1890, in New York City. While he originally aspired to be a doctor, Groucho started his career as a singer. One of his earliest efforts proved to be disastrous, however. As part of the Le May Trio, Groucho got stuck in Colorado for a while after another group member took off with his pay. He had to work at a grocery store to earn enough money to make it back to New York. Groucho's father Samuel never had much success as a tailor, and the family struggled financially. His mother Minnie hoped that she might find prosperity through her five children. She became the quintessential "stage mother," guiding her children's theatrical acts and even performing herself. The act eventually featured Groucho and his brothers Leonard, Adolph and Milton.
Bonus: 1890
400
In 1993, Child became the first woman inducted into The...
a. Hall of Fame for Great Americans
b. Culinary Institute of America's Hall of Fame
c. Candy Hall of Fame
d. Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame
b. Culinary Institute of America's Hall of Fame
Through her tenacity and love for food, she changed the face of cooking in this country. She taught a generation of aspiring chefs how to cook and eat like the French.
400
True or False: Frida Kahlo contracted smallpox at the age of six.
False, she actually contracted polio.
When Kahlo was six years old she contracted polio, which made her right leg shorter and thinner than the left. She hid this through her life by wearing long colorful skirts.
400
Who invented the printing press in 1440?
a. Johann Carolus
b. Johannes Gutenberg
c. William Bolts
d. Warren Hastings
b. Johannes Gutenberg
Gutenberg was a German craftsman and inventor who originated a method of printing from movable type. Elements of his invention are thought to have included a metal alloy that could melt readily and cool quickly to form durable reusable type, an oil-based ink that could be made sufficiently thick to adhere well to metal type and transfer well to vellum or paper, and a new press, likely adapted from those used in producing wine, oil, or paper, for applying firm even pressure to printing surfaces. None of these features existed in the European technique used up to that time for stamping letters on various surfaces or in woodblock printing. Gutenbergâs printing press was considered a history-changing invention, making books widely accessible and ushering in an âinformation revolution.â
400
What was Ada Lovelace's mentor Charles Babbage known for?
He was known as the "father of the computer".
In 1833, Lovelace was introduced to Charles Babbage, a mathematician and inventor who soon became a mentor to the young girl. Babbage arranged her tuition in advanced mathematics by University of London professor Augustus de Morgan, and first introduced her to his various mathematical inventions. These included the difference engine, which captivated Lovelaceâs imagination when she was invited to view it under construction. The machine could automatically perform calculations, and was followed by plans for the more complex Analytical Engine. Both of these inventions have often earned Babbage the title as the âfather of the computerâ.
400
What was not a Marx Brothers movie?
a. Funky Monkey
b. Duck Soup
c. Animal Crackers
d. Horse Feathers
a. Funky Monkey!
Monkey Business was though! The four Marx Brothers star in their first film written specifically for the screen as stowaways on an ocean liner bound for New York. Each of them has a separate adventure on board; from matinee idol Zeppo's romancing of a bootlegger's daughter to Groucho having to avoid the attentions of gangster's moll Lucille Briggs.
500
Julia Child's show The French Chef premiered in 1963 and was the first cooking show on what network?
Bonus: Child won a Primetime Emmy Award for The French Chef in 1966, becoming the first educational television personality to receive an Emmy, true or false?
It premiered on PBS.
Julia Child had gained a bit of notoriety as one of the co-authors of the seminal "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in 1961, but it was the launch of this award-winning series in 1963 that turned her into a household name and, perhaps, America's favorite TV cooking personality. With a high-pitched voice and somewhat playful demeanor, Child cheerfully prepared recipes that most viewers probably thought were too difficult for them to attempt. As a result, generations of home chefs everywhere soon developed the confidence and skills to whip up all dishes French, from a simple croissant to the classic boeuf bourguignon.
Bonus: True!
500
What were some of the animals Frida Kahlo had as pets?
Frida Kahloâs motley menagerie comprised chickens, sparrows, macaws and parakeets, Bonito the parrot, a fawn named Granizo, spider monkeys Fulang Chang and Caimito de Guayabal, the empirically-named eagle Gertrudis Caca Blanca (Gertrude White S***), and hairless Xoloitzcuintli dogs with ancient Aztec lineage.
500
One of the first types of newspapers produced was the ancient Roman Acta diurna, which translates, in English, to what?
"Daily Acts"
The Acta diurna, or âDaily Acts,â of ancient Rome were daily-published notices by the government to keep the public informed of goings-on. These notices were not published on paper but were carved into rock, stone, and metal and placed in public spaces.
500
At age 12, Ada Lovelace was interested in mathematics and was attempting to build what without much success?
Hint: The Wright Brothers were successful in building them.
A flying machine!
When Ada Lovelace was twelve years old, she wanted to fly. She approached the problem methodically, examining birds and investigating various materials that could serve as wingsâfeathers, paper, silk. In the course of her research, which began in February, 1828, according to her biographer Betty Alexandra Toole, Ada wrote and illustrated a guide called âFlyology,â to record her findings. She toiled away on this project until her mother reprimanded her for neglecting her studies, which were meant to set her on a rational course, not a fanciful one.
500
What profession did Groucho Marx originally want to work in?
He wanted to be a doctor!
Born in Manhattan in 1890, Groucho Marx was christened Julius Henry Marx, the third of four brothers who grew up in what's now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side. The young Groucho wanted to be a doctor, but he needed to work for his impoverished family, so he dropped out of school at the age of 12. Inspired by his uncle, comedian Al Shean, Groucho tried his hand at show business as a boy singer with the Gene Leroy Trio before joining his brothers in a singing vaudeville troop that attracted little press. It wasn't until they were in the middle of a particularly horrendous performance in Nacogdoches, Texas that they started joking around on stage. The audience preferred their comedy to their singing, so the brothers pivoted.