General Knowledge
A straight line measures 180 degrees.
True. Angles on one side of a straight line will always total 180 degrees.
Michael Jackson's Thriller is the greatest-selling album of all time.
True. The album topped 100 million.
Hair grows back thicker and darker after it's cut.
False. Cutting and shaving have no effect on spurring hair growth.
Spiders belong to the "insect" class of animals.
False. Insects have six legs; spiders have eight.
Russia has the largest area of any country in the world.
True. By far the world's largest country, it covers nearly twice the territory of Canada.
Volleyball was invented as a game for businessmen.
True. A YMCA director in Massachusetts invented the sport in 1895 for businessmen who found basketball too vigorous.
The Academy Awards are annually the most-watched, single telecast in the United States.
False. In recent decades, the most watched single telecast annually by American's is the NFL's Super Bowl.
The "funny bone" is really a bone.
False. The "funny bone" exists, but it's not a bone. It is part of the back of the elbow.
Elephants walk as quietly as cats.
True. Elephants walk almost silently due to their padded feet with soft underside cushions.
Death Valley is the lowest, hottest, and driest area of North America.
True. It's located in California's Mojave Desert.
Corn is the most produced crop in the world.
True. Corn is first, wheat is second, rice is third.
The highest-grossing film series in history is Star Wars.
False. The Harry Potter Series is first; the James Bond series, second; and Star Wars, third.
The biceps muscle in the upper arm is the strongest muscle in the human body.
False. The jaw muscle is the strongest.
Snakes have a record for killing more people than any other species in written history.
False. The mosquito.
Mahatma Gandhi began his nonviolent crusade in India.
False. Gandhi first used nonviolence against British rule in South Africa and then applied his tactics to India.
"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies," said Barack Obama.
False. This was the tagline for the movie "The Social Network" (2010) about the founding of Facebook.
The first big Hollywood "summer blockbuster" was Jaws.
True. This 1975 film is often cited as the father of the "summer blockbuster" tradition.
Veins look blue because the oxygen-supplied blood in them is blue.
False. Though awlays a shade of red, veins appear blue because of a complex optical process involving the skin and reflective light.
"Magma" is the scientific name for lava.
False. Lava is molten rock expelled by a volcano; magma is molten rock contained below the Earth's surface.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to America.
True. It was gift to America on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
When Ronald Reagan challenged communist leaders to "tear down this wall," he was referring to the Great Wall of China.
False. He was referring to the Berlin Wall, which was finally opened in 1989 after the collapse of the communist East German government.
Batman fights crime in retaliation for the destruction of his planet.
False. Batman turned to fighting crime after witnessing the murder of his parents.
Oxygen makes up two-thirds of Earth and also two-thirds of the human body.
False. Water is the most common substance at roughly these amounts.
The blue whale, the world's largest animal, has teeth 12 inches long.
False. The Blue Whale is a toothless whale; it has bristles with which it captures and filters its food.
The "Ring of Fire" - where most volcanoes are located and most earthquakes occur - encircles the Pacific Ocean.
True. The "Ring of Fire" extends from China to Australia to the west coasts of the Americas.