Nashville, Tennessee Trivia
MUSIC TRIVIA:
A. National Life & Accident Company. Q. What was the Opry's original name? A. The WSM Barn Dance Q. The Opry airs on WSM radio. What does the "WSM" stand for? A. National Life & Accident's slogan..."We Shield Millions." Q. What was the longest home of the Grand Ole Opry? (Hint: it's known as the "Mother Church of Country Music") A. The Ryman Auditorium Q. What year did the Opry begin? A. 1925 Q. What amount was on the price tag of Minnie Pearl's hat? A. $1.98 Q. What country star is known as the "Father of Bluegrass Music?" A. Bill Monroe Q. Who was the "King of Country?" A. Roy Acuff Q. What country music entertainer went into the sausage business? A. Jimmy Dean Q. Muriel Ellen Deason is the real name for what entertainer now known as the "Queen of Country Music?" A. Kitty Wells Q. Who is "Mr. Guitar?" (Hint: Also ran a famous Nashville studio) A. Chet Atkins Q. What Nashville musician had a guitar-shaped swimming pool? A. Webb Pierce Q. Who became famous as the featured female singer on Porter Wagoner's Show and now has her own theme park in the Smokey Mountains? (Hint: This hard-working performer certainly puts in more hours than '9 to 5') A. Dolly Parton Q. What popular female singer started out as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame? (Hint:With her outstanding career, she's certainly 'walking away a winner') A. Kathy Mattea Q. What singer used to wash dishes at the Nashville Palace and is now credited as beginning the movement of "new traditionalists?" (Hint: Fans will love him 'forever and ever, amen') A. Randy Travis Q. Name the Nashville studio in which Elvis recorded more than 200 of his songs. A. RCA's Studio B Q. The song "I Was the One" began a long relationship between Elvis Presley and what group? A. The Jordannaires Q. Name the museum that houses Elvis' gold cadillac and piano. A. Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum Q. Portions of 16th and 17th Avenue South are known as what Nashville area? A. Music Row Q. According to the Lovin' Spoonful, how many guitar pickers are there in Nashville? A. 1352 HISTORY TRIVIA:
A. Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk Q. What is the name of the 7th president's home? A. The Hermitage Q. What is the shape of the driveway at President Andrew Jackson's home? A. The drive is in the shape of a guitar Q. On what Eve was Nashville founded? A. Christmas Eve Q. After drinking a cup of locally produced coffee in Nashville, which US president coined the phrase "good to the last drop!"? A. President Theodore Roosevelt Q. Although this now famous coffee is still enjoyed everywhere, it was served for the last time at the hotel where it got its start on December 25, 1961. What was the name of the hotel? A. Maxwell House Hotel (Note: The original hotel closed in 1961) Q. What animal did Belle Meade Plantation breed? A. Thoroughbred horses MISCELLANEOUS TRIVIA:
A. Music City Q. What well-known Nashville university was saved from bankruptcy in the 1870s by a singing group? A. Fisk University's Jubilee Singers went on worldwide singing tours that raised the money to put their school on solid financial ground. More than a century later, Fisk is still going strong as one of Nashville's most prominent centers for higher education. Q. What famous Nashville candy is made of chocolate, caramel, marshmallows and peanuts? (Hint: This candy company is a long time sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry) A. Goo Goo's Q. Name the Greek goddess who stands more than 40 feet tall (making her the largest indoor statue in the Western world) and in what city building she resides. A. Athena in the Parthenon Q. What famous Nashville athlete won 3 track and field gold medals in the 1960 Olympic Games? A. Tennessee State University athlete Wilma Rudolph took three golds in the games which were held in Rome. MORE FUN FACTS:
John Lillard knew people would pay if he could find a way to move the mail faster. He had the first air mail stamp issued in 1877 for balloon service! Although his dream was deflated, he was happily vindicated when the first practical air mail service departed from Nashville on July 29, 1924 in an airplane. Did you know a Nashvillian gave the American flag its most famous nickname? When Captain William Driver retired after a life on the sea in 1837, he brought home his trusty flag which he affectionately called "Old Glory." Did you know that Nashville's African-American community was the first in the nation to have a black-owned and operated savings bank (1904)? The One Cent Savings Bank is still in operation. Today it is known as Citizen's Savings Bank and Trust. Did you know that Music City was the first to enjoy static-free radio? Nashville was granted the first FM license in the U.S. in 1941. Did you know that a Nashvillian was the only American to become president of another country? William Walker, the "grey-eyed man of destiny," tried to unite all of Central America into one country. He became president of Nicaragua in 1856 and was shot by a firing squad in Honduras while attempting to make himself president of that country. Did you know that an African-American artist from Nashville was the first black to be honored with a one-man exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York? Will Edmondson was born in Nashville around 1883. The son of former slaves, he worked as a railroad and hospital laborer until 1931 when he began to produce primitive limestone carvings. Without formal training, the deeply religious man who believed that God had called him to carve stones began to produce primitive animals, angels, Biblical characters and even celebrities including Eleanor Roosevelt. Photographs of his work by Louise Dahl-Wolfe appeared in Harper's Bazaar that led to the historic 1937 exhibit in New York. Did you know a Nashville horse was the first American winner of the English Derby? June 1, 1881, Iroquois, who was later purchased by Belle Meade Plantation, had the honor of being the first American horse to win the English Derby. Nashville still honors this famous thoroughbred by hosting the annual Iroquois Memorial Steeplechase the second Saturday of May. By the way, Iroquois was certainly not the only winner produced from Belle Meade. Many modern day champions including Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Foolish Pleasure trace their noble bloodlines to Bonnie Scotland, another famous Belle Meade stud. Did you know that a Nashvillian introduced the Seeing Eye Dog to the U.S.? Nashvillian Morris Frank, who was blinded by two accidents, was a Vanderbilt student when a news vendor told him of a story which had appeared in the Saturday Evening Post by Dorothy Eustis who owned an experimental breeding station for German shepherds in Switzerland. Frank traveled to Europe for training and returned to the states in 1928 with his new guide dog, Buddy. Frank and Buddy proved to a skeptical American public that the blind could regain their independence through trained guide dogs. In 1929, Eustis, Frank and others established The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Nashville, which later relocated to New Jersey for climate reasons. |
