Are you smarter than John Clayton? Trivial pursuits, and a big fun idea

With the academic year rapidly coming to a close, high school kids are busy preparing for finals, so why should you get a free pass?

Herewith, a 10-question Manchester trivia test (although I will admit that some of the questions are as much minutiae as trivia). Some of the answers are painfully obvious, others can be sussed out pretty easily and still others are just plain old stinkers). That having been said, you need a score of at least 70 percent for a passing grade, and bear in mind, I don’t do social promotions.

Here goes:

1. Former Manchester Mayor Frederick Smyth once lived in a glorious estate near the Amoskeag Falls. That estate was known as:
2. The Pines
3. The Birches
4. The Willows
5. The Rhododendrons

 

2. Manchester was once home to both French and German newspapers, but it also had a Greek-language newspaper published by Spiros Cateras called:
3. Ti Kanis
4. Ergatis
5. Metaxa
6. Moussaka

 

3. A colonial-era dining delicacy in Manchester was known as “Derryfield beef,” but it wasn’t really beef. It was:
4. Pork
5. Lamb
6. Veal
7. Eel

 

4. There was a very specific type of jargon associated with textile work at the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. Which of the following words is NOT associated with the textile trade:
5. Burling
6. Doffing
7. Napping
8. Hurling

 

5. Whose disappointing 1927 fly-over of Manchester prompted city officials to set aside funds for the creation of an airfield in Manchester:
6. Baron von Richtofen
7. Charles Lindbergh
8. Pappy Boyington
9. Alan Shepard

 

6. One of the most cloying jingles in Manchester radio history was for a shop called Tren Furniture. Based on the lyric, where was the shop located?
7. 177 Milford Street
8. 177 Vinton Street
9. 177 Benton Street
10. 177 Wilson Street

• Manchester natives Maurice and Richard McDonald won fame and fortune as the founders of the McDonald’s Hamburger restaurant chain. In what California city did they open their first McDonald’s:

1. San Bernardino
2. San Clemente
3. San Simeon
4. San Salvador

 

• Back on Feb. 23, 1945, another Manchester native, Rene Gagnon, was one of the six men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. With what branch of the military did he serve:

1. Army
2. Navy
3. Air Force
4. Marines

 

• Although the critics have not been kind to him, Adam Sandler did receive a 2002 Golden Globe nomination for best actor in what film:

1. The Wedding Singer
2. Punch Drunk Love
3. Anger Management
4. Spanglish

 

• Manchester is rare among American cities in that it has two homes designed by one of the world’s most celebrated architects. His name is:

1. Andrew Lloyd Webber
2. Frank Lloyd Webber
3. Frank Lloyd Wright
4. Orville Wright

There you have it. Ten questions. Time to tabulate your score with the following answer key:

1-C; 2-B; 3-D; 4-D; 5-B; 6-D; 7-A; 8-D; 9-B; 10-C

If you’d care for explanations or elaborations, email me at jclayton@manchesterhistoric.org Or, you could always stop by the Manchester Historic Association’s Millyard Museum – call first – and don’t forget to bring an apple for the teacher.