Pittsburgh Trivia: Vol. IV
Yinz might learn something
By Christopher Flowers
During a visit to one of the city’s many wonderful bookstores, I came across a copy of Ultimate Pittsburgh Trivia by Dane Topich, published in 2007. Here’s a photo of the “greatest walk-off home run ever”:
There are 1,000 questions, so we can do this 100 times. This is volume IV. Previous editions:
There’s no deep system — I open a random page and pick a question, then another page. There are two questions in each round, and articles I’ve written previously are in the body to both break up the text and promote my stuff.
Round 1: Common metals & house cats
In the late 1800s the Mellon family and the Pittsburgh Reduction Company finance Charles Martin Hall’s discovery. Hall found a way to extract a very common metal from earth’s crust so that the metal could have wide commercial appeal. What is the metal?
How many cat permits are issued in Allegheny County each year?
While you think about those, I’ve spent plenty of time thinking about Pittsburgh’s comprehensive plan and how it can best be utilized. There’s a section in the plan about climate change, and it cannot be ignored.
COMMENTARY: Pittsburgh must become ‘Climate-Ready City’ from comprehensive plan
The Point welcomes all views and opinions, so long as they are grounded in fact and civil in nature. Comments that drive debate are appreciated and encouraged. Interested in having an op-ed or book review published? Submissions are welcome, and there are paid opportunities for original reporting. Inquire for more information.
Answers:
Aluminum. The Pittsburgh Reduction Company later became Alcoa.
This is a trick question. The answer is none; cats in Allegheny County do not have to have licenses.
Round 2: The first & the past
Which Pittsburgher was the first African American to ever serve on Pittsburgh City Council?
As a way to break the ice at a party, ask someone what was in the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center building prior to its present use?
Things aren’t looking good in the Middle East. I truly think this will get worse before it gets better, and that will have adverse effects on gas prices.
Answers:
Paul F. Jones, who served from 1954 to 1960, was the first in modern times. Lemuel Googins was first elected to council in 1881.
The Chautauqua Lake Ice Company stored thousands of tons of ice there. The building’s walls are three feet thick and the wood beams supporting the floors are two feet wide. The ice came from a lake in southwestern New York and was shipped in the rail.
Round 3: Walmart & Three Rivers Stadium
No one beats Wal-Mart when it comes to supermarket sales volume ($95 billion a year at 1,243 stores). How does Giant Eagle compare? [Recent numbers included along with 20-year-old book answer]
How many innings was the longest baseball game ever played at Three Rivers Stadium?
In only seven months, the Pittsburgh area has approached the 12-month record for tornado sightings, and broken the 12-month record for warnings. I wonder if this has anything to do with climate change 🤔
Answers:
Giant Eagle, with 213 stores, has sales of $4.4 billion. It ranks 24th nationally to Wal-Mart’s number 1. Supermarket sales nationally are $682 billion.
[Today, Giant Eagle has around $9 billion in annual sales. Walmart reports $276 billion in annual sales; also, the brand eliminated the hyphen in 2008.]Twenty innings on July 6, 1980 against the Chicago Cubs. The Bucs won 5-4. There was a 21 inning game at Forbes Field against the New York Giants in 1914. Bucs lost 3-1.
Round 4: Graduating a lot or not at all
How many people living in Allegheny County have doctorate degrees? [Recent numbers included along with 20-year-old book answer]
What percentage of the people in the Pittsburgh area (25 years or older) have not graduated from high school? [Recent numbers included along with 20-year-old book answer]
People with sense look at the “manosphere” world and dismiss it with an eye roll. The problem is that young men often don’t have a single lick of common sense. They listen to these idiots… and, we’re seeing the results.
COMMENTARY: Just don’t look: Louie Theroux, the manosphere, and the case for not feeding the beast
The Point welcomes all views and opinions, so long as they are grounded in fact and civil in nature. Comments that drive debate are appreciated and encouraged. Interested in having an op-ed or book review published? Submissions are welcome, and there are paid opportunities for original reporting. Inquire for more information.
Answers:
11, 909. That’s 1.3% of the population. Males have 8,341 doctorates, females 3,568.
[Today, that number is 19,200 or roughly 2.2% of the population 25 or older.]By county: Allegheny (13.7%), Beaver (16.4%), Butler (13.2%), Fayette (24.0%), Washington (17.4%), Westmoreland (14.4%).
[Today, only 4% of Allegheny County residents do not have a high school diploma.]
Round 5: Vest-pocket parks & flood memorials
The Heinz Hall Plaza at Sixth and Liberty is patterned after what vest-pocket park in New York City?
In March 1936, a major flood hit Pittsburgh. The high-water mark of that flood, 46 feet, is commemorated by a plaque on a downtown Pittsburgh building. On what building is this plaque?
I am repeating it over and over until it becomes accepted fact: There is no greater power a U.S. citizen holds than the ability to vote politicians out of power. If a Democrat or independent held the presidency right now, this headline would not exist. If the contents of this article makes you mad, then do something about it.
Answers:
Paley Park on 53rd Street. William S. Pauley, founder of CBS, contributed the park to the city.
Penn Avenue Place (the old Horne’s Department Store) located at Penn and Stanwix.
. . .