The first female host of the Academy Awards ceremony was Agnes Moorehead, who co-hosted with Dick Powell in 1948. By that time, she'd been nominated for two best supporting actress Oscars and would receive two more nominations. That was long before she became known to TV audiences as Samantha's flamboyant mom, Endora, on "Bewitched."

Chris Partridge from "The Partridge Family" and Becky Conner from "Roseanne" have what in common?

A) Oldest kids in their sitcom families

B) Drummers in their family bands

C) Role played by identical twins

D) Role played by two unrelated performers

Previous answer: Real-life mother and daughter, Diane Ladd and Laura Dern, received best supporting actress and best actress nominations respectively for 1992's "Rambling Rose."

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 6

The National Football League has limited edition commemorative coins minted for the coin toss at the start of the Super Bowl. For regular season games, however, it's typically up to the head referee to choose the coin that will be flipped before the start of play. One veteran official used the same Eisenhower silver dollar for every coin toss throughout his career. When he retired, he had that coin framed.

In the Highland Games event called the caber toss, what type of object is the caber?

A) Boulder

B) Cement block

C) Coin

D) Tree trunk

Previous answer: Like the role of Darrin Stephens on "Bewitched," Chris on "The Partridge Family" and Becky on "Roseanne" were played by two different actors during each sitcom's run.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 7

In 1919, General Jan Smuts of South Africa signed the Treaty of Versailles, which marked the end of World War I. In 1945, as prime minister of South Africa, Smuts signed the Paris Peace Treaty, marking the end of World War II. He's the only person whose signature appears on both documents. He's also the only person to have signed both the charter for the League of Nations in 1918 and the charter for the United Nations in 1945.

Who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations before he was elected president of the United States?

A) George H.W. Bush

B) Jimmy Carter

C) Gerald Ford

D) Harry Truman

Previous answer: In the Highland Games event called the caber toss, the caber is a pole made from the trunk of a tree.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Thursday, March 8

Denise Biellmann's amateur figure skating career came and went in a flash. Representing Switzerland, in 1981 she won both the European Championship and the World Championship and became the first woman to execute a triple Lutz jump in competition. Then, at age 18, she retired from amateur competition. Yet her legacy continues. A standing spin in which the skater reaches back over her shoulder to grasp one boot and extend it above her head, was Denise Biellmann's signature move. It's now known as the Biellmann spin.

Written in 1965, while the author was in prison, "Soul on Ice" is what man's memoir?

A) Muhammad Ali

B) Johnny Cash

C) Eldridge Cleaver

D) Malcolm X

Previous answer: Before he was elected president of the United States, George H.W. Bush served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Friday, March 9

New Year celebrations on the island of Bali start with two days of noisy parades and parties. The third day of the six-day Balinese New Year celebration is Nyepi, the day of silence, when everyone literally unplugs from daily life and stays home to fast, meditate and free themselves from sensory distractions for 24 hours. No cars, no TV, no radio, no phones. Observant Hindus won't even use electricity or light candles. If you were in a plane flying over Bali, the island would be completely dark and undetectable. You couldn't land if you wanted to: During Nyepi, even the airport shuts down.

According to Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence," where are the words of the prophets written?

A) On the back of my hand

B) In books no one has read, on the shelves in my head

C) On a street where angels live

D) On the subway walls and tenement halls

Previous answer: Published in 1968, Eldridge Cleaver's memoir "Soul on Ice" was written in 1965, while he was serving time in prison.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 10

John Kessel, author of the new Jane Austen-Mary Shelley mashup novel "Pride and Prometheus," tells us that the first movie version of "Frankenstein" was a 16-minute silent made in 1910 by Thomas Edison's studios. Though Edison was famous for applying electricity to innumerable practical uses, the monster in this film was brought to life not by lightning, but by cooking it in a fiery cauldron within a sealed chamber.

A pseudonym used by Percy Bysshe Shelly, what is Dr. Frankenstein's first name?

A) Alphonse

B) Igor

C) Victor

D) Werner

Previous answer: According to Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence," the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

WEEK OF MARCH 12

Monday, March 12

Largest of all zebra species, the Grevy's zebra is named for Jules Grevy, a former president of France, who received one in 1882 as a diplomatic gift from King Menelik II of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). A representative from the Paris museum of natural history noticed this zebra was different from other known zebras — taller, with narrower stripes and a distinctive white belly. He gave it the scientific name Equus grevyi in Grevy's honor. King Menelik presented Grevy's zebras to England's Queen Victoria and President Theodore Roosevelt as well.

Who provided the voice of Marty the zebra in the "Madagascar" film franchise?

A) Sacha Baron Cohen

B) Chris Rock

C) Jada Pinkett Smith

D) Ben Stiller

Previous answer: In Mary Shelley's novel, Dr. Frankenstein's first name is Victor.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 13

The first woman to compete in a NASCAR race was Sara Christian, who drove a Ford owned by her husband, Frank, at Charlotte Speedway on June 19, 1949. At the end of the 1949 season, Sara Christian was ranked 13th overall, racing in six of the eight NASCAR events, including the July 10 race at Daytona Beach, where the field also included Ethel Mobley and Louise Smith — the first NASCAR race that included three female drivers.

From 1952 to today, which company has won the most NASCAR Manufacturers' Championships?

A) Chevrolet

B) Chrysler

C) Ford

D) Pontiac

Previous answer: Chris Rock provided the voice of Marty the zebra in the "Madagascar" film franchise.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 14

In 1769, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and friend of Mozart, composed Concerto for Alto Trombone, one of a rare few classical pieces written to feature the trombone. He also composed for the mandola (a lower-pitched sibling of the mandolin) and for the jaw harp, but he was far from a novelty composer. He's probably best remembered as a teacher of music theory whose pupils included Mozart's son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, and a fellow from Germany by the name of Ludwig van Beethoven.

New Orleans musician Troy Andrews is better known by what stage name?

A) Kid Creole

B) Trombone Shorty

C) Doctor John

D) Macklemore

Previous answer: From 1952 to today, Chevrolet has won the most NASCAR Manufacturers' Championships.

Thursday, March 15

Washington Irving's tale of Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep in the Catskill Mountains and woke up 20 years later to find he'd missed the Revolutionary War, has its roots in the much older tale of the "Seven Sleepers" of Ephesus. That story says that in the third century, seven Christian friends hid in a cave to save themselves from persecution, fell asleep and awoke, miraculously, hundreds of years later. A similar story in surah 18 of the Quran, doesn't specify the number of faithful Muslim friends in the cave, but does say they slept for 309 years.

Which creature transmits trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, to humans?

A) Bat

B) Cobra

C) Rat

D) Tsetse fly

Previous answer: New Orleans musician Troy Andrews is better known as Trombone Shorty.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Friday, March 16

Strange as it seems, there's evidence of water ice on Mercury — not what you'd expect to find on the planet closest to the sun, where the temperature can hit 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the sunny side. But little Mercury is a planet of extremes. With no atmosphere to retain heat, temperatures on the dark side of the planet plunge to -290 degrees. At the poles, which remain perpetually in shadow, space probes have found evidence of water ice.

Introduced in 1914, the Mercury Man is the official trademark of what company?

A) AT&T

B) Cunard

C) FTD

D) Western Union

Previous answer: Tsetse flies transmit trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, to humans.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 17

In 1816, crossing Dublin's River Liffey involved a precarious ride on a leaky ferry for which passengers paid a ha'penny (halfpenny) fare. In the name of improvement, city alderman William Walsh — who owned the ferry — proposed replacing it with a cast-iron pedestrian bridge across the river. Then he convinced the city to give him a 100-year lease on the bridge, and he charged pedestrians a ha'penny toll to cross it. Though its official name is the Liffey Bridge and pedestrians today cross it for free, most folks know it as the Ha'penny Bridge.

A recognized form of the card game bridge is named for what U.S. city?

A) Albuquerque

B) Boston

C) Chicago

D) Sacramento

Previous answer: The Mercury Man is the official trademark of Florists' Transworld Delivery, better known as FTD.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

WEEK OF MARCH 19

Monday, March 19

Shortly after George Washington took office as president in 1789, his nephew, Bushrod, asked to be appointed as the federal attorney for Virginia. Washington said no. He wanted to make sure that no one could accuse him of favoritism or corruption in choosing the people who would join his government and, family member or not, if Bushrod wasn't the most qualified person for the job, he wasn't going to get it. Bushrod remained a lawyer in Virginia, building his reputation, and in 1798 President John Adams named him to fill a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who was the first chief justice of the United States?

A) John Adams

B) Alexander Hamilton

C) John Jay

D) Earl Warren

Previous answer: Chicago is a form of the card game bridge, related to contract bridge and rubber bridge.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 20

Which U.S. institution of higher learning fields the most Division I varsity sports teams? It's Harvard, which estimates that 20 percent of its student body participates in intercollegiate athletics. Adding a varsity women's rugby squad in 2013 brought the school's varsity team total to 42.

Immortalized in "The Social Network," identical twin entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winkelvoss competed for Harvard in what varsity sport?

A) Archery

B) Crew

C) Squash

D) Tennis

Previous answer: John Jay was the first chief justice of the United States.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 21

In honor of the United Nations' World Poetry Day, we salute Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet who, in 1913, became the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. He's also the only person to have written and composed the national anthems of two countries. His 1911 song, "Jana Gana Mana" ("the leader of people's minds"), became India's national anthem in 1950. After Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971, it chose Tagore's 1905 song "Amar Sonar Bangla" ("my golden Bengal") as its anthem.

Played during the medal ceremonies for a lot of Olympic speed skating events, "Het Wilhelmus" (or "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe") is the national anthem of what country?

A) Japan

B) The Netherlands

C) Norway

D) South Korea

Previous answer: Identical twin entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winkelvoss were standouts on the Harvard varsity crew team.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Thursday, March 22

Guglielmo Marconi is the father of modern radio, sending the first transatlantic radio communication — from England to Canada — in 1901. Thirty years after that, at the request of Pope Pius XI, Marconi established the first radio transmission facility at the Vatican. Radio Vaticana still broadcasts today, via land, satellite and internet, in 39 languages.

More than 16.8 million people follow @Pontifex, the Twitter handle of what individual?

A) Warren Buffett

B) Pope Francis

C) Richard Petty

D) Jean-Luc Ponty

Previous answer: "Het Wilhelmus" (or "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe") is the national anthem of the Netherlands.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Friday, March 23

Sailfish are generally considered to be the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of more than 68 miles per hour. Their huge dorsal "sail" fin makes them easy to recognize, but when they're swimming at high speed that fin is tucked down into a "fin groove" to make sailfish more aerodynamic. Not only are they fast, sailfish are big and strong, hunting in packs to prey on schools of smaller fish. When they're excited — or exhausted — sailfish change color, going from blue to black to dull brown depending on their mood.

The biggest-selling hit on the U.K. charts in 1983 was "Karma Chameleon" by what band?

A) Culture Club

B) Simple Minds

C) Tears for Fears

D) Wham!

Previous answer: More than 16.8 million people follow @Pontifex, the Twitter handle of Pope Francis.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 24

There's just one female inductee in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown and that's Effa Manley, co-owner of the Newark Eagles. Under her stewardship, the team were Negro League Champions in 1946, led by future Hall of Famers Larry Doby and Monte Irvin. The following year, Doby's contract was purchased by the Cleveland Indians. Two years after that, Irvin joined the New York Giants.

Which of these was NOT an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team in the 1940s?

A) Crawfordsville Sunbeams

B) Fort Wayne Daisies

C) Milwaukee Chicks

D) Rockford Peaches

Previous answer: The biggest-selling hit on the U.K. charts in 1983 was "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

WEEK OF MARCH 26

Monday, March 26

When you think of the sounds of the '60s, think of Earle Hagen, the man who composed the theme music for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "That Girl," "The Mod Squad" and "I Spy." (He won an Emmy for "I Spy.") He also composed the jazz standard "Harlem Nocturne," later used as the theme for TV's "Mike Hammer." But perhaps his most beloved composition is the theme for "The Andy Griffith Show." That's Earl Hagen whistling the song. His 11-year-old son provided the finger-snapping.

The Canary Islands are an autonomous community that is part of what larger nation?

A) Algeria

B) Australia

C) Brazil

D) Spain

Previous answer: The Fort Wayne Daisies, Milwaukee Chicks and Rockford Peaches were teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Crawfordsville Sunbeams were not.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 27

"La Bayadere" ("The Temple Dancer") is one of the world's best-known classical ballets, despite the fact that most of the world was denied even a glimpse of it for the first 85-plus years of its existence. Performed for the first time in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, and revived in Russia in 1941, it didn't have a "western" premiere until the Leningrad Kirov Ballet performed the second act (called "Kingdom of the Shades") in Paris in 1961. The complete ballet was performed in the west for the first time in 1980.

A dessert named for the great ballerina Anna Pavlova consists of what?

A) Chocolate cake with almonds and ice cream

B) Meringue crust with fruit and whipped cream

C) Sponge cake with hazelnut cream

D) Puff pastry with strawberries

Previous answer: The Canary Islands are an autonomous community that is part of Spain.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 28

For better or worse, there have been several instances of animals being nominated to run for political office, and on more than one occasion, a critter has been elected or appointed to a position of governance. Outranking them all, however, are the legendary dog kings of Scandinavia — legendary in that they are the stuff of legend and probably didn't exist. Nevertheless, folklore of Denmark, Norway and Sweden contains more than one tale of a noble hound being appointed or anointed to rule over a conquered population.

Queen Elizabeth II, Stephen King and California Governor Jerry Brown are notable owners of what breed of dog?

A) Afghan hound

B) Corgi

C) Irish setter

D) St. Bernard

Previous answer: The dessert called a pavlova has a meringue crust filled with fruit and whipped cream.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Thursday, March 29

People who develop foodborne illness from restaurant food are more likely to talk about it on social media than they are to report it to municipal authorities. So, using a computer program developed at Columbia University, the New York City Health Department tracks hundreds of thousands of Yelp reviews and Twitter mentions to pinpoint potential outbreaks of foodborne illness at restaurants. Consistent comments from diners who report feeling sick (sometimes quite explicitly!) have helped authorities find the sources of outbreaks.

The Economist magazine measures purchasing power parity of various world currencies by comparing the cost of what item in countries around the world?

A) Pint of Guinness

B) McDonald's Big Mac

C) Cup of Starbucks coffee

D) Milky Way candy bar

Previous answer: Queen Elizabeth II, Stephen King and California Governor Jerry Brown are notable corgi owners.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Friday, March 30

The first published mention of the Easter Bunny is generally considered to be a 1682 satirical scholarly text from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Written by Johannes Richier under the guidance of Georg Franck von Franckenau — a noted scientist with a sense of humor — it concerned "De ovis paschalibus" (Latin for Easter eggs). In the guise of providing medical advice, the paper cautions children against making themselves sick from eating too many of the brightly colored eggs hidden by the Easter bunny.

Roughly speaking, how many creme eggs does Cadbury sell each year?

A) 100,000

B) 1 million

C) 50 million

D) 500 million

Previous answer: The Economist Big Mac Index measures purchasing power parity by comparing the cost of a McDonald's Big Mac in countries around the world.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 31

The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, or World's Fair, in Paris and was expected to stand for 20 years or so. If the artistic community of the day had held sway, the tower would have been torn down immediately — they considered it an eyesore. It was, however, the tallest building in the world and that counted for something. Gustav Eiffel himself foresaw that the way to protect his landmark was to give it a purpose as a laboratory for experiments in meteorology, astronomy and physics. In 1909, plans to dismantle it were dropped when people realized it more valuable as a radio tower than as scrap metal.

A restaurant on the Eiffel Tower's second floor is named for what forward-thinking French novelist?

A) Colette

B) Victor Hugo

C) Marcel Proust

D) Jules Verne

Previous answer: Cadbury estimates that it sells approximately 500 million creme eggs a year.

TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of "Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts." Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.