• On rare occasions, it’s possible to spy a moonbow in the night sky. A moonbow is like a rainbow, with moisture in the atmosphere illuminated by the glow of the moon rather than the light of the sun. For a moonbow to occur after a nighttime rain, the moon must be low in the sky and extremely bright, and even then, the arc you see in the sky might appear white instead of tinted with all the colors of the rainbow.

• Chief chemist at the United States Department of Agriculture in the early 1900s, Harvey Washington Wiley studied the effects of artificial food additives, mainly by feeding them to grad student volunteers. That Wiley’s volunteers were nicknamed the “Poison Squad” gives you some idea of what the studies revealed. His advocacy for food safety led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906. The USDA Bureau of Chemistry was the precursor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Wiley was the first FDA commissioner.

1. Mother-of-pearl is a substance that forms naturally inside what?

A) Human bones

B) Rocks

C) Seashells

D) Trees

2. Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon in what location?

A) Sea of Clouds

B) Sea of Fertility

C) Sea of Serenity

D) Sea of Tranquility

3. In 1976, a live version of “Show Me the Way” became a Billboard Top 10 hit for what rock guitarist?

A) Jeff Beck

B) Rick Derringer

C) Peter Frampton

D) Johnny Winter

4. London had the world’s first underground train system. Which world capital had the second?

A) Beijing, China

B) Budapest, Hungary

C) Buenos Aires, Argentina

D) Paris, France

5. Which classic TV legend starred as Wildcat Jackson in the 1960 Broadway musical “Wildcat”?

A) Lucille Ball

B) Jack Benny

C) Johnny Carson

D) Jackie Gleason

6. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is added to food primarily for what purpose?

A) Food colorant

B) Flavor enhancer

C) Preservative

D) Sugar substitute

Answers

1) Mother-of-pearl, also known as nacre, forms inside seashells.

2) The Apollo 11 Lunar Module landed on the area of the moon’s surface known as Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility.

3) Peter Frampton’s “Show Me the Way” hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

4) The Budapest Metro opened in 1896, making it the world’s second-oldest underground train system.

5) Lucille Ball starred in the Broadway musical “Wildcat,” which opened in 1960.

6) Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is added to food mainly as a flavor enhancer.

Email Leslie at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.