Among the abolitionist newspapers published in the United States in the decades leading to the American Civil War, The North Star, founded by Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York, is probably the best known today. Another influential abolitionist newspaper was The Liberator, based in Boston. A Philadelphia-based abolitionist newspaper was edited for a time by the poet John Greenleaf Whittier. For most of its existence, that paper was called the Pennsylvania Freeman, but its original name was the National Enquirer.

Tyrannosaurus rex was what paleobiologists call the “apex predator” of the latest Cretaceous period, a gigantic creature that stalked the Earth between 80 and 66 million years ago, eating what it pleased. But the T. rex didn’t start out as the 42-foot-tall, 7-ton giant we know today. Its earliest relatives were human-sized, and archaeological digs in Uzbekistan unearthed a horse-sized T. rex cousin.

Why is Pepto-Bismol pink? The company website says that no one is sure why the doctor who developed it chose to make it pink. Its active ingredient, bismuth subsalicylate, is naturally white.

1. In which constellation would you find Polaris, better known as the North Star?

A) Cygnus

B) Leo

C) Orion

D) Ursa Minor

2. Bukhara, Uzbekistan, was historically known as a center for trade in what handmade objects?

A) Candles

B) Pottery

C) Rugs

D) Swords

3. Pinking shears were designed to cut what?

A) Fabric

B) Plant stems and branches

C) Sheet metal

D) Vulcanized rubber

4. Ophelia is a tragic character in which of Shakespeare’s tragic plays?

A) “Hamlet”

B) “Macbeth”

C) “Othello”

D) “Titus Andronicus”

5. Who is the oldest — and the tallest — person to pitch a perfect game in Major League Baseball?

A) Matt Cain

B) Randy Johnson

C) Don Larsen

D) Cy Young

6. Gulf Islands National Seashore encompasses land in which two states?

A) Alabama and Mississippi

B) Connecticut and Massachusetts

C) Florida and Mississippi

D) Louisiana and Texas

Answers

1) Polaris, better known as the North Star, is in the constellation Ursa Minor.

2) Bukhara, Uzbekistan, has historically been a center for the rug trade.

3) Pinking shears cut fabric with a sawtoothed edge that limits fraying.

4) Ophelia is a tragic character in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

5) Randy Johnson, who is 6 feet, 10 inches tall, was 40 years, 251 days old when he threw a perfect game on May 18, 2004.

6) Gulf Islands National Seashore encompasses land in Florida and Mississippi.

Email Leslie at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.