This Week’s Trivia Topic: The Wild West

“Wild Bill” Hickok was one of the most notorious figures of the early American West. In 1857, at the age of 20, Hickok claimed a 160 tract of land outside of Lenexa, Kansas, and was subsequently elected one of the first constables in the area.

Hickok first made a name for himself as a lawman and gunfighter several years later, during a dispute over payment of a loan on a property in Hickok’s jurisdiction. The notorious McCanles Gang arrived at the county courthouse and “called out” Hickok from the court house to settle the dispute. Wild Bill emerged onto the street, immediately drew one of his .36 caliber revolvers, and at a 75-yard stand-off distance, fired a single shot into David McCanles’ chest, killing him instantly.

Wild Bill’s death came under classic circumstances - during a game of poker in a saloon in Dakota territory. Hickok could not find a seat in the corner of the saloon, where he always sat in order to protect against attack from behind. He was instead forced to sit and play with his back to the door - a fateful decision. Hickok was murdered with a shot to the back of the head that day by Jack McCall, who claimed it was vengeance for Hickok killing his brother years earlier in Abilene, Kansas.

When he was shot, Hickok was said to be holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, all black. Accordingly, a hand of “aces and eights” has become known in poker by what nickname?

Bonus: What was Wild Bill’s real first name?

Trivia Answer: Nobel Prize Winners

Answers to this week’s trivia.

Mahatma Ghandi was nominated for the Peace Prize five times, yet never won it before his assassination.

In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, five others are awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Medicine/Physiology and Economics.

The one other well known family was Niels Bohr, who won in 1922 for his contribution to understanding the atom, and his son Aage Bohr, who won in 1975 for much expanding his fathers original research. William Bragg and his son William Jr also shared the award in 1915 for pioneering the X-ray. There are many others, which you can checkout at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_prize#Family_laureates

Also notable ironic: The Nobel Peace Prize is funded with money Alfred Nobel earned from inventing dynamite, and running a successful arms company.

This Week’s Trivia Topic: Nobel Prize Winners

I got carried away and made it a bit long this week, but I think it’s interesting. Two bonuses at the end to keep you engaged, so read the whole thing.

The Nobel Prizes were established in 1895 by the will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. They have grown in prominence and come to be recognized as one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and carry a monetary award of approximately $1.2 million.

Since the establishment of the Nobel Prizes, only four people have received two Nobel Prizes, the first of which was Marie Curie, first for the discovery of radioactivity and again for the isolation of pure radium eight years later. (Side note: her husband, Pierre Curie, shared the award with her in 1903, and their daughter Irene and her husband Frederic Joliot shared the award years later in 1935).

However, the Nobel Prizes are not without controversy. One person was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize FIVE times between 1937 and 1948, for his non-violent contributions to peace and freedom in World War II, Africa and India. However, he never received the Prize, being assassinated on 30 January 1948 two days before the closing date for the 1948 Peace Prize nominations. The Norwegian Nobel Committee had very likely planned to give him the Peace Prize in 1948 as they considered a posthumous award, but ultimately decided against it, and instead chose not to award the prize that year. Who is it?

BONUS: In addition to the famed Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prize is awarded in five other fields each year. Name them.

DOUBLE BONUS: There have been many other families that have included multiple Nobel laureates. Name another (first names and discoveries not needed)?