Show #4831 - Monday, September 19, 2005 Ranks and Titles

In 1950 Pius XII was Pontifex Maximus; exactly 2,000 years earlier, this man held a title of the same name. Answer: Julius Caesar

The Da Vinci Code

A 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown centered on a murder in the Louvre Museum and a Holy Grail conspiracy; as of July 2005, it spent 120 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Woody Guthrie

An American folk singer-songwriter whose original 1940 lyrics to 'This Land Is Your Land' contained critical political verses mentioning the relief office and hungry people.

Tokyo Rose

A generic name given by Allied troops to female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda during World War II, one of whom was Iva Toguri, born on July 4, 1916.

Charles de Gaulle

The French general and president who served as head of France's provisional government and later as president from 1959 to 1969; in 1966, he withdrew France from NATO's integrated military command structure.

Saluki

An ancient breed of sighthound historically bred in the Fertile Crescent, known for its deep chest, slender body, and association with Middle Eastern royalty.

Quesadilla

A traditional Mexican dish consisting of a flour or corn tortilla filled with cheese and often chicken or other meats, then folded and grilled or toasted until melted.

Jimmy Buffett

An American singer-songwriter famous for his tropical rock sound and hit song 'Margaritaville', who also authored several books including the 2004 novel A Salty Piece of Land.

Peter, Paul and Mary

An influential American folk music trio formed in 1961 (comprising Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers) who scored a No. 2 hit in 1963 with Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind'.

Ramblin' Rose

A popular 1962 hit song recorded by Nat King Cole describing a wild, wind-blown woman, opening with the lyrics 'Ramblin' Rose, ramblin' Rose / Wild and wind-blown / That's how you've grown'.

Napoleon III

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, who served as President of France and Emperor of the Second French Empire until his defeat and capture by German forces at Sedan in 1870.

Rhodesian Ridgeback

A hound dog breed originally developed in Southern Africa, recognized by the distinct ridge of hair along its back growing in the opposite direction from the rest of its coat.

Saddlesore

A 10-letter adjective describing physical stiffness, inflammation, or aching caused by a prolonged period of horseback riding.

The Broker

A 2005 political thriller novel by John Grisham in which the CIA arranges a presidential pardon for power broker Joel Backman, relocating him to Italy while leaking his location to foreign intelligence.

Pete Seeger

A legendary American folk singer, activist, and songwriter who won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album for Pete, his first new solo studio album in over a decade.

Johnny Weissmuller

An American Olympic swimmer who won five gold medals in the 1920s before becoming famous for playing Tarzan in films; Murray Rose was the next male swimmer to duplicate his feat of two solo Olympic golds in 1956.

Peter the Hermit

A French priest of Amiens and a key leader of the People's Crusade (1096), known in French history and lore as Pierre l'Ermite.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier

A small Scottish terrier breed recognized by its distinctive topknot of hair on its head and long body, named after a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering.

Pasadena

A city in Los Angeles County, California, originally settled in the 1870s as the Indiana Colony, famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Michael Crichton

An American author and physician known for techno-thrillers like Jurassic Park; his 2004 novel State of Fear addressed controversial themes surrounding global warming and environmentalism.

The Kingston Trio

An American folk and pop music group that ignited the American folk music revival in the late 1950s, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1958 with 'Tom Dooley'.

The Name of the Rose

A 1980 historical mystery novel by Italian author Umberto Eco, set in a 14th-century Italian monastery where the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville investigates a series of mysterious deaths.

Paul Gauguin

A French Post-Impressionist artist famed for his colorful depictions of Tahitian life, whose life loosely inspired W. Somerset Maugham's 1919 novel The Moon and Sixpence.

Affenpinscher

A toy dog breed of German origin characterized by a distinct monkey-like facial appearance (from the German Affe, meaning monkey) and a rough, wiry coat.

Crusade

A military expedition undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries under papal sanction to recover the Holy Land from Muslim rule; broadly, any holy war or vigorous campaign.

I Am Charlotte Simmons

A 2004 novel by Tom Wolfe focusing on modern elite college culture through the perspective of a naive freshman girl; recommended by President George W. Bush to his friends.

Joan Baez

An American folk singer and civil rights activist who famously sang the protest anthem 'We Shall Overcome' at the 1963 March on Washington, releasing a charted version shortly after.

York & Lancaster

The two competing royal houses—symbolized by the white rose and red rose respectively—that fought for control of the English throne during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487).

François Auguste Chateaubriand

A 19th-century French author, politician, and diplomat considered a founder of French Romanticism, whose name was given to a thick, tender center cut of beef tenderloin steak.

Bluetick Coonhound

An American hound dog breed known for its mottled blue-colored coat, sharp scenting abilities, and rhythmic bark, traditionally bred for hunting raccoons and other game.

Hafez al-Assad

The Syrian military officer and politician who served as President of Syria from 1971 until 2000, whose regime violently suppressed an uprising in the city of Hama in 1982.

Pastels

An art medium consisting of pure powdered pigment bound into sticks; popularized in portraiture during the 1700s by Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera.

Yogurt

A fermented dairy product created through bacterial fermentation of milk, typically utilizing starter cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.

Martha Stewart

An American retail businesswoman, television personality, and writer who rebuilt her media empire after serving prison time in 2004–2005; Donald Trump wrote a short profile titled 'The Domestic Diva Is Back'.

Robert Browning

A prominent Victorian English poet whose wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote Sonnets from the Portuguese, titled after his affectionate nickname for her, 'my little Portuguese'.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer whose initial 1484 petition to King John II of Portugal to fund a western ocean passage to Asia was rejected before he was later funded by Spain in 1492.

Foreshortening

A visual arts technique used in perspective drawing to create the illusion of depth by compressing or enlarging objects closer to the viewer's point of view.

21

The number missing from the title 21 Grams, a 2003 drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu about three individuals connected by a fatal accident (referencing the popular theory about the weight lost at death).

Yin and Yang

A fundamental concept in ancient Chinese philosophy representing two complementary, interconnected, and opposing cosmic forces (dark/light, passive/active, female/male).

Bill Gates

The co-founder of Microsoft who, along with his wife Melinda, established a major global charitable foundation that has funded massive public health initiatives, saving hundreds of thousands of children's lives.

John Milton

The 17th-century English poet best known for Paradise Lost, who wrote Sonnet 19 ('When I consider how my light is spent') reflecting on his onset of total blindness.

Rio de Janeiro

A coastal city in southeastern Brazil that served as the capital of Portuguese South American colonies starting in 1763, and later as the capital of independent Brazil until 1960.

Wax

The primary binding agent used in encaustic painting, an ancient technique where beeswax is melted, mixed with color pigments, applied to a rigid surface, and fixed with heat.

39

The number in The 39 Steps, a 1935 spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1915 adventure novel by John Buchan.

Yellow Fever

An acute viral hemorrhagic disease spread by infected mosquitoes; scientists funded by the Rockefeller Foundation (including Max Theiler) helped develop the 17D strain vaccine for it.

Bono

The lead vocalist of the Irish rock band U2, renowned for his global activism against poverty and AIDS, who collaborated closely with economist Jeffrey Sachs on Third World debt cancellation.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

A major English Romantic poet who penned the 1819 political sonnet 'England in 1819', which opens with the iconic line 'An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King' referring to King George III.

Africa

The second-largest continent in the world; its southernmost extremity is Cape Agulhas (Cabo das Agulhas, Portuguese for 'Cape of Needles'), named for where compass needles pointed true north.

Canvas Sizing

The technique in canvas preparation where a sealer like glue or gel is applied to raw fabric to prevent oil paint from penetrating the fibers and deteriorating the cloth.

400

The number in The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups), a landmark 1959 French New Wave drama film directed by François Truffaut based on his troubled youth.

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement, considered the holiest and most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, marked by a 25-hour period of fasting, intensive prayer, and repentance.

Kim Jong-il

The Supreme Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011, often referred to within his country as the 'Dear Leader,' who oversaw the development of North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Petrarch

A 14th-century Italian scholar and poet (Francesco Petrarca) often called the 'Father of Humanism', whose Canzoniere contained over 300 sonnets dedicated to his unrequited love, Laura.

Guinea-Bissau

A West African country bordered by Senegal and Guinea; known as Portuguese Guinea prior to gaining independence in 1974, when it appended the name of its capital, Bissau.

Scumbling

A painting technique in which a thin, opaque, or semi-opaque layer of dryish paint is lightly brushed over a dry underlayer to create a softened, blurred, or atmospheric effect.

200

The number in 200 Cigarettes, a 1999 ensemble comedy film set in New York City on New Year's Eve 1981, starring Ben Affleck, Paul Rudd, and Christina Ricci.

Yemen

A country on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula; its major port city of Aden was controlled as a British Crown colony and protectorate from 1839 until 1967.

Barack Obama

The 44th U.S. President, who first gained national prominence after winning a high-profile 2004 U.S. Senate election in Illinois against conservative politician Alan Keyes.

Rainer Maria Rilke

An Austrian poet and novelist widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets of the 20th century, author of Sonnets to Orpheus (1922).

Spain

The Iberian nation that negotiated the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal, dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands.

Pontifex Maximus

The title originally held by the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome (meaning 'greatest bridge-builder') that was later adopted by the Pope as supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church.