Daily Trivia IV

On Sept. 21, 1984, CBS opened up the first American compact disc pressing plant in Terre Haute, Indiana. The first disc to come off the production line was Bruce Springsteen‘s Born in the U.S.A., which had been released three months earlier. Born in the U.S.A proved to be one of the best-selling albums of all time. It was promoted with a worldwide concert tour and seven singles that became top-10 hits: "Dancing in the Dark", "Cover Me", "Born in the U.S.A.", I'm on Fire", "Glory Days", "I'm Goin' Down", and "My Hometown".

 Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped at the age of 19 at Harrah’s Casino in Lake Tahoe. He was released on this day in 1963 after his father paid the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers. The kidnappers demanded that all communication be conducted by payphone. During these conversations, Frank Sr. became concerned he would not have enough coins, which prompted him to carry 10 dimes with him at all times for the rest of his life; he was even buried with 10 dimes in his pocket. A rumor at the time was that Frank Jr. orchestrated the abduction as a publicity stunt, however this was proven to be false.

 On this day in 2007, NFL star Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing dogs that underperformed. Michael Vick was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons football team when authorities raided a property owned by the football star. The raid unveiled an entrenched dog-fighting scene that included a number of injured animals. The case drew widespread publicity to the issues of animal abuse and dog fighting. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for running a "cruel and inhumane" dog fighting ring.

 Cheesehead is a nickname in the United States for a person from Wisconsin or for a fan of the Green Bay Packers NFL football franchise. The use of the term "cheesehead" as a derogatory word for Wisconsinites originated with Illinois football and baseball fans to refer to opposing Wisconsin sports fans. The term, however, was quickly embraced by Wisconsinites and is now a point of pride. The "Cheesehead" trademark is owned by Foamation, Inc. of St. Francis, Wisconsin, which began manufacture of the wearable, foam "Cheesehead" in 1987.

 After John Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969, he formally changed his middle name. Lennon updated his middle name by deed poll from Winston to “Ono”, during a brief ceremony on the roof of the Apple Corps building in London. Lennon had never liked his middle name, which had been given to him during a bout of wartime patriotism. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon, since UK law dictates that a person is unable to fully revoke a name given at birth.

 Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside The Dakota apartment building in New York City on this day in 1980. Chapman fired five times at Lennon, hitting him four times in the back and later sat down on a nearby curb reading J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by the police. He has repeatedly said that the novel was his statement. After being taken into custody, Chapman told officers, “I’m sure the large part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book. The small part of me must be the Devil.” 

On this day in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was unanimously ratified in Delaware by all 30 delegates to the Delaware Constitutional Convention, making Delaware the first official state of the modern United States. The Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, and, by the terms of the document, the Constitution would become binding once nine of the former 13 colonies had ratified the document. Delaware led the process, and on June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, making it the supreme law of the land. Source: NetState.com

  The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and commemorates the events of that day. Today, thousands flock to the oblong floating memorial in Oahu, situated directly above the hull of the sunken battleship, to honor and pay tribute to the fallen and remember the events of that fateful day. The memorial, built in 1962, is visited by more than two million people annually.

 Did you know that Montana is often called Big Sky Country? The nickname is a reference to the unobstructed skyline in the state that seems to overwhelm the landscape at times. The name came from a book by Alfred Bertram Guthrie Jr. titled “Big Sky”. Mr. Guthrie gave the Montana Highway Department permission to use the name and Montana has been "Big Sky Country" ever since. The nickname "Big Sky Country" appeared on Montana license plates from 1967 to 1975. This was shortened to "Big Sky" on license plates stamped from 1976 to 2000.

 Tarzan is one of the best-known figures of popular fiction, and the hero of jungle adventures in nearly 30 novels and dozens of motion pictures. Tarzan was the creation of novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, and first appeared in a magazine story in 1912. His popularity led to the publication of a novel, Tarzan of the Apes (1914), and to a series of successful sequels. Tarzan is abandoned in the jungles of Africa, where he is adopted and raised by a tribe of great apes. Tarzan is his ape name (meaning "White-Skin"); his English name is John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke.