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Trivia (singular: trivium) are unimportant (or "trivial") items, especially of information. In the late twentieth century the expression came to apply more to information of the kind useful almost exclusively for answering quiz questions: a perfect "trivia question" is one that initially stumps the listener, but the answer subsequently sounds familiar once revealed (otherwise the question would be considered either too familiar and therefore not trivia, or so unfamiliar and obscure as to be unanswerable and not as entertaining). Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Look up trivia, trivial in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In mathematics, the term trivial is frequently used for objects (for examples, groups or topological spaces) that have a very simple structure. ...

Etymology

The etymology of the word trivia seems to start with Latin tri- = "three", and via = "way", "road", thus trivium, which has been treated in two ways: Not to be confused with Entomology, the scientific study of insects. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...

• "Where three roads meet", especially as a place of public resort. The Latin adjective triviālis, derived from trivium, thus meant "appropriate to the street corner, commonplace, vulgar." The first known usage of the word "trivial" in Modern English is from 1589; it was used with a sense identical to that of triviālis. Shortly after that trivial is recorded in the sense most familiar to us: "of little importance or significance." Gradually, the word trivia came to be used in English for what in Latin would have called "triviālia", for anything information or concern which is treated as everyday and unimportant.
• "The Three Ways" (first known used in English in a work from 1432-1450). This work mentions the "arte trivialle", referring to the trivium, which was the three Artes Liberales (Liberal Arts) that were taught first in medieval universities, namely grammar, rhetoric, and logic. (The other four Liberal Arts were the quadrivium, namely arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, which were more challenging.) Hence, trivial in this sense would have meant "of interest only to an undergraduate".

The word "trivia" was popularized in its current meaning in the 1960s by Columbia University students Ed Goodgold and Dan Carlinsky, who created the earliest inter-collegiate quizzes that tested culturally important and unimportant facts, which they dubbed "trivia contests". Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Septem Artes Liberales (The Seven Liberal Arts) in Herrad of Landsbergs Hortus Deliciarum (The Garden of Delights). ... In the history of education, the seven liberal arts comprise two groups of studies, the trivium and the quadrivium. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... For the rules of English grammar, see English grammar and Disputes in English grammar. ... Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of spoken language; however, this definition of rhetoric has expanded greatly since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in universities. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... The quadrivium comprised the four subjects taught in medieval universities after the trivium. ... Arithmetic tables for children, Lausanne, 1835 Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number) is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple daily counting to advanced science and business calculations. ... Calabi-Yau manifold Geometry (Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure) is a part of mathematics concerned with questions of size, shape, and relative position of figures and with properties of space. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Astronomy (disambiguation). ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players (as individuals or in teams), attempt to answer questions correctly. ...

Quiz shows

Before the trivia subculture became widespread, via radio and TV quiz shows and books, the term commonly referred to bits of information to which most adults in the culture had at one time been exposed, via standard education or via popular culture. In time the term came also to comprise more obscure and arcane bits of knowledge. The first book treating trivia of this universal sort was Trivia (Dell, 1966) by Goodgold and Carlinsky, which achieved a ranking on the New York Times best seller list; the book was an extension of the pair's Columbia University trivia contests and was followed by other Goodgold and Carlinsky trivia titles. In 1974, a former Sacramento air traffic controller named Fred L. Worth published The Trivia Encyclopedia, which he followed in 1977 with The Complete Unabridged Super Trivia Encyclopedia, and in 1981 with Super Trivia, vol. II. The popularity of all these books laid the groundwork for the first edition of Trivial Pursuit in the early 1980s. See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... “Sacramento” redirects here. ... Controllers survey the field at Misawa Air Base, Japan. ... Trivial Pursuit is a board game where progress is determined by a players ability to answer general knowledge, popular culture questions. ...

The enormous success of this game led, in the United States, to the re-launch of Jeopardy!, reviving a quiz show genre that had been dormant since the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. The American TV broadcaster ABC had a surprise hit with Who Wants to be a Millionaire, an import of a successful British quiz format which launched another wave of interest in trivia. In both the UK and Canada, the quiz format has enjoyed continuous success since the 1950s, untouched by the scandals that dogged the American format. Jeopardy! is an international television quiz game show. ... The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were the result of the revelation that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... Logo from the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers very large cash prizes for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions. ...

In addition to the mass media trivia, there have also been two entrenched trivia subcultures. One is the pub quiz phenomenon, which is especially prevalent in Great Britain and in select U.S. cities, particularly in pubs that serve a large Irish-American community. (The U.S. pub quiz scene is crimped by the popularity of Buzztime, a satellite-based game.) A pub quiz is a quiz held in a pub. ... Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European nation of Ireland. ... NTN Buzztime is a company which produces interactive entertainment across many different platforms. ...

Quiz bowls

The other subculture is the quizbowl format found in high schools and universities in the U.S., as well as in elementary, middle, and junior high schools; the Canadian equivalent is competition geared toward Reach for the Top, among high schools, whereas Canadian universities are beginning to participate in U.S. quiz bowl leagues. Churchill College - Cambridge plays York on University Challenge, a televised quizbowl programme. ... Final moments of an episode of the Montreal version of Reach for the Top, as aired on CBMT-6 in the late 1970s. ...

The largest current trivia contest^[1][2] is held in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's college radio station WWSP 89.9 FM. This is a college station with 11,500 watts of power and about a 65 mile (105 km) radius, and the contest serves as a fund raiser for the station. The contest is open to anyone, and it is played in April of each year spanning 54 hours over a weekend with eight questions each hour. There are usually 500 teams ranging from 1 to 50 players. The top ten teams are awarded trophies. Stevens Point, Portage County, is located in central Wisconsin. ... The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (also known as UW-Stevens Point or UWSP) is a public university located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. ... College (Latin collegium) is a term most often used today to denote an educational institution. ... This is a college radio station at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. ...

The University of Colorado Trivia Bowl was a student contestant featuring a single-elimination tournament based on the GE College Bowl.^[3] Many of the best trivia players in America trace participation through this tournament including many Jeopardy! and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestants. College Bowl is a format of college-level quizbowl run and operated by College Bowl Company, Incorporated. ...

See also

• Category:Trivia books
• Factoid
• The Book of General Ignorance
• Hey! Spring of Trivia (a Japanese television show on Fuji Television)
• List of radio trivia contests
• Sploofus website

Mount Isa, Australia, is often incorrectly referred to as the largest city in the world by area Toronto, Canada, was never designated by UNESCO as the worlds most multicultural city Factoid can refer to a spurious (unverified, incorrect, or invented) fact intended to create or prolong public exposure or... QI: The Book of General Ignorance (UK cover) The Book of General Ignorance is a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. ... Hey! Spring of Trivia (Japanese: トリビアの泉, Toribia-no izumi) is the name given by Spike TV to the show The Fountain of Trivia, a Japanese variety show on Fuji TV. Trivia consists of a series of video segments that introduce and confirm the validity of unusual trivia. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Fuji Television Network, Inc. ... The following is a list of trivia contests: WISS Trivia Contest / Hometown Broadcasting Berlin, Wisconsin - longest running annual commercial trivia contest (canceled as of 2006) WWSP radio - Stevens Point, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point) - the worlds largest KVSC radio Saint Cloud, Minnesota Williams College Trivia Contest - WCFM radio... Sploofus is a popular website featuring trivia quizzes and other online games. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Resources

• American Heritage Dictionaries (2000). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-82517-2.

External links

• Trivia at the Open Directory Project – An active listing of trivia links.
• Interviews with many of the people and organizations mentioned above