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| Thursday, July 27, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Fun Facts New book raises questions about Silver State By Heidi Knapp Rinella
Review-Journal Betcha don't know who the first conventioneers in Las Vegas were.
Betcha don't know a lot that's in "Nevada Trivia," a new book by husband-and-wife Las Vegas residents Kenneth and E. Lyn Bouton.
Kenneth Bouton said a contact in Arizona recommended him to write the book for the publisher, Rutledge Hill Press of Nashville, Tenn.
Bouton, 78, has been a resident of Las Vegas since 1963 and has a long history in town -- working for two local newspapers and serving as publisher of the Senior Times, later Nevada Senior World. A native of Arkansas, he also worked for the Denver Post and newspapers in Oregon and Idaho. And he was an administrative assistant to the Las Vegas mayor from 1965 to 1978.
"I've kind of split it between newspaper and government," Bouton said of his career.
"Nevada Trivia" has a lot of material that concerns Las Vegas, unlike some books on the state that focus more on Northern Nevada.
"In all honesty, we tried to balance it out pretty good," Bouton said. "We really tried to cover statewide."
The book has 1,200 trivia questions divided into sections: geography, entertainment, history, arts and literature, sports and leisure, and science and nature. It sells for $6.95 and is available in local bookstores and through www.ama
zon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.
The Boutons' format is to list the questions, immediately followed by the answers.
We decided to make things a little more challenging by listing questions first, then the answers.
Oh, and by the way: The first group to hold a convention in Las Vegas? Those fun-lovin' shriners. A shriners' group from Los Angeles held the first convention in Las Vegas, in 1935. No word on whether they brought any little cars.
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NEVADA TRIVIA TEST
From "Nevada Trivia" by Kenneth and E. Lyn Bouton
1. What hotel was the first to sign entertainers to exclusive contracts?
2. What was the first Las Vegas resort to host international bowling tournaments?
3. Who bought the downtown Las Vegas Eldorado Club in 1951?
4. The El Rancho Vegas is credited with what phase in the entertainment industry?
5. Who was the leading star at the Riviera for many years?
6. Which U.S. president made his only nightclub appearance in Las Vegas?
7. In what hotel did he appear, and what did his act feature?
8. What Nevada town is considered one of the most remote in the state?
9. What are the closest towns to it in all directions?
10. When and to whom was the first gambling license issued?
11. What was the name of her establishment, and where was it located?
12. What is Nevada's official state rock?
13. The Las Vegas Valley slopes down in what direction?
14. What was the first town in Clark County to have an airport?
15. The legalization of gambling in 1931 brought what reaction from other states?
16. What was a major reason for replacing the original Las Vegas city seal on March 16, 1966?
17. How much higher in elevation is Lake Tahoe than the town of Carson City, about nine miles away by air?
18. By the end of 1993, how many nuclear tests had been conducted at the Nevada Test Site?
19. What Nevada town now rests at the bottom of Lake Mead?
20. When was Reno's first arch installed and what were the original words of greeting on the arch?
21. Who built the first complete tennis facility in Las Vegas?
22. What is considered to be Nevada's first major industry?
23. What percentage of the nation's gold and what percentage of the world's total output of gold come from Nevada mines?
24. In what Nevada town did Tanya Tucker live when she became a star?
25. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe made what movie in what Nevada town?
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Trivia answers
Here are answers to the Nevada Trivia Test:
1. The Sands.
2. The Showboat.
3. Benny Binion.
4. It was the start of resort development in the Las Vegas area.
5. Pianist and entertainer Liberace.
6. Ronald Reagan.
7. The Last Frontier hotel, where he was onstage with trained chimpanzees.
8. Austin.
9. Fallon is 110 miles west, Battle Mountain is 70 miles north, Eureka is 70 miles east and Tonopah is 117 miles south.
10. To Mamie Stocker on March 20, 1931
11. The Northern Club, at Fremont and Main streets in Las Vegas.
12. Sandstone.
13. East.
14. Boulder City, where TWA established service soon after Hoover Dam was built.
15. Parts of the country asked for a recall of Nevada's statehood.
16. The original seal depicted a gushing artesian well, which was symbolic of early Las Vegas. However, after atomic bomb tests began at the nearby Nevada Test Site in the 1950s, many people mistook the artesian well for an atom bomb blast and objected to it.
17. The lake is nearly 1,500 feet higher.
18. There were 925 tests.
19. St. Thomas, a small community northeast of Las Vegas, had to be abandoned when Lake Mead was created.
20. "Reno Transcontinental Highway Exposition" appeared on the first arch, installed in 1926.
21. Wilbur Clark, owner of the Desert Inn
22. Mining: gold, silver, lead and many other minerals.
23. Nevada produces 66 1/2 percent of the nation's gold and 10 percent of the world's total output
24. Henderson.
25. "The Misfits" was filmed in Dayton.
How many did you miss?
0-4: You're a sagebrush sage.
5-9: You need more time on the trail.
10 or more: You're a Nevada naif.
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 | Printable version of this story
"Nevada Trivia," a new book by husband-and-wife Las Vegas residents Kenneth and E. Lyn Bouton
Liberace performed as a leading star for many years at a Strip hotel.
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