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The Questions…

1. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. What symbolic item lies at Lady Liberty’s feet?

2. Gulliver’s Travels, the acclaimed satire on human nature by Jonathan Swift, has never been out of print since it was published in 1726. Gulliver’s Travels is a shortened form of the actual title. What is the full title?

3. What is the name of Judge Judy’s 148-foot yacht?

4. It’s a fact that the orbit of the Moon is slowly expanding, and the Moon is steadily moving away from the Earth. (It has to do with orbital speed, gravitational pull, tidal bulges, tidal friction, and stuff like that.) How far away from the Earth does the Moon recede each year?

5. What was Tim Burton’s 1996 film Mars Attacks! based upon?

The Answers…

1. A broken chain, representing freedom from oppression and bondage. The designer, French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi, wanted the chain to be in Lady Liberty’s hand, but decided the symbolism would be too divisive so soon after the Civil War.

2. The full title is Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships.

3. Her Honor.

4. About 1.5 inches.

5. The movie was based on a series of Topps trading cards released in 1962. Drawn by Mad Magazine artist Wally Wood, the set of 55 trading cards told the story of an invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians. Eventually, legal action over graphic violence, gore, and sexual content forced Topps to halt production of the cards… which, of course, are valuable collectors’ items today.