Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Jabs at Past Presidents

Updated with new questions at 5 p.m. on December 19, 2025.

When I visited the Snapple website this week, I was served one of the drink brand’s famous fun facts: that a jiffy is an “actual time measurement equaling 1/100th of a second.” Fun indeed! And arguably even a little bit true!

In 2013 in The Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance courageously exposed that many of Snapple’s bottle-cap facts were false. I wished to determine whether the company had since cleaned up its act; the intervening rebrand from “Real Facts” (scare quotes theirs) to Real Facts (no quotes!) felt like a vow.

Alas, a jiffy was first proposed as the name for the time light takes to travel one centimeter in a vacuum—about 33 trillionths of a second. In electronics, a jiffy might be 1/50 or 1/60 of a second. Only in Linux computing specifically can it be 1/100 of a second, and even then only sometimes.

Oh well. I did not have the heart to check the next statement: “Mangoes can get sunburned.” Whatever, sure. For the foreseeable future, stick with Atlantic Trivia for your fun facts.

Find last week’s questions here, and to get Atlantic Trivia in your inbox every day, sign up for The Atlantic Daily.

Friday, December 19, 2025

You might have seen that Donald Trump installed plaques underneath the presidential portraits he hung in the White House. Some inscriptions are more pointed than others. But my colleague Alexandra Petri didn’t want less-recent commanders-in-chief to miss out on that signature Trump tone—so she imagined some more blurbs herself.

For today’s Atlantic Trivia, read the “inscriptions” on Alexandra’s made-up plaques, then determine which president each describes:

1. On the one hand, he did the League of Nations, but on the other hand, he used to show Birth of a Nation in the White House and he segregated the federal government. This just goes to show there are good and bad sides to everyone. Thank goodness we never got into the League of Nations.
2. We like that he put his name on all the things: the monument, the city, even a state. Now if you put your name on the things, they say it’s tacky, but with him, not so much!
3. Tall guy, but weird-looking. They say he ushered in the “Era of Good Feelings,” actually very BAD feelings for the Federalists! … And his wife was very good in Some Like It Hot.
4. Gave such a long inaugural address that he died! Donald J. Trump gave a much longer address and did not die. Tippecanoe didn’t have what it takes!
5. Boy, they had a lot of these guys with beards! Even the voters took one look at this little guy and said, Nah, we want to go with Samuel Tilden. Poor Sammy Tilden.

And by the way, did you know that a famous portrait of Calvin Coolidge’s wife, Grace, hangs in the White House’s China Room? Her red dress matches the hue of the room; combined with the blue sky and the Coolidges’ white collie, it creates a patriotic colorscape within the portrait.

She initially wanted to wear white. The artist, however, was set on his palette, so President Coolidge tried to offer a mutually agreeable solution: “She could still wear the white dress and we’d dye the dog.”

Have a great weekend!

Answers:

1. Woodrow Wilson. The idealistic League of Nations was Wilson’s post–World War I plan for enduring peace, but Congress prevented the United States from actually joining up. Less idealistic was The Birth of a Nation, so hideously racist that some cities and states blocked screenings of it. Read the rest of the “inscriptions.”
2. George Washington. The first president’s name is also on counties, parks, mountains, rivers—what isn’t it on? Well, the Kennedy Center, for one thing.
3. James Monroe. Monroe presided over a period of growing prosperity and shrinking political divisions within the country, with the Democratic-Republicans functionally operating as the only party in town. He was not, however, married to Marilyn Monroe.
4. William Henry Harrison. Poor Harrison! The hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe against Tecumseh’s Shawnee confederacy indeed spoke in rain and wind for nearly two hours at his inauguration. Within another 750 hours or so, he was dead.
5. Rutherford B. Hayes. The election of 1876 ended with both Hayes and Samuel Tilden declaring victory after irregularities in a handful of states; Tilden, however, had won the popular vote. Historians believe that when the election went to a special commission for a decision, Hayes cut a deal with Southern Democrats—basically that he would end Reconstruction if awarded the presidency.

How did you do? Come back Monday for more questions, or click here for last week’s. And if you think up a great question after reading an Atlantic story—or simply want to share a fact—send it my way at [email protected].

Thursday, December 18, 2025

1. Warren Buffett, the Nebraska-born investor famed for his seer-like analysis, is often referred to as the what “of Omaha”? — From Seth A. Klarman’s story about the retirement of America’s best investor
2. As of December 10, Australia has banned the use of what by kids under the age of 16—becoming the first country in the world to do so? — From Kaitlyn Tiffany’s story about Australia’s big swing to make kids happier and healthier
3. In many European traditions, Santa Claus rewards good children, but the punishment of naughty ones falls to what demonlike creature who accompanies him? — From Alan Taylor’s photo story on Saint Nick’s dark companion

And by the way, did you know that Europe has a whole menagerie of surreal Christmas characters? Unfortunately, a lot of them are at least a little bit evil.

Sweden’s gift-delivering gnome might hurt your livestock. Several figures across Central Europe are armed with switches. The Francophone Père Fouettard used to kill and eat children before Father Christmas recruited him to be his slightly less sadistic enforcer. An Icelandic Yule cat also eats kids. An Icelandic ogress also also eats kids.

Is this why we leave cookies out for Santa?! To sate what would otherwise be a most grisly appetite?

Answers:

1. The Oracle of Omaha. But clairvoyance played no part in Buffett’s success. Klarman writes that the man simply relied on patience, acumen, and hard work, and that made him an irreplaceable role model in a country in which those values are vanishingly rare. Read more.
2. Social media. Kaitlyn writes that the problems Australia is trying to fix are obvious, but she frets that neither Australia nor the rest of the watching world will have a particularly good way to know whether the ban works. Read more.
3. Krampus. The photos of Krampus costumes that Alan pulled together are, frankly, terrifying—giving the impression that European children’s presents are found exclusively at the center of haunted corn mazes. No, thank you. See more.

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

1. An atom’s nucleus can be subdivided into protons and neutrons, which can be further split into what elementary particles? — From Adam Frank’s story about a growing challenge to the foundations of physics
2. What Netflix miniseries, named for the age of its 13-year-old protagonist, Jamie, begins with the accusation that Jamie has murdered a classmate? — From Sophie Gilbert and Shirley Li’s list of the best shows of 2025
3. The Italian Renaissance painter Jacopo Robusti is better known by what nickname that means “little dyer,” from his father’s work making colored cloth? — From Anne Applebaum’s story about following the novelist Henry James’s footsteps in Venice

And by the way, did you know that we owe the word quarantine to the Venetians? In the 15th century, the city required any ship arriving from a disease-stricken area to wait in the water for 40 days—quaranta in Italian—before entering Venice. At that point, it could safely be assumed that no one aboard was harboring plague.

Perhaps a solution for Venice’s overtourism today? You really want to see St. Mark’s Square? No problem—now just wait six weeks for it.

Answers:

1. Quarks. Frank writes that physics has long maintained that everything in the universe—that all science—must eventually reduce to the particles and laws that physics studies. The phenomenon that is life, however, continues to belie this belief, he writes, and approaching the mystery with humility “will take us to places we’ve never imagined.” Read more.
2. Adolescence. Like many of the other TV selections, Adolescence throws down a challenge: If Jamie is a monster, Sophie writes, “he’s the kind that implicates everyone.” See the rest of the picks.
3. Tintoretto. The painter’s work is all over Venice, Anne writes, just as it was during the visits of Henry James, who envied the “force and color” that helped viewers step right into the pieces. Upon visiting James’s Venice, however, Anne judges that he rendered it with plenty of color himself. Read more.

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

1. The film director Chloé Zhao describes what line of William Shakespeare’s as “the great paradox of the universe”? — From Shirley Li’s story about reinterpreting Shakespeare for the screen
2. The post-hardcore band Fugazi often stopped live sets to chastise violent fan behavior in what space just in front of the stage? — From James Parker’s story about the empathy you can find at heavy-metal shows
3. What Black-nationalist leader of the early 20th century spearheaded the “Back to Africa” movement, which encouraged Black Americans to migrate to the continent? — From Dara T. Mathis’s story about the Black-liberation activist Audley Moore

And by the way, did you know that the country of Liberia was founded when formerly enslaved Black Americans migrated there en masse in the mid-19th century? It’s the oldest republic in Africa (it declared independence in 1847), and it’s the only state there never colonized or occupied by a European power.

Its first 10 presidents were all born in the United States, and its capital, Monrovia, is the only in the world (other than America’s) to honor an American—namely, President James Monroe.

Answers:

1. “To be, or not to be.” In Zhao’s new film, Hamnet, the speech containing this line shows up twice, delivered once by Shakespeare himself and once by one of his actors. Shirley writes that it’s a daring take to reinterpret the soliloquy as more of a conversation. Read more.
2. The mosh pit. James recently attended a metal music festival on the hunch that the self-policing pit might hold lessons for how to live together in 2025. He admits that it’s “the kind of idea only a journalist would have,” but the pit ended up teaching him plenty. Read more.
3. Marcus Garvey. Mathis writes that Garvey’s philosophy was hugely influential in the early life of Moore, who became an ideological “midwife” to many of the century’s Black-nationalist activists but herself remains sorrowfully overlooked. Read more.

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