Q 01/05

Which animal did UC Irvine students vote in as their mascot in 1965, beating eagles, unicorns and seahawks?

A) Armadillo

B) Anteater

C) Platypus

D) Porcupine

Answer · why

B) Anteater

Anteater won the November 1965 student ballot, with 'None of these' the runner-up. Campus administrators at first thought the choice too undignified.

Q 02/05

For what price did the Irvine Company sell 1,000 acres of land for the UC Irvine campus in 1960?

A) One dollar

B) One thousand dollars

C) One million dollars

D) Ten million dollars

Answer · why

A) One dollar

One dollar changed hands because company policy barred donating property to a public body, so the sale was a gift in all but name.

Q 03/05

Which US president dedicated the UC Irvine campus site before a crowd of about 15,000, over a year before classes began?

A) Richard Nixon

B) John F. Kennedy

C) Lyndon B. Johnson

D) Dwight D. Eisenhower

Answer · why

C) Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson spoke on what was then open farmland, more than a year before the first 1,589 students arrived in October 1965.

Q 04/05

UC Irvine's business school is named for Paul Merage, who made his fortune from which frozen snack?

A) Pizza Rolls

B) Bagel Bites

C) Hot Pockets

D) Tater Tots

Answer · why

C) Hot Pockets

Hot Pockets came from Chef America, the company Merage co-founded and sold to Nestlé for $2.6 billion in 2002. Three years later he and his wife gave ...

Q 05/05

UC Irvine residence halls named Rivendell, Mirkwood and Isengard come from which author's fantasy world?

A) C. S. Lewis

B) J. R. R. Tolkien

C) Ursula K. Le Guin

D) Terry Pratchett

Answer · why

B) J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien supplied every name in the Middle Earth housing complex, where residents eat at Brandywine and the towers added in 2019 are called Te...