World Trivia Night
World Trivia Night is North America's largest live trivia contest, held annually in Ottawa, Ontario since 1993. (In this sense, "live" means people answering the same questions, read live in the same forum, as opposed to radio contests.) Originally organized by the Kiwanis Club of Orleans (Ottawa), the event is now organized by the Children's Aid Foundation of Ottawa, which uses it to fund educational and life enrichment opportunities for children and youth who are supported by The Children's Aid Society of Ottawa. Each year, 1,500 people play in teams of up to 10 people. The event was originally held at the Aberdeen Pavilion before moving to the EY Centre in 2012. The questions are prepared by Paul Paquet of triviahalloffame.com and the Ottawa Trivia League. Many political and media luminaries attend. Former mayor Jacquelin Holzman once served as a judge, and in 2003, Ken Jennings read the first question via videotape. By tradition, the first answer is always Pierre Trudeau, as a tip of the hat to the long-running radio trivia contest in Stevens Point, WI, which always begins with a question about Robert Redford. Since 2006, the winners have been awarded the Trong Nguyen Memorial Trophy, named after a member of wirecrats.com who died earlier that year. The 1st place winners will also win $5,000 cash if they are a champion team.
World Trivia Night 2019 was once again held at the EY Centre on Friday, November 15. Registration and other information can be found at www.worldtrivianight.com.
Winning teams
- 1995: The Data Banks
- 1996: The Bank Dicks
- 1997: Puzzles
- 1998: The Viagrins (later renamed the Smarts)
- 1999: Puzzles
- 2000: Random Access Memory
- 2001: La Triviata
- 2002: La Triviata
- 2003: Me and Nine Idiots (after a scoring adjustment, La Triviata shared the title)
- 2004: Wirecrats.com
- 2005: Shocked and Appalled
- 2006: Fran Mahovlich
- 2007: Shocked and Appalled
- 2008: La Triviata
- 2009: I Lost on Jeopardy
- 2010: Wirecrats.com
- 2011: Nerd Alert
- 2012: The Sticky Buns
- 2013: La Triviata
- 2014: Nerd Alert (although Mizar Flying Pintos was the top "champion" team)
- 2015: La Triviata
- 2016: I Lost on Jeopardy
- 2017: The Sticky Buns
- 2018: The Sticky Buns
- 2019: La Triviata
- 2020: La Triviata
See also
- List of trivia contests