Quiz: Hooray for Hula Hoops

If you went with zero, you're correct. If you missed this one, well, maybe this isn't the quiz for you.

The hula hoop as we know it today exploded on the scene in 1958, thanks to Wham-O toy company founders Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin.

Back in 1994, the Coen brothers gave us "The Hudsucker Proxy," a tale of American idealism, big-business greed and hula hoops. You know, for kids!

Inertia enables the hoop to continue its movement after your initial application of force, but not for long. As it moves against your body and through the air, friction inevitably slows it down, and gravity causes it to fall.

The hero Ganymede often shows up in Greek art with a hoop in one hand and a rooster in the other.

The metal hoop toys of the ancient Greeks often featured bells. Let the good times roll!

The game was known as "kill the hoop," and we can only imagine it cut down on the number of ancient British hoop fitness classes available.

The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz., hosts the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest each year. While everyone is invited to watch, the contest itself is only open to Native dancers.

Yes, the two acts are closely linked in Native American folklore. Human life begins with the masculine penetration of the feminine, and the universe itself kicks off with light's penetration of the darkness.

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw the introduction of hoop dancing into the world of physical fitness as Switzerland's Émile Jaques-Dalcroze incorporated the hoop into his eurhythmics training system for musicians and dancers.

The going rate was $1.98 for a colorful Wham-O! Brand Hula Hoop. By the end of 1958, sales exceeded $45 million.

In 2009, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama hula hooped on the South Lawn of the White House to promote exercise and healthy eating for children.

Thirty minutes of hooping will burn roughly 210 calories! To put that in perspective, the average 154-pound (70-kilogram) person burns approximately 220 calories during a half hour of heavy yard work or vigorous weight lifting.

Specially weighted hoops can boost a workout session.

That would be Academy Award-winner Marisa Tomei. She attended fitness classes to get in shape for her role in 2008's "The Wrestler."

White phosphorus is a no-go since it can be extremely dangerous and toxic when exposed to oxygen, but by all means festoon your hoop with LED lights or, gulp, fire.

Sigalit Landau's "Barbed Hula" depicts the artist's nude torso as she twirls a barbed wire hula hoop around her waist on an otherwise peaceful Israeli beach.

The 2005 fighting game Soulcalibur III featured a female fighter named Tira who, in addition to dressing like a Cirque du Soleil performer, brandishes a hoop-shaped weapon called "the Eiserne Drossel."

Sorry fans of hula hoop judo, Bessonova whipped out her hoop during the gymnastics rhythmic individual all-around qualification at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

There are four planets in our solar system with rings: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.