THE 15th TUESDAY QUIZ

Hello. How about this fine selection:

1. Which comic opera by Benjamin Britten was based on Guy de Maupassant's story 'Le Rosier de Madama Husson'?
2. What is the name of the popular Japanese dessert made from seaweed jelly, bean paste and fruit and served with a sweet black syrup?
3. Which body of water separates the Arabian Sea from the Persian Gulf?
4. Which of the competitors for the Scottish crown was pronounced King of Scotland at Scone on St Andrew's Day 1292?
5. Literally meaning 'guardian' in Arabic, which word is used to describe a Muslim who has completely memorised the Koran?
6. Which British athlete-turned-politician won the silver medal for the 1500m at the 1920 Olympic Games and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959?
7. What was the name of the hugely popular Armenian-Iranian pop singer, known as the 'Sultan of Pop' and famous throughout the Near and Middle East, who died in 2003?
8. A phenomenon often encountered by mountaineers and believed to be the cause of many myths involving mountain-dwelling monsters, what name is given to an apparently enormously magnified shadow of an observer cast upon the upper surfaces of clouds that are below the observer giving the impression of a huge stalking figure?
9. Who was the American athlete who, in 1991, broke Bob Beamon's 23-year old long jump world record?
10. Which 1936 film, starring Greta Garbo as Marguerite Gautier and directed by George Cukor, was based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas?
11. Which 20th Century French painter and sculptor coined the term Art Brut (or 'raw art') to describe the kind of art created by psychotics and children?
12. Which bright red winter apple, native to America and popular for use in ciders, is named after an American commander at the Battle of Lexington who discovered it in Massachusetts?
13. Found on the Liver Building in Liverpool, what species of bird are the Liver Birds?
14. On which American warship did Japan sign the instruments of surrender that ended the Second World War?
15. In Greek mythology, which river of Hades is known as 'the river of fire'?
16. Stimulated by her repugnance for the September Massacres, who assassinated the French Revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat in 1793?
17. Which famous Hollywood actor was used as the narrator on Michael Jackson's 1982 number 1 single 'Thriller'?
18. What name is given to a male weasel?
19. Iomain is the Gaelic name for which team sport?
20. In which country was the 1980s TV programme 'The Children of Fire Mountain' set?
21. The lecherous Lothario was a character introduced in the 1703 play 'The Fair Penitent', written by which English dramatist?
22. Which paste, with a name deriving from the Catalan for 'garlic and oil', is made from garlic, oil, mayonnaise and salt?
23. In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organisation created the Earth's fifth ocean from the southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; what name has it been given?
24. Which French style of military cap, with a circular top and horizontal peak, was popular in the 19th century?
25. In the Christian calendar, what name is given to the three days immediately prior to Ascension Thursday, upon which special prayers are said in the hope of producing a good harvest?
26. In 1999, the former professional wrestler and actor Jesse Ventura became the Governor of which American state?
27. In terms of album sales, which singer was the best selling artist worldwide of the 1990s?
28. Which ancient Greek astronomer is credited with having compiled the first known star catalogue?
29. Which county cricket team won the first Gillette Cup in 1963?
30. Which American film actress, born in 1921, was known as 'The Sweater Girl' because of her tight-fitting clothes in the 1937 film 'They Won't Forget'?
31. Published in the early 20th Century, 'Free Fields' and 'Songs of the Rye' are among the most famous works of which Danish poet?
32. Opened in Madrid in 1725, the Sobrino de Botín is listed by the 'Guinness Book of Records' as the world's oldest example of what type of establishment?
33. Located on a peninsular in Corunna Bay in Galicia in northwestern Spain, what is the name of the oldest ancient Roman lighthouse still in use?
34. With which treaty of 1492 did Henry VII disclaim all historic rights to French territories, except Calais, in return for an end to French support for the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, and an indemnity of £159,000?
35. According to legend, who was King Arthur's illegitimate son who fought against Arthur at the Battle of Camlann?
36. In 1996, Jose Ramos-Hortha and Bishop Carlos F.X. Belo were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace and independence to which country?
37. Which American rockabilly singer-songwriter wrote the Elvis Presley hit song 'Blue Suede Shoes'?
38. Who was the French physician and pathologist who discovered the parasite that causes malaria and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1907?
39. In 1966, the Englishman David Bryant became the first World Champion in which sport?
40. Who played the title character in the 1987 film 'Robocop'?
41. Which French Impressionist, best known for his painting 'Family Reunion', was killed in action at Beaune-la-Rolande, Loiret during the Franco-Prussian War?
42. Which spice is obtained from the rhizomes of the curcuma plant?
43. In which modern-day country is Samarkand, the ancient capital of Tamerlane's empire?
44. What was the name of the German Nazi military officer and doctor who personally selected the prisoners who would die at the gas chambers at Auschwitz?
45. According to Korean legend, who was the grandson of the god of the heavens who founded the kingdom of Gojoseon in 2333BC, thus becoming the first king of the Koreans?
46. Which former Irish international rugby union player became Chairman of the Heinz Company in 1973?
47. Which singer and musician was the driving force behind the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival, held in Shepton Mallet in 1982?
48. Deriving from the Greek for 'crescent', what is name is given to the convex or concave upper surface of a column of liquid, the curvature of which is caused by surface tension?
49. Which American sprinter broke the 100m world record in 1968 and held that record for the next 15 years?
50. Which film of 1998, directed by Darren Aronofsky, told the story of the troubled but brilliant maths prodigy Maximillian Cohen?


And to the answers:


1. ALBERT HERRING
2. ANMITSU
3. GULF OF OMAN
4. JOHN BALLIOL (or JOHN DE BALLIOL)
5. HAFIZ (or HAFITH)
6. PHILIP NOEL-BAKER
7. VIGEN DERDERIAN
8. BROCKEN SPECTRE
9. MIKE POWELL
10. CAMILLE
11. JEAN DUBUFFET
12. BALDWIN APPLE
13. CORMORANT
14. USS MISSOURI
15. PHLEGETHON
16. CHARLOTTE CORDAY
17. VINCENT PRICE
18. WHITTRET
19. SHINTY
20. NEW ZEALAND
21. NICHOLAS ROWE
22. ALIOLI
23. SOUTHERN OCEAN
24. KEPI
25. ROGATION DAYS
26. MINNESOTA
27. GARTH BROOKS
28. HIPPARCHUS
29. SUSSEX
30. LANA TURNER
31. AAKJAER JEPPE
32. RESTAURANT
33. TOWER OF HERCULES
34. TREATY OF ETAPLES
35. MORDRED
36. EAST TIMOR
37. CARL PERKINS
38. ALPHONSE LAVERAN
39. BOWLS
40. PETER WELLER
41. FRÉDÉRIC BAZILLE
42. TURMERIC
43. UZBEKISTAN
44. JOSEF MENGELE
45. DANGUN
46. TONY O'REILLY
47. PETER GABRIEL
48. MENISCUS
49. JIM HINES
50. PI