Wednesday 5 September 2007

THE 27th QUIZ

Have a go at these:

1. Signed in 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended which war?
2. Which is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative capital of Republika Srpska?
3. Which German author, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1972, wrote the novels 'The Unguarded House' and 'The Bread of Our Early Years'?
4. On which river does Bremen stand?
5. Which French-speaking singer-songwriter was voted by the public as the greatest ever Belgian in the 2005 television show 'Le plus grand belge'?
6. Which famous poem by the Beat Generation writer Allen Ginsberg begins with the line, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness”?
7. Which NASA astronaut was the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission?
8. In classical mythology, which king ordered Heracles to perform his twelve labours?
9. In which country did French troops help to restore former President David Dacko to power in 1979?
10. Which is the only European language in which the word for mathematics – 'wiskunde' – is not derived from Greek?
11. Which inland sea connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea?
12. During the 20th Century, which European country was the first to officially ban religion and become the world's first Atheist state?
13. Which cartoonist created Bogart the Cat?
14. Who is the English writer and geographer who is principally remembered for his promotion of English settlements in North America in works such as 'Principal Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation'?
15. Which metallic element has the highest melting point?
16. In 1989, who was the Moroccan athlete who simultaneously held the world record for the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m?
17. The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent under the rule of which Emperor, who ruled from 98 to 117 AD?
18. Zentralfriedhof is the largest and most famous cemetery in which European capital city?
19. Who, in 1789, was the German chemist who discovered Uranium and named it after the newly discovered planet, Uranus?
20. Based in Leuven in Belgium and created after a merger in 2004, which is the world's largest brewery?
21. The Ormeli Falls is the largest waterfall in Europe. In which country is it located?
22. Who is the Italian mountaineer and explorer who, in 1986, became the first person to climb all fourteen of the world's highest mountains?
23. Widely believed to have been the location of the first Jewish ghetto uprising of the Second World War, Lakhva is a small town in which country?
24. William Golding wrote the novel 'Lord of the Flies' in response to which 1857 novel by RM Ballantyne?
25. Who, in 1929, when becoming Minister for Labour became the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the British Government?
26. Deriving from the Latin for 'thunderbolt', what name is given to the natural hollow glass tubes formed in sand or soil by lightning strikes?
27. In horse racing, who was Desert Orchid's trainer?
28. What is the pseudonym used by the prominent Flemish sculptor Henri Van Herwegen, famous for his sculptures of aeroplanes, who announced his retirement in 2005 in order to promote his PanamaJumbo coffee brand?
29. Held in ancient Greece, the festival of athletic and musical competitions known as the Isthmian Games were held in honour of which God?
30. Against which South American country did Bolivia fight the Chaco War during the 1930s?
31. What was the name of the Nazi leader who led the Gestapo from 1939 until 1945 but disappeared at the end of World War II, never to be seen again?
32. Who was the renowned English botanist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his first voyage in 1768 and is credited with introducing eucalyptus, mimosa and acacia to Europe?
33. Which song by New Kids on the Block became the first number 1 single of the 1990s?
34. Which English football administrator was President of FIFA from 1961 to 1974?
35. The teachings of which ancient Greek physician, who wrote 'On the Elements According to Hippocrates', dominated European medicine until the Renaissance?
36. The construction of the Colosseum in Rome began under the rule of which Emperor?
37. On which island would you find the necropolis known as the Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni?
38. The Union of Lublin, that was signed in 1569, united which two European countries?
39. Which 14th Century English poet is best known for his works 'Vox Clamantis' and 'Confessio Amantis'?
40. Mount Tremblant is the highest peak in which North American mountain range?
41. Who was the American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968?
42. In the Bible, who was the father of Noah?
43. Which of the shipping forecast areas used by the BBC is named in honour of the founder of the Met Office?
44. Which Russian tennis player won the women's singles title at the US Open in 2004?
45. By what name was the Bight of Bonny, in the Gulf of Guinea, known prior to 1972?
46. Which school of landscape painting was founded by John Crome and John Cotman?
47. Which European capital city is the highest above sea-level?
48. Which internationally recognised non-SI unit of pressure is equal to 101,325 Pascals?
49. In 1950, which became the first film to receive 14 Academy Award nominations? This was not equalled until the release of 'Titanic' in 1997.
50. Charles Denis Pratt was born in Sutton in Surrey in 1908; by what name is he better remembered?

The answers:

1. THE WAR OF AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
2. BANJA LUKA
3. HEINRICH BÖLL
4. WESER
5. JACQUES BREL
6. HOWL
7. JIM LOVELL
8. EURYSTHEUS
9. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
10. DUTCH
11. SEA OF MARMARA
12. ALBANIA
13. PETER PLANT
14. RICHARD HAKLUYT
15. TUNGSTEN
16. SAID AOUITA
17. TRAJAN
18. VIENNA
19. MARTIN HEINRICH KLAPROTH
20. INBEV
21. NORWAY
22. REINHOLD MESSNER
23. BELARUS
24. CORAL ISLAND
25. MARGARET BONDFIELD
26. FULGURITES
27. DAVID ELSWORTH
28. PANAMARENKO
29. POSEIDON
30. PARAGUAY
31. HEINRICH MULLER
32. JOSEPH BANKS
33. HANGIN' TOUGH
34. STANLEY ROUS
35. GALEN
36. VESPASIAN
37. MALTA
38. POLAND & LITHUANIA
39. JOHN GOWER
40. LAURENTIAN MOUNTAINS
41. WILLIAM WESTMORELAND
42. LAMECH
43. FITZROY
44. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
45. BIGHT OF BIAFRA
46. NORWICH SCHOOL
47. MADRID
48. ATMOSPHERE
49. ALL ABOUT EVE
50. QUENTIN CRISP