1. Which are the only four American artists to have had paintings sold at auction for more than $50 million?
2. What was the name of the murdered Great Dane who was central to the trial of Jeremy Thorpe on charges of conspiracy to murder in 1979?
3. According to Hollywood legend, the German shepherd Rin Tin Tin died in arms of which actress in 1932?
4. What was the name of the 8-year old girl who appeared, with her clown doll Bubbles, on the BBC Test Card F from 1967 until 1998?
5. Originally known as 'The Blue Cloak' or 'The Topsy Turvy World', what is the common modern name for Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 1559 painting in which he depicts over 100 recognisable idioms including "to bang one's head against a brick wall", "swimming against the tide" and "armed to the teeth"?
6. In Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick', what is the name of the first mate of the Pequod, an intellectual Quaker from Nantucket?
7. The equivalent of the modern year, which ancient civilisation used a calendar consisting of twenty trecenas of thirteen days, each named after a common creature, object or event such as the crocodile, rain, house, death and flint?
8. Meaning 'castle of Heaven', what was the name of the observatory built by Tycho Brahe on the island of Hven in the Öresund in the late 1570s?
9. What is the name of the fictional Mancunian estate in which the Channel 4 comedy-drama 'Shameless' is set?
10. In May 1975, which Japanese mountain climber became the first woman to reach the summit of Everest?
11. Said to have been 9'3" tall, by what name is the English 16th/17th Century giant John Middleton better known?
12. In September 1978, Janet Parker of the Birmingham Medical School was the last person in the world to die from which disease?
13. The soapstone bird appears on the flag of which country?
14. Elicio and Erastro are the central characters in which book by Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1585?
15. The Masajid of Djinguereber, the Masajid of Sidi Yahya, and the Masajid of Sankore were the three schools that comprised which mediaeval African university?
16. 'A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling', often more simply referred to as 'The Rihla', is a transcript of the account of which 14th Century Berber Sunni Muslim scholar and explorer who travelled 73,000 over a period of almost thirty years, covering almost the entirety of the known world?
17. Although the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew is the world' smallest mammal in terms of mass, which bat, also known as Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat, is the world's smallest mammal in terms of size?
18. In 1977, Phi-X174 phage became the first organism to have what done to it?
19. Who is currently listed by Forbes as the world's richest fictional character, just ahead of Montgomery Burns from 'The Simpsons'?
20. Which city in the North Rhine-Westphalia area of Germany, that was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and Horst in 1928, was the most important coal mining town in Europe in the early 20th Century and was known as the "city of a thousand fires", because of its many smoking stacks?
And the answers:
1. ANDY WARHOL, JACKSON POLLOCK, JASPER JOHNS & MARK ROTHKO
2. RINKA
3. JEAN HARLOW
4. CAROLE HERSEE
5. NETHERLANDISH PROVERBS
6. FRANK STARBUCK
7. AZTECS
8. URANIBORG
9. CHATSWORTH ESTATE
10. JUNKO TABEI
11. CHILDE OF HALE
12. SMALLPOX
13. ZIMBABWE
14. LA GALATEA
15. UNIVERSITY OF TIMBUKTU
16. IBN BATTUTA
17. BUMBLEBEE BAT
18. ITS DNA-BASED GENOME SEQUENCED
19. OLIVER 'DADDY' WARBUCKS (from 'LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE')
20. GELSENKIRCHEN
