Tuesday 6 November 2007

THE 51st QUIZ

Another:


1. Which Swedish film director, who made several music videos for ABBA and the film 'Abba: The Movie', had his first international success in 1985 with 'My Life as a Dog' before working on such American movies as 'What’s Eating Gilbert Grape', 'The Cider House Rules', 'Chocolat' and 'The Shipping News'?
2. Which pomace wine, obtained by fermenting must, is distilled to make the Turkish anise-flavoured liqueuer, raki?
3. Which 6th Century Italian saint was named the patron saint of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964?
4. Which English football club, who currently play in the Northern Premier League Division One South, are the world’s oldest football club, having been founded in 1857?
5. Originally built to be a Mosque, what is the name of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, construction of which began in 784AD under the supervision of the Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I?
6. Named after the King who ordered its construction in 1357, the Charles Bridge was built to replace the Judith Bridge which was destroyed by a flood in 1342. Which European river does it span?
7. Which Norwegian marathon runner won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games but is best remembered for winning the New York City Marathon nine times between 1978 and 1988?
8. Hautuumaasaari and Ukonkivi are the two best known islands in which Finnish lake, the country’s third largest?
9. Which Dutch film director is best known for directing Hollywood movies such as 'Robocop', 'Total Recall' and 'Basic Instinct'?
10. Which city, the capital and the largest city of the Swabia administrative region of Bavaria and located at the confluence of the Wertach and Lech rivers, was founded by the Romans in 15 BC and became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia in around 120 AD?
11. Who was the First secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party between 1954 and 1989?
12. Commissioned in 1664 by Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, in which city could you visit the Baroque Nymphenburg Palace?
13. Who was the Swiss football pioneer, who was club captain at FC Basel and also played rugby for Athletique Union in Lyon, who led the group that founded Barcelona Football Club in 1899?
14. Founded by King Alfonso IX in 1218, which is the oldest university in Spain?
15. Which well-known Irish song takes its lyrics from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh entitled 'Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away', that was first published in the Irish Press in October 1946?
16. Dividing the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea, what is the name of the strait that lies between Corsica and Sardinia?
17. How are Lough Leane, Muckross Lake and Upper Lake collectively known?
18. Roberto Benigni took the title of his 1997 film 'Life is Beautiful' from the following letter written in 1940: "Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full." Who wrote it?
19. What are the second largest cities of the three Baltic states: a) Estonia b) Latvia c) Lithuania?
20. What is the name of the village, halfway between the towns of Vannes and Quiberon in Brittany, that is famous for its extensive collection of Neolithic menhirs, said to have been a Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin?
21. The historical region of Bukovina is currently split between which two European countries?
22. Which Irish bishop and saint built the monastery of Clonmacnoise on the River Shannon in County Offaly in 545 AD?
23. Home to several art galleries, the Palazzo Pitti stands on the banks of which river?
24. Which Polish town on the River Raba is home to the world’s oldest operating salt mine that was built in the middle of the 13th Century?
25. Which Spanish cave and UNESCO World Heritage Site, located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, is famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings of animals and human hands?
26. In which European city could you visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum, completed in 2006?
27. Which prominent Irish Unionist was also a famous barrister and led the Marquess of Queensbury's defence against the libel action brought by Oscar Wilde?
28. For which film did the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci win the Academy Award for Best Director in 1988?
29. The Customs House, the Four Courts and King's Inns, all in Dublin, were all designed by which 18th/19th Century London-born architect of Huguenot descent?
30. Which country is Europe's largest producer of rose oil?


The answers:


1. LASSE HALLSTRÖM
2. SUMA
3. ST BENEDICT (OF NURSIA)
4. SHEFFIELD FC
5. MEZQUITA
6. VLTAVA
7. GRETE WAITZ
8. LAKE INARI
9. PAUL VERHOEVEN
10. AUGSBURG
11. TODOR ZHIKOV
12. MUNICH
13. JOAN GAMPER (aka HANS GAMPER)
14. UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA
15. ON RAGLAN ROAD
16. STRAIT OF BONIFACIO
17. LAKES OF KILLARNEY
18. LEON TROTSKY
19. a) TARTU b) DAUGAVPILS c) KAUNAS
20. CARNAC
21. ROMANIA & UKRAINE
22. SAINT CIARÁN
23. ARNO
24. BOCHNIA
25. ALTAMIRA
26. STUTTGART
27. EDWARD CARSON
28. THE LAST EMPEROR
29. JAMES GANDON
30. BULGARIA

No comments: