THE 54th QUIZ

Back again. here goes:


1. Which 20th Century philosopher, known for his oft-quoted witty remarks, declared in Volume III of 'The Life of Reason' that "Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit"?
2. Although it is sometimes called the flying lemur it is not a lemur nor can it fly. This large tree-dwelling mammal of the family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera is thought to be mankind's closest extant non-primate relative. What is it called?
3. The Grand Canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world. It flows for approximately 1800 kilometres from Beijing into which eastern Chinese province?
4. Also known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, which naval battle of 1944 was the largest in history in terms of tonnage of ships and in terms of the area in which the battle took place?
5. In Chinese it is known as 青海湖, which literally means 'Blue Sea Lake'. It is the largest lake in China. In English, it is known by the same name as the central Chinese province in which it lies. How is it known in English?
6. Which Hungarian painter and photographer was commissioned by the film producer and director Alexander Korda to design the special effects for the 1936 science fiction film 'Things to Come'?
7. What is the name of the village in Gyeonggi province on the de facto border between North and South Korea in which the armistice that ended the Korean War was signed in 1953?
8. Which American mathematician, meteorologist and pioneer of chaos theory, who served as a weather forecaster for the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, discovered the strange attractor notion and coined the term "butterfly effect"?
9. Which small inlet on the Pacific coast of northern California is named after the Spanish explorer who discovered it in 1775 and was, famously, the setting of the Alfred Hitchcock film 'The Birds'?
10. 'Aegyptiaca' (History of Egypt) is the best-known work by which Egyptian historian of the 3rd Century BC?
11. Bamidbar, meaning 'in the wilderness', is the Hebrew name for which book of the Old Testament?
12. "(2n+1)H2 + nCO → CnH(2n+2) + nH2O" is the chemical equation that describes which process, named after the German scientists who developed it, for converting coal or natural gas into a synthetic petroleum substitute?
13. Charles Dickens' novels 'The Old Curiosity Shop' and 'Barnaby Rudge' both appeared originally in serial form in which short-lived weekly periodical that was published between 1840 and 1841?
14. The New York police arrested the entire crew and cast of which play at its first public performance in 1905 because of its frank portrayal of prostitution?
15. Who did Adolf Hitler appoint as the temporary leader of the Nazi Party whilst he was incarcerated in Landsberg Prison after the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch?
16. What was the name of Hitler's German Shepherd, given as a gift to him by Martin Bormann in 1941, that was killed by Hitler on the day of his own death when he tested the cyanide tablet that he and Eva Braun were then to take on the dog?
17. Who was the lover and accomplice of Charles Starkweather, the spree killer who murdered 11 people in Nebraska, Missouri and Wyoming in 1957 and 1958? At fourteen she is the youngest person ever to be tried for first degree murder in the United States and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
18. Deriving ultimately from the Quechua for 'splendid foundation', what was the name of the legendary first king of the Kingdom of Cuzco in Inca mythology?
19. Who was 'Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office' in Downing Street under Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher before his retirement in 1987 when he was eventually replaced by Humphrey?
20. Directed by Ruggero Deodato and based on a screenplay written by Gianfranco Clerici and Giorgio Stegani, which 1980 film, that tells the story of a team of four documentarians who head deep into the jungle to make a documentary on the primitive native tribes that live there, was banned in Italy - and its makers arrested - when rumours were circulated that the actors were actually killed to record the murder scenes? These rumours were later proved to be false but the slaying of several animals in the film was proven and the film was banned in several dozen countries.
21. Named after the American female golfer who dominated her sport in the 1920s, what name is given to the trophy awarded to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average?
22. Who became the first (and to date, only) Argentinian to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, doing so in 1970 "for his discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates"?
23. The American vocal group Manhattan Transfer took their name from a 1925 novel of the same name written by which Chicago-born writer of Madeiran Portuguese descent?
24. Although better known in connection with a different sport, who was elected the first President of the English Bowling Association in 1903?
25. Built on land owned by the Prince of Wales, the 'new village' of Poundbury lies on the outskirts of which market town?
26. What is the name of the parasitic volcano of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador that erupted almost continuously from its formation in 1770 until 1958 and, in 1926, was responsible for the deaths of 56 people when an eruption buried the village of Matazano?
27. And which Salvadoran revolutionary guerrilla organization (now an established political party) was established in 1932 in the wake of the economic devastation caused by previous volcanic eruptions and was named after a rebel leader who was executed by the U.S.-organized National Guard that year?
28. First contested between Portuguese football league teams this season, which company sponsors the newly created Portuguese League Cup?
29. And which much-hyped 18-year old scored his first goal for Benfica in the Portuguese League Cup against Estrela da Amadora in September?
30. An example of which breed of dog, named after its city of origin and often compared to an Ewok from 'Star Wars', can be seen between the two human figures in Jan van Eyck's 1434 masterpiece 'The Arnolfini Portrait'?


And the answers:


1. GEORGE SANTAYANA
2. COLUGO (or COBEGO)
3. ZHEJIANG
4. BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF
5. QINGHAI LAKE
6. LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY
7. PANMUNJEOM
8. EDWARD NORTON LORENZ
9. BODEGA BAY
10. MANETHO
11. NUMBERS
12. FISCHER-TROPSCH PROCESS
13. MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK
14. MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION
15. ALFRED ROSENBERG
16. BLONDI
17. CARIL ANN FUGATE
18. MANCO CAPAC
19. WILBERFORCE
20. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
21. VARE TROPHY
22. LUIS FEDERICO LELOIR
23. JOHN DOS PASSOS
24. W.G. GRACE
25. DORCHESTER
26. IZALCO
27. FARABUNDO MARTÍ NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT
28. CARLSBERG
29. FREDDY ADU
30. THE GRIFFON BRUXELLOIS (or BRUSSELS GRIFFON)