QUIZ MASTER

QUIZ IX - THE RESULTS

2011-02-07T00:05:00.005Z

Yep. the deadline's up and the results are in.

As always, the standard of answering was exceptional and, as a result, just one question went unanswered (André Bloch, anybody? No? Nobody?! OK then). There was one 'solo' to announce:

28 NO GUN RI MASSACRE - Olav Bjortomt

Well played Olav.

Anyways, to the results:

1. OLAV BJORTOMT 158
2. PAT GIBSON 147
3. TERO KALLIOLEVO 140
4. BARRY SIMMONS 135
5=. THOMAS KOLÅSÆTER 131
5=. SEAN CAREY 131
7=. HOLGER WALDENBERGER 127
7=. PETER EDISS 127
9. ERIC WILDSMITH 121
10. HARALD AASTORP 118
11. JAMIE DODDING 117
12. DIDIER BRUYERE 115
13=. SCOTT DAWSON 113
13=. TORE DAHL 113
15. DAVID STAINER 112
16. MARK GRANT 110
17. OLE MARTIN HALCK 107
18. ANNE HEGERTY 106
19. LARS HEGGLAND 104
20. NIC PAUL 103
21. ALAN MORGAN 102
22. ISSA SCHULTZ 99.5
23. PAUL SINHA 96
24. DARREN MARTIN 95.5
25. QUENTIN HOLT 94.5
26. DIANE HALLAGAN 93.5
27. MARK COOPER 89
28. BOB THOMPSON 88.5
29. PETE SMITH 86.5
30. KNUT HEGGLAND 82
31. DOM TAIT 81
32=. ØYSTEIN AADNEVIK 80
32=. DAVE BILL 80
32=. KEVIN COSTELLO 80
35. WILL JONES 76
36. GEIR H. KRISTIANSEN 75
37. PAUL DAVIS 74
38. JON INGE KOLDEN 70
39. AUDREY DOYLE 68
40=. KAREN SKJÅNES 67
40=. ALAN BOWELL 67
42. NEIL MACASKILL 65
43. WILLIAM BARRETT 63
44. INGRID SANDE LARSEN 59
45. SAM ROBERTS 55
46. MARTE STANG MIDTTUN 48
47=. MYRON MEYER 47.5
47=. PAUL PHILPOT 47.5
49. ANNE NYHUS 47
50. DAVE JONES 44
51. TORIL OPSAHL 36
52. LESLEY SAUNDERS-DAVIES 21

Many thanks to all who took part.

QUIZ VIII - RESULTS

2010-05-02T22:50:00.003Z

OK. Results are in. 60 people took part this time - many thanks to all of you. As usual, some great answers. 3 questions, however, went unanswered; nobody knew (perhaps understandably!) of the Maya theatrical play Rabinal Achí, that Makobo Constance Modjadji VI was the last holder of the title Rain Queen, or that 'The Red Detachment of Women' was the name of the Chinese ballet watched by Richard Nixon.

There were, as always, a number of solos:

44 - ABERDARE RANGE - Eric Wildsmith
105 - SALLY MANN - Lars Heggland
130 - LAKE ATITLAN - Gary Grant
135 - YUNGAY - David Stainer
143 - ADITI - Barry Simmons
169 - LACRIMAL BONE - Issa Schultz

Well done to all those with solos.

Now, to the results:

1. Olav Bjortomt 144.5
2. Eric Wildsmith 138
3. Barry Simmons 133
4. Pat Gibson 131.5
5. Tero Kalliolevo 124
6. Ian Bayley 114
7. David Stainer 111
8. Scott Dawson 108
9. Mark Grant 107
10. Sean Carey 106.5
11. Thomas Kolåsæter 106
12=. Alan Morgan 101
12=.Issa Schultz 101
14. Peter Smith 97.5
15. Ole Martin Halck 97
16. Anne Hegarty 95
17. Tore Dahl 94.5
18. Jamie Dodding 93.5
19. Keith Andrew 93
20=.Peter Ediss 92
20=.Lars Heggland 92
22. Harald Aastorp 89
23. Paul Sinha 88.5
24=. Chris Jones 87
24=. Nic Paul 87
26. Darren Martin 85.5
27. Iwan Thomas 84.5
28. Quentin Holt 82.5
29. Chris Quin 82
30=. Dom Tait 81
30=. Bob Thompson 81
32. Gary Grant 78.5
33. Roger Eldegard 77.5
34. Dave Bill 75
35. Will Jones 67
36. Audrey Doyle 66
37. John Harrison 64
38. Knut Heggland 63
39. Myron Meyer 62
40. Øystein Aadnevik 59.5
41. Karen Skjånes 56
42. Bjørn Revil 51
43. Paul Davis 49
44=. Paul Reeve 45
44=. Ivar Areklett 45
46. Jayakanthan Ranganathan 44.5
47. Paul Philpot 44
48=. Tor Carlsen 43
48=. Ingrid Sande Larsen 43
50. Marte Stang Midttun 41
51. Brian Pendreigh 40
52. Dave Jones 38.5
53. Lars André Gundersen 36.5
54=. Anne Nyhus 36
54=. Toril Opsahl 36
56. Eskil Åsmul 33.5
57. Calvin Kelly 32
58. Vegard Eikemo Sande 24
59=. Anlaug Frydenlund 12
59=. Lesley Saunders-Davies 12

Congratulations to Olav for a terrific score and many thanks, once again, to everyone who took part. Quiz IX to follow...

Rob's Quiz VIII

2010-04-12T14:19:00.001Z

As some of you will know, 'Rob's Quiz VIII', the latest installment in my series, is currently available.

The deadline is 11.59pm on Sunday 2ns May 2010.

There are no prizes (it's just a bit of fun) and, obviously therefore, no charge for entering.

Rules are simple: you have 105 minutes to complete the 200 questions without using friends, Google or any point of reference other than what's already in your head.

If anyone who has not already received a copy would like to have a go at it then please e-mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com

Once completed, the answers should be e-mailed back to me.

ROB'S QUIZ VII - RESULTS

2009-10-25T23:12:00.011Z

Results are up.

As always, some great answers from all concerned.

There were three questions that went unanswered; no-one knew that the Spanish sport involving knocking down a wooden marro is called 'Calva', that the world's third most popular social networking website is called 'Hi5', or that the hat traditionally worn by Nigerian men is called a 'Kufi'. There were, however, a number of 'solos':

40. EKIDEN - Tero Kalliolevo
150. SA'ADI - Olav Bjortomt
159. BOCCACCIO '70 - Peter Smith
164. SHANNON-HARTLEY THEOREM - Peter Ediss
165. POLARKRIES 18 - Thomas Kolåsæter
170. LIGHTS OF NEW YORK - Phil Duffy
180. ST. CLAIRE'S DEFEAT - Chris Jones
192. DIPROTODON - Tore Dahl

Great answers all!!!

To the results:

1. Olav Bjortomt 153
2. Pat Gibson 149
3. Barry Simmons 143.5
4. Eric Wildsmith 139
5. Tero Kalliolevo 128
6. Ian Bayley 122
7. Mark Grant 114
8. David Stainer 113
9. Scott Dawson 112.5
10. Thomas Kolåsæter 110
11. Nick Mills 107
12. Jamie Dodding 105
13. Phil Duffy 102.5
14. Pete Smith 98.5
15=. Nic Paul 96
15=. Ole Martin Halck 96
15=. William De’Ath 96
18. Tore Dahl 94.5
19=. Gary Grant 94
19=. Diane Hallagan 94
21. Peter Ediss 93.5
22. Chris Quinn 93
23. Kathryn Johnson 92
24. Paul Sinha 91.5
25. Chris Jones 87
26. Mark Kerr 86.5
27. Darren Martin 85.5
28. Alan Morgan 85
29. Lars Heggland 81
30. Bob Thompson 77.5
31=. Dom Tait 75.5
31=. Dave Bill 75.5
33. John Harrison 75
34. Audrey Doyle 73
35. Jon Inge Kolden 72.5
36. Petter Kjær 72
37=. Øystein Aadnevik 67.5
37=. William Barrett 67.5
39=. Knut Heggland 61
39=. Paul Davis 61
41. Geir Kristiansen 59
42. Will Jones 58
43. Karen Skjånes 57
44. Paul Reeve 56
45. Sam Roberts 55
46. Jarle Kvåle 51.5
47. Barry Scott 48
48. Jone Frafjord 47
49. Bjørn Revil 46.5
50. Dave Jones 45.5
51. Paul Philpot 44
52. Tor Carlsen 40.5
53. Ivar Areklett 35
54. Anne Nyhus 30.5
55. Anne Lau Revil 19
56. Lesley Saunders-Davies 17

Many thanks to all who took part. I hope you all enjoyed it!!

RESULTS - ROB'S QUIZ VI

2009-06-14T23:48:00.007Z

The moment you've all been waiting for (perhaps).

Many thanks to all who took part in Rob's Quiz VI. The standard was, as always, amazing. 198 of the 200 questions were answered correctly. No-one knew that Brer Rabbit was based, in part, on an Ojibwa god called Nanabozho or that Ingmar Bergman's only gothic horror film was entitled 'Hour of the Wolf'. After all that, only one solo emerged:

Q 49: Repo! The Genetic Opera - Michael McPartland

Well done, Michael!!

The final scores are below - if you happened to send me your answers within about an hour of the deadline then please check your score as I'd already, by then, drunk most of a bottle of wine. Thank you. The scores:

1. Pat Gibson 158
2. Olav Bjortomt 153
3. Barry Simmons 147
4. Shanker Menon 145
5. Ian Bayley 135
6. Mark Grant 128
7. David Stainer 120.5
8. Tero Kalliovelo 120
9. Nick Mills 117
10. Chris Quinn 115
11. William De Ath 113
12. Thomas Kolåsæter 111
13. Ole Martin Halck 110
14. David Lea 108
15=. Scott Dawson 106
15=. Kathryn Johnson 106
17. Michael McPartland 105.5
18. Jamie Dodding 103
19. Diane Hallagan 101.5
20. Nic Paul 100
21. Chris Jones 96
22. Tore Dahl 94
23. Quentin Holt 91
24. Harald Aastorp 90
25. Darren Martin 89
26. Keith Andrew 88.5
27=. Lars Heggland 86.5
27=. Gary Grant 86.5
29. Mark Kerr 86
30. Paul Sinha 80
31. Alan Morgan 79
32. Dave Bill 78
33. John Harrison 77
34. Peter Ediss 75
35. William Barrett 74.5
36. Dom Tait 73
37. Øystein Aadnevik 70
38. Knut Heggland 68
39=. Alan Bowell 65.5
39=. Issa Schultz 65.5
41. Bob Thompson 65
42. Iwan Thomas 62
43. Will Jones 60
44. Bjørn Revil 53
45. Paul Davis 51.5
46. Truls Flatberg 51
47. Paul Philpot 50
48. Christian Thorn 47
49. Jon Strøm 46
50. Tor Carlsen 44
51. Sam Roberts 42
52. Ian Dalziel 41
53. Karen Skjånes 40
54=. Lars Andre Gundersen 39
54=. Paul Reeve 39
56. Rob Jones 36
57. Ivar Areklett 35
58. Dave Jones 15
59. Lesley Saunders-Davies 14

Many thanks to all who took part.

ROB'S QUIZ VI

2009-04-27T11:49:00.001Z

My new 200 question quiz is out. The deadline is 7th June 2009. If you would like a copy then please mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com

Where are all the quizzes?

2009-03-24T01:35:00.007Z

You will no doubt have noticed that I have not been posting quizzes here for quite some time. I began this blog at a time when I had just got into quiz and was writing tonnes of questions and had nowhere to put them. This blog, therefore, I used as a repository for my efforts (albeit, the desire to show off was, no doubt, also a contributing factor!). Now that I have my regular 200-question quizzes and am writing for leagues, pubs, etc. I have several appropriate outlets into which my questions can be inserted.

I will continue to post questions here but such postings will, I imagine, be less frequent than once was the case. But, they will come - I assure you!

Those of you who know me well may be aware that many years ago I was pursuing a 'career' as a poet. I think I had almost forgotten this 'past life' of mine but, yesterday, for the first time in several years, I receieved some 'fan mail' from a young Canadian boy who had read some poems I'd written that have, I'm told, found their way into a Canadian anthology of some description. The boy was particularly gushing about a couple of poems I wrote entitled 'If I Were Blind' and 'One Day'. I strongly doubt that the boy will ever read this blog (he will almost certainly be moping in a dark room listening to My Chemical Romance) but, if he ever does, I'd like him to know that he made me smile today. A smile is not much but it does help to make life that little more bearable, and I thank him.

This incident led me to rereading some of the stuff I wrote all those years ago. 'Blind' is a poem that, on reflection, could only have been written by a teenager - I must have been 17 or 18 when I wrote it. It is sincere to the point of insincerity, emotional to the point of triteness and the narrator's massively evident insecurity grates a little. It is also clunky in parts. But there is something to it - it is more than just an angst-ridden goth boy's histrionics. Something. I could easily dismiss the work as a trite, oh so knowingly self-loathing piece of juvenilia but maturity is all too harsh a critic. I'm prepared to be generous. 'One Day' probably falls into a similar bracket as 'Blind' but is more honest and a little less whiney. Its construction leaves an awful lot to be desired but it does feel less insincere (as, indeed, I suspect it was).

I neither feel inclined nor able to produce any poetry at all these days but a quick, nostalgic peek at more fecund times has brought a smile to my face. Today has been a good day - I learned a little more about myself.

If I Were Blind

If I were blind
Would you scold me for turning my head at the sight of unlawfulness and destruction?
Would you berate me for perceiving not the difference between black and white?
Or would you comfort me and be my eyes?

If I were deaf
Would you blame me for ignoring the screams of the pitiably oppressed?
Would you reproach me for discerning not the difference between a tongue and a tear?
Or would you soothe me and be my ears?

If I were mute
Would you rebuke me for failing to speak out against tyranny and cruelty?
Would you censure me for knowing not the difference between the right terms and the wrong?
Or would you reassure me and be my words?

If I were lame
Would you reprehend me for declining to rush to the aid of the dying man?
Would you reprove me for feeling not the difference between the concrete and the pillow?
Or would you console me and be my feet?

But now I am lonely
Why do you lecture me for turning away from the underprivileged and the needy?
Why do you upbraid me for detecting not greater pain than my own?
Why don't you cheer me and be my friend?

Rob Hannah - 1999

One Day

Yesterday
I looked at my lover's feet
As they padded nervously through crowded streets,
Quickening with each hunted thought and haunting memory.
Feet, ceaselessly retreating from a broken city with broken morals
And manufactured tolerance. And the
Fractured cobblestones are built from jagged rock and on flat lies.
Feet, never having travelled, but fled.
Only ever feeling part of a person upon arrival at their destination,
Until which they are the gettaway car,
The hounded quarry, the unsounded scream.

Yesterday
I looked at my lover's hands
As they fumbled along the boundaries of a pale society
And felt the baleful pain of rejection and abject shame.
Hands, shaking upon greeting others for fear that they should incriminate
With a clumsy flap or trembling flutter.
Hands, leading to cramped knuckles and tired wrists
No longer ready to shield eyes from accusing fingers
Nor to mask a face from public view.
Hands, for once not to feel
But instead to soften the pain with
A soothing touch and a clenched fist.

Yesterday
I looked at my lover's ears
As they absorbed the frenzied thoughts of a million mouths,
Each mimicking the words of a million more,
Each miming and mouthing
And regurgitating phrases and fables made true through time and repetition.
Ears, ignoring the words but unable to escape the voices
Of those men and women behind the lies.
Ears, twitching at every noise
And standing upright and alert,
Collecting each scrap of sound with which
To create maps of minds through second-hand bigotry
And a faint hope of survival.

One day
I will look into my lover's eyes.

Rob Hannah - 1998

ROB'S QUIZ V RESULTS

2009-03-02T11:06:00.004Z

The deadline is up and the results are in.

There were some really terrific scores this time and, amazingly, all 200 questions were answered. Indeed, 199 of them were answered by more than one person. Therefore, the only 'solo' this time was:

115. Mossos d'Esquadra - David Lea

A great answer from David.

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to enter and I hope you enjoyed it.

The final positions:

1. Phil O’Day 169
2. Pat Gibson 154
3. Olav Bjortomt 153.5
4. Barry Simmons 151.5
5. Shanker Menon 136
6. Ian Bayley 132.5
7. David Stainer 127.5
8. Harald Aastorp 126.5
9. Scott Dawson 125.5
10. Mark Grant 125
11. Thomas Kolåsæter 116
12. David Lea 114.5
13. Tore Dahl 113
14. Nic Paul 109.5
15. Jamie Dodding 107
16. Alan Morgan 105
17. Ole Martin Halck 103.5
18. Peter Ediss 97.5
19. Michael McPartland 97
20. Chris Jones 96.5
21=. Mark Kerr 91
21=. Lars Heggland 91
23. Keith Andrew 90.5
24=. John Harrison 89.5
24=. Jenny Ryan 89.5
26. Paul Sinha 85
27. Darren Martin 83.5
28. Dom Tait 81.5
29. Quentin Holt 80
30. Knut Heggland 78.5
31. William Barrett 74
32. Alan Bowell 73
33. Ian Dalziel 72.5
34. Dave Bill 72
35. Gareth Kingston 71.5
36=. CJ de Mooi 63
36=. Bjørn Revil 63
38. Will Jones 61.5
39. Issa Schultz 59.5
40. Øystein Aadnevik 58
41. Karen Skjånes 55.5
42. Jon Strøm 52
43. Paul Reeve 50.5
44. Jone Frafjord 47
45. Tor Carlsen 46.5
46. Toril Opsahl 43
47. Ivar Areklett 35
48. Tom Waddell 28
49. Christian Grindvold 25.5
50. Lesley Saunders-Davies 25

NEW QUIZ

2009-01-25T01:42:00.002Z

My new 200 question quiz is out. The deadline is 1st March 2009. If you would like a copy then please mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com

THE 69th QUIZ

2008-11-21T23:59:00.002Z

Just a short one.

1. Which man, who died in 2004, served as chairman of the Arts Coucil of Great Britain and the advisory council of the Victoria and Albert Museum, a director of the Royal Opera House, a trustee of Glyndebourne, a member of the National Art Collections Fund committee, and treasurer of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust was made a life peer of Penn's Rocks in East Sussex in 1975?
PATRICK GIBSON
2. Who is the current manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC?
MICK McCARTHY
3. And which footballer scored on his Wolverhampton Wanderers debut in January 2008, having been signed by McCarthy from Luton Town for £675,000?
DAVID EDWARDS
4. Which Scottish actress is best known for playing Tina Hunter in the popular BBC Scotland soap opera ‘River City’ and has also played Michelle in ‘Dear Green Place’?
JENNY RYAN
5. Who captained the Mayflower on its transatlantic voyage that established the Plymouth Colony settlement in Massachusetts in 1620?
CHRIS JONES
6. Which Scottish international footballer scored Derby County’s winning goal as Derby ran out 1–0 winners over West Bromwich Albion in the 2007 Championship playoff final?
STEPHEN PEARSON
7. What was the real name of Anthony Burgess, the author of ‘A Clockwork Orange’?
JOHN WILSON
8. Also the first British flag officer to become a pilot, who was commander of the Greek Navy at the outbreak of World War I?
MARK KERR

ROB'S QUIZ IV - THE RESULTS

2008-11-17T00:46:00.007Z

The deadline is up and the results have been counted.

For the first time in one of my quizzes, a score of over 75% has been attained.

The quality of answers was such that just 2 questions went unanswered. Nobody guessed that a British hit single must have a running time of 40 minutes or under, or that the penaque is the only genus of fish to survive largely by eating wood.

A particularly notable score was attained by Michael McPartland who, on his first attempt at one of my quizzers, managed to come 5th. Amazingly, 98% of the answers he gave were correct. I don't believe I've ever seen that before. I've invited him to attend a future a GP. If this score is anything to go by, he should do very well.

There were, as always, several correct answers that were given by just one person. They were:

Q. 19 - Christchurch - Dom Tait
Q. 29 - Vigo & La Coruña - Lars Heggland (several people got one or other but only Lars named both cities).
Q. 104 - Kappa Sigma - Michael McPartland
Q. 110 - Naraka - Shanker Menon
Q. 170 - Kinderwhore - Michael McPartland
Q. 184 - Holden - Mark Grant
Q. 189 - Isabela - Keith Andrew

And to the results:

1. Pat Gibson 151
2. Olav Bjortomt 144.5
3. Barry Simmons 129.5
4. Mark Grant 125
5=. Michael McPartland 121.5
5=. Scott Dawson 121.5
7. David Stainer 114.5
8. Shanker Menon 114
9. Jamie Dodding 109
10. Chris Quinn 106.5
11. Harald Aastorp 101.5
12. Chris Jones 100.5
13. John Harrison 93.5
14. Nic Paul 90.5
15=. Diane Hallagan 90
15=. Mark Kerr 90
17. Derek Heyes 89
18. Lars Heggland 88.5
19=. Dom Tait 85.5
19=. Peter Ediss 85.5
19=. Keith Andrew 85.5
22. Dave Bill 85
23=. Pete Smith 81
23=. Quentin Holt 81
25. Paul Sinha 80.5
26. Audrey Doyle 77
27=. Darren Martin 76.5
27=. William Barrett 76.5
29. Alan Bowell 73.5
30. Will Jones 66.5
31. Ian Dalziel 64.5
32. Myron Meyer 60
33. Rob Jones 58
34. Sam Roberts 46
35. Ivar Areklett 41.5
36. Lesley Saunders-Davies 32

Congratulations to Pat on an extraordinary score. And many thanks to all those who took the time to enter.

ROB'S QUIZ 4

2008-11-05T23:20:00.000Z

My 4th quiz is currently available. The deadline is 16th November 2008. If you haven't yet received a copy but would like to, then please e-mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com

The rules are the same as normal. But there are pictures with this one too.

THE 68th QUIZ

2008-09-08T13:27:00.003Z

Hello, once again. 25 questions for you with a bit of an emphasis on early English history. Due to several requests (or, indeed, constant nagging) I've put the answers directly after the questions.

1. Who was the commander of the Viking force that was defeated by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington?
GUTHRUM
2. With 31, who holds the record for winning the most Grammy Awards?
GEORG SALTI
3. What was the name of the English King upon which Shakespeare based his play 'Cymbeline'?
CUNOBELINUS
4. Which famous poet took boxing lessons from the celebrated pugilist John Jackson, better known as Gentleman Jackson?
LORD BYRON
5. What was the name of the brother of Edward the Confessor who was murdered by followers of Harold Harefoot in 1036?
ALFRED
6. Found in South Africa, which is the world's second highest waterfall?
TUGELA
7. What was the name of the husband of Boudicca?
KING PRASUTAGUS
8. Prior to the publication of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', which 1939 novel had been the world's best-selling fictional work of the 20th Century?
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (by AGATHA CHRISTIE)
9. As a child Alfred the Great was sent on a mission to Rome to meet with which Pope?
LEO IV
10. What name did Tacitus give to the unidentified Scottish mountain upon the slopes of which 10,000 Caledonians were slaughtered by the Roman army in 79AD?
MONS GRAUPIUS
11. Who was the first person to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress?
LUISE RAINER
12. In 927AD, who became the first King to be officially crowned as 'King of England'?
AETHELSTAN
13. After Harvard, which is the USA's next oldest university?
COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY (in Virginia)
14. What is the literal meaning of the word 'Pict'?
PAINTED ONE
15. Which Australian middle and long distance runner set 17 world records during the 1960s but never won an Olympic gold medal?
RON CLARKE
16. Who was the father of King Cnut?
SWEYN I
17. After Canada, which country has the next longest coastline?
INDONESIA
18. Which English village, then an important city, was known to the Romans as Viriconium?
WROXETER
19. After the USA and Israel, which country has the next largest Jewish population?
FRANCE
20. What name was given to any of the 30 defensive forts built by Alfred the Great in order to keep the Vikings out of Wessex after the Battle of Edington?
BURH
21. Which is Africa's largest landlocked country?
NIGER
22. At which castle is Catherine of Aragon buried?
PETERBOROURGH
23. Which King of East Anglia is thought to have been the king who was laid in the Viking longboat discovered at Sutton Hoo?
RAEDWALD
24. Who won an Oscar in 1944 for her performance as Cary Grant's mother in 'None But the Lonely Heart'?
ETHEL BARRYMORE
25. At 2,190 metres deep, the Voronya or Krubera Cave is the world's deepest. In which country is it found?
GEORGIA

THE 67th QUIZ

2008-08-12T13:28:00.002Z

Because my attention has been concentrated on other projects recently, I have posted very infrequently on this blog of late. From today, the quizzes will be posted more regularly. Here are 20 questions for you:

1. Which British track and field athlete lit the Olympic flame at the 1948 London Olympics?
2. With a name meaning 'corpse shore', what is the name of the place in Hel where Níðhöggr lives and sucks corpses?
3. What is the name of the monumental gateway that serves as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens that now gives its name to any monumental gateway?
4. Who did Andy Murray defeat to win the final of the Cincinatti Masters in August 2008?
5. Which 17th Century Italian baroque painter, whose works include 'Baptism of Christ' and 'Venus and Amor', is known as 'The Anacreon of Painters'?
6. Who was the morganatic wife of Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland who is usually credited as the first professional actress on the English stage? Her first performance was on December 8 1660, in a production of Shakespeare's play 'Othello', when she played the role of Desdemona.
7. Which American football team play their homes games at Heinz Field?
8. Said to have been founded by a sister of Diomede and the birthplace of Democritus and Protagoras, which maritime city in Thrace is said to have become so overrun with rats that is was abandoned by its inhabitants who relocated to Macedonia?
9. Which American athlete was the first man to run the 100m in under 10 seconds?
10. According to Islamic belief, 40 of the 70 Abdals always live in which country?
11. Named after its ineffectiveness, which English Parliament of 1614 lasted no more than eight weeks and failed to resolve the conflict between King James I and the House of Commons?
12. Which horse won the 2008 Kentucky Derby? And which horse had to be put down after finishing second in the same race? *
13. Based on the stories in 'The Arabian Nights', 'Tales of the Genii' is the best remembered work of which English author?
14. First appearing in 1883, which catcher, playing for Toledo, became the first black major league baseballer?
15. What is the name of the boar of Norse mythology that was created by Eitri and Brokkr as a gift to Freyr?
16. Which English river was once known as the river Abus?
17. 'Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter', 'The Prime of Life', 'Force of Circumstance' and 'All Said and Done' are the four volumes of the autobiography of which French author?
18. In reference to seven Alexandrian poets and tragedians of the 3rd century B.C., what collective name was given to a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf?
19. Which city in Jiangsu Province in China, known for its gardens and silk industry, is nicknamed 'the Venice of the East'?
20. In the Bible, upon which mountain did Aaron die?

*Thanks to Myron for spotting the not very deliberate mistake in the original question here. The original question stated that Big Brown both won the 2008 Kentucky Derby and was put down afterwards. I can state with confidence that Big Brown did win the race but it was, in fact, Eight Belles who was 'euthanized' (yes, I hate that word too). Big Brown is not dead - at least he wasn't until he read my quiz, at which point the shock of finding that he had been pronounced dead on such an authoritative blog as this one caused catastrophic heart failure. R.I.P. Big Brown. And Eight Belles.

And the answers:

1. JOHN MARK
2. NÁSTRÖND
3. PROPYLAEA
4. NOVAK DJOKOVIC
5. FRANCESCO ALBANI
6. MARGARET HUGHES
7. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
8. ABDERA
9. JIM HINES
10. SYRIA
11. ADDLED PARLIAMENT
12. BIG BROWN & EIGHT BELLES
13. JAMES RIDLEY
14. MOSES FLEETWOOD WALKER
15. GULLINBURSTI
16. HUMBER
17. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
18. LA PLEIADE
19. SUZHOU
20. MOUNT HOR

RESULTS OF ROB'S QUIZ III

2008-08-03T23:35:00.006Z

The deadline is up and the votes have been counted. Well, the answers have been counted.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect was that the quality of answers was so high that, of the 200 questions, only 5 went unanswered.

Special mentions go to the following, who were the only person, in each case, to give the correct answer to that question:

Q. 15 - SAVED BY THE BELL: THE NEW CLASS - Olav Bjortomt (although plenty were awarded half a mark for 'Saved By the Bell')
Q. 55 - BAHUVRIHI - Shanker Menon
Q. 64 - SHED - Peter Ediss
Q. 90 - GIRLICIOUS - Roger Eldegard
Q. 124 - STEPHEN KUMALO - William Barrett
Q. 153 - BABY FACE NELSON - Olav Bjortomt
Q. 175 - QUERY - Olav Bjortomt
Q. 190 - CANIS MAJOR - Thomas Kolåsæter

Well done to all the above.

And now to the important bit. The scores are:

1. Mark Bytheway 144
2. Olav Bjortomt 142
3. Pat Gibson 132
4. Barry Simmons 114
5. Mark Grant 113
6. Scott Dawson 108
7. David Stainer 107.5
8. Shanker Menon 106.5
9. Jamie Dodding 103
10. Thomas Kolåsæter 102
11. Martin Riley 95
12=. Nic Paul 92
12=. Mark Kerr 92
14. Diane Hallagan 90.5
15. Darren Martin 90
16. Harald Aastorp 89
17=. Chris Quinn 88
17=. Ole Martin Halck 88
17=. Tore Dahl 88
20=. Quentin Holt 84
20=. Lars Heggland 84
22. Chris Jones 83.5
23. Keith Andrew 83
24. Phil Duffy 81
25=. Dom Tait 74.5
25=. Peter Ediss 74.5
27. Will Jones 73
28. David Bill 70
29. Alan Bowell 67
30. William Barrett 55.5
31. Jayakanthan Ranganathan 55
32=. CJ de Mooi 52.5
32=. Rob Jones 52.5
34=. Myron Meyer 50
34=. Paul Davis 50
36. Karen Skjånes 46.5
37. Elliot Selby 46
38. Jan Gunnar Fredriksen 45.5
39. Roger Eldegard 40.5
40. Tor Carlsen 40
41. Ivar Areklett 36
42. Thomas Iversen 30
43. Toril Opsahl 25.5
44. Christian Grindvold 23.5
45. Lesley Saunders-Davies 19

Congratulations to Mark for a great score. Also, many congratulations to both Olav and Pat for fantastic scores of their own. Many thanks to all who took part with particular thanks to the band of intrepid Norwegians who decided to sit the quiz together under test conditions.

I hope you enjoyed answering it as much as I did writing in. Rob's Quiz IV draws inexorably nearer.

QUIZ RESULTS

2008-04-21T00:08:00.004Z

The deadline has closed and the results are in.

34 people have taken part (although 2 people - who assure me they have completed the quiz - have been given special dispensation to furnish me with their answers at a later date).

Many thanks to all those who took part and congratulations to all those who scored over 100 on what was, it appears, a slightly harder quiz than last time. Further congratulations to the winner, who fared rather better with my questions than I usually do with his.

As with my last quiz, I would like to give a special mention to three people who were, in each case, the only person (out of the 34) to give a correct answer to a particular question. They are:

Question 24 - Sarabande - DIANE HALLAGAN
Question 104 - Dysnomia - QUENTIN HOLT
Question 130 - Chukwa - NIC PAUL

And to the results:

1 Olav Bjortomt 139.5
2 Pat Gibson 128
3 Sean Carey 116.5
4 Mark Grant 111.5
5= Barry Simmons 105
5= Ian Bayley 105
7= Scott Dawson 100.5
7= William De Ath 100.5
9 Mark Kerr 98.5
10 Chris Quinn 90.5
11 Chris Jones 90
12 Nic Paul 85.5
13= Shanker Menon 83.5
13= Dom Tait 83.5
15 Darren Martin 83
16 Thomas Kolåsæter 79.5
17 Diane Hallagan 78.5
18 Keith Andrew 77.5
19 Jamie Dodding 77
20 Chris Curtis 75
21= Quentin Holt 74
21= William Barrett 74
23 Matt Barr 64.5
24 Peter Ediss 62
25= Will Jones 60.5
25= Alan Bowell 60.5
27 Audrey Doyle 60
28 CJ de Mooi 56.5
29 Paul Davis 49
30 Ian Dalziel 48
31 Myron Meyer 47.5
32 Tom Waddell 42
33 Jayakanthan R. 41.5
34 Sam Roberts 40.5
35 Lesley Saunders-Davies 25

THE 66th QUIZ

2008-04-14T14:36:00.000Z

1. They were discovered in 1743 and called Cyrpiniformes. Shortly afterwards, another discovery led to them being given the name by which we know them today. What name?
2. What name is given to any of a group of biennial Old World thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae, that is used in Japanese cuisine and said to have medicinal qualities?
3. Which poet, born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1910, served as the rector of the Black Mountain College from 1951 until 1956 and left 'The Maximus Poems' unfinished at his death in 1970?
4. Aishwarya Rai starred alongside Colin Firth and Sir Ben Kingsley in which 2007 film based on a novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi?
5. At 5' 5", which international is the shortest footballer to be on the books of a Premiership club?
6. Who was the Dutch scientist who, in 1676, became the first person to observe bacteria?
7. What was the name of the father of Rameses II who, for a time, ruled jointly with his son?
8. By what name was British Airways known when it was founded in 1924?
9. In which year were both Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington born?
10. The word ‘cheetah’ is derived from a Sanskrit name meaning what?
11. What was the name of the Queen of the Netherlands who abdicated in 1948 due to ill health?
12. KT Tunstall was born in which Scottish town on 23 June 1975?
13. In Graham Greene's novel 'Brighton Rock', what is Pinkie's surname?
14. Which former President was enrolled as the first Medicare beneficiary and presented with the first Medicare card?
15. What is the name of the founder of the Peruvian rebel group Shining Path?
16. What name was given to the rigidly organized military regiments commanded by Shaka Zulu?
17. How much did James Whistler receive after successfully suing the art critic John Ruskin for libel?
18. Which alternative rock group recorded the song ‘California’ that is used as the theme to ‘The O.C.’?
19. In April 2003, which American news website accidentally published premature draft obituaries of several public figures, using the Queen Mother and Ronald Reagan as draft templates? Dick Cheney was described as the 'UK's favorite grandmother', Pope John Paul II was said to have had a 'love of racing' and Fidel Castro was described as a 'lifeguard, athlete and movie star'.
20. In which country is the style of music known as zaffa traditionally used at wedding ceremonies?

And the answers:

1. ELECTRIC EELS
2. BURDOCK
3. CHARLES OLSON
4. THE LAST LEGION
5. AARON LENNON
6. ANTONIE VAN LEEUWENHOEK
7. SETI I
8. IMPERIAL AIRWAYS
9. 1769
10. VARIEGATED BODY
11. WILHELMINA
12. ST ANDREWS
13. BROWN
14. HARRY TRUMAN
15. ABIMAEL GUZMAN
16. IMPI
17. ONE FARTHING
18. PHANTOM PLANET
19. CNN
20. EGYPT

200 QUESTION QUIZ UPDATE

2008-04-11T23:33:00.001Z

Due to a large number of requests to do so, I'm extending the deadline for my quiz until Sunday 20th April.

It's only an hour and a half you need to find!!! Come on, peeps!

200 QUESTION QUIZ

2008-03-26T17:49:00.002Z

I wanted to bring your attention to a typographical error in my new 200 question quiz. The date in Question 132 should read 1773 rather than 1793. I must have read through the quiz 100 times without ever noticing it. Many thanks to Keith for bringing it to my attention.

12 completed quizzes have been submitted so far - still plenty of time left to enter if you haven't done so already.

THE 65th QUIZ - USA & CANADA

2008-03-17T19:06:00.002Z

Quizzes for your consumption:

1. Which small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is also claimed by Haiti?
2. Washington DC is located on land donated by which American state?
3. Bryce Canyon, a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, is to be found in which US State?
4. Deriving from the French for ‘towards Arkansas’, what name is given to the physiographic, geologic, and cultural highland region of the central United States, covering much of the south half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northern Arkansas as well as parts of Oklahoma and Kansas?
5. Which river, perhaps named for the tannic acid it contains, separates the Adirondack Mountains from the Tug Hill Plateau in New York state before emptying into Lake Ontario?
6. With a maximum depth of 594 metres, which lake in Oregon is the deepest lake in the USA?
7. Theodore Roosevelt National Park consists of 110 square miles of badlands in which American state?
8. What is the name given to the historically significant one square mile tract of land along the border between Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, the ownership of which was disputed from the 17th Century until Delaware’s ownership was confirmed by Pennsylvania in 1921?
9. In 1791, which became the 14th American state and the first admitted to the Union since the original 13 colonies declared independence from Britain?
10. Signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795, establishing intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain, its full title was Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and the United States and it was also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid. However, the name by which it is best remembered today is that of the American statesman who negotiated the treaty for the United States. What name?
11. Taking place from 1795 to 1803, the Yazoo Land Scandal is the name given to the massive fraud perpetrated by several governors of which state by selling large tracts of land to insiders at ridiculously low prices?
12. Taking its name from a suburb of what is now Mexico City, what name is given to the treaty, signed in February 1848, that ended the Mexican-American War?
13. The land bought from Mexico in 1853 for $10 million in what is known as the Gadsden Purchase is now located in which two states?
14. Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa are three of the better known unincorporated territories of the Unites States. Which atoll in the Northern Pacific Ocean is the USA’s only incorporated territory?
15. What was the name of the chief of the Wampanoag Indians who led his people in the bloody war against the English colonists that would become known as King Philip’s War (1675-76)?
16. Which American jurist, statesman, and revolutionary leader from Connecticut served as a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence and later as the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled?
17. Although his very existence has never been proven, Tom the Tinker was the name given to the leader of which insurrection in Pennsylvania in 1794 caused by the introduction of a hated tax three years earlier?
18. In which city was George Washington inaugurated as the first US President in April 1789?
19. In 1959, Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as the 49th and 50th states. Admitted in 1912, which was the 48th state?
20. Shay’s Rebellion, led by small farmers angered by crushing debt and taxes in the immediate aftermath of the War of American Independence, was an armed uprising that occurred in which state from 1786-87?

1. NAVASSA ISLAND
2. MARYLAND
3. UTAH
4. OZARKS
5. BLACK RIVER
6. CRATER LAKE
7. NORTH DAKOTA
8. THE WEDGE
9. VERMONT
10. PINCKNEY’S TREATY
11. GEORGIA
12. TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO
13. ARIZONA & NEW MEXICO
14. PALMYRA ATOLL
15. METACOMET (or METACOM)
16. SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
17. WHISKEY REBELLION
18. NEW YORK
19. ARIZONA
20. MASSACHUSETTS

1. Which American doctrine proclaimed, in December 1823, that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere with the affairs of the newly independent nations of the Americas.
2. The Louisiana Purchase occurred under which American President?
3. Containing approximately 80 islands, which lake between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York is drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St. Lawrence River near Montreal and fed by Otter Creek, the Winooski, Missisquoi, and Lamoille Rivers in Vermont, and the Ausable, Chazy, Boquet, and Saranac Rivers in New York?
4. Named after a disparaging phrase used by John Adams to describe agents of Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, what name is given to the diplomatic episode of 1797 that worsened relations between France and the United States and led to the undeclared Quasi-War of 1798?
5. What was the name given to the two wars fought by the United States of America against the independent Sultanate of Morocco, and the three Regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli from 1801 to 1815?
6. Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in the USA, is to be found in which Alaskan National Park and Preserve, the name of which means "the great one" in the native Athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself?
7. Who led the American forces against the British fleet, under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane, at the Battle of New Orleans, the final major battle of the War of 1812?
8. The Era of Good Feelings is a much-used phrase coined by the journalist Benjamin Russell to describe a period of American history under which President?
9. In April 2007, a strong storm caused a 300 yard breach between Martha’s Vineyard and which smaller island off its eastern end that had previously been connected to the main island?
10. Sometimes known in the South as the Battle of Sharpsburg, which battle, fought in Maryland on September 17, 1862, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil and was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with almost 23,000 casualties?
11. What is the name of the historic village in Viriginia where the surrender of the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War?
12. With a population of a little over 11,500, which Floridian city is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the USA, and the oldest port in the continental United States?
13. It is traditionally held that the American Civil War began when which Confederate General opened fire upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina?
14. In 1848, the former Democratic President Martin van Buren was again nominated for Presidency by which short-lived political party that was active during the 1848 and 1852 elections before being largely absorbed by the Republican Party in 1854?
15. Devils Tower in Wyoming gained its name during an 1875 expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the Lakota name ‘Mato Tipila’ to mean Bad God's Tower, later to be shortened to its present name. What is the correct translation?
16. Named after an American slave who was later hanged, what name was given to the slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 31 during which over 50 people were killed?
17. What was the name of the American Commodore who compelled the opening of the Japanese ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to United States trade with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854?
18. The Pocono Mountains region is a popular tourist destination located in the northeastern part of which state?
19. Taking its name from the response expected from its members when asked about their involvement with the party, what was the popular name given to the movement that originated in New York in 1843 as the American Republican Party that was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants?
20. Kolob Arch, the second longest natural arch in the world, can be found in which National Park in Utah?

1. MONROE DOCTRINE
2. THOMAS JEFFERSON
3. LAKE CHAMPLAIN
4. XYZ AFFAIR
5. BARBARY WARS
6. DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE
7. ANDREW JACKSON
8. JAMES MONROE
9. CHAPPAQUIDDICK ISLAND
10. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
11. APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE
12. ST AUGUSTINE
13. PIERRE BEAUREGARD
14. FREE SOIL PARTY
15. BEAR TOWER
16. NAT TURNER’S REBELLION
17. MATTHEW PERRY
18. PENNSYLVANIA
19. KNOW-NOTHING (PARTY or MOVEMENT)
20. ZION NATIONAL PARK

1. The name Canada is taken from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning what?
2. The capital of Upper Canada from 1797 - 1841, by what name was Toronto known prior to 1834?
3. Which city in Newfoundland and Labrador is the oldest English-founded city in North America and received the first wireless trans-Atlantic message in 1901?
4. Celebrated annually on July 1st, by what name was Canada Day known prior to 1982?
5. Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608 under the sponsorship of which French King?
6. Lucy Maude Montgomery's character, Anne of Green Gables was born in which Canadian province?
7. Who was the colonist and soldier of New France who led a French militia, allied with Huron Indians, against a much larger Iroquois army at the Battle of Long Sault in 1660?
8. Who was the Canadian-born French colonial governor who, in 1755, became the last governor of New France before it was ceded to Britain after the Seven Years’ War?
9. Canada shares its only land border with the United States. However, it shares marine borders with which two countries?
10. According to Canadian legend "Push on, brave York Volunteers" were the last words of which British Major-General, nicknamed ‘The Hero of Upper America’, who was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights in 1812?
11. Which Canadian heroine of the War of 1812, after becoming aware of plans for a surprise attack on troops led by British Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon at Beaver Dams, is said to have walked, perhaps barefoot, approximately 32 km from present day Queenston to Fitzgibbon's headquarters to warn him of the attack?
12. Which easily recognizable twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped cylindrical rock towers, separated by a saddle, in Auyuittuq National Park in Nunavut appeared in the opening sequence of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me?
13. The Red River Rebellion is the name given to the events surrounding the actions of a provisional government established by Métis leader Louis Riel in 1869 at the Red River Settlement that led to the creation of which Canadian province?
14. One of the most notorious incidents in the history of early 20th century exclusion laws in Canada designed to keep out immigrants of Asian origin, what was the name of the Japanese steam liner that sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from the Punjab, that was not allowed to land in Canada and was forced to return to India?
15. The only known nesting site of whooping cranes, which national park, located in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in Canada at 44,807 km²?
16. What was the name of the Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, the highest number for a British Empire pilot?
17. What was the name of the French munitions ship that exploded off the coast of Nova Scotia in December 1917, after colliding with the Belgian relief ship Imo, destroying most of the city of Halifax?
18. Located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie near Fort McLeod in Alberta, which UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum of Native culture has, perhaps, the most unusual name of all World Heritage Sites?
19. What name is given to the formal and ceremonial uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?
20. What is the English name for the comedy festival Juste Pour Rire held each July in Montreal, the largest festival of its kind in the world?

1. VILLAGE (or SETTLEMENT)
2. YORK
3. ST. JOHN’S
4. DOMINION DAY
5. HENRY IV
6. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
7. DOLLARD DES ORMEAUX
8. PIERRE FRANÇOIS DE RIGAUD, MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL-CAVAGNAL
9. DENMARK (GREENLAND) & FRANCE (SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON)
10. ISAAC BROCK
11. LAURA SECORD
12. MOUNT ASGARD
13. MANITOBA
14. KOMAGATA MARU
15. WOOD BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK
16. BILLY BISHOP
17. MONT-BLANC
18. HEAD-SMASHED-IN BUFFALO JUMP
19. RED SERGE
20. JUST FOR LAUGHS

1. Which previously independent Dominion joined the Canadian Confederation in 1948 after a bitterly fought referendum that often descended into a slanging match between Protestants and Catholics?
2. Sharing its name with a Greek goddess, which body of water separates the Queen Charlotte Islands from the mainland of British Columbia in Canada?
3. What was the name of the Belarussian cipher clerk who defected to Canada in September 1945, with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West exposing Joseph Stalin's efforts to steal nuclear secrets, and the then-unknown technique of planting sleeper agents?
4. Which is the longest river in Canada?
5. Which Polish-born Communist politician and trade union organizer became, in 1947, the only Member of the Canadian Parliament ever convicted of spying for a foreign country?
6. Which is the only Canadian province to have both French and English as official languages?
7. Which Canadian statesman, diplomat and future Prime Minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his role in defusing the Suez Crisis through the United Nations?
8. Which small, uninhabited barren knoll measuring 1.3 km², located in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait that separates Ellesmere Island from northern Greenland and connects Baffin Bay with the Lincoln Sea is claimed by both Canada and Denmark?
9. Named after a Canadian Prime Minister, what was the name of Constable Benton Fraser’s canine sidekick in the award-winning Canadian television police drama Due South?
10. Canada’s Four Corners point, located near Kasba Lake, is a point at which four political subdivisions meet, namely the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and which two provinces?
11. What was the name of the Minister of Quebec who was kidnapped and murdered by members of the terrorist group The Front de Libération du Québec during the October Crisis of 1970?
12. Cape Columbia is the northernmost point of land of Canada and is located on which island?
13. What was the name of the one-legged cancer patient who became a national celebrity after he undertook the cross-Canada run known as the Marathon of Hope in 1980?
14. Sharing its name with a now defunct American rock group, what is the name of the highest mountain in the Northwest Territories, first climbed in July 1965 by Bill Buckingham and Lew Surdam?
15. What was the name of the gunman who killed 14 women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal on December 6 1989, his actions leading Parliament to officially designate December 6 as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women?
16. In 2005, which Haitian-born broadcaster and film-maker became the first black person to serve as Governor General of Canada, a post she currently still occupies?
17. What name has been given to the international fishing dispute of 1995 between Canada and the European Union which ended in the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans boarding a Spanish fishing trawler, the Estai, in international waters and arresting its crew?
18. Formerly known as Frobisher Bay, what is the capital and largest town of Nunavut?
19. Canada is the world’s largest producer of which two important metallic elements?
20. What is Canada’s official national summer sport?

1. NEWFOUNDLAND
2. HECATE STRAIT
3. IGOR GOUZENKO
4. MACKENZIE RIVER
5. FRED ROSE
6. NEW BRUNSWICK
7. LESTER B. PEARSON
8. HANS ISLAND
9. DIEFENBAKER
10. MANITOBA AND SASKATCHEWAN
11. PIERRE LAPORTE
12. ELLESMERE ISLAND
13. TERRY FOX
14. MOUNT NIRVANA
15. MARC LÉPINE
16. MICHAËLLE JEAN
17. TURBOT WAR
18. IQALUIT
19. ZINC & URANIUM
20. LACROSSE

NEW 200 QUESTION QUIZ

2008-03-10T19:44:00.002Z

I have written another 200 question quiz and am offering it free to anyone and everyone (because I'm kind like that). If you'd like to have a go than please e-mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com.

Rules are simple:

You have 90 minutes to complete the 200 questions.
No Googling or reference books allowed and all that kind of stuff.
I’m sure you know what to do - just answer the questions as best you can.

When you’ve finished, please e-mail your completed quiz to me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com by Sunday 13th April 2008.

Please feel free to pass it on to anyone you feel might enjoy taking part.

THE 63rd QUIZ - MORE RANDOM STUFF

2008-02-17T23:06:00.002Z

SPANISH AUTONOMOUS REGIONS

1. What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon?
2. What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Navarre?
3. What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias?
4. What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Cantabria?

1. ZARAGOZA
2. PAMPLONA
3. OVIEDO
4. SANTANDER

ACADEMY AWARDS

1. Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in An Unmarried Woman (1978) and Starting Over (1979)?
2. Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Heaven Knows, Mr Allison (1957) and Separate Tables (1958)?
3. Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Caged (1950) and Detective Story (1951)?
4. Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Country (1984) and Sweet Dreams (1985)?

1. JILL CLAYBURG
2. DEBORAH KERR
3. ELEANOR PARKER
4. JESSICA LANGE

PAINTINGS

1. Which title, referring to episode in the legendary history of early Rome, is shared by paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Peter Paul Rubens and Pablo Picasso?
2. Which title, the name of a Biblical King, is shared by sculptures by Donatello, Andrea del Verrocchio and Gian Lorenzo Bernini?
3. Which title, referring to an important Roman Catholic scene, is shared by paintings by Antonio da Correggio and Anabale Carracci?
4. Which title, referring to a story from Greek mythology, is shared by paintings by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Alexandre Cabanel and Sandro Botticelli?

1. RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN
2. DAVID
3. ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY
4. THE BIRTH OF VENUS

ELEMENTS

1. Which scientist is credited as the discoverer of xenon, neon, krypton and (with Lord Raleigh) argon?
2. Which scientist is credited as the discoverer of rhodium and palladium?
3. Which scientist is credited as the discoverer of uranium, zirconium, strontium, titanium and (with others) cerium?
4. Which scientist is credited as the discoverer of americium, curium and (with others) plutonium, berkelium and californium?

1. WILLIAM RAMSAY
2. WILLIAM HYDE WOLLASTON
3. MARTIN HEINRICH KLAPROTH
4. GLENN T SEABORG

TENNIS PLAYERS

1. Losing in 1997, who was the last Frenchman to reach the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final?
2. Losing in 1973, who was the last Soviet to reach the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final?
3. Losing in 2002, who was the last Argentinian to reach the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final?
4. Losing in 1985, who was the last South African to reach the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final?

1. CÉDRIC PIOLINE
2. ALEX METREVELI
3. DAVID NALBANDIAN
4. KEVIN CURREN

NOVELS

1. Although never published and now lost, The Poor Man and the Lady (1867) was the first novel written by which author?
2. Although only published posthumously, The Professor (1840s) was the first novel written by which author?
3. Although he was frustrated by its misinterpretation, Almayer’s Folly (1895) was the first novel written by which author?
4. Although he virtually disowned the book in later life, Watch and Ward (1871) was the first novel written by which author?

1. THOMAS HARDY
2. CHARLOTTE BRONTE
3. JOSEPH CONRAD
4. HENRY JAMES

ASSASSINATIONS

1. Who was assassinated by Mohammed Bouyeri in November 2004?
2. Who was assassinated by François Ravaillac in May 1610?
3. Who was assassinated by Mijailo Mijailović in September 2003?
4. Who was assassinated by Dimitri Tsafendas in September 1966?

1. THEO VAN GOGH
2. KING HENRI IV OF FRANCE
3. ANNA LINDH
4. HENDRIK VERWOERD

FIRST TOP TENS

1. Released in 1965, ‘I Can’t Explain’ was which group’s first top 10 hit?
2. Released in 1970, ‘Black Night’ was which group’s first top 10 hit?
3. Released in 1985, ‘Johnny Come Home’ was which group’s first top 10 hit?
4. Released in 1996, ‘Sandstorm’ was which group’s first top 10 hit?

1. THE WHO
2. DEEP PURPLE
3. FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS
4. CAST

PILLARS OF ISLAM

1. Which of the Five Pillars of Islam requires a Muslim to pray five times a day at fixed time?
2. Which of the Five Pillars of Islam requires a Muslim to testify that there is no god but Allah?
3. Which of the Five Pillars of Islam requires a Muslim to fast?
4. Which of the Five Pillars of Islam requires a Muslim to give alms?

1. SALAT
2. SHAHADAH
3. SAWM
4. ZAKAT

PHOBIAS

1. Of what is paraskavedekatriaphobia the fear?
2. Of what is tokophobia the fear?
3. Of what is lalophobia the fear?
4. Of what is coulrophobia the fear?

1. FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH
2. CHILDBIRTH
3. SPEAKING
4. CLOWNS

EUROPEAN CITIES

1. Helsinki is the largest city in Finland. What is the second largest?
2. Bratislava is the largest city in Slovakia. What is the second largest?
3. Tirana is the largest city in Albania. What is the second largest?
4. Budapest is the largest city in Hungary. What is the second largest?

1. ESPOO
2. KOSICE
3. DURRES
4. DEBRECEN

THE 62nd QUIZ - RANDOM STUFF

2008-02-11T02:50:00.000Z

Here are some random questions:

FLAGS

1. What species of tree appears on the flag of Lebanon?
2. What species of bird appears on the flag of Uganda?
3. Which mammal appears on the flag of Wyoming?
4. Two examples of which mammal appear on the flag of Belize?

1. LEBANESE CEDAR
2. RED CRESTED CRANE
3. AMERICAN BISON (BUFFALO)
4. HUMAN

ACADEMY AWARDS

1. For his role in which 1987 film did Michael Douglas win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Gordon Gecko?
2. For his role in which 1995 film did Nicholas Cage win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ben Sanderson?
3. For his role in which 1985 film did William Hurt win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Luis Molina?
4. For his role in which 1997 film did Jack Nicholson win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Melvin Udall?

1. WALL STREET
2. LEAVING LAS VEGAS
3. KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
4. AS GOOD AS IT GETS

ART MOVEMENTS

1. Its name coined by Ezra Pound, the painters Wyndham Lewis, David Bomberg and Lawrence Atkinson are associated with which artistic movement?
2. Its name coined by Guillaume Apollinaire, the painters Robert Delaunay, Sonia Terk and Frantisek Kupka are associated with which artistic movement?
3. Its name coined by Naum Gabo, the painters Alexander Rodchenko, Liubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova are associated with which artistic movement?
4. Its name coined by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the painters Umberto Boccione, Carlo Carra and Luigi Russolo are associated with which artistic movement?

1. VORTICISM
2. ORPHISM
3. CONSTRUCTIVISM
4. FUTURISM

ADVERTISING SLOGANS

1. What is the missing brand name in this famous advertising slogan? “Did you … your teeth today”.
2. What is the missing brand name in this famous advertising slogan? “… guards against night starvation”.
3. What is the missing brand name in this famous advertising slogan? “… - made to make your mouth water”.
4. What is the missing brand name in this famous advertising slogan? “… puts the ‘T’ in Britain”.

1. MACLEAN
2. HORLICKS
3. OPAL FRUITS
4. TYPHOO

ELEMENTS

1. Which of the transition metals takes its name from the Persian for ‘gold-like’?
2. Which of the halogens takes its name from the Greek for ‘unstable’?
3. Which of the transition metals takes its name from the Swedish for ‘heavy stone’?
4. Which of the poor metals takes its name from the German for ‘white mass’?

1. ZIRCONIUM
2. ASTATINE *
3. TUNGSTEN
4. BISMUTH

FOOTBALLERS

1. Which Premiership footballer made his competitive debut for Welling United in 1993 and played for Birmingham City, Notts County and Fulham before joining his current club in 2003?
2. Which Premiership footballer made his competitive debut for Cardiff City in 1998 and played for Greenock Morton, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City before joining his current club in 2007?
3. Which Premiership footballer made his competitive debut for Nottingham Forest in 1998 and played for FC Haka, Ipswich Town and West Ham United before joining his current club in 2007?
4. Which Premiership footballer made his competitive debut for Crewe Alexandra in 1994 and played for Liverpool, Charlton Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur before joining his current club in 2007?

1. STEVE FINNAN
2. ROBERT EARNSHAW
3. MARLON HAREWOOD
4. DANNY MURPHY

SYMPHONIES

1. The Schoolmaster and The Palindrome are the popular names given to symphonies by which composer?
2. The First of May and Leningrad are the popular names given to symphonies by which composer?
3. Spring and Rhenish are the popular names given to symphonies by which composer?
4. Italian and Reformation are the popular names given to symphonies by which composer?

1. JOSEPH HAYDN
2. DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
3. ROBERT SCHUMANN
4. FELIX MENDELSSOHN

NOVELS

1. The duplicitous Julien Sorel, the son of a carpenter, is the protagonist of which 1831 novel?
2. Dr Primrose, whose seemingly idyllic life is rocked by sudden impoverishment, is the protagonist of which 1765 novel?
3. Harry Haller, who struggles to reconcile his noble aspirations with his baser instincts, is the protagonist of which 1927 novel?
4. Isabel Archer, a beautiful young American in Europe, is the protagonist of which 1881 novel?

1. LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR
2. THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD
3. STEPPENWOLF
4. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

PRIME MINISTERS

1. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the Boston Tea Party?
2. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the Peterloo Massacre?
3. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of Victoria’s ascension to the throne?
4. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the Easter Rising?

1. LORD NORTH
2. EARL OF LIVERPOOL
3. VISCOUNT MELBOURNE
4. HERBERT ASQUITH

NUMBER 1S

1. “I, I love the colourful clothes she wears and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair” is the opening line of which UK number 1 hit of 1966?
2. “Friday night and the lights are low, looking out for the place to go” is the opening line of which UK number 1 hit of 1976?
3. “When I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best” is the opening line of which UK number 1 hit of 1986?
4. “Slip inside the eye of your mind, don’t you know you might find a better place to play” is the opening line of which UK number 1 hit of 1996?

1. GOOD VIBRATIONS
2. DANCING QUEEN
3. SPIRIT IN THE SKY
4. DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER

PRIMORDIAL GREEK DEITIES

1. In Greek mythology, who was the primordial god of the heavens?
2. In Greek mythology, who was the primordial god of the upper air?
3. In Greek mythology, who was the primordial god of eternal time?
4. In Greek mythology, who was the primordial goddess of the Earth?

1. URANUS
2. AETHER
3. CHRONOS
4. GAIA

ENGLISH LOAN WORDS

1. From which European language did we take the words ‘coach’ and ‘sabre’?
2. From which European language did we take the words ‘galore’ and ‘bard’?
3. From which European language did we take the words ‘gauntlet’ and ‘mink’?
4. From which European language have we taken the words ‘buoy’ and ‘easel’?

1. HUNGARIAN
2. IRISH
3. SWEDISH
4. DUTCH

THE SIMPSONS

1. In ‘The Simpsons’ what is the name of the family’s doctor?
2. In ‘The Simpsons’, what is the name of the reverend of the First Church of Springfield?
3. In ‘The Simpsons’, what is the name of the school bus driver?
4. In ‘The Simpsons’, what is the name of the news anchorman for KBBL-TV Channel 6?

1. DR JULIUS HIBBERT
2. REV. TIM LOVEJOY
3. OTTO MANN
4. KENT BROCKMAN

BABY ANIMALS

1. What name is given to the young of an alligator?
2. What name is given to the young of a platypus?
3. What name is given to the young of a jellyfish?
4. What name is given to the young of a hedgehog?

1. HATCHLING
2. PUGGLE
3. EPHYRA
4. HOGLET

AMERICAN STATES

1. Charlotte is the largest city in the Tar Heel state. Which state?
2. Wilmington is the largest city in the Blue Hen state. Which state?
3. Bridgeport is the largest city in the Nutmeg state. Which state?
4. Manchester is the largest city in the Granite state. Which state?

1. NORTH CAROLINA
2. DELAWARE
3. CONNECTICUT
4. NEW HAMPSHIRE

* Many thanks to Chris for spotting the mistake - I had said actinium, which, incidentally, takes its name from the Greek for 'ray' or 'beam'.

THE 61st QUIZ - PAINTINGS

2008-01-21T17:53:00.000Z

1. In David’s 1801 painting ‘Napoleon at the Great St. Bernard Pass’ (or ‘Napoleon Crossing the Alps’), the names of which two historical figures are etched into the rocks at the foreground of the painting along with that of Napoleon?
2. Popular with the Mannerists and Baroque artists, and particularly associated with Jacob van Ruisdael, Paolo Veronese and Peter Paul Rubens, what name is given to an object, such as a tree, along either side of the foreground of a painting, that directs the viewer's eye into the composition by bracketing the edge?
3. According to the inscription found at the top right-hand corner of Frans Hals’ ‘Laughing Cavalier’, how old was the sitter at the time of the portrait?
4. Which work, painted between 1472 and 1475 and housed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, depicts a scene containing the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary and is thought to be Leonardo da Vinci’s earliest completed painting?
5. The dentist Dr. Byron McKeeby of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was immortalised in which 1930 painting?
6. What is the title of Henri Mattise’s painting that was left hanging upside down for 46 days at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1961 before anyone noticed?
7. The value of which of Van Gogh’s paintings is said to have rocketed after the 1956 film ‘Lust For Life’ (erroneously) portrayed it as the painting Van Gogh was working on at the time of his suicide?
8. With what is Christ grappling in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous oil painting ‘The Virgin and Child with St Anne’?
9. The full title of Henry Raeburn’s painting that is better known by the truncated title ‘The Skating Minister’ includes the name of the loch upon which The Reverend Robert Walker is shown to be skating. Which loch?
10. In painting, a remarque is the addition of a small personalized drawing or symbol near the signature of the artist and was first used by Whistler. What was Whistler’s remarque?
11. The crushing foot used by Terry Gilliam in the animated opening of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ was taken from a detail of the 1545 painting ‘Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time’ by which Florentine artist?
12. Théodore Géricault’s ‘Raft of the Medusa’ depicts the survivors of the French frigate Medusa, after it had been wrecked on the Bank of Arguin off the coast of which African country in 1816?
13. Which animal muses over the sleeping body of a woman below a moonlit night sky in Henri Rousseau’s ‘The Sleeping Gypsy’?
14. In which painting of 1866 can you view a close-up of the genitalia of Joanna Hiffernan, the lover of James McNeill Whistler?
15. Born in 1641, Titus was the only child who survived into adulthood of which painter, who used his son as a model in several of his paintings?
16. Which artistic term, deriving from the Italian for ‘scratched’, refers, in painting, to the practice of laying one colour over another and scratching the paint so that the colour underneath shows through?
17. If the first is ‘The Heir’ and the second is ‘The Levée’, then what is the third?
18. In which very famous painting of 1882 can a pair of green feet, belonging to a trapeze artist, be seen in the extreme top left hand corner of the canvas?
19. In which famous painting of 1656 can the Italian dwarf Nicolas Pertusato be seen waking a sleeping mastiff with his foot whilst the achondroplastic German, Maribarbola, looks on?
20. The snow-topped Mount Chimborazo is the highest peak in Ecuador. Its summit is also often said to be the spot on the surface farthest from the center of the Earth. Its appears, most famously, in art in a popular 1859 painting by which American artist?

The answers:

1. HANNIBAL & KAROLUS MAGNUS (CHARLEMAGNE)
2. REPOUSSOIR
3. 26
4. ANNUNCIATION
5. AMERICAN GOTHIC (by GRANT WOOD)
6. LE BATEAU
7. WHEAT FIELD WITH CROWS
8. A LAMB
9. DUDDINGSTON LOCH
10. A BUTTERFLY
11. AGNOLO BRONZINO
12. SENEGAL
13. A LION
14. L’ORIGINE DU MONDE (or THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD) by GUSTAVE COURBET
15. REMBRANDT
16. SGRAFFITO
17. THE ORGY (from A RAKE’S PROGRESS by WILLIAM HOGARTH)
18. A BAR AT THE FOLIES-BERGÈRE (by ÉDOUARD MANET)
19. LAS MENINAS (by DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ)
20. FREDERIC EDWIN CHURCH (THE HEART OF THE ANDES)

THE 60th QUIZ - HORROR FILMS

2008-01-17T17:22:00.000Z

1. Played by Bill Moseley in the 1986 big-budget sequel 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2', what is the name of Leatherface’s older brother?
2. The 1978 film 'Halloween' is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield in which American state?
3. Featuring prominently in the plot of a horror movie of 1984, what is the Cantonese word for 'evil spirit'?
4. The American film score composer Jerry Goldsmith was nominated for 18 Academy Awards. His only win, however, came for his score for which 1976 film?
5. Sharing its name with a coastal town in the north-west of England, in which city in North Carolina was the 1997 film 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' both shot and set?
6. When released in 2004, which horror film, directed by Edgar Wright, described itself as a 'rom zom com' - standing for 'romantic zombie comedy'?
7. Which short story, originally published in 1839, was adapted into two horror films of 1928? One of the films was directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber and starred Webber, Herbert Stern and Hildegarde Watson. The other was directed by Jean Epstein and starred Marguerite Gance, Jean Debucourt and Charles Lamy.
8. What was the surname of the title character in Roman Polanski’s 1968 film 'Rosemary’s Baby'?
9. What was the name of Captain Quint’s boat, upon which Quint, Martin Brody and Matt Hooper battle with the great white shark in the 1975 film 'Jaws'?
10. Released in 2004, and starring Jennifer Tilly, what name was given to the fifth entry in the 'Child’s Play' series of films that follows on from the events of 'Bride of Chucky'?
11. Who played Norman Bates in the 1998 Gus Van Sant remake of Hitchcock’s 'Psycho'?
12. What is the name of the inn at which Sergeant Howie stays in the 1973 film 'The Wicker Man'?
13. The 1922 film 'Nosferatu' was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 'Dracula'. However, as the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel, what name was given to Max Schreck’s Count?
14. What is the name of the demon who possesses Regan MacNeil in the 1973 film 'The Exorcist'?
15. How is the monstrous killer Daniel Robitaille known in the title of a 1992 horror film directed by Bernard Rose?
16. Which horror film was set in the Maryland town of Burkittsville? The town was previously known by another name that features in the title of the film.
17. For what name is Carrie a shortened form in the 1976 film starring Sissy Spacek?
18. Which 1954 novel by Richard Matheson has been adapted for three horror films, namely 'The Last Man on Earth' (1964), 'The Omega Man' (1971) and a 2007 film that shares the same name as the book?
19. The 2007 horror film 'Grindhouse' is a double feature film co-written, produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The film consists of the Rodriguez-directed 'Planet Terror' and which feature by Tarantino?
20. What is the name of Bernard Herrmann’s screeching string composition that plays during the infamous shower scene in Hitchcock’s 'Psycho'?

The answers:

1. CHOP TOP
2. ILLINOIS
3. MOGWAI
4. THE OMEN
5. SOUTHPORT
6. SHAUN OF THE DEAD
7. FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
8. WOODHOUSE
9. ORCA
10. SEED OF CHUCKY
11. VINCE VAUGHAN
12. THE GREEN MAN
13. COUNT ORLOK
14. PAZAZU
15. CANDYMAN
16. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
17. CARIETTA
18. I AM LEGEND
19. DEATH PROOF
20. THE MURDER

QUIZ RESULTS

2008-01-05T00:23:00.000Z

The results are now in for the 200-question quiz. The answers have been e-mailed to all those who took part.

Firstly, many thanks to the 29 brave souls who took the time to take part. I hope you found the quiz both enjoyable and challenging.

The results are posted below. However, I also wanted to draw attention to a few answers. When you have a field of the quality that competed in this quiz then getting a question right that nobody else gets is an achievement well worthy of praise. There were just 5 such questions and shared by two quizzers. They were:

Q. 118. TU BISHVAT - Barry Simmons
Q. 122. KENNING - Barry Simmons
Q. 173. BABY PUSS - Chris Curtis
Q. 175. PONTIAC FEVER - Chris Curtis
Q. 188. DIOGO CÃO (or CAM)- Barry Simmons

Much respect to Barry and Chris for those answers.

Scores:

1. Mark Bytheway 132
2. Pat Gibson 128.5
3. Barry Simmons 124.5
4. Ian Bayley 120
5. Scott Dawson 110.5
6. Mark Kerr 109.5
7. David Stainer 108.5
8. Chris Jones 104
9=. Phil Duffy 99.5
9=. Darren Martin 99.5
11=. Chris Quinn 98.5
11=. Nic Paul 98.5
13. Diane Hallagan 96
14. Keith Andrew 89
15. Shanker Menon 85.5
16. Gareth Kingston 84.5
17. Martin Riley 83
18. Chris Curtis 81.5
19. Peter Ediss 80
20. Alan Bowell 69
21. William Barrett 67
22. Will Jones 64.5
23. Keith Pointon 61.5
24. Audrey Doyle 60
25. Paul Davis 56
26. Myron Meyer 55
27. CJ de Mooi 51.5
28. Craig Element 33
29. Lesley Saunders-Davies 27

QUIZ

2007-12-12T15:37:00.001Z

You may have noticed that I haven't posted here for a while. This is because I'm currently writing a 200-question competition quiz (that will not be published here) that I will be sending out to various quiz freaks around the country. It's totally free to enter (and therefore no prizes, I'm afraid) and if you'd like to get a copy of the quiz then e-mail me at pantscat69er@hotmail.com and I'll send out a copy as soon as it's ready (in the next few days hopefully). Rules are simple - you have two hours to complete the quiz and when you've finished, send the answers back and I'll publish the scores here (probably early next month to give you some time to complete it). Please feel free to send a copy to anyone who you think may be interested in entering. Ta.

P.S. It won't be quite as tough as some of the quizzes on here but it's by no means easy.

THE 59th QUIZ - REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

2007-11-30T17:28:00.000Z

1. Roughly translating as ‘scaly’, which order, that includes lizards and snakes, is, with approximately 7,900 species, the largest order of extant reptiles?
2. During which geological period during the Palaeozoic Era did the first amphibians develop from fish similar to the modern coelacanth?
3. Tomistoma schlegelii is a fresh-water reptile, resembling a crocodile with a very thin and elongated snout. Although it had long been classed in the family Crocodylidae, recent immunological studies have meant it has been reclassed in the family Gavialidae. It is native to Sumatra and Malaysia and is also found in Borneo, Java, Vietnam and Thailand. What is its common name?
4. Many members of the families Bombinatoridae, Discoglossidae, Pelobatidae, Rhinophrynidae, Scaphiopodidae, and some species from the Microhylidae family are commonly, but erroneously, called ‘toads’. According to scientists, all true toads belong to which family, the only one that is exclusively given the common name ‘toad’?
5. The two species of reptiles of the genus tuatara (from which they get their common name), Sphenodon punctatus and Sphenodon guntheri are the only surviving members of the order Sphenodontia. They are found in the wild in just one country. Which one?
6. Extant amphibians fall into one of three orders - the Anura (frogs and toads), the Caudata or Urodela (salamanders and newts), and the Gymnophiona or Apoda. Found throughout Africa, Asia and South America, what is the common name given to the limbless, snake-like amphibians that comprise this last order?
7. The villain Tokka from the 1991 film ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze’ was a mutated variety of which species of turtle, Macrochelys temminckii, found throughout the watershed of the Mississippi River from Florida to South Dakota, and notable as the largest species of freshwater turtle in North America?
8. It is the only species in the genus Proteus and the only European species of the family Proteidae. Also known as the proteus, what is the common name for the amphibian Proteus anguinu, notable for its blindness, caused by adaptation to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat, that is native to the subterranean waters of the Dinaric karst that flow through the Soča river basin near Trieste in Italy, through to southern Slovenia, southwestern Croatia, and Herzegovina?
9. Which alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa in Japan is alternatively known as Habu sake because of the practice of placing a venomous habu snake in it, which, it is claimed, increases its potency?
10. Recent scientific evidence put forward by East Carolina University has shown that the increasing rarity of the Rio Santiago Poison Frog can be explained by the slowing of its reproduction rates. The university researchers believe that this decrease in reproduction rates is linked to an increase in what?
11. Its common name taken from the group of islands in the Pacific Ocean where it is found but also known as Guichenot's Giant Gecko or Eyelash Gecko, which species of gecko, Rhacodactylus ciliatus, had long been thought extinct until it was ‘rediscovered’ in 1994?
12. Which labyrinthodont amphibian, of the extinct order Temnospondyli, whose fossil remains are known from the Permian of the South African Karoo Basin, has a name meaning ‘nose crocodile’ and was depicted as a crocodile-like creature in the 2005 BBC series ‘Walking With Monsters?’
13. Deriving from the Ancient Greek χελώνα, meaning ‘tortoise’, what word is popular among veterinarians, scientists, and conservationists as a catch-all name for any member of the order Testudines, that comprises tortoises, turtles and terrapins?
14. Found almost exclusively in the Western Hemisphere, Plethodontid salamanders are unique amongst salamanders because of their lack of which bodily organs?
15. Sharing its name with a Marvel Comics supervillain, which snake, native to sub-Saharan African, is the only extant species in the genus Dispholidus and has a name meaning ‘tree snake’ in both Dutch and Afrikaans?
16. What was the common name of Lithobates fisheri, a frog species that was last recorded in 1942 and thought to have been the only North American amphibian to have become extinct in the 20th Century?
17. There are only two species of alligator. Each is native to just one country and each takes its common name from that of the country in which in lives. What are the common names of these two species?
18. Which North American aquatic salamander, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, has been given the vernacular names ‘devil dog’ and ‘Allegheny alligator’ because folklore claims that it smears fishing lines with slime, drives game fish away, and inflicts a painful, poisonous bite? Its common name also reflects this misguided fear of an entirely harmless species.
19. This North American lizard is well known for its ability to run on its hind legs, looking like a small dinosaur. It has been recorded running in this way at speeds of up to 16 mph. It is the state reptile of Oklahoma, in which state it is often known as the Mountain Boomer. By what name is it commonly known elsewhere?
20. Cnemidophorus vanzoi is a whiptail - a species of lizard in the Teiidae family - that is found exclusively on which 239 square mile island nation of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea?

Answers:

1. SQUAMATA
2. DEVONIAN
3. FALSE GHARIAL (or MALAYAN GHARIAL)
4. BUFONIDAE
5. NEW ZEALAND
6. CAECILIANS
7. ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE
8. OLM
9. AWAMORI
10. HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
11. NEW CALEDONIAN CRESTED GECKO
12. RHINESUCHUS
13. CHELONIAN
14. LUNGS
15. BOOMSLANG
16. VEGAS VALLEY LEOPARD FROG
17. AMERICAN ALLIGATOR and CHINESE ALLIGATOR
18. HELLBENDER
19. COLLARED LIZARD
20. ST LUCIA

THE 58th QUIZ - LINGUISTICS

2007-11-27T17:14:00.000Z

1. Which phrase was coined by the Polish/Austrian anthropologist Bronisław Kasper Malinowski in the 1923 work ‘The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages’ to describe any expression whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information? Examples include saying ‘hello’ when meeting someone, or ‘bless you’ after a person sneezes.
2. One of the earliest known masters of linguistic ‘word play’, who was the Greek poet of the 5th Century BC who wrote an epic poem of 24 books, each book entirely omitting a different letter of the Greek alphabet?
3. Which language, with a name meaning ‘being silent’, spoken by the Aboriginal Lardil and Yangkaal tribes of the Wesley Island group in the Gulf of Carpentaria, is the only click language (ie a language that regularly uses clicks instead of consonants in words) known to have existed outside Africa?
4. With a name deriving from the Polish for ‘little tail’, what name is given to the diacritic hook placed under the lower right corner of a vowel in the Latin alphabet used in several eastern European and Native American languages? Examples from Polish include ą and ę.
5. Coined by the theologian Frederic William Farrar in 1879, what is the linguistic term, sometimes also called ‘speaking in tongues’, for the fluent speech-like but unintelligible utterances that are often used as part of religious practice?
6. Arguing that other artificial languages are unnecessary as Latin is already established as the world's international language, which Italian mathematician invented the auxiliary language Latino sine flexione, essentially a simplified form of Latin?
7. There has been controversy in the method one should use to distinguish between languages and dialects since the study of language began. Perhaps the most famous distinction between the two is the Latvian-American linguist Max Weinreich’s humorous aphorism that “a language is a dialect with…” what?
8. Of what, linguistically speaking, is cherology the study?
9. Tmesis is the name given, by linguists, to the inclusion of a word within another word. But what name is given to the inclusion of sounds (or phonemes) within a word? It is divided into two types: excrescence (if the sound added is a consonant) and anaptyxis (if the sound added is a vowel).
10. Deriving from the Greek for ‘turning like oxen in ploughing’ because the hand of the writer goes back and forth like an ox drawing a plough across a field and turning at the end of each row to return in the opposite direction, what name is given to the ancient method of inscription in which, rather than going from left to right as in modern English, or right to left as in Arabic, alternate lines must be read in opposite directions?
11. Named after the American linguists who first postulated it in the early 20th Century, what name is given to the hypothesis that postulates that a particular language's nature influences the habitual thoughts of its speakers and thus different language patterns yield different patterns of thought?
12. In the 5th Century BC, Protagoras of Abdera compiled what is thought to be the world’s first glossary. It contained definitions of unfamiliar words that were to be found where?
13. From the Greek for ‘said only once’, what name is given to a word that occurs only once in the written record of a language? It can also refer to a word that appears only once in the works of an author, or in a single text.
14. Which autonomous province in northern Serbia, capital Novi Sad, is the only place outside of Romania and Moldova in which the Romanian language has official status?
15. Named after the German neurologist who discovered it in 1874, what name is given to the impairment of language comprehension and speech that results in a natural-sounding rhythm and a relatively normal syntax, but otherwise has no recognisable meaning, that results from damage to the posterior part of Brodmann area 22 in the left hemisphere of the brain where the specialized language skill areas can be found?
16. The leading Soviet linguist of the early 20th Century, Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, named his most famous and controversial theory, that the Kartvelian languages of the Caucasus area were related to the Semitic languages of the Middle East, after which Biblical character? This theory was officially discredited as a misrepresentation of Marxist theory in an article written by Josef Stalin in 1950.
17. A phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that distinguishes meaning in spoken language. What name is given to the smallest unit of “speech” that distinguishes meaning in body language (such as a facial expression or a hand gesture)?
18. Which Sami language that was spoken in the villages of A´kkel and Ču´kksuâl, in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia is the most recent language to have been classified as extinct, the last native speaker, Marja Sergina, dying on 29th December 2003?
19. Which British linguist coined the terms ‘U’ and ‘non-U’ in 1954 referring to the language usage of the upper classes (U) and the rest of the populace (non-U)?
20. One of the twenty two national languages of India and the official language of the state of Andhra Pradesh, which is - with approximately 76 million native speakers - the world’s most widely spoken Dravidian language and the third most spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali?

The answers:

1. PHATIC COMMUNION
2. TRYPHIODORUS
3. DALMIN
4. OGONEK
5. GLOSSOLALIA
6. GIUSEPPE PEANO
7. AN ARMY AND A NAVY
8. SIGN LANGUAGE
9. EPENTHESIS
10. BOUSTROPHEDON
11. SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
12. IN THE WORKS OF HOMER
13. HAPAX LEGOMENON
14. VOJVODINA
15. WERNICKE’S APHASIA
16. JAPHETH (JAPHETIC THEORY)
17. KINEME
18. AKKALA SAMI
19. ALAN ROSS
20. TEGULU

THE 57th QUIZ - TENNIS

2007-11-25T12:59:00.000Z

1. Housed in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, ‘The Death of Hyacinth’ (1752-1753) contains what is considered to be the first pictorial representation of tennis, containing a stringed raquet and three tennis balls. Which Venetian artist painted it?
2. James Van Alen, who died in 1991, founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum at the Newport Casino, Rhode Island, the largest tennis museum in the world, but is best remembered for introducing which rule change into the game?
3. Who was the Norwegian-born American tennis player who won a bronze medal for the women’s singles at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm and is, to date, the only person to have won 8 US Open (then known as US Championship) singles titles?
4. Jaroslav Drobný, who won three Grand Slam singles titles between 1951 and 1954, including his defeat of Ken Rosewall in the final at Wimbledon in 1954, also represented his native Czechoslovakia in which team sport?
5. In 1988, the Australian Open moved from the grass courts at Kooyong to a new Rebound Ace hardcourt venue called Flinders Park (now Melbourne Park). Who is the only person to have won Australian Open singles titles at both venues?
6. The centre court at Roland Garros is named after Philippe Chatrier, a former head of the French Tennis Federation. After which female tennis player, nicknamed ‘La Divine’ by the French press and the winner of 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926, is the secondary court named?
7. Which Bostonian won each of the first seven US Open men’s singles titles from 1881 to 1887, not dropping a single set in the entirety of his first three championships, and after his retirement from lawn tennis became the US real tennis champion in 1892?
8. Which Ecuadorian tennis-player of the 1940s and 1950s, born in 1921 and remembered for his bow-legged stance, a result of childhood rickets, was one of the few successful male tennis players to have used a two-handed forehand, a shot that his rival Jack Kramer later claimed was "the greatest single shot ever produced in tennis"?
9. What is the name of the tennis club in Forest Hills, Queens that was home to the US Open from 1915 until it moved to its current home at Flushing Meadows in 1978?
10. Which doubles specialist was the oldest of the ‘Four Musketeers’ who led France to six successive Davis Cup triumphs between 1927 and 1932 and the only one of the four never to win a Grand Slam singles title?
11. Who was John McEnroe’s partner when he won his only mixed-doubles grand slam title at the French Open in 1977?
12. Which sportsman won the Australian Open Mixed Doubles title with fellow Australian Samantha Stosur in 2005 and went on to win his first professional golf title in February this year when he triumphed at the New South Wales PGA Championship on the Von Nida Tour?
13. Fred Perry is famously is the last British player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 1936, but which player, who reached the final the following year before losing to Don Budge, was the last British player to compete in a Wimbledon men’s singles final?
14. What is the name of the Hampshire-based company that developed the Hawk-Eye ball tracking technology, used in tennis and other ball sports, in 2001?
15. Only two qualifiers have ever reached the semi-final stage in the men’s singles at Wimbledon. The first was John McEnroe in 1977. Which Belarusian, who had won the Wimbledon Juniors title in 1996, became the second person to do so in 2000 before losing to the eventual winner, Pete Sampras?
16. Won by Tomáš Berdych in 2007, the Gerry Weber Open is considered one of the most important warm up tournaments in the run-up to Wimbledon. In which German town is it contested?
17. The only person to represent Nazi Germany in a Grand Slam final, which male tennis player was the losing finalist in three successive Wimbledon tournaments between 1935 and 1937, but was jailed in 1938 after being found guilty of a homosexual relationship with a young Jewish actor and singer?
18. What was the name assumed by the professional tennis player Richard Raskind after undergoing a sex change operation in 1975? As a woman she reached the ladies’ doubles final at the US Open in 1977 with Betty Ann Stuart.
19. Although he never reached the Wimbledon men’s singles final, Tim Henman did compete in the final of the warm-up competition, the Queen’s Club Championships, on three occasions. He was defeated by Pete Sampras in the 1999 final and by which player in both the 2001 and 2002 finals?
20. Prior to Mary Pierce in 2000, which Algerian-born tennis player, who defeated the Australian Lesley Turner Bowrey in the 1967 final, was the last person representing France to win the ladies’ singles title at the French Open?

The answers:

1. GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO
2. THE TIE BREAKER
3. MOLLA MALLORY
4. ICE HOCKEY
5. MATS WILANDER
6. SUZANNE LENGLEN
7. RICHARD SEARS
8. PANCHO SEGUERA
9. WEST SIDE TENNIS CLUB
10. JACQUES BRUGNON
11. MARY CARILLO
12. SCOTT DRAPER
13. HENRY ‘BUNNY’ AUSTIN
14. ROKE MANOR RESEARCH LIMITED
15. VLADIMIR VOLTCHKOV
16. HALLE
17. GOTTFRIED VON CRAMM
18. RENÉE RICHARDS
19. LLEYTON HEWITT
20. FRANÇOISE DURR

THE 56th QUIZ - ANCIENT ROME

2007-11-24T18:37:00.000Z

1. Upon his death in 133BC, Attilus III bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman Empire in an attempt to avoid dynastic disputes between his heirs. However, Rome was slow to claim the kingdom and the pretender Aristonicus, the brother of Attilus, claimed the throne as Eumenes III. He was eventually defeated and captured in 129 BC by a Roman force under Marcus Perperna and executed. What was the name of this Greek kingdom that was subsequently absorbed into the Roman Republic?
2. Fought in November of 82 BC and named after the landmark near which it was fought, what was the name of the final battle at which Sulla secured control of Rome by routing the Samnites led by Pontius Telesinus?
3. Regularly appearing in the Asterix comics, what was the name, perhaps meaning ‘Superior warrior King’, of the chieftain of the Arverni who led the Gauls in their ultimately unsuccessful war against Roman rule under Julius Caesar, being executed some five years after his defeat at the Battle of Alesia?
4. ‘Odysseia’, a Latin version of Homer's ‘Odyssey’, is the best-known work of which Greco-Roman dramatist and poet, regarded as the father of Roman drama and epic poetry?
5. Meaning ‘Greatest Sewer’, what was the Latin name given to the early sewage system of Ancient Rome that was, according to tradition, constructed around 600 BC under the orders of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus?
6. The period following the death of Nero in 68AD is known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Who, on 8th June 68AD, was proclaimed the first of those Emperors?
7. After Emperor Tiberius withdrew to Capri in 26AD, he left which soldier and commander of the Praetorian Guard in control of the state as the de facto ruler of the Empire until his arrest and execution in 31AD on charges of conspiracy against the Emperor?
8. With a name deriving from the Germanic for 'watchful of wealth', who was the Roman general and the first barbarian King of Italy, who deposed the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476AD?
9. In Ancient Rome, what name was given to the amulet, often made from cotton, leather or gold or silver depending on the wealth of the family, that was given to newborn children to wear around the neck to protect against evil spirits?
10. The popular Roman board game Tabula was played on a board almost identical to that of which modern game, and is therefore considered its direct ancestor?
11. The Pontifex Maximus was the title given to the high priest of the Ancient Roman College of Pontiffs. Originally very much a religious position it was gradually subsumed into the Imperial office and was last held by which Christian Emperor (who came to power in 367AD) who refused to wear its insignia, which he saw as a sign of paganism?
12. According to Suetonius in ‘Lives of the Twelve Caesars’, the Roman Emperor Caligula, best remembered for his mental instability, possibly brought about by encephalitis, once ordered his soldiers to invade Britain in order to fight which Roman god?
13. Who was the Emperor of Rome when the famous eruption of Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79AD?
14. What was the name of the Jewish leader who led the eponymous revolt against the Roman Empire under Hadrian in 132AD and established a Jewish state of Israel before it was conquered by the Romans three years later?
15. First used by Constantine I, what name was given to the Roman military standard that displayed the Greek letters χ (chi) and ρ (rho), the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek?
16. Ben Jonson and Henrik Ibsen both wrote plays about which politician of the Roman Republic, best remembered for the conspiracy that bears his name?
17. What was the name of the edict issued by the Roman Emperor Caracalla in 212AD that granted full Roman citizenship to all free men in the Empire, thus removing the long-standing legal distinction between Italians and those from the provinces?
18. Signed in 85BC by Lucius Cornelius Sulla of Rome and the King of Pontus, the Treaty of Dardanos brought which war to an end?
19. Upon finding his body after his death at the Battle of Carrhae in 53BC, the Parthians are said to have poured molten gold down the throat of which Roman general and politician, supposedly symbolising his unhealthy obsession with money?
20. Which son of Marcus Aurelius became Roman Emperor in 180AD making him the first direct successor in a century, breaking the scheme of adoptive successors that had served Rome so well during the period known as the Five Good Emperors?

The answers:

1. PERGAMON
2. BATTLE OF THE COLLINE GATE
3. VERCINGETORIX
4. LIVIUS ANDRONICUS
5. CLOACA MAXIMA
6. GALBA
7. SEJANUS
8. ODOACER (or ODOVACAR)
9. BULLA
10. BACKGAMMON
11. GRATIAN
12. NEPTUNE
13. TITUS
14. SIMON BAR KOKHBA
15. LABARUM
16. CATALINE (or CATALINA)
17. CONSTITUTIO ANTONINIA
18. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR
19. CRASSUS
20. COMMODUS

THE 55th QUIZ - METEOROLOGY & WEATHER

2007-11-24T01:36:00.000Z

Partly because I'm concerned I don't know enough about certain subjects (all of them really) and partly because it just seems like a fun idea, I'm going to theme my quizzes for a while. I've picked 100 (arbitrarily chosen) subjects and I'm going to write 20 questions on each. Starting with this one on Meteorology and Weather:

1. Named after the French mathematician and scientist who described it in 1835, what name is given to the apparent deflection of objects moving in a straight line caused by the Earth’s rotation, that is responsible for the direction of the rotation of large hurricanes?
2. During the Vietnam War, Operation Popeye was an American military project that aimed to extend the Monsoon Season over the Ho Chi Minh Trail by seeding the clouds above northern Vietnam with which chemical compound?
3. The hottest air temperature ever recorded was 57.7°C (135.9°F) on the 13th September 1922 in which city in northern Libya?
4. In meteorology, what name is given to the law that states that convergence into a given column of air must be balanced by an equal divergence from that same column of air?
5. The Peru Current is a cold, low salinity ocean current that extends along the West Coast of South America from Northern Peru to the southern tip of Chile. By what name is it better known?
6. Who was the Norwegian meteorologist, considered one of the founders of modern weather forecasting, who founded the Bergen Geophysical Institute in 1917 and wrote there the hugely influential book ‘On the Dynamics of the Circular Vortex with Applications to the Atmosphere and to Atmospheric cows and Wave Motion’?
7. The MJO is an equatorial travelling pattern of anomalous rainfall, observed primarily in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, that is the subject of large-scale on-going study as it is, as yet, not well understood. For what do the letters MJO stand?
8. Often occurring in deserts and other places of flat terrain it is a rotating updraft, that can range in size from half a meter across to over ten meters wide and over one thousand meters high. Navajo Indians refer to one as a chindi (or ghost). In Australia one is called a willy willy. In Egypt it is known as a Fasset El 'Afreet (or ghost’s wind) and in Kenya it is sometimes known as a ngoma cia aka (or woman’s demon). How is this weather phenomenon usually referred to in English?
9. What name is given to the instrument that is used to measure the drop size and velocity of hydrometeors, thus enabling it to distinguish between different types of precipitation such as rain and hail?
10. The Mistral and Bora are famous examples of which kind of (usually cold) wind, its name deriving from the Greek for ‘going downhill’, that blows down an incline such as a mountain or a glacier?
11. Introduced by scientists at the University of Chicago in 1971, what is measured on the Fujita Scale?
12. Coined by the MIT scientist Kerry Emanuel in 1996, what name is given to a hypothetical tropical cyclone, with wind speeds of over 500 kilometres an hour and an enormous lifespan, that could form if ocean temperatures reached around 50° Celsius as a result of global warming, asteroid impact or a large volcanic eruption?
13. Named after the archipelago in the Arctic Ocean where it was first described by Gerrit de Veer, a member of Willem Barents' expedition into the polar region, what name is given to the polar mirage, caused by the refraction of sunlight between atmospheric thermoclines, that gives the effect that the Sun is rising earlier than it actually should?
14. Once thought simply to be a product of folklore, Lluvia de Peces or Rain of Fish is an annual phenomenon, in which hundreds of living freshwater fish are found on land after heavy rainfall, taking place between May and June in which country? It is thought that the fish do not ‘rain’ but, instead, are ‘washed up’ from subterranean rivers by the heavy rainfall, giving the impression that they have come down in the rain.
15. The first recorded theory for the existence of what is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle who believed that it was caused by the collision of clouds?
16. Named for its scent, what do we call the reddish-pink snow, caused by the presence of Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of algae, that is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions?
17. What is the name of the current chief executive of the Met Office who replaced Mark Hutchinson earlier this year?
18. Also known as a fire cloud, what scientific name is given to the dense cumuliform cloud that is produced by the intense heating of the air from the surface, most commonly induced by forest fires but most easily recognizable as the cloud formed above a volcano during an eruption?
19. Elaborated on by his student Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, the Persian astronomer Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, author of the ‘Pearly Crown’, is generally held to be the first scientist to give a correct explanation for the formation of which meteorological phenomenon?
20. The warmest temperature ever recording during snowfall was 8.3 °C (47 °F) at which American airport?

The answers:

1. CORIOLIS EFFECT
2. SILVER IODIDE
3. AL ‘AZIZIYAH
4. DINE’S COMPENSATION
5. HUMBOLDT CURRENT
6. VILHELM BJERKNES
7. MADDEN-JULIAN OSCILLATION
8. DUST DEVIL
9. DISDROMETER
10. KATABATIC WIND
11. TORNADO INTENSITY
12. HYPERCANE
13. NOVAYA ZEMLYA EFFECT
14. HONDURAS
15. THUNDER
16. WATERMELON SNOW
17. JOHN HIRST
18. PYROCUMULUS
19. RAINBOW
20. LA GUARDIA

THE 54th QUIZ

2007-11-15T19:20:00.000Z

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)

THE 53rd QUIZ

2007-11-08T20:52:00.000Z

Another:

1. Skansen Parowozownia Kościerzyna is a famous museum located in Kościerzyna in Poland that is dedicated to which subject?
2. In which city is the Italian newspaper 'La Stampa' published?
3. Located near the Austrian border in the town of Grainau, what is the name of Germany's highest mountain?
4. Which river, that rises in Belarus, flows through Kernavė, the medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the current capital, Vilnius?
5. Which 1981 film adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel of the same name, directed by István Szabó, was awarded the 1981 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film?
6. Widely regarded as the greatest comic poem in the history of Irish literature, what is the English translation of the title of Brian Merriman's 1000 line poem that has the Irish title 'Cúirt An Mheán Oíche'?
7. Meaning 'jumps in the mouth' in Italian, what is the name of the dish, popular in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Greece that is made of veal, chicken or pork and topped with prosciutto and sage?
8. Who served as the last King of Italy for just over a month in 1946?
9. The Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen starred as which villain in the 2006 Bond film 'Casino Royale'?
10. The Baradla cave, the largest stalactite cave of Europe, is to be found in the Aggtelek National Park in which country?
11. Which pianist and composer, who wrote the opera 'Manru', served as the third Prime Minister of Poland in 1919?
12. Which Babylonian King ordered the construction of the Ishtar Gate in around 575BC?
13. Also known as The Halászbástya, what is the name of the neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style terrace designed by Frigyes Schulek in the late 19th Century that lies on the Buda bank of the Danube? Its seven towers are said to represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in the 9th Century.
14. Which creature features on all of Finland's euro coins from one to fifty cents?
15. Which creature features on Germany's one and two euro coins?
16. And which creature features on Greece's one euro coin?
17. Dating from the 13th Century, what is the oldest city in Finland that served as the nation's capital between 1809 and 1812?
18. Which Christmas carol, with lyrics by Father Josef Mohr and a melody composed by Franz X. Gruber, was first performed in the Nicola-Kirche in Oberndorf in Austria on Christmas Day in 1818?
19. Which town in Swedish lapland is best known for its hotel made entirely from ice, the world's first such hotel?
20. Which Bulgarian physicist, who died in 1995, is best remembered as the inventor of the first automatic electronic digital computer?
21. Which Czech educator and scientist wrote 'Didactica Magna', in which he was one of the first people to put forward the concept of universal education?
22. First published in the 1850s, what is the name of the epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald that is often considered to be the Estonian national epic?
23. What is the largest city on the River Guadiana on the Iberian Peninsula?
24. Which German film director and playwright directed the 1999 documentary 'Buena Vista Social Club'?
25. Who is the Tunisian-born librettist who worked with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg to create the musicals 'Les Misérables' (1980), 'Miss Saigon' (1989) and 'The Pirate Queen' (2006)?
26. What was the name of the satirical novel by Jaroslav Hašek, that was left unfinished at his death in 1923 and illustrated by Josef Lada, that tells the story of a Czech army veteran?
27. Which brother of a famous female singer wrote the novel 'Cowboys and Indians' that was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize in 1991?
28. Taking its name from the Dutch for 'eel lake', which town in the Netherlands is home to the world's largest flower auction and is thus sometimes described as the flower capital of the world?
29. In 1530, which island did Pope Clement VIII grant to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem?
30. Which Spanish cyclist was announced as the winner of the 2007 Tour de France upon the disqualification of Michael Rasmussen?

The answers:

1. RAILWAYS
2. TURIN
3. ZUGSPITZE
4. NERIS
5. MEPHISTO
6. THE MIDNIGHT COURT
7. SALTIMBOCCA
8. UMBERTO II
9. LE CHIFFRE
10. HUNGARY
11. IGNACY JAN PADEREWSKI
12. NEBUCHADNEZZAR II
13. FISHERMAN'S BASTION
14. LION
15. EAGLE
16. OWL
17. TURKU
18. SILENT NIGHT
19. JUKKASJÄRVI
20. JOHN VINCENT ATANASOFF
21. COMENIUS (JOHN AMOS COMENIUS)
22. KALEVIPOEG
23. BADAJOZ
24. WIM WENDERS
25. ALAIN BOUBLIL
26. THE GOOD SOLDIER ŠVEJK (or in full THE FATEFUL ADVENTURES OF THE GOOD SOLDIER ŠVEJK DURING THE WORLD WAR)
27. JOSEPH O'CONNOR
28. AALSMEER
29. MALTA
30. ALBERTO CONTADOR

THE 52nd QUIZ

2007-11-07T19:50:00.000Z

Another:

1. Meaning 'hollow of the quern', what is the name of the Neolithic portal tomb in the Burren in County Clare?
2. Which Spanish explorer, credited with the discovery of the Mississippi River, died in modern-day Lake Village in Arkansas in 1542?
3. What is the English name for Tír na nÓg, the most popular of the Otherworlds of Irish mythology?
4. 'In varietate concordia' is the motto of which organisation?
5. According to Christian tradition, John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation while exiled on which island in the Aegean Sea?
6. Which Swedish canal links Gothenburg on the west coast with Söderköping on the Baltic Sea?
7. Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper' is to be found in the refectory of the convent of which church and World Heritage Site in Milan?
8. 'The Sonnet' (1839) and 'Choosing the Wedding Gown' (1846) are among the most famous works of which Irish-born genre painter?
9. The construction of the Arch of Titus, that commemorates the sacking of Jerusalem and is located on the Via Sacra in Rome, was ordered by which Emperor?
10. Which Danish author's most famous work, internationally, is the 1992 novel 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'?
11. Manufactured by the V&S Group, Absolut Vodka is a brand produced in which country?
12. Published in 1819, which historical novel by Sir Walter Scott was used as the basis of Gaetano Donizetti's most famous bel canto opera?
13. Which Spanish missionary, who according to the Catholic Church converted more people to Christianity than anyone since St Paul, died on Shangchuan Island off China in 1552?
14. In 2000, Italy lost their first ever Six Nations rugby match against which country?
15. What is the name of Cyprus' largest mountain range that has its highest peak at Mount Olympus?
16. Signed in 1995, the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is better known as the Dayton Agreement, named after the town of Dayton near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in which American state?
17. Singers Football Club took its name from the bicycle manufacturer whose employees founded the club in 1883. To what did the club change its name in 1898?
18. The Irish actress Harriet Smithson was the first wife of which French composer and the inspiration for his 'Symphonie fantastique'?
19. Which Pritzker Prize-winning architect designed the large metal and glass pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Musée du Louvre in Paris?
20. Which is the largest city on the Danish island of Funen and the third-largest city in Denmark as a whole?
21. The Rhône and Saône rivers converge in centre of which French city?
22. Jasna Góra is a Pauline Fathers monastery and pilgrimage site located in which country?
23. Located in Switzerland, what is the name of the largest waterfalls in mainland Europe, measuring 150 metres wide and 23 metres high?
24. What was the name of the Sevilla and Spanish international footballer who died on the 28th August 2007, three days after suffering a series of cardiac arrests during a league game against Getafe?
25. And what was the name of the Benfica and Hungarian international footballer who died in similar circumstances after suffering a cardiac arrest whilst playing against Vitória S.C on January 25th 2004?
26. The masterpiece of the Italian painter and architect Giotto is often said to be his decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in which Italian city?
27. Which 16th Century painter and architect wrote the 'Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects', a collection of biographies of famous artists?
28. Which Italian Renaissance architect designed the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence?
29. Which 15th Century mathematician and architect wrote the short story 'The Fat Woodworker', that recounts a practical joke devised by Brunelleschi?
30. Which German physician founded and named homeopathy, the controversial form of complememntary medicine, in 1807?
31. Which novel by the Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder, published in 1991 and considered a basic guide to philosophy, consists primarily of a set of dialogues between Sophie Amundsen and the mysterious Alberto Knox?
32. Which Spanish mystic and writer, one of only three female Doctors of the Church - with St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux - died on the night in October 1582 that the Catholic countries switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, her date of death, therefore, variously being given as October 4th or October 15th?
33. The Finnish liqueur Lakkalikööri is traditionally made from which berry, Rubus chamaemorus, sometimes also known as the bakeapple?
34. Who was the youngest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, of the House of Wittelsbach and Elizabeth Stuart who would have acceded to the British throne upon the death of Queen Anne had she not died herself just three weeks before Anne?
35. Which German national daily newspaper, published by the Axel Springer AG company, was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces?
36. Lake Peipus is a large fresh water lake that lies on the border between which two countries?
37. In September 2000, the stock exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels merged to form which pan-European stock exchange that also has subsidiaries in Portugal and the UK?
38. The Pena National Palace and the Castelo dos Mouros are two of the main attractions in which Portuguese town that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its large array of 19th century Romantic architecture?
39. What is the name of the prize awarded by the European Parliament each December to honour individuals or organizations who had dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms that was first awarded jointly to Nelson Mandela and Anatoly Marchenko in 1988?
40. If 'The Second of May 1808' is 'The Charge of the Mamelukes', then what is 'The Third of May 1808'?

And the answers:

1. POULNABRONE DOLMEN
2. HERNANDO DE SOTO
3. LAND OF ETERNAL YOUTH (or LAND OF THE EVER-YOUNG)
4. EUROPEAN UNION
5. PATMOS
6. GÖTA CANAL
7. SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE
8. WILLIAM MULREADY
9. DOMITIAN
10. PETER HØEG
11. SWEDEN
12. THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR
13. ST FRANCIS XAVIER
14. SCOTLAND
15. TROODOS MOUNTAINS
16. OHIO
17. COVENTRY CITY FC
18. HECTOR BERLIOZ
19. I.M. PEI
20. ODENSE
21. LYON
22. POLAND
23. RHINE FALLS (or RHEINFALL)
24. ANTONIO PUERTA
25. MIKLÓS FEHÉR
26. PADUA
27. GIORGIO VASARI
28. FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI
29. ANTONIO MANETTI
30. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN
31. SOPHIE'S WORLD
32. TERESA OF ÁVILA
33. CLOUDBERRY
34. SOPHIA OF HANOVER
35. DIE WELT (THE WORLD)
36. RUSSIA & ESTONIA
37. EURONEXT
38. SINTRA
39. SAKHAROV PRIZE
40. THE EXECUTION OF THE DEFENDERS OF MADRID (by GOYA)

THE 51st QUIZ

2007-11-06T15:49:00.000Z

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

THE 50th QUIZ

2007-11-05T15:25:00.000Z

Hello, once again. here we go:

1. Occurring in November 1520, The Swedish Bloodbath is the name given to the invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of which King?
2. Which peak of the Monte Rosa massif is, at 15,203 feet (4,634 metres), the highest point in Switzerland?
3. What replaced the rouble as the Ukrainian unit of currency in 1992 before itself being replaced by the hryvnia in 1996?
4. The Lateran Palace that was the home of Popes from 324 to 1309 was located on which of Rome’s seven hills?
5. Which 20th Century Estonian minimalist composer, born in 1935, is best known for his choral works such as 'Kanon Pokajanen' (1997)?
6. King Michael I, who abdicated in 1947, was the last king of which country?
7. Which island, 15 kilometres off the west coast of County Kerry, is an important nature reserve and is home to a Celtic monastery built in 588 AD that became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996?
8. What was erected in Rome in 315 AD to commemorate the defeat of Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28th 312 AD?
9. Which artist, the brother of a famous poet, produced the first cartoon strip version of Sherlock Holmes in 1894?
10. Home to 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, the Vigeland Sculpture Park is found inside which larger public park in Oslo?
11. With 139 caps, the Australian rugby union scrum half George Gregan is the most capped player in the history of the sport. In which African country was he born?
12. What is the name of the operetta, first performed in 1843, composed by Michael Balfe and with a libretto by Alfred Bunn that is loosely based on Cervantes' 'La Gitanilla'?
13. By what single-word name is Rosemary Scallon, who became the Member of the European Parliament for Connacht-Ulster in 1999 (a post she held until 2004), better known?
14. Which Spanish national daily newspaper was founded in Madrid on January 1st 1903 by the journalist and playwright Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena?
15. Dax 30 is the name given to the Blue Chip stock market index consisting of the thirty major German companies trading on the stock exchange of which city?
16. In which country could you visit the 138 metre deep Macocha Gorge, the deepest of its kind in Central Europe?
17. The Andy Merrigan Cup is awarded in Ireland to the winners of the All-Ireland Championship in which sport?
18. What was the name of the female theatrical producer and manager who took control of the Old Vic in 1912 and the Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1931?
19. What is the common name of the dicarboxylic acid that was historically known as spirit of amber?
20. Which Swedish director of such films as 'He Who Gets Slapped' (1924) and 'The Wind' (1928) also later tried his hand at acting? One of his most notable roles was as Professor Isak Borg in Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 classic 'Wild Strawberries'.
21. The Lithuanian town of Bernotai, the Estonian island of Saaremaa, the Slovakian village of Krahule, the Ukrainian town of Rakhiv, the Polish town of Suchowola and the Belarussian city of Babruysk all claim which distinction that can truly only belong to one of them?
22. Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope, overlooks which volcanic crater lake?
23. The village of Glendalough, founded by the 6th Century hermit priest St Kevin, is located in which Irish county?
24. The 'Triumph of Galatea' is a fresco masterpiece completed in 1512 by the Italian painter Raphael for which Roman villa?
25. Erki Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament in March 2007 having won gold medals at the European Championships in 1998 and the Summer Olympics in 2000. In which athletics event did he compete?
26. Shaped by the river of the same name that flows into the Baltic Sea, in which country would you find the Gauja National Park?
27. Which Swedish industrialist, best remembered for his invention of the AGA cooker, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1912 for his invention of the sun valve?
28. Which Pope founded the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which has acted as the personal bodyguard of the Pope ever since, in 1506?
29. With approximately 104 million speakers worldwide, which is the mostly widely spoken language that is not the official langauge of any country (although it does have some official status within parts of some countries)?
30. At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris the Englishwoman Charlotte Cooper became the first woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal for her victory in which sport?

So to the answers:

1. CHRISTIAN II
2. DUFOURSPITZE
3. KARBOVANETS
4. CAELIAN HILL
5. ARVO PÄRT
6. ROMANIA
7. SKELLIG MICHAEL
8. ARCH OF CONSTANTINE
9. JACK BUTLER YEATS
10. FROGNER PARK
11. ZAMBIA
12. THE BOHEMIAN GIRL
13. DANA
14. ABC
15. FRANKFURT
16. CZECH REPUBLIC
17. GAELIC FOOTBALL
18. LILIAN BAYLISS
19. SUCCINIC ACID
20. VICTOR SJÖSTRÖM
21. THAT THEY LIE AT THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTRE OF EUROPE
22. LAKE ALBANO
23. WICKLOW
24. VILLA FARNESINA
25. DECATHLON
26. LATVIA
27. GUSTAF DALÉN
28. JULIUS II
29. PUNJABI
30. TENNIS

THE 49th QUIZ

2007-11-02T16:23:00.000Z

And some more:

1. Francesinha is a dish made from wet-cured ham, pork sausages and steak covered with cheese and tomato and beer sauce that originated in which European city?
2. Which work, a series of sculptures cast in marble and bronze, by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi sold for $27.5 million in 2005, a record for a sculpture sold at auction?
3. La Pérouse Strait separates Hokkaidō from which Russian island?
4. Which Indian chess grandmaster is the current World Champion having won the title in Mexico City earlier this year? He had previously held the title from 2000-2002, when he became the first ever Indian World Chess Champion.
5. At which racecourse is the Irish Grand National held annually?
6. Of which country did Napoleon say “Why, it’s a model republic!” when asked why he did not attempt to invade it?
7. The Cuban Missile Crisis began when Khruschev began installing nuclear missiles in Cuba in response to the United States installing Jupiter missiles in which country?
8. The Kingdom of Vannius, home to the Quadi tribe in the First Century, was located in which modern-day European country?
9. Which river starts at Fontibre in Cantabria and ends in a delta on the Mediterranean Sea in Tarragona?
10. The potentially fatal disease pellagra, that has symptoms including dermatitis, diarrhea, insomnia and dementia, is caused by a dietary deficiency of which vitamin?
11. Which brother of Napoleon served as King of Holland from 1806 until 1810?
12. At 3,103,200 km², which is the largest of the 21 Russian Republics and also the largest sub-national governing body by area in the world?
13. And with a population of 4,104,000, which is the largest of the 21 Russian Republics by population?
14. Which country will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2008?
15. Which Portuguese novelist and playwright, author of 'The Gospel According to Jesus Christ' and the 2004 work 'Seeing' was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998?
16. Which island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska is the westernmost point of the United States?
17. By what Italian name was the city of Nice officially known prior to its cession to France in 1860?
18. Who was the Spanish Renaissance Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian, remembered for his influential theories regarding international law, who founded the intellectual school of thought known as the School of Salamanca in the early 16th Century?
19. Imaqliq, Nunarbuk and Ratmanov Island are all alternative names for which island in the Bering Strait?
20. Considered one of the biggest upsets in international football history, which country did the Faroe Islands' national football team defeat 1-0 in their first ever competitive match in 1990?
21. Which 16th Century English author wrote the plays 'Supposes' and 'Jocasta', both published in 1566?
22. Which town, located at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers just south of Madrid, derives its name from the Basque for 'valley of thorns'?
23. What is the common name for the 1642 painting that is properly known as 'The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch'?
24. Revolutions of the second half of the 20th and early 21st Centuries were often given memorable names. In which countries did the following Revolutions take place?: a) October Revolution (1964); b) Carnation Revolution (1974); c) Saur Revolution (1978); d) Velvet Revolution (1989); e) Log Revolution (1990-1995); f) Bulldozer Revolution (2000); g) Rose Revolution (2003); h) Orange Revolution (2004); i) Cedar Revolution (2005); j) Tulip Revolution (2005)
25. Which city in Eastern Europe, older than Rome, Athens or Carthage, was renamed Philippopolis (The city of Philip) by Philip of Macedon and known to the Romans as Trimontium (City of Three Hills) and described by the satirist Lucian as "The largest and most beautiful of all cities"?
26. Volcán de Fuego is an active volcano that erupted in August 2007 resulting in the evacuation of several families but no reported deaths. In which country is it to be found?
27. Who was the fascist politician who became the first President of the Slovak State in 1939, a post that he kept until April 1945? He was hanged by the Czechoslovak authorities in April 1947.
28. Which European city stands between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs?
29. Which Roman Stoic philosopher is credited with writing the satirical work 'The Pumpkinification of Claudius', probably in reaction to Claudius' decision to banish him to Corsica?
30. 'Catechismus' and 'Abecedarium' were two books published by the Protestant reformer Primož Trubar in 1550. They are notable as they were the first books to be printed in which language?

The answers:

1. PORTO (OPORTO)
2. BIRD IN SPACE
3. SAKHALIN
4. VISWANATHAN ANAND
5. FAIRYHOUSE
6. SAN MARINO
7. TURKEY
8. SLOVAKIA
9. EBRO
10. VITAMIN B3 (NIACIN)
11. LOUIS BONAPARTE
12. SAKHA REPUBLIC (or YAKUTIA)
13. BASHKORTOSTAN (or BASHKIRIA)
14. SLOVENIA
15. JOSÉ SARAMAGO
16. ATTU ISLAND
17. NIZZA
18. FRANCISCO DE VITORIA
19. BIG DIOMEDE ISLAND
20. AUSTRIA
21. GEORGE GASCOIGNE
22. ARANJUEZ
23. THE NIGHT WATCH
24. a) SUDAN b) PORTUGAL c) AFGHANISTAN d) CZECHOSLOVAKIA e) CROATIA f) YUGOSLAVIA/SERBIA g) GEORGIA h) UKRAINE i) LEBANON j) KYRGYZSTAN
25. PLOVDIV
26. GUATEMALA
27. JOZEF TISO
28. BARCELONA
29. SENECA THE YOUNGER
30. SLOVENIAN

THE 48th QUIZ

2007-10-30T12:19:00.000Z

After a great deal of time writing questions for a couple of other sources, I'm back. Here's today's offering:

1. What begins: "Monsieur le Président, Me permettez-vous, dans ma gratitude pour le bienveillant accueil que vous m'avez fait un jour, d'avoir le souci de votre juste gloire et de vous dire que votre étoile, si heureuse jusqu'ici, est menacée de la plus honteuse, de la plus ineffaçable des taches?"
2. Eglise St. Louis en L’Isle is a Parisian church situated on which island in the Seine?
3. The St Elizabeth's Flood of November 1421 killed between 2,000 and 10,000 villagers in which modern-day European country?
4. Who was the French economist, thought by many to have been the chief architect of European Unity, who created the majority of what became known as the Schuman Plan?
5. Located on the Norwegian-administered Jan Mayen island in the Arctic Ocean, what is the name of the world's northernmost active volcano?
6. The famous 15th Century explorer Prince Henry the Navigator was the son of which Portuguese King?
7. Considered the foremost Dutch lanscape painter, which 17th Century artist is remembered for 'Beintheim Castle' (1653) and 'Tower Mill at Wijk bij Duurstede'(1670) among other works?
8. Which German film director first came to worldwide attention with the release of his film 'Das Arche Noah Prinzip' that opened the Berlin Film Festival in 1984 and has since gained greater fame with the Hollywood blockbusters 'Independence Day', 'Godzilla' and 'The Day After Tomorrow'?
9. Named after the town in Denmark where they are located, what name is given to the two Tenth Century carved rune stones, the first erected by King Gorm the Old and the scond by his son Harald Bluetooth?
10. According to Norse mythology, which lake was created when Gefjun removed the land that used to lie there and transported it to Denmark, thus creating the island of Zealand?
11. Built in 1854, the Spanish Arch stands on the banks of which river that flows through Galway?
12. Which country became the first all-amateur team to qualify for a Rugby World Cup since the start of the professional era when it appeared at the 2007 World Cup?
13. What name is given to the series of wars and battles that took place in Holland between the bourgeoisie and the ruling nobility from 1350 to 1490?
14. Biskupin is an archaeological site (with a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement) that was excavated in 1934 and located in which European country?
15. Often considered to be the Polish national dish, what name is given to the cabbage and meat stew that is traditionally said to have been introduced to Poland by the Lithuanian prince Władysław II in the 14th Century?
16. In which lake could you find the island and World Heritage site Kizhi (or Kizhi Pogost), home to a large number of wooden churches and houses?
17. Much publicised in the case of Madeleine McCann, what name is given to the status of 'named suspect' in the Portuguese legal system?
18. Which German city, home to a famous monument of Emperor William I on horseback, stands at the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Moselle?
19. Built between 3300 and 2900 BC, which passage grave of the Brú na Bóinne complex of tombs in County Meath is known in Irish as Dún Fhearghusa and is said to be the oldest surviving building in the world?
20. The trophy awarded to the winners of the European Football Championship is named after which French football administrator who first proposed the idea for such a tournament in 1927?
21. Established in 1386, which is the oldest university in Germany?
22. The dormant volcanoes Nemrut and Süphan are to be found in which saline and soda lake, the largest in Turkey?
23. Which European republic was proclaimed on January 19th 1795 after William V fled to England?
24. Established in February 1991, the Visegrád Group is an alliance of which four European countries set up for the purpose of furthering their European integration?
25. Which of Krzysztof Kieślowski's 'Three Colours' trilogy was made primarily in Polish? The other two being made in French.
26. The Netherlands is divided into 12 administrative regions, each under the control of a Commissioner of the Queen with the exception of one region that is under the control of a Gouverneur, emphasising its perceived 'un-Dutch' character. Which region?
27. Who was the Portuguese nobleman and explorer who led the expeditions that conquered Goa, Ormuz and Malacca in the early 16th Century and was rewarded by his appointment as the first Duke of Goa by King Manuel I?
28. Also known as Thera, what is the name of the archipelago of volcanic islands in the Aegean Sea that contains the southernmost point in the Cyclades?
29. Fernando Ribeiro is the lead vocalist with which popular Portuguese goth metal band, popular throughout Europe, that released the 2006 album 'Memorial' which won them an MTV Europe Award in the 'Best Portuguese Act' category?
30. Typically containing fish (or sometimes chicken) and vegetables, what is the name of the traditional stew of northern Belgium, the name of which is derived from the Dutch for 'watery mess'?

And the answers:

1. J'ACCUSE
2. ÎLE SAINT-LOUIS
3. THE NETHERLANDS
4. JEAN MONNET
5. BEERENBERG
6. JOHN I (or JOÃO I)
7. JACOB ISAAKSZOON VAN RUYSDAEL
8. ROLAND EMMERICH
9. JELLING STONES
10. LAKE MÄLAREN
11. CORRIB
12. PORTUGAL
13. HOOK AND COD WARS
14. POLAND
15. BIGOS
16. LAKE ONEGA
17. ARGUIDO
18. KOBLENZ
19. NEWGRANGE
20. HENRI DELAUNAY
21. UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG
22. LAKE VAN
23. BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
24. CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA, HUNGARY & POLAND
25. THREE COLOURS: WHITE
26. LIMBURG
27. AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE
28. SANTORINI
29. MOONSPELL
30. WATERZOOI

THE 47th QUIZ

2007-10-19T08:23:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of activity on this site recently. Have been busy with other things (usually including crashing computers) but will post more regularly from the middle of next week. Anyway, here's one to keep you going:

1. The 17th Century German-born scientist Franciscus Sylvius is usually credited with the invention of which spirit?
2. Which island and UNESCO World Heritage Site, lying off the coast of Queensland, is the world's largest sand island?
3. Three years before his assassination in 1923, the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa ended his revolutionary activity after negotiating a peace deal with which Mexican President?
4. Designed by Antoni Gaudí, by what name (meaning 'the quarry' in Catalan) is the Casa Milà in Barcelona otherwise known?
5. The Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built as a symbolic representation of which mythical mountain?
6. What first name did the medical student Jean Marc Gaspard Itard give to the 'The Wild Boy of Aveyron' who was found in the woods near Saint Sernin sur Rance in France in 1797 and who, it would seem, spent almost his whole childhood alone in the woods?
7. Which author coined the word 'factoid', that appears in the 'Oxford English Dictionary' as "something which becomes accepted as fact, although it may not be true", in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe?
8. Which is the southernmost city (population 216,473) of Canada and the only Canadian city to lie due south of the 48 contiguous United States?
9. Which scientist, born in 1776, held the title Count of Quaregna and Cerreto?
10. Which historic European city was formerly known in English as Ragusa, and is still known by that name in Italian?
11. At 4,700 years old, what name has been given to the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine that has held the record of the world's oldest tree since another Bristlecone, called Prometheus, was cut down by an over-eager graduate student in 1964?
12. Which arcade game, released by Nintendo in 1981, is notable for providing the first appearance of Super Mario (then known as Jumpman)?
13. The British Captain Arthur Roston was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and invited to dine with President Taft as a result of his ship saving 705 people from the Titanic after responding to a distress signal. What was the name of his ship?
14. Released in June and October 2007 respectively, which Anglo-Swedish rock group's first two singles, 'Worried About Ray' and 'Goodbye Mr A', both peaked at number 5 in the UK charts?
15. Born in 1980, 1983 and 1985 respectively, how are Isaac, Taylor and Zac collectively known?
16. Which Slovakian tennis player, thought by many as the greatest player never to have won a Grand Slam, was Ivan Lendl's opponent in the 1986 US Open final, the last Grand Slam final to see a player still using a wooden racket?
17. Luis Buñuel's 1965 film 'Simón del desierto' is loosely based on the life of which Christian ascetic?
18. Which Danish linguist, who was also involved in the creation of Ido and Interlingua, introduced the constructed international auxiliary language Novial in his 1928 book 'An International Language'?
19. A silhouette of an American bison (or buffalo) appears on the flag of which of the United States?
20. (I can't resist this one) There are two subspecies of American bison - the Plains bison and the Wood bison. What is the wonderful zoological name for the Plains bison?
21. Which South African became only the third cricketer ever to hit six sixes from one over in first-class cricket at the 2007 World Cup against the Netherlands?
22. And which Indian became only the fourth cricketer ever to hit six sixes from one over in first-class cricket at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 against England?
23. What was the stage-name of the Canadian-born American actress Ellen Evangeline Hovick, the younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, whose last film role was as Aunt Clara in the 1987 movie 'A Return to Salem's Lot'?
24. A compound of the Greek word for 'solid' and the Latin word for 'ray' or 'beam', what name is given to the SI unit of solid angle?
25. Published in 'Comics Review' in 1965, the short story 'In a Half-World of Terror', later renamed as 'I Was a Teenage Grave Robber', was the first published work by which novelist?
26. Which Russian male high jumper set a new championship record and personal best at the 2006 European Championships with a jump of 2.36 metres and jumped a new personal best of 2.37 metres a week later in Monaco?
27. Which American city, which according to a 2001 study is the most commonly misspelled city in the USA, stands on the Allegheny Plateau where the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers form the Ohio River?
28. In 1913, which Bengali novelist and playwright became the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?
29. Founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais, what was the name of the group of writers and mathematicians who sought to create works using constraining writing techniques such as lipograms and palindromes?
30. The annual World Series of Roshambo is the premier event for 'professional' players of roshambo. By what name is this game commonly known?

The answers:

1. GIN
2. FRASER ISLAND
3. ADOLFO DE LA HUERTA
4. LA PEDRERA
5. MOUNT MERU
6. VICTOR
7. NORMAN MAILER
8. MADISON
9. AMEDEO AVOGADRO
10. DUBROVNIK
11. METHUSELAH
12. DONKEY KONG
13. RMS CARPATHIA
14. THE HOOSIERS
15. HANSON
16. MILOSLAV MEČÍŘ
17. SIMEON STYLITES
18. OTTO JESPERSEN
19. WYOMING
20. BISON BISON BISON
21. HERSCHELLE GIBBS
22. YUVRAJ SINGH
23. JUNE HAVOC
24. STERADIAN
25. STEPHEN KING
26. ANDREY SILNOV
27. PITTSBURGH
28. RABINDRANATH TAGORE
29. OULIPO
30. ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS (or PAPER, SCISSORS, STONE etc.)

THE 46th QUIZ

2007-10-09T18:41:00.000Z

Another:

1. With approximately 400,000 casulaties, the War of the Triple Alliance was the bloodiest war in the history of the Americas. It was fought between an alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against which country?
2. With names deriving from the Old Norse for 'island in the stream' and 'swine island' respectively, which two Scottish islands are situated in the Pentland Firth between Caithness and the Orkneys?
3. Also known as St John's Bread, Ceratonia siliqua is an evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean. Its edible fruit was traditionally eaten on the Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat but is most commonly used in the West as a healthy alternative to chocolate. What is its common name?
4. Found in Wiltshire and composed principally of chalk and standing 130ft high, what is the name of the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe?
5. A former 'University Challenge' contestant, by what name is the soap-box orator and eccentric Ian Brackenbury Channell now better known?
6. In June 2006, what names were given to Pluto's two newly discovered moons?
7. Which moon in our solar system, the only large moon known to have a retrograde orbit, is now thought to be a captured object from the Kuiper Belt?
8. Which 14th Century painter and architect, a pupil of Giotto, is credited with the design of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence?
9. What was the name of the Danish newspaper that caused controversy in 2005 after it published a series of editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, causing protests across the Muslim world?
10. Voted the Best French Film of the Century in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in 1995, which film by French director Marcel Carné, described upon its release as the French answer to 'Gone With the Wind', tells the story of the beautiful Garance and the four men who fall in love with her?
11. One of the four 'imperial cities' of Morocco, which city, named after a Berber tribe, was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail in the late 17th and early 18th Centuries before its relocation to Rabat?
12. 'La vida es sueño' (Life is a Dream) is a comedic drama and, perhaps, the best known work of which Spanish playwright of the Golden Age?
13. The ancient Assyrian capital Nineveh stood in which modern-day city on the east bank of the Tigris?
14. Who are traditionally (but often controversially) credited with the invention of the following machines of the Industrial Revolution: a) spinny jenny b) power loom c) spinning mule d) spinning frame e) flying shuttle
15. Launched in 1798, what was the name of the Royal Navy ship that transported Napoleon Bonaparte to St Helena in 1815?
16. Issued by Tsar Alexander II in 1876, the Ems Ukaz banned the use of which language in print, save those wishing to reprint existing documents?
17. The Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda has its headquarters in which city on the Jizera river?
18. The Deutsches Museum is the world's largest museum of technology and science and attracts well over 1 million visitors per year. In which city could you visit it?
19. This Bulgarian revolutionary and ideologist led the Bulgarian struggle for independence from Ottoman rule during the 19th Century before being hanged by the Ottoman authorities in Sofia on 19 February 1873. A top soccer team in Sofia are named after him and in February 2007 he was the named the 'Greatest Ever Bulgarian' in a national television poll. What was his name?
20. And which Prince of Moldavia (1457-1504), remembered as an ardent defender of Christianity and sanctified by the Romanian Orthodox Church, was voted the 'Greatest Ever Romanian' in a similar poll?

And the answers:

1. PARAGUAY
2. STROMA & SWONA
3. CAROB
4. SILBURY HILL
5. THE WIZARD (OF NEW ZEALAND)
6. NIX & HYDRA
7. TRITON
8. TADDEO GADDI
9. JYLLANDS-POSTEN
10. LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (or CHILDREN OF PARADISE)
11. MEKNES
12. PEDRO CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA
13. MOSUL
14. a) JAMES HARGREAVES b) EDMUND CARTWRIGHT c) SAMUEL CROMPTON d) RICHARD ARKWRIGHT e) JOHN KAY
15. HMS NORTHUMBERLAND
16. UKRAINIAN (or LITTLE RUSSIAN)
17. MLADÁ BOLESLAV
18. MUNICH
19. VASIL LEVSKI
20. ŞTEFAN CEL MARE (STEPHEN III)

THE 45th QUIZ

2007-10-08T20:00:00.000Z

Hello again. Let's get to it:

1. Which passerine bird is the official state bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia?
2. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8, the Oruanui eruption is the name given to an eruption of which New Zealand volcano in approximately 24,500BC, the world's largest known eruption in the last 70,000 years?
3. Born in Bristol, England in 1821, which women's rights activist, who opened the Women's Medical College with Florence Nightingale, became the United States' first qualified female doctor?
4. What name is given to the two supercontinents, corresponding roughly to the present-day northern and southern hemispheres, that formed upon the breaking-up of Pangaea?
5. Which 19th Century English anatomist and biologist, a critic of Darwin's theory of evolution, is best remembered today for coining the word 'dinosauria'?
6. Louis Brabant, a 16th Century valet to Francis I of France, is thought to have been the first person to become proficient in which stagecraft?
7. Which Scottish-born Australian swimmer won three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and became the first man to swim the 1,500 metres freestyle in under 18 minutes?
8. Which Micronesian atoll in the Pacific Ocean is of special interest to geneticists because of the prevalence of the rare disease complete achromatopsia, sufferers of which are completely unable to distinguish colours? This prevalence was caused when a typhoon of 1775 reduced the population of the atoll to only 20, one of whom had the disease, and due to the small gene pool approximately 10% of the population are now sufferers.
9. Which city served as the Imperial capital of Japan between 794AD and 1868 when it was transferred to Edo (now Tokyo)?
10. Tommaso da Modena's 1352 portrait of Hugh of Provence is the earliest painting to show its subject wearing what?
11. Growing to little over three feet at the shoulder, which Asiatic buffalo, Bubalus depressicornis, is the smallest of all wild cattle?
12. What was the name of the cook who became the first ever Olympic champion when he won the sprint race in 776BC?
13. In which city were the first cases of AIDS identified in 1981?
14. Created in the monastery of Clonmacnoise by three scribes, the best known of whom was Máel Muire mac Célechair, what is the common name given to Lebor na hUidre, the oldest Irish manuscript to contain primarily native narrative materials?
15. Built by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I, which is the world's oldest remaining stone mosque and, in 2001, became the first mosque to visited by a Pope when John-Paul II came to see the relics of John the Baptist that are said to be held there?
16. Although Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite, which African country is home to the greatest bauxite reserves, believed to be in the region of one-third of all the world's supply?
17. Named after a 19th Century Russian general, which is the closest living wild relative of the domestic horse?
18. Which subtropical fruit of Andean origin is the most popular flavouring for ice-cream in Peru, far exceeding the demand for more globally popular flavours such as vanilla and chocolate?
19. Which singer starred as Kotzebue, a young woman of androgynous appearance who works as a male miner in Alaska, in the 1991 film 'Salmonberries', written and directed by Percy Adlon?
20. Possibly the most famous lost film of all time, which 1927 silent mystery/horror film, starring Lon Chaney as Inspector Burke who is called to investigate a suspicious murder, was destroyed in a fire in an MGM film vault in 1965?

The answers:

1. CARDINAL
2. TAUPO
3. ELIZABETH BLACKWELL
4. LAURASIA & GONDWANA
5. RICHARD OWEN
6. VENTRILOQUISM
7. MURRAY ROSE
8. PINGELAP
9. KYOTO
10. GLASSES
11. LOWLAND ANOA
12. COROEBUS OF ELIS
13. LOS ANGELES
14. BOOK OF THE DUN COW
15. GRAND MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS
16. GUINEA
17. PRZEWALSKI'S HORSE
18. LÚCUMA
19. K.D. LANG
20. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT

THE 44th QUIZ

2007-10-08T04:28:00.000Z

Hi there. As you can probably tell (given my inactivity here) that I'm temporarily very busy with the mundane stuff of life and probably will be for the next week or so. However, I shall endeavour to put up quizzes where I can.

1. According to the Acts of Pilate from the New Testament Pseudepigraphia, what name is given to the Roman soldier who used the Spear of Destiny to pierce Christ's side while he was on the cross?
2. In July 1976, who became the first democratically elected Spanish Prime Minister after the death of Franco?
3. Released in 1983, 'Murmur' was the title of the first full-length album from which American rock group from Athens, Georgia?
4. Which small market town on the outskirts of Milton Keynes is best known for its annual Pancake Race that has taken place each Shrove Tuesday since 1445?
5. Which are the only two recognised nations not to be members of the UN?
6. In 1842, the British general and Commander-in-Chief in India, Sir Charles Napier, sent which famous one-word Latin message (meaning 'I have sinned') back to Headquarters after his victories at Meanee and Hyderabad?
7. In 1777, Marie Grosholtz (later Madame Tussaud) created her first sculpture. Who was the subject?
8. Found in the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, what is the common name of Synanceia verrucosa, the world's most venomous fish?
9. Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write the words to the song 'America the Beautiful' in 1893 after taking a carriage ride to the top of which mountain in the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado?
10. Published in 1911, what was the title of Max Beerbohm's only novel, a satire on life at Oxford University?
11. The final plate of William Hogarth's 'A Rake's Progress' series depicts a scene inside which institution, founded in London in 1247?
12. A similar size to the sparrow, Micrathene whitneyi is the world's smalleset species of owl; what is its common name?
13. Born in 1867, who was the American sculptor best known for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore?
14. What is the name of the radio tower in Moscow, designed by Nikolai Nikitin, that, at 540 metres (1772 feet), is the tallest free-standing structure in Europe and was until the construction of the CN Tower also the tallest structure in the world?
15. Nikolai Nikitin was also involved in the construction of which statue on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd which, at 84 metres (270 feet) tall, is the tallest sculpture in the world?
16. Named after the English naturalist who first described it in his 'Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley', what is the name of the phenomenon in which harmless, edible species develop resemblences to other distasteful or poisonous species in order to gain protection from predators?
17. In 1850, while playing for the South against the North at Lord's, which cricketer took all 10 wickets in an innings, all clean bowled, which was the first and, to date, only instance of this in first class cricket?
18. According to tradition, San Marino was founded in 301AD by the stonemason Saint Marinus of Rab after fleeing his homeland in fear of the persecution of which Roman Emperor?
19. And if people from England are known collectively as the English, then which Italian word is used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of San Marino?
20. Which sea takes its name from the Kyrgyz word for 'sea of islands'?

Some good ones there I thought. The answers:

1. LONGINUS
2. ADOLFO SUÁREZ
3. REM
4. OLNEY
5. VATICAN CITY & TAIWAN
6. PECCAVI
7. VOLTAIRE
8. STONEFISH
9. PIKES PEAK
10. ZULEIKA DOBSON
11. BETHLEM HOSPITAL
12. ELF OWL
13. GUTZON BORGLUM
14. OSTANKINO TOWER
15. MOTHER MOTHERLAND IS CALLING (or MOTHER MOTHERLAND or Родина-мать зовёт!)
16. BATESIAN MIMICRY
17. JOHN WISDEN
18. DIOCLETIAN
19. SAMMARINESI
20. ARAL SEA

THE 43rd QUIZ

2007-10-02T14:28:00.000Z

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

THE 42nd QUIZ

2007-10-01T15:03:00.000Z

1. Sharing its name with a city in New England, which French city on the River Lez is home to the Musée Fabre and the 14th Century cathedral of Saint-Pierre?
2. Stendahl's novel 'Le Rouge et le Noir', a Bildungsroman telling the story of the ambitious Julien Sorel, is set during the reign of which French king?
3. Which French Jesuit scholar and philosopher wrote 'The Practice of Everyday Life' in which he drew a distinction between "strategies", which he saw as linked to institutions of power, and "tactics", which he held to be utilised by individuals to create space for themselves in environments defined by strategies?
4. Discovered by the Dutch botanist Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, which disease of plants was the first virus ever to be discovered?
5. For what did the letters USM stand in the name of the British indie band Carter USM, formed in 1987 by Jim Bob Morrison and Fruitbat Carter?
6. Later used as a chemical weapon during World War I, which poisonous gas was first developed by the American chemist Julius Nieuwland in 1904?
7. Dedicated to arts and culture, the Festuge is the largest carnival in Scandinavia and takes place annually in which Danish city?
8. Which Nigerian-born Portuguese sprinter won the men's gold medal in both the 100m and 200m at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg?
9. Known as the 'Mad King', and the subject of a 1972 film by the Italian Director Luchino Visconti, who was the King of Bavaria during the second half of the 19th Century best remembered as the patron of Richard Wagner and for ordering the construction of several fantasy castles such as the Neuschwanstein?
10. The Russian city Arkhangelsk lies on the banks of the Northern Dvina river near its exit into which sea, an inlet of the Barents Sea?
11. Which ex-Soviet state is often referred to as 'the cradle of wine-making' as it is believed to contain the world's first cultivated grapevines and was home to neolithic wine production approximately 7000 years ago?
12. named after a 19th Century Austro-Hungarian dermatologist, what name is given to the tumour caused by Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) that became more widely known during the 1980s as one of the defining illnesses of AIDS?
13. Which town in the Girona province of Catalonia was the birthplace of Salvador Dalí and is home to the unusual Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, designed by Dalí himself?
14. The 1953 musical 'Kismet' was adapted from the music of which Russian composer?
15. Also known as the seladang, which southern Asian ox is the largest of all wild cattle?
16. 'The Blood of a Poet', 'Orpheus' and 'Testament of Orpheus' comprised the Orphic trilogy of which 20th Century film director?
17. What was the Latin pseudonym of the 15th Century German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Müller von Königsberg who is credited with establishing the study of algebra and trigonometry in Germany?
18. Which football team, who play their home games at Stadion GOS, won the Polish league championship for only the second time in their history in 2007?
19. Released in September 2007, 'Open Warfare 2' is the latest installment in which hugely successful video game series, first released on the Amiga in 1994?
20. The 1997 comic-horror 'Office Killer', was the first film directed by which American photographer and conceptual artist?

The answers:

1. MONTPELIER
2. CHARLES X
3. MICHEL DE CERTEAU
4. TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS
5. UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE
6. LEWISITE
7. AARHUS
8. FRANCIS OBIKWELU
9. LUDWIG II
10. WHITE SEA
11. GEORGIA
12. KAPOSI'S SARCOMA
13. FIGUERES (or FIGUERAS)
14. ALEXANDER BORODIN
15. GAUR
16. JEAN COCTEAU
17. REGIOMONTANUS
18. ZAGŁĘBIE LUBIN
19. WORMS
20. CINDY SHERMAN

THE 41st QUIZ

2007-09-26T18:06:00.000Z

Another short one today. I've been busy writing my weekly quiz for my local. I think the landlord wants it to be a permanent thing - he intimated that he's fed up with me winning every week. At least if I'm writing it, I can't win.

Anyway, to the quiz:

1. Although Podgorica is its de facto capital, which city is designated as Prijestonica, or the old royal capital, of Montenegro?
2. Which transition metal of the platinum group was named in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston after an asteroid that had been discovered the previous year?
3. Declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, what collective name has been given to the dams, sluices, locks, dikes and storm surge barriers built in the southwest of the Netherlands between 1950 and 1997?
4. Who was Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916?
5. The first major combat operation in NATO's history was a sustained air campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 30th August to 20th September 1995. What was the NATO codename given to the campaign?
6. South Africa has three capital cities, which city is the judicial capital?
7. Established in 1602, which city’s stock exchange is considered to be the world’s oldest?
8. Remembered as the founder of seismology, which English astronomer and geologist published ‘Essay on the Causes and Phenomena of Earthquakes’ in 1760, in which he described earthquakes as wave motions in the Earth’s interior created by layers of rocks rubbing against one another?
9. Who became the first king of a united Norway after the Battle of Hafrsfjord, probably fought in 872AD?
10. In Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde’, what was Dr Jeckyll's first name?
11. Painted in the 1660s, ‘Self Portrait as a Lutenist’ shows which Dutch genre painter sitting cross-legged on a chair playing a lute?
12. Which are the only two groups beginning with the letter ‘Z’ to have had more than one UK top ten hit?
13. The Riigikogu is the name given to the unicameral parliament of which country?
14. By what name was the American painter Anna Mary Robertson better known?
15. Meaning ‘book language’ and used by around 85% of the population, which is the most commonly used of the two official written standards of Norwegian, the other being Nynorsk?
16. A young murderer, who is the title character of a 1944 French novel who briefly lived with a drag queen called Divine and a pimp called Darling Daintyfoot before being arrested and tried, and executed?
17. It is often claimed that Milton based his ‘Paradise Lost’ partly on ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Adam in Ballingschap’, works by which Dutch author and playwright?
18. Which 18th Century French physician is known as the 'father of modern dentistry'?
19. Killed at the Battle of Fitjar in 961AD, who was the first Christian King of Norway?
20. Which oddly-named city in Alberta was described by Rudyard Kipling as "all hell for a basement" referring to the vast reserves of natural gas beneath it and is thus known colloquially as the Gas City?

And the answers:

1. CETINJE
2. PALLADIUM
3. DELTA WORKS
4. ADMIRAL JELLICOE
5. OPERATION DELIBERATE FORCE
6. BLOEMFONTEIN
7. AMSTERDAM
8. JOHN MICHELL
9. HARALD FAIRHAIR
10. HENRY
11. JAN STEEN
12. ZZ TOP & THE ZUTONS
13. ESTONIA
14. GRANDMA MOSES
15. BOKMÅL
16. OUR LADY OF FLOWERS
17. JOOST VAN DEN VONDEL
18. PIERRE FAUCHARD
19. HAAKON I (or HAAKON THE GOOD)
20. MEDICINE HAT

THE 40th QUIZ

2007-09-25T18:54:00.000Z

Just a short one today. Back tomorrow with more:

1. The 9th/10th Century scholar Clement of Ohrid is usually credited with the invention of which alphabet?
2. In the 19th Century, Wallachia united with which other Danubian Principality to create the state of Romania?
3. The tallest tower in the world when it was built in 1184, the Giralda is the name given to the bell tower of the cathedral in which European city?
4. With an area of 485 acres, which is the world’s most densely populated country?
5. Who was the Kenyan-born English archaeologist and anthropologist who, with his wife Mary, discovered the skull of Zinjanthropus and the remains of Homo habilis which established East Africa as the probable birthplace of man?
6. Displayed on the flag of Macedonia (FYROM) what is the name of the symbol of a stylised star with sixteen rays that was discovered during archaeological excavations in Greece by Professor Manolis Andronikos in 1977?
7. Which author left his novel 'Confessions of Felix Krull' unfinished at his death in 1955?
8. Between the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the Treaty of Turin in 1860, Monaco was designated as a protectorate of which Kingdom?
9. Released in March 1993, 'Jump They Say' was which singer's last top 10 hit?
10. Which Greek island, in the prefecture of Chania, contains the southernmost point in Europe?
11. Suur Munamägi is the highest point, Võhandu is the longest river and Peipus is the largest lake; which country?
12. Which Formula 1 racing driver began the 1955 season with two retirements, the second a spectacular accident at the Monaco GP, where he crashed into the harbour after missing a chicane, and died at Monza during the Italian GP five races later?
13. Which of Shakespeare's plays ends with the line, "Proceed, proceed. We'll so begin these rites as we do trust they'll end, in true delights"?
14. The largest battle in mediaeval Europe, at which battle of 1410 did the armies of Poland and Lithuania decisively defeat the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights?
15. What name is given to the steady flow of matter from the Sun's corona that is responsible for keeping the tails of comets pointing away from the Sun?
16. Which treaty of 1814 transferred Malta, Tobago, St. Lucia and the Isle of France (now Mauritius) to Britain from France?
17. Which sea, an arm of the Mediterranean separates Italy from Sardinia?
18. The Prut River forms a natural border between which two Eastern European countries?
19. Dating from the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the White Tower is a symbol of Greek sovereignty over Macedonia and stands on the waterfront of which city?
20. Who was the leader of the Guelphs who, when disguised as a Franciscan monk, captured the Rock of Monaco on 8th January 1297, with descendants of his cousin still ruling Monaco to this day?

The answers:

1. CYRILLIC
2. MOLDAVIA
3. SEVILLE
4. MONACO
5. LOUIS LEAKEY
6. VERGINA SUN (or STAR OF VERGINA)
7. THOMAS MANN
8. SARDINIA
9. DAVID BOWIE
10. GAVDOS
11. ESTONIA
12. ALBERTO ASCARI
13. AS YOU LIKE IT
14. BATTLE OF GRUNWALD (or FIRST BATTLE OF TANNENBERG)
15. SOLAR WIND
16. TREATY OF PARIS
17. TYRRHENIAN SEA
18. ROMANIA & MOLDOVA
19. THESSALONIKI (or SALONICA)
20. FRANÇOIS GRIMALDI

THE 39th QUIZ

2007-09-24T16:54:00.000Z

Here we go:

1. Which Icelandic island, lying 25 miles north of the mainland, lies on the Arctic Circle and is home to the country’s northernmost population?
2. With only 16% of its citizens saying that they believe in a God, which country, according to a 2005 poll, is home to the most unreligious people of the 27 member states of the European Union?
3. Which early 19th Century Irish composer is best remembered for being the first composer to write Nocturnes?
4. Which Irish saint founded Lindisfarne monastery on Holy Island in the 7th Century?
5. The 11th Century Peel Castle, built by the Vikings under King Magnus Barelegs, stands on which island off the Isle of Man?
6. In 1861, who became the first king of a united Italy?
7. Who was the so-called ‘Mad Mullah’ of Somalia who led armed resistance to the British, Italian and Ethiopian forces in Somalia during the first twenty years of the Twentieth Century?
8. In which country could you visit Castle Liechtenstein?
9. Which is the largest port on the Mediterranean?
10. Which battle of 1275 resulted in the death of Godfred VI Magnuson, the last Norse King of the Isle of Man?
11. Which military order of German warrior monks was first organised by Albert of Buxhoeveden in 1202?
12. Discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1655, which is the only moon in our solar system known to have a dense atmosphere?
13. Which war, ended by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, that saw the Russian Empire take on Sweden for the domination of Eastern Europe marked the end of the Swedish Empire?
14. Which artist's last work was 'The Transfiguration' which he left unfinished at his death in 1520?
15. Named after a fire giant in Norse mythology, what is the name of the Icelandic island that was formed during a volcanic eruption and reached the surface in November 1963?
16. Which male tennis player did Billie Jean King defeat in straight sets 1973 in a match dubbed 'The Battle of the Sexes'?
17. Consisting of the Dáil and the Seanad, what is the name of the Irish parliament?
18. Who succeeded Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy in 1943?
19. Deriving from the Gaelic for ‘bent’, what is the name of the Manx team sport, similar to hurling and shinty, that is played annually in St Johns?
20. Diaphoresis is the technical name for which bodily process?
21. Campione d’Italia is an Italian exclave completely surrounded by which Swiss canton?
22. In Greek mythology, who was the goddess of the moon who fell in love with the shepherd boy, Endymion?
23. What name is given to the symbol consisting of three bent human legs that is used on the flags of the Isle of Man and Sicily?
24. Which general and commander-in-chief led the New Model Army at the Battle of Naseby in 1645?
25. Which Icelandic politician became the world’s first female President when she was elected in 1980? She held the position until 1996.
26. Which Roman historian is best known for his monumental work 'Ab Urbe Condita', usually referred to in English as the 'History of Rome'?
27. Regarded as the unofficial national poet of Italy, which poet, whose collections include ‘Rime Nuove’ (New Rhymes) and ‘Odi Barbare’ (Barbarian Odes), became, in 1906, the first Italian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
28. Roy of the Rovers first appeared in a weekly strip in which comic magazine in 1954?
29. A doubly landlocked country is a country that is not only landlocked but also entirely surrounded by other landlocked countries. There are only two such countries in the world. Which two?
30. Whilst incarcerated in which prison did John Bunyan write 'The Pilgrim's Progress'?
31. Which is the only land mammal native to Iceland?
32.Which Roman Emperor was assassinated in 41AD by members of the Praetorian Guard, led by Cassius Chaerea?
33. One of the earliest recognised operatic works, and sometimes described as the earliest opera to remain dramatically viable by modern standards, which work, inspired by a story from Greek mythology, by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, with text by Alessandro Striggio, was first performed in the ducal palace at Mantua in 1607?
34. Born Frank Edwin Wright III, Tré Cool is the drummer for which successful American rock group?
35. The Battle of Flowers has been held annually on the second week of August since 1902 on which island?
36. Named after the French chemist who formulated it in 1884, which scientific theory, used to predict the effect of a change in conditions on a chemical equilibrium, states that if a change is made in the pressure, temperature or concentration of a system in chemical equilibrium, the equilibrium will be displaced in such a way as to oppose this change?
37. According to Landnámabók, who became the first permanent Norse settler on Iceland in 874AD?
38. Sharing its name with a German synthpop group, which 1965 Jean-Luc Godard film has the original French subtitle "Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution"?
39. The United States House of Representatives ruled that, legally, if which Italian inventor “had been able to pay the $10 fee to maintain the caveat after 1874, no patent (for the telephone) could have been issued to Bell"?
40. Who is the American aviator and adventurer, best known for holding many world records including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth, who has been reported missing since 3rd September 2007 after his plane disappeared over the Nevada Desert?
41. Lasting between 1941 and 1944, the Soviet Union fought the Continuation War against which country?
42. Which Italian satirist and playwright wrote 'Accidental Death of an Anarchist' and 'Can't Pay? Won't Pay!'?
43. Known as ‘The Gateway to Hell’, which is Iceland’s most active volcano, its last eruption occurring in February 2000?
44. Situated in the North Caucasus mountains, which large republic, a federal subject of the Russian Federation, was established in January 1921 and has its capital at Makhachkala?
45. In 1768, France purchased the island of Corsica from which city state?
46. Which former British MP served as Secretary-General of NATO from 1999 to 2003?
47. Which founding member of the 2nd Red Brigades, was sentenced to six life sentences for the murder of the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978, but was released after just 15 years in 1998?
48. Which popular British artist, born in Surrey in 1926 but active in Plymouth from the 1960s, is famous for her paintings of fat people?
49. The English doctor Sir Henry Howarth Bashford wrote which satirical work, with the subtitle 'Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man', that was first published anonymously in the UK in 1924?
50. With 41 to date, which country is home to the world’s most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

Hope you enjoyed that lot. More tomorrow. The answers:

1. GRÍMSEY
2. ESTONIA
3. JOHN FIELD
4. ST AIDAN
5. ST PATRICK’S ISLE
6. VICTOR EMMANUEL II
7. MOHAMMED ABDULLAH HASSAN
8. AUSTRIA
9. MARSEILLE
10. BATTLE OF RONALDSWAY
11. LIVONIAN BROTHERS OF THE SWORD (or LIVONIAN ORDER)
12. TITAN
13. GREAT NORTHERN WAR
14. RAPHAEL
15. SURTSEY
16. BOBBY RIGGS
17. OIREACHTAS
18. PIETRO BADOGLIO
19. CAMMAG
20. SWEATING
21. TICINO
22. SELENE
23. TRISKELION (or TRISCELI in Sicily)
24. THOMAS FAIRFAX
25. VIGDÍS FINNBOGADÓTTIR
26. LIVY
27. GIOSUÈ CARDUCCI
28. TIGER
29. LIECHTENSTEIN & UZBEKISTAN
30. BEDFORD
31. ARCTIC FOX
32. CALIGULA
33. L'ORFEO
34. GREEN DAY
35. JERSEY
36. LE CHATELIER'S PRINCIPLE
37. INGÓLFUR ARNARSON
38. ALPHAVILLE
39. ANTONIO MEUCCI
40. STEVE FOSSETT
41. FINLAND
42. DARIO FO
43. HEKLA
44. DAGESTAN
45. GENOA
46. GEORGE ROBERTSON
47. MARIO MORETTI
48. BERYL COOK
49. AUGUSTUS CARP, ESQ., BY HIMSELF
50. ITALY

THE 38th QUIZ

2007-09-22T17:11:00.000Z

Hi. I'm back again. I haven't posted for a few days because of a short illness. Hopefully we get back to regular postings now. Here goes:

1. Probably settled around 11,000 years ago, the Pulli settlement on the Pärnu River is the oldest known settlement in which European country?
2. Which island group did Britain hand over to Greece as a gift to mark the coronation of King George I of Greece in 1864?
3. On which of the Channel Islands could you visit Castle Cornet?
4. Born in Transylvania in 1886, who was the Hungarian Communist politician who ruled Hungary as the Hungarian Soviet Republic for a period in 1919?
5. After being dismissed by the Royal Navy, which 19th Century British naval officer, nicknamed the 'sea wolf', went on to serve in the rebel navies of Chile, Brazil and Greece during their struggles for independence?
6. Represented in Zen calligraphy as a circle, what name is given to the central tenet of Taoism, translating as 'without action', that involves the understanding of when to act and when not to act?
7. Which former American President was appointed the Chief Justice of the United States eight years after he left the White House?
8. In which fictitious French village did René Artois own a café in the TV sit-com ''Allo ' Allo!'?
9. The Great Mosque of which Malian city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest mud-brick building in the world?
10. The Brown Bear is the national animal and the Whooper Swan is the national bird; which country?
11. In one of the most famous maritime disasters in history, what was the name of the Italian ocean liner, named after a 16th Century Genoese admiral, that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in July 1956 after colliding with the Swedish-American liner SS Stockholm?
12. His actions considered the precursor of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, what was the name of the Greek geology student who set himself ablaze in Matteotti square in Genoa in protest at the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos?
13. Found in Hungary, at 47,500 square metres, which is the largest thermal lake in the world?
14. What is the name of the Andalusian Spanish based vernacular spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar?
15. Now covered in rainforest in a Guatemalan National Park after its abandonment in the 10th Century, which Maya capital, with a name meaning 'At the reservoir', is home to six of the largest Mesoamerican step pyramids?
16. Which poet designed the famous garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent?
17. Thought to contain the oldest free standing buildings in the world, what name is given to the temple grouping built in Malta during the Ġgantija and Tarxien phases between 3600 and 2500BC?
18. Which ox-like antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus, also known as the blue bull, is found in northern India and eastern Pakistan?
19. The Bund is a collection of early 20th century neo-classical buildings found in which city?
20. Which poem by John Keats begins with the famous line, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever"?
21. According to tradition Sigmundur Brestisson brought Christianity to which islands in 999AD?
22. Which Greek King was assassinated in Thessaloniki in 1913?
23. Formally known as Smyrna, which is the largest port in Turkey after Istanbul?
24. Which was the only one of the British Isles upon which Germany established concentration camps during World War II?
25. Which Hungarian Prime Minister, famously an expert in geography and economics, committed suicide in April 1941 in protest at his country’s involvement in the German attack on Yugoslavia?
26. The 16th Century Stari Most bridge, from which the Bosnian city of Mostar takes its name, spans which river?
27. What was the name of Nelson's flagship at the Battle of the Nile in 1798?
28. What was Anne's surname in LM Montgomery's novel 'Anne of Green Gables'?
29. Who was the British illustrator who is best known for his work illustrating the 'Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm' in 1900 and 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' in 1907?
30. The Cueca is dance originating from which South American country?
31. Which Hungarian physicist, the nephew of writer Sándor Bródy, invented the krypton-filled fluorescent lamp in 1930?
32. Which general was the Prime Minister of Greece during the authoritarian 4th of August Regime from 1936 until his death in 1941?
33. In which American state would you find the closest point to mainland Europe?
34. The Arrow Cross Party was a pro-German anti-Semitic socialist party that ruled which country from October 1944 to January 1945?
35. While playing for Real Madrid between 1953 and 1971, who became the only footballer to win 6 European Cup winners’ medals?
36. In the 13th Century BC, Pharaoh Ramesses II ordered the construction of two massive rock temples to himself and his queen, Nefertiti, at Abu Simbel to commemorate his alleged victory at which battle? It is thought today that his army was, in fact, humiliated by the Hittite forces and, at best, the battle was inconclusive.
37. Coming to power in 1916, who was the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire?
38. By what name is the egg laying 'spiny anteater' properly known?
39. Which Icelandic explorer discovered Newfoundland in modern-day Canada early in the 11th Century?
40. Which famous ship was captained by Christopher Jones, who died in 1622?
41. Who was the 20th Century sculptor who created 'The Table of Silence', 'The Gate of the Kiss' and 'The Endless Column'?
42. Born in Esztergom in 975AD, Stephen I is considered the first King of which modern country?
43. Who was the French naval officer in charge of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar?
44. Who replaced Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1982?
45. What name is given to the painting technique in which water colours are thickened with gum or glue before application to the canvas?
46. At which battle of the War of the Austrian Succession did George II become the last English monarch to personally lead his troops into battle?
47. In Shakespeare's play, at which university had Hamlet been a student?
48. In which language was the text for Leoš Janáček's 'Glagolitic Mass' written?
49. In 1865, Edward Whymper became the first person to climb which mountain?
50. Between 1912 and 1929 New Delhi, chosen as the new capital of India, was designed by which British architect?

And the answers are:

1. ESTONIA
2. IONIAN ISLANDS
3. GUERNSEY
4. BÉLA KUN
5. THOMAS COCHRANE
6. WU WEI
7. HOWARD TAFT
8. NOUVION
9. DJENNÉ
10. FINLAND
11. SS ANDREA DORIA
12. KOSTAS GEORGAKIS
13. LAKE HÉVÍZ
14. LLANITO (or YANITO)
15. TIKAL (or TIK’AL)
16. VITA SACKVILLE-WEST
17. MNAJDRA
18. NILGAI
19. SHANGHAI
20. ENDYMION
21. FAROE ISLANDS
22. GEORGE I
23. İZMIR
24. ALDERNEY
25. PÁL TELEKI
26. NERETVA
27. HMS VANGUARD
28. SHIRLEY
29. ARTHUR RACKHAM
30. CHILE
31. IMRE BRÓDY
32. IOANNIS METAXAS
33. MASACHUSETTS
34. HUNGARY
35. FRANCISCO GENTO
36. BATTLE OF KADESH
37. KARL I
38. ECHIDNA
39. LEIF ERICSSON
40. MAYFLOWER
41. CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI
42. HUNGARY
43. PIERRE-CHARLES VILLENEUVE
44. JAVIER PÉREZ DE CUÉLLAR
45. GOUACHE
46. BATTLE OF DETTINGEN
47. WITTENBURG
48. OLD (CHURCH) SLAVONIC
49. MATTERHORN
50. EDWARD LUTYENS

THE 37th QUIZ

2007-09-18T18:04:00.000Z

There's a bit of a German bias to this one:

1. The Federal Constitutional Court, or Bundesverfassungsgericht, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters and is located in which city?
2. Named 'the Dog of the Century' in 2000, what was the name of the black Newfoundland that reportedly saved 27 people from drowning in Swansea's North Dock during the 1930s?
3. Which Jewish poet, born in Chernowitz in what was Romania (now Ukraine) in 1920, spent more than 18 months of World War II in a Romanian labour camp and committed suicide by drowning in the Seine in 1970?
4. Which scientific law states that the recession speed of a distant galaxy is directly proportional to the distance of the galaxy from the observer?
5. Formed in response to the rationalism of the Enlightenment and associated with the philosopher Johann Georg Hamann, what name is given to the German literary and musical movement that took place between the 1760s and the 1780s which portrayed individual subjectivity and extreme emotional expression?
6. ‘Millennium Approaches’ and ‘Perestroika’ were the subtitles of the two volumes of which “Gay Fantasia on National Themes”, later to be made into a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös?
7. In August 2006, the BBC reported that which city in eastern Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world?
8. Who was the captain of HMS Beagle when Darwin travelled aboard it to conduct his research?
9. Which author did George Eliot describe as “…the last true polymath to walk the earth.”?
10. Who played the title character in the 1957 film ‘The Admirable Crichton’?
11. Which German Dadaist and surrealist artist, whose best known works include ‘The Virgin Chastises the infant Jesus before Three Witnesses: André Breton, Paul Éluard, and the Painter’ and ‘The Elephant Celebes’, served in the German army during World War I and stated in his autobiography that he “…died the 1st August 1914”?
12. In 1971, which British aviatrix became the first woman to fly over the North Pole?
13. The German inventor and early filmmaker Max Skladanowsky and his brother Emil invented which early movie projector, used to display the first moving picture to be shown to a paying audience in November 1895 about two months before the Lumière Brothers' Cinématographe made its public debut?
14. The American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd were all shot dead by the FBI in which year?
15. The 2007 movie 'Rescue Dawn', starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn, is the latest film from which German, whose directorial debut was the 1962 short film ‘Herakles’?
16. What was the name of the ship that arrived at Tilbury in June 1948 carrying the first large group of West Indian immigrants to the UK after World War II?
17. Designed in 1941 by the German engineer and computer pioneer Konrad Zuse, what was the name of the world's first functional program-controlled computer?
18. Which American poet was charged with treason for broadcasting Fascist propaganda during World War II and subsequently spent 12 years in a psychiatric hospital?
19. During World War II Operation Felix was the proposed name for a German/Spanish plan to seize what? It was scheduled to take place on January 10th 1941 but it was never executed.
20. Currently under construction and scheduled to be operational by 2011, at 1600 MWe the world’s largest nuclear power station is being built by France's AREVA and Germany's Siemens AG in which country?
21. Which British bird, that takes its name from the old Norse for 'foul gull' can squirt an evil-smelling stomach oil up to 2 metres to repel unwanted visitors?
22. What was the acronymic name of the German intelligence organisation, operative from 1921 until 1944, the full name of which translated into English as ‘Overseas Department/Office in Defence of the Armed Forces High Command’?
23. What was the name of the Canadian journalist and art critic who is best remembered as the executor of the estate of Oscar Wilde, with whom he had been lifelong friends?
24. On the Mohs scale of hardness, which crystalline form of aluminium oxide is used to define a hardness of 9.0?
25. Who was the German-born Dutch artist who painted portraits of both Charles I and Charles II as well as the famous 'warts and all' portrait of Oliver Cromwell?
26. In which fictional kingdom in Central Europe was Anthony Hope's novel ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ set?
27. Berat, Elbasan and Fier are all counties of which European country?
28. At which German art school were the painters Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Josef Albers all lecturers?
29. In 1844, Samuel Morse used which four-word Biblical quote when he sent the world's first public telegraph message?
30. Which footballer was the subject of a hit single by The Others that reached number 36 in the charts in October 2004?
31. Designed by Tommy Flowers, what was the name of the computer that was used by British code breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II to read encrypted German messages, such as those from the Enigma machine?
32. Which ballet by Léo Delibes is subtitled 'The Girl with Enamel Eyes'?
33. Which train robber from the American Wild West was known as 'The Robin Hood of Texas'?
34. Which country did West Germany defeat in the final of the 1954 football World Cup?
35. What was the name of James Buchanan’s niece who acted as his First Lady during his tenure in office?
36. Mount Sněžka is the highest peak in which European country?
37. What name has been given to the heavy metal music developed in the German speaking world in the 1990s that combines heavily distorted electric guitar and percussion with deep, and often gothic, vocals? Important bands associated with the movement include OOMPH! and Rammstein.
38. ‘The Good Old Swedish Time’ is the name given to the period of history during the 17th Century in which country? It is so named because of the seeming benefits, such as the printing press and the establishment of universities, that came with Swedish rule.
39. David Lodge's 2004 novel ‘Author, Author’ is based on the life of which novelist?
40. In which German city is the Goethe Museum?
41. Regulus is the brightest star of which constellation?
42. Productions of which English-language play feature heavily in the plot of the Pedro Almodóvar film 'Todo sobre mi madre' (All About My Mother)?
43. At which battle of World War I was the German Admiral Maximilian von Spee killed?
44. Which Californian punk band collaborated with Buju Banton on the song 'Misty Days' from Banton's album 'Unchained Spirit'?
45. Which celebrated German scientist, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932, is best remembered for his uncertainty principle that states that there is a limit to the precision with which the position and direction of a particle can be simultaneously known?
46. Which English architect designed the international railway terminal at Waterloo Station and the Eden Project in Cornwall?
47. Which hill in Bodmin Moor is the highest point in Cornwall?
48. Known as 'The Angel of the Battlefield,' who was the American teacher, nurse and humanitarian who founded the American Red Cross in 1881?
49. Which French engineer invented the world's first passenger-carrying airship in 1852?
50. The Thomas Cup is a trophy awarded in which sport?

And the answers:

1. KARLSRUHE
2. SWANSEA JACK
3. PAUL CELAN
4. HUBBLE'S LAW
5. STURM UND DRANG (or STORM AND STRESS)
6. ANGELS IN AMERICA (by TONY KUSHNER)
7. CHEMNITZ
8. ROBERT FITZROY
9. JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
10. KENNETH MORE
11. MAX ERNST
12. SHEILA SCOTT
13. BIOSCOP
14. 1934
15. WERNER HERZOG
16. EMPIRE WINDRUSH
17. Z3
18. EZRA POUND
19. GIBRALTAR
20. FINLAND
21. FULMAR
22. ABWEHR
23. ROBBIE ROSS
24. CORUNDUM
25. PETER LELY
26. RURITANIA
27. ALBANIA
28. BAUHAUS
29. WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT
30. STAN BOWLES
31. COLOSSUS
32. COPPÉLIA
33. SAM BASS
34. HUNGARY
35. HARRIET LANE
36. CZECH REPUBLIC
37. NEUE DEUTSCHE HÄRTE (NEW GERMAN HARDNESS)
38. ESTONIA
39. HENRY JAMES
40. FRANKFURT
41. LEO
42. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
43. BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
44. RANCID
45. WERNER HEISENBERG
46. NICHOLAS GRIMSHAW
47. BROWN WILLY
48. CLARA BARTON
49. HENRI GIFFARD
50. BADMINTON

THE 36th QUIZ

2007-09-17T22:03:00.000Z

Hello again. A bit of a Frenchy feel to the quiz today. Here goes:

1. Tintamarre is the largest island in which French overseas collectivity that came into being in February 2007?
2. What event of 1945 connects the films 'Der Hund von Baskerville' and 'Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war'?
3. Which boxer defeated Jake Kilrain in 1889 in the last ever world heavyweight championship prizefight decided with bare knuckles under London Prize Ring rules?
4. In April 2007, Laurent Deutsch starred in a French film that told the story of which fabulist and poet, born in 1621?
5. What was the name of the Swiss psychologist who developed the ink-blot psychological test?
6. Inaugurated in March 2007, the LGV Est, an extension to the French high-speed TGV network, links Paris with which city?
7. Also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, at which battle of 1805 did France defeat Austria and Russia?
8. Which English bishop, who was born in Beverley in Yorkshire, was appointed Bishop of Rochester in 1504 at the insistence of Henry VII only to be executed in 1535? He was canonized in 1935 by Pope Pius XI along with Thomas More.
9. In Greek mythology, which Spartan king was the father of Castor and Pollox?
10. In which African country would you find the Mountains of the Moon?
11. The current King of Spain and the current Grand Duke of Luxembourg are, through the Bourbon branch, both members of which dynasty, named after the King of France who reigned from 987AD until 996AD?
12. Which American city is served by Metropolitan Airport?
13. Which Scottish soldier and nobleman led the government army that defeated the Jacobites at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715?
14. First published in 1852, ‘Émaux et camées’ is a collection of 37 poems considered to represent the greatest work of which French author?
15. Who was the English sea captain and Arctic explorer who, along with his entire crew, disappeared whilst attempting to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1847?
16. Designed by Norman Foster and Michel Virlogeux, the Millau Viaduct, the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, spans which river, a tributary of the Garonne?
17. Which French writer published the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924?
18. Which Hungarian city earned the nickname of ‘Calvinist Rome’ during the 16th Century because it was one of the first cities to embrace the Protestant Reformation?
19. The carcajou is an alternative name for which mammal?
20. In 'The Pickwick Papers', what is the name of Mr Pickwick's landlady who sues him for breach of promise to marry her?
21. Aged 88 at the time of his resignation, who is the oldest Head of State in French history?
22. What name is given to the unit of pressure equal to 60 millimetres of mercury?
23. Which Cuban-born Italian novelist wrote 'Invisible Cities' and 'The Castle of Crossed Destinies'?
24. Which treaty of 843AD created the kingdom of Francia Occidentalis and represents only the legal founding of the state of France?
25. What was the full name of the American poet and novelist known primarily by her initials H.D.?
26. What is the name of the town in French Guiana, home to the Guiana Space Centre, from which the European Space Agency and CNES launch their satellites?
27. Which French author won the first ever Nobel Prize for Literature in 1901?
28. Lítla Dímun is the only one of the eighteen large islands of which European island group to be uninhabited?
29. Named after an 18th Century British scientist, what name is given to the ratio of the tensile stress to the tensile strain in a material?
30. In May 1957 Britain's first Hydrogen Bomb was tested over which Pacific island?
31. Fought between March 13 – May 7, 1954, which battle, which resulted in a massive defeat for the French army, effectively ended the First Indochina War?
32. What is the name of the American politician who replaced Rudolph Giuliani as Mayor of New York in 2002?
33. In 1599, who became the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey since Geoffrey Chaucer?
34. Built in the first half of the 20th Century, the world’s oldest playable pipe organ is located in the Basilique de Valère in which Swiss city?
35. Bornholm is an island in the Baltic Sea belonging to which country?
36. Known by some as the man who created Paris and by others as the man who destroyed it, which civic planner was hired by Napoleon III in 1852 to modernise Paris?
37. What was the pen name used by the French novelist Amandine Lucie Dudevant?
38. The father of the poet Lydia Koidula, Johann Voldemar Jannsen wrote the words to ‘Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm’ meaning ‘My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy’, the national anthem of which country?
39. Which former coach of the Green Bay Packers gives his name to the trophy awarded to the winners of the NFL Superbowl?
40. In May 1991, who became the first female Prime Minister of France?
41. Who was the French Minister of Justice who oversaw the drafting of the French Constitution that was adopted in October 1958?
42. The Majlis is the name given to the parliament of which country?
43. The Merneptah Stele was discovered at Thebes by which English Egyptologist who pioneered the use of the sequence dating method in archaeology?
44. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations who were (originally) followers of whom?
45. Which Asian capital city has a name meaning 'Town of Victory' in the local tongue?
46. Lifou Island, Maré Island, Tiga Island, Ouvéa Island, Mouli Island, and Faiava Island are the six inhabited islands in which archipelago, part of the French territory of New Caledonia?
47. Before her marriage to Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine was the Queen of which French King?
48. With a population density of just 15.5 people per square kilometre, which is the most sparsely populated country in the European Union?
49. Which French short story writer and dramatist wrote the novella upon which Bizet's opera 'Carmen' is based?
50. Who was the first king of Scotland from the House of Stuart?

And the answers?:

1. SAINT MARTIN
2. THEY WERE THE ONLY FILMS FOUND IN HITLER'S BUNKER
3. JOHN L SULLIVAN
4. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE
5. HERMANN RORSCHACH
6. STRASBOURG
7. AUSTERLITZ
8. JOHN FISHER
9. TYNDAREUS
10. UGANDA
11. CAPETIAN DYNASTY
12. DETROIT
13. JOHN CAMPBELL, DUKE OF ARGYLL
14. THÉOPHILE GAUTIER
15. JOHN FRANKLIN
16. TARN
17. ANDRÉ BRETON
18. DEBRECEN
19. WOLVERINE
20. MRS BARDELL
21. PHILIPPE PÉTAIN
22. ATMOSPHERE
23. ITALO CALVINO
24. TREATY OF VERDUN
25. HILDA DOOLITTLE
26. KOUROU
27. SULLY PRUDHOMME
28. FAROE ISLANDS
29. YOUNG'S MODULUS
30. KIRIMATI (or CHRISTMAS ISLAND)
31. BATTLE OF DIEN BIEN PHU
32. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
33. EDMUND SPENSER
34. SION
35. DENMARK
36. BARON HAUSSMANN (GEORGES-EUGÈNE HAUSSMANN)
37. GEORGE SAND
38. ESTONIA
39. VINCE LOMBARDI
40. ÉDITH CRESSON
41. MICHEL DEBRÉ
42. IRAN
43. FLINDERS PETRIE
44. MENNO SIMONS
45. JAKARTA
46. LOYALTY ISLANDS (OR ÎLES LOYAUTÉ)
47. LOUIS VII
48. FINLAND
49. PROSPER MÉRIMÉE
50. ROBERT II

THE 35th QUIZ

2007-09-16T15:23:00.000Z

Today I have been mostly researching Denmark and Finland. You will see that this has influenced today's quiz a tad!:

(By the way I'm very proud of question 7 - you'll see).

1. Which town in the Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1620, was a Danish colony from 1620 until 1845?
2. Directed by Max Spielberg, the son of Steven, and with the tagline "This time it's really personal", 'Jaws 19' was a holofilm playing at the Holomax Theater in the year 2015 in which real film of 1989?
3. By what Anglicised name is Antti Hulkko, the lead singer of the Finnish rock group Hanoi Rocks, better know?
4. In which sport did the Indonesian Rudy Hartono win the All England Championship seven years in succession?
5. Opened in July 2000, the Oresund Bridge connects Copenhagen to which Swedish city?
6. By what name is the abnormal movement disorder chorea better known?
7. Where could you find the statement, "...il suffit que je sois bien malheureuse pour avoir droit a votre bienveillance"?
8. Building began in 1748 of which inhabited sea fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Helsinki?
9. In which city are the headquarters of the European Central Bank?
10. Which body of water, linking the Coral Sea with the Arafura Sea, separates Cape York Peninsula in Queensland from the Western Province of Papua New Guinea?
11. Britain fought Denmark-Norway in which war, during the Napoleonic Wars, that lasted from 1807 until ended by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814?
12. According to Greek mythology, who sacrificed his son Pelops and served up his flesh at a banquet for the Gods?
13. Which three European countries are the only countries in the world in which a Uralic language is spoken by the majority of the population?
14. The Avesta is the sacred book of which Asian religion?
15. Which two Danish authors shared the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917?
16. Born in Elston Hall near Newark-on Trent in 1731, which naturalist and poet wrote the important scientific work 'Zoönomia'?
17. The Kings of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II belonged to which royal house?
18. Who became the first President of Finland in 1919?
19. Which city did Astana replace as capital of Kazakhstan in 1998?
20. At either 8’4” or 8’5”, which Ukrainian veterinary surgeon is listed by the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ as the world’s tallest living man?
21. Named in part after a German river, what was the codename of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Denmark and Norway on 9th April 1940, during which the Danish military offered just two hours of resistance before surrendering?
22. The Treaty of Teschen, signed in 1779, officially ended which war?
23. Petrozavodsk is the capital of which Republic and federal subject of the Russian Federation?
24. Formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko Lindström, and bassist Mikko Paananen, which group, whose albums include ‘Love Metal’ and ‘Gold Light’, are the only Finnish band ever to go Gold in the USA?
25. Located in Copenhagen, what is the name of the winter home of the Danish royal family?
26. Which pseudonym was used by the Danish Baroness Karen Blixen when she wrote her autobiographical book 'Out of Africa'?
27. Which English scientist discovered the Law of Partial Pressures in 1801?
28. Which European capital city was known as Reval until 1918?
29. Italy is separated into political areas known as regions; how many regions are there?
30. Which English Civil War General later led the English forces at the Sieges of Limerick and was made Lord Deputy of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell in 1650?
31. Also known as Christiansø, Denmark’s most easterly point lies on which archipelago in the Baltic Sea, home to just 95 permanent residents?
32. Who was the tenant of the serial killer John Christie who was hanged for supposedly killing his own wife and child?
33. Opened in October 2006, 'Óðamansgarði' (or 'The Madman´s Garden') is the first opera ever to be performed in which language?
34. Which Panamanian boxer was known as 'Manos de Piedra', or 'Hands of Stone'?
35. In 1969, Denmark became the first country to officially legalise what?
36. The name of which dinosaur means 'Swift Thief' in Latin?
37. Which English poet, as a young man, fought with Sir Walter Raleigh against the Spanish at Cadiz and the Azores?
38. Also known as Finnish baseball, which is the national sport of Finland?
39. In which prison was Adolf Hitler incarcerated in 1924?
40. Which current Labour MP was, in 1976, acquitted on charges of bank robbery?
41. The Danish companies Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk are both involved in which industry?
42. Opened in 1988, the Essen Opera House was designed by, and is named after, which architect?
43. The St. George’s Night Uprising is the name given to a series of rebellions that took place between 1343 and 1345 against the primarily German rulers of which European country?
44. Which dramatist's first play was 'Catalina', published in 1850?
45. In December 2006, which Danish American footballer became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the National Football League?
46. Which poet wrote the sonnet 'The New Colossus' that was inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty?
47. Who is the only actor ever to have played three different American Presidents in three different films? Namely Abraham Lincoln in 'The Perfect Tribute', Ulysses S. Grant in 'The Legend of the Lone Ranger' and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 'FDR: The Final Years'. Ironically, he won his first Oscar while playing a non-Presidential role in the 1976 film 'All the President's Men'.
48. Which one of the flying Finns won four gold medals at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, including the 10,000 metres and the 3000 metres steeplechase and followed that with a gold medal for the 5000 metres at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam?
49. Inspired by the European masters such as Claude Lorrain and John Constable, Thomas Cole is acknowledged as the founder of which artistic movement, also associated with Frederic Church and Sanford Robinson Gifford?
50. Which American Old West outlaw, who boasted that he had killed more than forty men, was himself shot dead by the El Paso lawman John Selman in 1895?

And the answers:

1. THARANGAMBADI (OR TRANQUEBAR)
2. BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II
3. ANDY McCOY
4. BADMINTON
5. MALMÖ
6. ST VITUS' DANCE
7. WRITTEN ON THE LETTER IN DAVID'S 'THE DEATH OF MARAT'
8. SUOMENLINNA (or VIAPORI)
9. FRANKFURT
10. TORRES STRAIT
11. GUNBOAT WAR
12. TANTALUS
13. ESTONIA, FINLAND & HUNGARY
14. ZOROASTRIANISM
15. HENRIK PONTOPPIDAN & KARL GJELLERUP (aka EPIGONOS)
16. ERASMUS DARWIN
17. SAVOY
18. KAARLO JUHO STÅHLBERG
19. ALMATY
20. LEONID STADNYK
21. OPERATION WESERÜBUNG
22. WAR OF THE BAVARIAN SUCCESSION
23. REPUBLIC OF KARELIA
24. HIM
25. AMALIENBORG PALACE
26. ISAK DINESEN
27. JOHN DALTON
28. TALLINN
29. 20
30. HENRY IRETON
31. ERTHOLMENE
32. TIMOTHY EVANS
33. FAROESE
34. ROBERTO DURÁN
35. PORNOGRAPHY
36. VELOCIRAPTOR
37. JOHN DONNE
38. PESÄPALLO
39. LANDSBERG
40. PETER HAIN
41. PHARMACEUTICALS
42. ALVAR AALTO
43. ESTONIA
44. HENRIK IBSEN
45. MORTEN ANDERSEN
46. EMMA LAZARUS
47. JASON ROBARDS
48. VILLE RITOLA
49. HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL
50. JOHN WESLEY HARDING

THE 34th QUIZ

2007-09-15T20:33:00.000Z

Hi there. Here we are:

1. 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott' or 'A Mighty Forest is Our God' is a hymn, paraphrasing Psalm 46, written by whom sometime between 1527 and 1529?
2. Each decade since 1952 'Sight & Sound' magazine has polled the world's foremost film critics in order to create a list of the 10 greatest films of all time. Which are the only two films, released in 1925 and 1939, to have made the top 10 in each of the 6 lists compiled so far?
3. Which country's karate team boycotted the Asian championship in Malaysia in August 2007 in protest at the beating of one of its official referees by the local police?
4. Who is the only footbaler to have played in Merseyside, Manchester and Auld Firm derbies?
5. Which chemical element with the atomic number 64 and the relative atomic mass 157.25 is named after a Finnish chemist, born in 1760?
6. 'Mermaid Avenue' was a 1998 collection of Woody Guthrie songs re-recorded, at the request of Guthrie's daughter Nora, by which singer-songwriter in collaboration with the Chicago rock band Wilco?
7. What is the name of the UK-based gay rights direct action campaigning group formed by Peter Tatchell among others following the murder of the gay actor Michael Boothe?
8. Which famous theorem states that it is impossible to find an integer solution to the equation 'xn + yn = zn' if 'n' is greater than 2 and 'x', 'y' and 'z' are not zero?
9. On April 25th 1792, a thief and assassin named Jacques Nicolas Pelletier became the first person to die in what manner?
10. In 1986, which Nigerian playwright became the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?
11. Which archipelago of islands was originally known to the French as Îles Malouines?
12. Often cited as the first significant American feature film, which controversial DW Griffith film, that portrayed Ku Klux Klansmen in a heroic light, was adapted from Thomas Dixon's novel and play 'The Clansman'?
13. Who was the gambler and businessman who set up both Howletts Zoo, near Canterbury, and Port Lympne Zoo, near Hythe?
14. In Greek mythology, who continued to cry for her slain children even after being turned to stone by Zeus?
15. Which number, larger than a googol but smaller than a googolplex, can be written as 1 followed by 303 zeroes?
16. The Schick Test is used to determine the susceptibility of a person to which infectious disease?
17. What was the score when England beat Australia in the 2003 rugby World Cup final?
18. Who was the last Western Roman Emperor who abdicated in AD476?
19. In the novel by Jules Verne, who was the French valet who accompanied Phileas Fogg on his attempt to go Around the World in Eighty Days?
20. The Bullet Train links Tokyo with which other Japanese city?
21. The flag of which European country features a two-headed eagle at its centre?
22. What is the name of the 7'3" English born actor, who took the oath to become a naturalized citizen of the United States in October 2005, who is best known for playing the Wookiee, Chewbacca, in the 'Star Wars' movies?
23. The American abolitionist John Brown is best remembered for leading a raid on the federal armory in which town in West Virginia?
24. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the youth killed by a blow to his head, caused by a discus thrown by Apollo?
25. Found guilty, at the age of 14, of the murder of his 12-year-old schoolmate Lynne Harper in 1959 and sentenced to hang, which Canadian, whose case has been a cause célèbre for almost fifty years, was officially acquitted of the crime in August 2007 after his conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice?
26. Derived from the Greek for 'I rub', what name is given to the scientific study of friction, lubrication and wear?
27. Which Moroccan athlete won both the men's 1500 and 5000 metres at the 2004 Olympic Games?
28. Which famous English poet had the middle name Chawner?
29. In the play by Christopher Marlowe, what was the name of the Jew of Malta?
30. Begun in 1697, what is the name of the baroque palace complex built in Vienna by Prince Eugene of Savoy?
31. Which African capital city was formerly known as Christopolis?
32. What is the name of James Fennimore Cooper's fictional Mohican chief, the companion of Natty Bumppo, who was played by Russell Means in the 1992 film 'The Last of the Mohicans'?
33. What was the name of the Norwegian king, reputedly standing at 7ft tall, who invaded England in 1066 only to be defeated by King Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge?
34. Which religious reformer is considered the founder of the both the Church of Scotland and the Protestant Reformation in Scotland?
35. With which band did Ian Broudie and Holly Johnson play together before becoming the lead singers of The Lightning Seeds and Frankie Goes to Hollywood respectively?
36. What is the name of the Palestinian militant group, closely linked to the Fatah political party, that signs its name as the Brigades of Shahid Yasser Arafat?
37. Gaston Tong Sang, a founding member of the pro-French Tahoera'a Huiraatira political party, was forced to resign as the President of which French overseas collectivity on 31st August 2007?
38. In meteorology, what is measured in oktas?
39. 'Hatter's Castle' was the first novel by which popular 20th century novelist?
40. Which retired American footballer, who won four Super Bowls during his 13 years as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers between 1979 and 1992, produces his own wine under the label Montagia?
41. Which large lake lies on the River Rhine on the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria?
42. Nicknamed the 'Bull Moose Party', what was the name of the American political party founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 after he had lost the Republican Presidential nomination to William Howard Taft?
43. At which English port were all four of Captain Cook's ships built?
44. Ernest Hemingway once claimed that "All modern American literature comes from one book". Which book?
45. Voted the fifth greatest heavy metal band of all time by MTV in 2006, which now defunct band, that formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981, had a number 1 album in the USA in 1994 with 'Far Beyond Driven'?
46. The Second Tuareg Rebellion began in which country in February 2007?
47. Which word was coined by Karl Brunner in 1968 to describe the economic theories of Milton Friedman?
48. Who was the Austrian zoologist, a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1948 and author of 'King Solomon's Ring', who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his studies of animal behavioural patterns?
49. 'The Canterbury Tales' tells the stories of a collection of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury from which London borough?
50. Which is the most notherly county in mainland Britain?

And the answers too:

1. MARTIN LUTHER
2. BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN & LA RÈGLE DU JEU (or THE RULES OF THE GAME)
3. INDONESIA
4. ANDREI KANCHELSKIS
5. GADOLINIUM
6. BILLY BRAGG
7. OUTRAGE!
8. FERMAT'S LAST THEREOM
9. GUILLOTINED
10. WOLE SOYINKA
11. FALKLAND ISLANDS
12. THE BIRTH OF A NATION
13. JOHN ASPINALL
14. NIOBE
15. CENTILLION
16. DIPHTHERIA
17. 20-17
18. ROMULUS AUGUSTUS
19. PASSEPARTOUT
20. OSAKA
21. ALBANIA
22. PETER MAYHEW
23. HARPERS FERRY
24. HYACINTHUS
25. STEVEN TRUSCOTT
26. TRIBOLOGY
27. HICHAM EL GUERROUJ
28. RUPERT BROOKE
29. BARABAS
30. THE BELVEDERE
31. MONROVIA
32. CHINGACHGOOK
33. HARALD HARDRAADE
34. JOHN KNOX
35. BIG IN JAPAN
36. AL-AQASA MARTYRS' BRIGADE
37. FRENCH POLYNESIA
38. CLOUD COVER
39. AJ CRONIN
40. JOE MONTANA
41. LAKE CONSTANCE
42. PROGRESSIVE PARTY
43. WHITBY
44. HUCKLEBERRY FINN
45. PANTERA
46. NIGER
47. MONETARISM
48. KONRAD LORENZ
49. SOUTHWARK
50. CAITHNESS

THE 33rd QUIZ

2007-09-14T18:56:00.000Z

Here we go again. Hope you enjoy:

1. In 1440, the Italian humanist Lorenzo Valla proved that which Roman imperial edict, probably devised in the 8th or 9th Century, was a fake?
2. The 1929 cartoon 'Race Riot' is notable for being the first to be entirely produced and directed by Walter Lantz and featured which character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks prior to Disney's greater success with Mickey Mouse?
3. What is the name given to Hamburg's famous red light district?
4. Which creature, specifically, is the world's largest reptile?
5. In August 2007, Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship at the Southern Hills Country Club in which Oklahoma city?
6. Which work by the Italian Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is often called 'The Manisfesto of the Renaissance'?
7. Which is the longest book of the Old Testament?
8. Which American astronaut, who landed on the Moon in 1972, travelled into space more times than any other astronaut during the 20th Century?
9. Prior to 2002, by what name was Liverpool John Lennon Airport known?
10. Which is the second largest of the Greek islands?
11. What is the name of the city in Virginia which, for one week, served as the last capital of the Confederate States of America?
12. Hohhot is the capital of which Chinese Autonomous Region that celebrated in 60th anniversary last month?
13. Abu Sayyaf is a militant Islamic separatist movement based in which country?
14. Known as Portugal's greatest poet, which author is best remembered for his epic work 'Os Lusíadas'?
15. In August 2007, 500 people were evacuated from the slopes of which active volcano on the Indonesian island of Siau when it began to spew out ash and lava?
16. "Mother died today" is the first line of which French novel of 1942?
17. Elton John's 1982 song 'Empty Garden' was written as a tribute to whom?
18. Which county cricket team plays its home games at Grace Road?
19. The Sheet Metal Donkey was the nickname given to the world's first practical all metal aircraft; who designed it?
20. In fear of the jealous wrath of his Queen, Hera, Zeus turned Io into which creature?
21. Croesus, famed for his wealth, was the king of which ancient kingdom?
22. In which American state is Hamburger University?
23. What nationality is the fisherman in Ernest Hemingway's novella 'The Old Man and the Sea'?
24. In which country were 85 protesters killed and more than 600 injured by the police forces during the July Revolt of 1927?
25. Who was the Liberal Party Senator for South Australia who was elected as the President of the Australian Senate in August 2007?
26. What was the name of the British light cruiser that was accidentally rammed by HMS Queen Mary in October 1942 with the loss of 338 lives?
27. Which 1993 BBC miniseries, with a soundtrack written by David Bowie, was adapted from a novel by Hanif Kureishi? It starred Naveen Andrews as the title character.
28. 'La Noire de...', 'Touki Bouki' and 'Guimba, un tyran, une époque' are three of the most important films in the movie industry of which African country?
29. What name is given to the young of a falcon?
30. Which pretender to the English throne landed in England in 1495 in an attempt to overthrow King Henry VII and was hanged as a traitor at Tyburn?
31. Which Flemish-Dutch painter, born in 1525, earned the nickname 'peasant' because of his practice of putting on disguises in order to take part in peasant gatherings?
32. In 1982, who became the first female jockey to complete the Grand National?
33. In 2001, which British rock group became the first Western act to play in Cuba for over 20 years?
34. In July 2007, Valdis Zatlers was sworn in as the third President of which country?
35. Which Pope ordered the execution of the Friulian miller Menocchio in 1599 after he was named as a heresiarch for his philosophical teachings?
36. Europe's most complete Neolithic village, which UNESCO World Heritage Site is located on the Bay of Skaill on Mainland island in the Orkneys?
37. What name is given to the uncut sideburns worn by male orthodox Jews?
38. Which Greek philosopher and naturalist wrote the 'Naturalis Historia'?
39. In the 1890s, who was the sportsman who played cricket for Sussex and England, football for Southampton and England and held the long jump world record?
40. Lake Scutari forms a natural border between Montenegro and which other country?
41. In 1993, who became the first female Prime Minister of Canada?
42. The story of which Greek mythological character has been told in a play by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, a film by Michael Cacoyannis and an opera by Richard Strauss?
43. What was the name of the 19-year old who was hanged for the murder of PC Sidney Miles in 1953 but who won a posthumous pardon in 1998?
44. In which German city was Charlemagne crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800AD?
45. The 16th Century Italian poet Torquato Tasso is best remembered for which work in which he tells a fictionalized version of the battles between the Muslims and the Christians during the First Crusade?
46. Which very rare astronomical phenomenon occurred in the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Eastern Hemisphere on May 31 2007?
47. Which Roman Emperor founded the Flavian Dynasty in AD69?
48. In 1909, which author became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?
49. Which country has the International Vehicle Registration code 'RB'?
50. Who was the Archbishop of York who crowned William the Conqueror King of England?

And the answers:

1. DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
2. OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT
3. REEPERBAHN
4. SALT WATER CROCODILE
5. TULSA
6. ORATION ON THE DIGNITY OF MAN
7. PSALMS
8. JOHN YOUNG
9. SPEKE AIRPORT
10. EUBOEA
11. DANVILLE
12. INNER MONGOLIA
13. PHILIPPINES
14. LUÍS DE CAMÕES
15. KARANGETANG
16. L'ENTRANGER (THE STRANGER or THE OUTSIDER by ALBERT CAMUS)
17. JOHN LENNON
18. LEICESTERSHIRE
19. HUGO JUNKERS
20. HEIFER
21. LYDIA
22. ILLINOIS
23. CUBAN
24. AUSTRIA
25. ALAN FERGUSON
26. HMS CURACOA
27. THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA
28. NIGERIA
29. EYAS
30. PERKIN WARBECK
31. PIETER BRUEGHEL (THE ELDER)
32. GERALDINE REES
33. MANIC STREET PREACHERS
34. LATVIA
35. CLEMENT VIII
36. SKARA BRAE
37. PAYESS
38. PLINY THE ELDER
39. CB FRY
40. ALBANIA
41. KIM CAMPBELL
42. ELEKTRA
43. DEREK BENTLEY
44. AACHEN
45. LA GERUSALEMME LIBERATA (JERUSALEM DELIVERED)
46. BLUE MOON
47. VESPASIAN
48. SELMA LAGERLÖF
49. BOTSWANA
50. ALDRED

THE 32nd QUIZ

2007-09-13T22:57:00.000Z

Apologies for the delay; I've been very busy. Here goes:

1. Which hystricognath rodent, the sole member of the family Dinomyidae in the infraorder Caviomorpha, is sometimes known, quite wonderfully in my opinion, as 'Count Branicki's terrible mouse'?
2. In August 2007, 14 convicted prisoners escaped from which detention centre in Oxfordshire?
3. Which Neil Young song did Kurt Cobain quote in his suicide note?
4. Which bandy-legged dwarf of Egyptian mythology was the god of pleasure, jollity, music and childbirth?
5. Which country uses the Convertible Mark as its unit of currency?
6. Which female ballet dancer defected to the West while dancing with the Kirov Ballet in London in 1972?
7. The capital city of which island group is located on New Providence Island?
8. In September 2006, after the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which stated that double jeopardy should be abrogated where "fresh and viable" new evidence came to light, who became the first person to be convicted of murder after previously being acquitted? He had twice previously been tried for the murder of Julie Hogg in Billingham in 1989, but two juries failed to reach a verdict and he was formally acquitted in 1991. When the new law came into effect he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
9. The 1997 film 'Jackie Brown' was adapted from the novel 'Rum Punch', written by which American author?
10. Which King of Scotland was the father of Mary, Queen of Scots?
11. Which Greek mythological figure was driven mad and pursued by the Furies after he murdered Aegisthus and his mother, Clytemnestra?
12. Six new species to science, a horseshoe bat, a rodent, two shrews and two species of insects, were discovered in a forest in which country in August 2007?
13. Who was the first white rapper to have a number 1 single in the USA?
14. In 1958, which English explorer led the first expeditionary team to complete an overland crossing of Antarctica?
15. In which city is the Imperial Crypt, which was used as the principal place of entombment for the Habsburg dynasty and hereditary Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire?
16. For what did the K stand in the name of the author Jerome K Jerome?
17. Which is the northernmost town on the British mainland?
18. In 1935, who became the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth established under American tutelage?
19. The Islets of Langerhans are a feature of which organ in the human body?
20. Who was the American engine driver and folk hero on the Cannonball Express who died in 1900 trying to prevent his train from crashing into a freight train?
21. Which racing trainer achieved the record of the most National Hunt winners during the 20th Century?
22. In August 2007, which San Francisco Giants baseballer hit his 756th career home run, passing Hank Aaron as the all-time leader in Major League Baseball?
23. Which southern African breed of dog is also known as the 'African lion hound'?
24. What was the first name of Mr Cruft who established the famous dog show in 1886?
25. The ancient cities of Apollonia, Butrini and Krujë are all tourist attractions in which country?
26. Which poem by Richard Lovelace contains the famous line, “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage”?
27. Inhabitants of which American state are known as 'cornhuskers'?
28. Which French politician was President of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995?
29. What kind of creature is Smoochy in the 2002 film 'Death to Smoochy'?
30. The Salarian Way was a Roman road that linked Rome to which city?
31. What is the scientific name given to the ability of some animals, such as lizards, to self-amputate a part of their body in order to elude a predator?
32. TrES-4 is the largest known planet in the universe and was discovered in August 2007 in which constellation?
33. Reaching number 28 in the UK charts in 1980, which group's first hit was entitled 'Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu'?
34. In which American state were the Seminole Wars fought from 1835 to 1842?
35. Which German-Dutch alchemist and chemist, who was the first person to produce hydrochloric acid, is known as 'the German Boyle'?
36. 'The Age of Anxiety' is the nickname of which composer's 2nd Symphony?
37. In which African country would you find the Toubkal National Park?
38. In September 1956, which singer became the first person to have four UK number 1 singles when 'A Woman in Love' reached the top spot in the charts?
39. What was the name of the naturalist and explorer, known as the 'Father of Biogeography', who proposed a theory of natural selection in his books 'The Malay Archipelago' and 'Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection'?
40. What was the name of the ship that was supposed to sail to America with the Mayflower but had to return to Plymouth because of a leak?
41. In 1975, who became the first English player to be sent-off in a rugby union international match?
42. Riots occurred in which country in August 2007 after it was announced that Xanana Gusmão would become the next Prime Minister?
43. At 87 hours long, which 1987 Lee Groban film is listed by the 'Guinness Book of Records' as the longest film ever made?
44. Which once common household item was invented by Melville R Bissell in 1876?
45. What does a laclabphilist collect?
46. What is the title of Arthur C Clarke's 1948 novel upon which the film '2001: A Space Odyssey' was based?
47. Which sea, an arm of the Mediterranean, separates Tuscany from Corsica?
48. The expression 'Cloud-Cuckoo-Land' is taken from a line in which play by the Greek dramatist Aristophanes?
49. Which Scottish football team is the only one to have played in both English and Scottish FA Cup finals?
50. Who was the King of Greece during World War II, who went into exile after the German invasion in 1941?

And the answers:

1. PACARANA
2. CAMPSFIELD HOUSE
3. HEY HEY, MY MY (INTO THE BLACK)
4. BES
5. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINIA
6. NATALIA MAKAROVA
7. BAHAMAS
8. WILLIAM DUNLOP
9. ELMORE LEONARD
10. JAMES V
11. ORESTES
12. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
13. VANILLA ICE
14. VIVIAN FUCHS
15. VIENNA
16. KLAPKA
17. THURSO
18. MANUEL QUEZON
19. PANCREAS
20. CASEY JONES
21. MARTIN PIPE
22. BARRY BONDS
23. RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK
24. CHARLES
25. ALBANIA
26. TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON
27. NEBRASKSA
28. JACQUES DELORS
29. RHINOCEROS
30. ANCONA
31. AUTOTOMY
32. HERCULES
33. BAD MANNERS
34. FLORIDA
35. JOHANN RUDOLF GLAUBER
36. LEONARD BERNSTEIN
37. MOROCCO
38. FRANKIE LAINE
39. ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE
40. SPEEDWELL
41. MIKE BURTON
42. EAST TIMOR
43. THE CURE FOR INSOMNIA
44. CARPET SWEEPER
45. CHEESE LABELS
46. THE SENTINEL
47. LIGURIAN SEA
48. THE BIRDS
49. QUEENS PARK
50. GEORGE II

THE 31st QUIZ

2007-09-10T16:45:00.000Z

Another one:

1. What is the name of Iraq's largest Sunni party that withdrew from the Iraqi government in August 2007?
2. Islas de los Ladrones meaning "Islands of Thieves" is an alternative name for which archipelago?
3. Walid Eido, who was killed in an explosion in June 2007, was an MP in which country?
4. Which fish of the genus Istiophorus can reach speeds of 68.5mph, making it the fastest fish in the ocean?
5. According to Greek mythology, who was the Phoenician prince who founded the city of Thebes and became its first king?
6. In which English city was the first of the twelve Eleanor Crosses built in 1291?
7. Which European capital city was known to the Romans as Olisipo?
8. In which African country would you find the Great Bitter Lakes?
9. Which Roman Emperor, the son of Marcus Aurelius, believed himself to be the reincarnation of Hercules and had a passion for gladiatorial combat?
10. In which European country were the Ottoman Empire victorious at the Battle of Savra in 1385?
11. Who is the first Mongolian sumo wrestler to reach the rank of Yokozuna, who also became, in August 2007, the first Yokozuna to be suspended after he was recorded playing football with the Japanese international midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata while supposedly injured?
12. At 2925 metres Mount Rila is the highest point in which European country?
13. Which tennis player did Boris Becker defeat in the final to win his first Wimbledon title in 1985?
14. Built in 1814, what was the name of George Stephenson's first locomotive?
15. Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led military coups in which African country in 1979 and 1981?
16. Who was the ancient Greek legislator who in the 7th Century BC laid down the first written constitution of Athens?
17. Which 19th Century ornithologist and painter illustrated the books 'The Birds of America' and 'Ornithological Biographies'?
18. How many of the United Kingdom's 66 cities are in Wales?
19. In 2005, which Elvis Presley song became the 1000th UK number 1 single?
20. Who was the German physicist and engineer who invented the first vacuum pump in 1650?
21. In August 2007, 'The Dandy' comic underwent a major image overhaul when it added which word to its original title?
22. What was the name of the late 19th and early 20th Century Austrian symbolist painter whose best known works include 'The Friends' and 'The Virgins'?
23. Native to New Guinea, what is the name of the world's largest butterfly?
24. Who became Asia's first female President when she replaced Ferdinand Marcos as the President of the Philippines in 1986?
25. Ashurbanipal, who died in 627BC, was the last great King of which ancient nation?
26. In 1990, a painting by Vincent van Gogh was sold for a then world-record $82.5 million at Christie’s, New York. What is the name of the painting?
27. The Brocken the highest peak in which German mountain range?
28. The chance to play which character in a 1972 film was reportedly turned down by Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal and Dustin Hoffman?
29. Which American novelist has used the pseudonyms Cameron Kay, Edgar Box and Katherine Everard?
30. Which American power pop band, formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1986 are best known for their singles 'Golden Blunders', 'Dream All Day' and 'Flavor of the Month'?
31. In August 2007, Mexican archaeologists announced the discovery of what is believed to be the tomb of which Aztec emperor?
32. Grodno, Gomel and Mogilev are major cities in which European country?
33. In 1973, which British yachtswoman and author became the first female to sail solo across the Atlantic?
34. Of what is alektorophobia the fear?
35. Who was the daughter of Priam in Greek mythology who defied Apollo and was thus condemned to accurately predict the future but never to be believed?
36. Which public park in northwest England was the world's first publicly-funded park?
37. The 1994 film 'Quiz Show'tells the true story of the 1950s scandal surrounding which American gameshow?
38. Puerto del Rosario is the capital of which of the Canary Islands?
39. Ralph Vaughan Williams' song cycle 'On Wenlock Edge' is a musical setting for the works of which English poet?
40. Which 1993 film stars John Goodman as the William Castle-inspired filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey?
41. In August 2007, which baseballer, a third baseman for the New York Yankees, became the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs?
42. Lake Neusiedl straddles the border between Austria and which other country?
43. Who was the German scientist who discovered nuclear fission and was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry?
44. Who, in 1675, was appointed the first Astronomer Royal?
45. Sometimes known as the 'pillar saints', what was the name given to ascetics of early Christian times that spent much of their days and nights perched on top of pillars?
46. Which Berkshire born actor played Marcus in the 2002 film 'About a Boy' and is currently starring as Tony in the E4 "dramedy" 'Skins'?
47. In which city are the headquarters of the World Meteorological Organisation?
48. Regarded as the father and creator of all, who is the chief god worshipped by the Zuni Indians of New Mexico?
49. What is the name of Dennis the Menace's pet spider?
50. What connects Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison and Jean-Paul Marat?

And the answers:

1. IRAQI ACCORD FRONT
2. MARIANA ISLANDS
3. LEBANON
4. SAILFISH
5. CADMUS
6. LINCOLN
7. LISBON
8. EGYPT
9. COMMODUS
10. ALBANIA
11. ASASHORYU AKINORI
12. BULGARIA
13. KEVIN CURREN
14. BLÜCHER
15. GHANA
16. DRACO
17. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
18. 5 (BANGOR, CARDIFF, NEWPORT, ST DAVID'S & SWANSEA)
19. ONE NIGHT
20. OTTO VON GUERICKE
21. XTREME
22. GUSTAV KLIMT
23. QUEEN ALEXANDRA'S BIRDWING
24. CORAZON AQUINO
25. ASSYRIA
26. PORTRAIT OF DR GACHET
27. HARZ MOUNTAIN
28. MICHAEL CORLEONE (in THE GODFATHER)
29. GORE VIDAL
30. THE POSIES
31. AHUITZOTL
32. BELARUS
33. CLARE FRANCIS
34. CHICKENS
35. CASSANDRA
36. BIRKENHEAD PARK
37. TWENTY ONE
38. FUERTEVENTURA
39. AE HOUSMAN
40. MATINEE
41. ALEX RODRIGUEZ
42. HUNGARY
43. OTTO HAHN
44. JOHN FLAMSTEED
45. STYLITES
46. NICHOLAS HOULT
47. GENEVA
48. AWONAWILONA
49. DASHER
50. THEY ALL DIED IN THE BATHROOM

THE 30th QUIZ

2007-09-08T21:37:00.000Z

Hello again. Have a look at these:

1. What name has been given to the new species of the genus Mastigoteuthis which was discovered in one of the deep-sea pipelines of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority off the Hawaiian Islands in the summer of 2007?
2. Which Austrian medical doctor and psychologist, born in 1870, founded the school of Individual Psychology?
3. How many points are awarded for a goal in Gaelic football?
4. Which French chemist, who named oxygen in 1778, disproved the phlogiston theory of combustion?
5. Which former Olympic gold medallist became the Member of Parliament for Peterborough in 1931?
6. Isca Dumnoniorum was the Roman name for which English city?
7. Mount Smolikas is the highest peak in which European mountain range?
8. In the English translations of the Asterix comics, what is the name of village leader, a middle-aged, obese man with red hair, pigtails and a huge moustache?
9. Which Welsh painter, born in 1876, whose famous works include 'A Corner of the Artist's Room', became the mistress of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin?
10. Which mountain range in the Sudetes in Central Europe is sometimes known as the Giant Mountains?
11. Encamp, Canillo and Ordino are three of the seven parishes into which which European country is divided?
12. In 1980, which Panamanian boxer became the first person to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard?
13. The Emperor is the largest species of penguin; which is the smallest?
14. Which American First Lady is perhaps best remembered for rescuing a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart from the White House when British troops burnt Washington DC in 1814?
15. Radama II was the king of which African country until his assassination in 1863?
16. In which town in Texas were 83 people killed in a stand-off between the FBI and the Branch Davidian sect in 1993?
17. Which of Elizabeth Taylor's husbands died in a plane crash in 1958?
18. Which British composer was appointed Master of the Queen's Music in 2004?
19. Which term, coined by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1912, describes the paintings of Robert Delaunay and members of the Puteaux Group whose works were rooted in Cubism but moved toward a pure lyrical abstraction, seeing painting as the bringing together of a sensation of bright colours?
20. Banski Dvori is a historical building that serves as the official residence of the government of which country?
21. Who became the 5th President of Albania in July 2007 when he replaced Alfred Moisiu?
22. Which American invented the computer mouse whilst working at the Stamford Research Institute in 1964?
23. In Greek mythology, who was the Muse of Astronomy?
24. Which German admiral of the First World War is best remembered for commanding the German Battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland?
25. By what name is the Indian landmark Harmandir Sahib better known?
26. Which city was the capital of Burma between 1860 – 1865, prior to Rangoon becoming capital?
27. Which was the last American state to abolish slavery?
28. What is the stagename of Christopher James Hardman, who featured on the second series of 'Gene Simmons' Rock School' and reached number 3 in the UK charts with his first single 'Checkin' It Out' in September 2006?
29. Who wrote the poem 'Two Loves' that contains the famous line, “I am the love that dare not speak its name”?
30. Which former Soviet state abolished capital punishment on June 27, 2007?
31. Who was the Croatian-Serb politician, who led Croatia's Serb minority during the Croatian War of Independence, who, on 12 June 2007, was found guilty of murder and persecution committed while he was leader of the Krajina Serb republic between 1991 and 1995?
32. In 1968, who became the first black woman to be elected to Congress in the United States?
33. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta?
34. What was the name of the sister ship of the Titanic that was sunk in 1916 after hitting a mine off the coast of Greece?
35. Which Italian island is the largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago?
36. Which 20th Century sculptor brought a law suit against US Customs because they wanted to charge duty on an imported bronze sculpture that they considered to be nothing more than raw material?
37. Although it only made number 7 in the UK charts in 1981, which was the best-selling single in the US of the 1980s?
38. In the British sit-com 'Red Dwarf', for what did the J stand in the name of the character Arnold J. Rimmer, played by Chris Barrie?
39. Belonging to Launce in 'The Two Gentleman of Verona', what is the name of the only dog to be named in any of Shakespeare's plays?
40. Twenty two people were killed in June 2007 when a Paramount Airlines helicopter crashed in which country?
41. Which Inter Milan player won the FIFA World Footballer of the Year Award in 1991?
42. The most common form of the condition goitre in humans results from a lack of which element?
43. Which book of the New Testament tells the story of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which includes the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer?
44. Which English King signed the Treaty of Dover with France in which he promised to support French policy in Europe in return for a French subsidy?
45. What was the name of Arsenal tube station prior to it being renamed after the football club in 1932?
46. In Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities', who is the villainous woman who uses patterns in her knitting to register the names and description of enemies of the French Revolution?
47. Released in 1997, 'A.D.I.D.A.S.' was the breakthrough single for the Californian nu-metal band Korn; for what did the acronym A.D.I.D.A.S. stand?
48. Białowieża Primaeval Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the border between which two European countries?
49. What name was adopted by the Florentine painter born Paolo di Dono in 1397?
50. Adopted in February 1998, which European country's national anthem was written by Dušan Šestić?

And the answers?:

1. OCTOSQUID
2. ALFRED ADLER
3. 3
4. ANTOINE LAVOISIER
5. LORD BURGHLEY (DAVID CECIL)
6. EXETER
7. PINDUS MOUNTAINS
8. VITALSTATISTIX
9. GWEN JOHNS
10. KARKONOSZE (or KRKONOŠE) MOUNTAINS
11. ANDORRA
12. ROBERTO DURÁN
13. FAIRY PENGUIN
14. DOLLY MADISON
15. MADAGASCAR
16. WACO
17. MIKE TODD
18. PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
19. ORPHISM
20. CROATIA
21. BAMIR TOPI
22. DOUGLAS ENGELBART
23. URANIA
24. FRANZ VON HIPPER
25. GOLDEN TEMPLE (OF AMRITSAR)
26. MANDALAY
27. MISSISSIPPI
28. LIL' CHRIS
29. LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS
30. KYRGYZSTAN
31. MILAN MARTIĆ
32. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
33. ANTIGONE
34. BRITANNIC
35. ELBA
36. CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI
37. PHYSICAL (by OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN)
38. JUDAS
39. CRAB
40. SIERRA LEONE
41. LOTHAR MATTHÄUS
42. IODINE
43. MATTHEW
44. CHARLES II
45. GILLESPIE ROAD
46. MADAME DEFARGE
47. ALL DAY I DREAM ABOUT SEX
48. POLAND & BELARUS
49. PAOLO UCCELLO
50. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

THE 29th QUIZ

2007-09-07T19:53:00.000Z

Hello again. Let's take a look at these:

1. On 9th July 2007, snow fell on which capital city for the first time in 89 years and only the second time in recorded history?
2. Situated in the Esbjerg Municipality in south west Jutland, which is the oldest town in Denmark, having been established in the 8th Century?
3. Who was the only King of France to have been made a saint?
4. The painters Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet were prominent members of which 19th Century French school of landscape painters, named after the town in Fontainbleau Forest where the artists gathered?
5. Which singer contributed backing vocals to the Electric Six's 2002 hit 'Danger! High Voltage' under the name John S. O'Leary?
6. Which American writer shot and killed his ex-wife during a drunken party game in Mexico City in 1951?
7. In terms of population, Bratislava is the largest city in Slovakia. Which is the second largest?
8. In which American state did the first Battle of the Bull Run occur in July 1861?
9. Who scored Arsenal's winning goal in extra-time of the replayed 1993 FA Cup final?
10. Which Russian resort was selected, in July 2007, as the host of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games?
11. Which two countries fought the Kalmar War from 1611 to 1613?
12. Which 17th Century Italian scientist is best remembered for inventing the mercury barometer?
13. According to Greek mythology, which king of Thebes was the husband of Jocasta and father of Oedipus?
14. Who was the American President who made the Louisiana Purchase from France?
15. Which Austrian feminist playwright and novelist won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004?
16. Although it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, the classic film 'Citizen Kane' only won one; which one?
17. Which French explorer became the first person to sail up the St Lawrence River, across which now stands a bridge bearing his name?
18. The musical 'Helly, Dolly!' was based on which play written by the American author Thornton Wilder?
19. Which Italian racing driver won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1952 and 1953?
20. In June 2007, to reflect the wishes of its inhabitants, the Japanese government officially switched the name of Iwo Jima to it original name; what is it now called?
21. Meaning 'Plain Land' in old Icelandic, what name was given to the area of North America, now part of Newfoundland, that was discovered by the norseman Leif Eiríksson in about the year AD1000?
22. Which American writer wrote a series of novels known collectively as 'The Leatherstocking Tales'?
23. Which English rock group took their name from the title of a 1966 novel by William Manus?
24. The 19th Century Belgian musicians Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux are all famous players of which musical instrument?
25. Which was the only defeated European country to acquire new territory as part of the border adjustments after the First World War?
26. Killing 118 people throughout the film, the character John Preston has killed more people in one film than anyone else in cinema history; in which film of 2002 did he achieve this feat?
27. After a topping off ceremony in June 2007, the Comcast Centre officially became the tallest building in which American city?
28. Signed in 1581, the Oath of Abjuration was the formal declaration of independence of the northern Low Countries from which other country?
29. Which Roman author wrote the novel 'The Satyricon'?
30. Which basketball team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in June 2007 to win the NBA Championship?
31. Lying in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner, what is the name of the largest peninsular in the Adriatic Sea?
32. If a carnivore is an animal that eats meat and a herbivore is an animal that eats plants then what name is given to a creature that eats only grass?
33. Which large flightless bird, of the genus Pinguinus, was hunted to extinction in 1844?
34. The Moche was an ancient civilisation that existed in which modern-day country?
35. Mir Castle and Niasviž Castle are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites in which European country?
36. In the New Testament, who was chosen as the twelfth apostle after the death of Judas Iscariot?
37. In which castle was Edward II killed?
38. In terms of area, which is the smallest of the former Soviet Republics?
39. Which land mammal has the most teeth?
40. What name has been given to the enormous birdlike dinosaur, that was discovered in Inner Mongolia by the paleontologist Xu Xing in June 2007?
41. During which war was an aeroplane first used to drop bombs?
42. Who was the Conservative MP for Eastbourne who was assassinated by the IRA in 1990?
43. Adrian Lyne's 2002 film 'Unfaithful' was a remake of which French film of 1968 directed by Claude Chabrol?
44. Who is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo and head of the Catholic church in Zimbabwe who, in June 2007, called on the British government to invade Zimbabwe and remove Robert Mugabe from power?
45. 'The Great Charlemagne, My Father' is the title of the national anthem of which country?
46. On New Years Eve in 2003, the actress and singer Natalie Imbruglia married Daniel Johns, the lead singer of which Australian rock group whose albums include 'Frogstomp' and 'Neon Ballroom'?
47. Who was the Egyptian Pharaoh at the time the Sphinx at Giza was erected?
48. Which English scientist received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904 for his successful isolation of the inert atmospheric gas argon?
49. Major General Vang Pao was arrested in the United States in June 2007 for plotting to overthrow the government of which country?
50. Previously known as Mesembria, what is the name of the ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage Site on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast?

Hope that was okay. To the answers:

1. BUENOS AIRES
2. RIBE
3. LOUIS IX
4. BARBIZON SCHOOL
5. JACK WHITE
6. WILLIAM S BURROUGHS
7. KOSICE
8. VIRGINIA
9. ANDY LINIGHAN
10. SOCHI
11. DENMARK & SWEDEN
12. EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI
13. LAIUS
14. THOMAS JEFFERSON
15. ELFRIEDE JELINEK
16. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
17. JACQUES CARTIER
18. THE MATCHMAKER
19. ALBERTO ASCARI
20. IWO TO
21. VINLAND
22. JAMES FENNIMORE COOPER
23. MOTT THE HOOPLE
24. VIOLIN
25. AUSTRIA
26. EQUILIBRIUM
27. PHILADELPHIA
28. SPAIN
29. PETRONIUS
30. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
31. ISTREA
32. GRAMINIVORE
33. GREAT AUK
34. PERU
35. BELARUS
36. MATTHIAS
37. BERKELEY CASTLE
38. ARMENIA
39. OPOSSUM
40. GIGANTORAPTOR
41. FIRST BALKAN WAR
42. IAN GOW
43. LA FEMME INFIDÈLE
44. PIUS NCUBE
45. ANDORRA
46. SILVERCHAIR
47. KHAFRE
48. JOHN WILLIAM RAYLEIGH
49. LAOS
50. NESEBAR

THE 28th QUIZ

2007-09-06T17:01:00.000Z

Here is today's offering. Enjoy!

1. The Byzantine Emperor Nicephoros died on a dunghill during which battle against the Bulgarians fought on 26 July, 811?
2. Author of the 1554 work 'Cruydeboeck', who became court physician to the Austrian Emperor Rudolph II in 1575 and professor of medicine at the University of Leiden in 1582?
3. The first European mountain railway built with a standard-gauge track, in which European country was the Semmering Railway constructed between 1848 and 1854?
4. What was the pseudonym of Pierre Culliford, best known for his creation of 'The Smurfs' comic strip?
5. Which city in Belgium is famous for its carnival, held every February, which traditionally ends with 'The Burning of the Doll'?
6. A subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, what is the name of the tribe of indigenous people discovered in the Amazon Rainforest in May 2007?
7. Founded in 1793, which resort on the Baltic Sea in the Bade Doberan district is the oldest seaside spa in Germany?
8. To which country does the island of Masirah belong?
9. In June 2007, what was the name of the horse that became the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in over 100 years?
10. At which Australian port does the Hunter River reach the Pacific Ocean?
11. The Chamorro or Chamoru people are the indigenous people of which archipelago?
12. The Polisario Front is a Sahrawi rebel movement working for the independence of which territory?
13. Who was the French political philosopher and anarchist who coined the phrase 'Property is theft'?
14. In which American state are the Green Mountains located?
15. The Kush were an ancient African civilisation located in which modern day country?
16. According to the Gospel of Matthew, which Biblical character ate “locusts and wild honey”?
17. What rank did Idi Amin achieve in the British Army?
18. What is the common name of the now extinct marsupial also called the thylacine?
19. Which American golfer is best remembered for having won 11 consecutive tournaments during 1945?
20. Sharing its name with an Israeli internet news portal, what name is given to the sound effect used in American radio, film, and television to imitate the indistinct murmur of a crowd in the background?
21. Who was the English biologist, known as 'Darwin's Bulldog' for his defence of the theory of evolution, who coined the term 'agnosticism'?
22. In which country were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid said to have died in a gunfight in 1908?
23. In 1903, which English architect won the competition to design the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool?
24. Which European capital city is served by Nikola Tesla airport?
25. A statue of which Roman general, who was governor of Britain in the first Century, stands in the city of Bath?
26. Who was the Greek god of wealth who is said to have been blinded by Zeus so that he might dispense his wealth blindly without regard to merit?
27. Which American President, whose administration ran from 1857-1861, is the only President to have been a bachelor?
28. In Homer's 'Odyssey', what was the name of Odysseus' faithful dog who awaited his return from Ithaca?
29. In June 2007, which Jamaican-born American become the youngest person, as well as the first black person, to fly solo around the world?
30. The O le Ao o le Malo is the title given to the head of state in which country?
31. What name is given to the shanty towns of Brazil, the first of which was created in in November 1897 when 20,000 veteran soldiers were brought to Rio de Janeiro and left with no place to live?
32. In 1842, who became the last politician to be denied appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds?
33. Considered one of the key sites in world prehistory and home to some of the earliest handcrafted gold treasure, in which country could you find the Varna Necropolis?
34. What was the name of the mysterious and magical island featured in the musical 'South Pacific'?
35. By what name is Gustav Mahler's 'Eighth Symphony' better known?
36. The Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea are an autonomous region of which country?
37. Which physician and philosopher, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, founded the Lambaréné Hospital in Gabon?
38. Which Greek philosopher founded the Eleatic School of Philosophy in the 5th Century BC?
39. Which ice hockey team defeated the Ottowa Senators to win the 2007 Stanley Cup?
40. In 1934, the Russian adventurer Boris Skossyreff unsuccessfully declared himself Boris I of which European country?
41. Which Dutch-born painter, who taught at Yale University, published the influential book 'The Interaction of Color' in 1963?
42. Which city is the administrative centre of the French region of Lorraine?
43. In which castle did King John die in 1216?
44. In Norse mythology, who was the messenger to the gods?
45. Who was the Conservative peer who died in 1986, who was best known for his homosexual relationship with the gangster Ronnie Kray?
46. What was the pen-name of the 16th Century alchemist and physician Phillip von Hohenheim?
47. Amblyopia is the medical name for which visual disorder?
48. Who became King of Wessex in 802AD, King of Kent in 825AD and King of Mercia in 829AD and is often referred to as the first King of England?
49. Before it achieved independence in 1828 which country was known as Banda Oriental?
50. What was pen-name used by the Russian novelist Aleksei Peshkov?

Do well? Let's see:

1. BATTLE OF PLISKA
2. REMBERT DODOENS
3. AUSTRIA
4. PEYO
5. AALST
6. METIKTYRE
7. HEILIGENDAMM
8. OMAN
9. RAGS TO RICHES
10. NEWCASTLE
11. MARIANA ISLANDS
12. WESTERN SAHARA
13. PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON
14. VERMONT
15. SUDAN
16. JOHN THE BAPTIST
17. SERGEANT-MAJOR
18. TASMANIAN TIGER
19. BYRON NELSON
20. WALLA
21. THOMAS HUXLEY
22. BOLIVIA
23. GILES GILBERT SCOTT
24. BELGRADE
25. GNAEUS JULIUS AGRICOLA
26. PLUTUS
27. JAMES BUCHANON
28. ARGUS
29. BARRINGTON IRVING
30. SAMOA
31. FAVELAS
32. VISCOUNT CHELSEA (or EARL CADOGAN)
33. BULGARIA
34. BALI HA'I
35. SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND
36. FINLAND
37. ALBERT SCHWEITZER
38. PARMENIDES
39. ANAHEIM DUCKS
40. ANDORRA
41. JOSEF ALBERS
42. NANCY
43. NEWARK
44. HERMOD
45. LORD (ROBERT) BOOTHBY
46. PARACELSUS
47. LAZY EYE
48. EGBERT
49. URUGUAY
50. MAXIM GORKY

THE 27th QUIZ

2007-09-05T15:06:00.000Z

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

THE 26th QUIZ

2007-09-04T21:05:00.000Z

With my participation in several quiz events looming, I've decided to give you lucky people a quiz a day for the foreseeable future. Starting today. I'm afraid it will, like this week's Tuesday Quiz, be less organised in terms of 'quiz categories', but, hopefully, entertaining all the same. Here goes:

1. Which country’s plan to reintroduce bears into the wild backfired in July 2007 when a Slovenian brown bear was accused of being ‘psychotic’ after its serial slaughter of sheep, apparently for fun?
2. Who was the Danish cyclist thrown out of the 2007 Tour de France by his own Rabobank team after missing four drug tests?
3. Taking its name from a David Bowie single, what was the title of Todd Haynes' 1998 film that starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Brian Slade, a bisexual glam-rocker based on Bowie himself?
4. Other than humans, what is the Great White Shark’s only natural predator?
5. Deriving ultimately from the Italian for ‘talk’, what is the name of the slang used by gay men in the first half of the 20th Century that was revived in the 1950s and 60s by the camp characters Julian and Sandy on the popular BBC Radio show 'Round the Horne'?
6. Which Italian early-Renaissance painter and architect is said to have drawn a perfect circle freehand for the Pope?
7. Which lake, located about halfway between Venice and Milan is the largest lake in Italy?
8. The neolithic flint mines found near the village of Spiennes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in which country?
9. Which Austrian-American mathematician and philosopher is best remembered for his two incompleteness theorems, published in 1931?
10. Which was the only Nazi-occupied European country that emerged from World War II with a larger Jewish population than it had before the war?
11. Signed in response to the rise of the Ottoman Empire, which treaty of 1518, sponsored by Cardinal Wolsey, was a non-aggression pact between the major European nations including France, England and the Holy Roman Empire?
12. Of which football team was Bill Shankly manager before he joined Liverpool?
13. In geology, which term, coined by the seismologist Clarence Dutton, refers to the notion that the equilibrium in the crust of the earth is governed by the flow or yielding of the mantle under gravitational stress?
14. According to the Bible, who was the youngest of the twelve Apostles?
15. According to Greek mythology, who was the son of Apollo who was reared by shepherds but torn apart by his own dogs upon reaching adulthood?
16. Who was assassinated in May 1942 by the Czechoslovak soldiers Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík?
17. Which rock star recorded the voice for the title character in the X Box and Playstation 2 platform game 'Malice' before being dropped in controversial circumstances prior to its release in June 2004?
18. Aboard which ship was the notorious criminal Dr Crippen sailing when he was captured in 1910?
19. Which ageing American film actress, whose latest big-screen role was in the 2004 film 'Bob's Night Out', famously received multiple marriage proposals from Benito Mussolini in the mail?
20. Which is the only antelope native to North America?
21. What was the name of the passenger liner that was hijacked off the coast of Egypt by four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front in October 1985?
22. Which British Prime Minister became the 1st Earl of Chatham?
23. Which American boxer defeated Lennox Lewis in April 2001 to claim the WBC and IBF Heavyweight titles?
24. Which ornithologist and painter founded the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in 1948 and designed the panda logo for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature?
25. In which country was the Labour MP Peter Hain born?
26. Who was the only man who completed the Burke and Wills expedition that set out to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1860?
27. Begun in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, what is the name of the avant-garde filmmaking movement, the most notable films of which include 'Fuckland' and 'Italian for Beginners'?
28. Which disease, caused by the bacteria Chlamydia, is the single biggest cause of blindness worldwide?
29. Which bacteriologist, considered the founder of the science of immunology, was awarded the first ever Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1901?
30. In which city are the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency?
31. Which two American Presidents died within a few hours of each other on Independence Day 1826?
32. What is the name of the supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai that will become the world’s tallest man-made structure when it is completed in late 2008?
33. Which football team won the last UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in 1999?
34. In the Roman calender what name was given to the first day of the month?
35. What was the name of the Spanish Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1973?
36. At which battle of 1809 was the British commander Sir John Moore killed?
37. Which Chelsea goalkeeper had a cameo role in the 1930 film 'The Great Game' alongside his team mates Jack Cock, George Mills and Andy Wilson?
38. Ambystoma mexicanum is the scientific name for an aquatic salamander native to Mexico. What is its common name?
39. Casinge Street was a Roman road that linked London with which town?
40. What was the name of the ship aboard which the Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1522?
41. In 1997, Charlotte Hatherley joined which previously all-male indie rock group which she left last year?
42. What was the name of King Harold's brother who fought against Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066?
43. Which 1934 film became the first, and until 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' in 1975 the only, movie in history to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay?
44. Literally meaning 'grilled bird', what is the name given to the Japanese dish of bite-sized pieces of chicken that have been skewered on bamboo and barbecued?
45. Although thought to have become extinct in the 1980s, unconfirmed sightings have continued to the present day in Turkey and Israel of which subspecies of leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana)?
46. Laurenco Marques was the former name of which African capital city?
47. What was the name of Huddersfield Town's football stadium prior to their move to the McAlpine Stadium in 1994?
48. Who was the Scottish religious reformer and Protestant martyr who was burned at the stake at St Andrews in 1546?
49. The Shrine of the Three Kings is a reliquary, said to contain the bones of the Three Wise Men, that is housed in which German cathedral?
50. The poet Yanka Kupala and the novelist Vasil Bykau were two of the greatest 20th Century writers in which language?

Hope you enjoyed it. How did you do?

1. FRANCE
2. MICHAEL RASMUSSEN
3. VELVET GOLDMINE
4. KILLER WHALE (or ORCA)
5. POLARI (or PALARE)
6. GIOTTO
7. LAKE GARDA
8. BELGIUM
9. KURT GÖDEL
10. ALBANIA
11. TREATY OF LONDON
12. HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
13. ISOSTASY
14. JOHN
15. LINUS
16. REINHARD HEYDRICH
17. GWEN STEFANI
18. SS MONTROSE
19. ANITA PAGE
20. PRONGHORN
21. ACHILLE LAURO
22. WILLIAM PITT, THE ELDER
23. HASIM RAHMAN
24. PETER SCOTT
25. KENYA
26. JOHN KING
27. DOGME 95
28. TRACHOMA
29. EMIL VON BEHRING
30. VIENNA
31. THOMAS JEFFERSON and JOHN ADAMS
32. BURJ DUBAI
33. LAZIO
34. KALENDS
35. LUIS CARRERO BLANCO
36. THE BATTLE OF CORUNNA
37. SAM MILLINGTON
38. AXOLOTL
39. DOVER
40. VICTORIA (or VITTORIA)
41. ASH
42. TOSTIG
43. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
44. YAKITORI
45. ANATOLIAN LEOPARD
46. MAPUTO
47. LEEDS ROAD
48. GEORGE WISHART
49. COLOGNE
50. BELARUSIAN

THE 25th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-09-03T04:24:00.000Z

Hi there, I'm going to be a bit busy on Monday so I thought I'd let you have this week's quiz early. I've strayed from the usual format (because I'm unpredictable like that) and you will find very few TV, film or pop music questions this week (because I simply had too many questions I wanted to share with you). Hope you like:

1. Which 19th Century French composer, best remembered for his 'Ave Maria', wrote the national anthem of the Vatican City?
2. Which mural by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was the cause of a vicious dispute between the artist and the Italian cardinal Oliviero Carafa after the latter had accused the former of obscenity because the artist had painted nude figures with their genitals exposed?
3. What is the Basque name for Vitoria, the capital city of the Basque Country?
4. Dying in November 511 AD, who was the first King of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler thus being considered as the founder of both France and the Merovingian Dynasty?
5. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the beautiful shepherd boy of Asia Minor, beloved of the goddess Selene, who put him into a deep sleep so that she may embrace him eternally?
6. Which French President was assassinated by the mentally unstable Russian émigré Paul Gorguloff in 1932?
7. Which song, released in December 1963, was the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide?
8. What was the first name of the Austrian paediatrician after whom Asperger's Syndrome is named?
9. At the 1976 Olympics, which Cuban athlete became the first person to win both the 400m and the 800m?
10. What was the name of the real-life boxer played by Denzel Washington in the 1999 film 'The Hurricane'?
11. Founded by Johann Friedrich Overbeck and Franz Pforr among others, what name was adopted by a group of early 19th Century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art?
12. What is the name of the Norwegian princess who shocked her nation in July 2007 when she announced that she was clairvoyant and wanted to teach her people how to talk to angels?
13. Nicknamed 'The Wee County', which is the smallest county in Scotland?
14. Nicknamed 'The Dragon of Albania' and remembered for his struggles against the Ottoman Empire, by what name is the prominent Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti better known?
15. According to the Books of Samuel, who was the first King of Ancient Israel?
16. MSF is a humanitarian aid non-governmental organisation created in 1971 by a small group of French doctors. For what do the letters MSF stand?
17. In the First Century BC, the Roman author Vitruvius dedicated a treatise to the emperor Caesar Augustus that is now considered the earliest surviving written work on which subject?
18. Which English physicist discovered the existence of electrons in 1897?
19. The Orange Bowl is a famous American football stadium located in which US city?
20. The German television station ZDF sparked controversy in July 2007 when it cancelled which long-running music show?
21. In Aldous Huxley's novel 'Brave New World', what is the name of the happiness-inducing drug that replaced religion and alcohol as the 'opium of the masses'?
22. The only player in Major League history to have the initials U.U.U., which former Major League Baseball relief pitcher, who won the World Series in 2003 with the Florida Marlins, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempted murder in March 2007?
23. In which South American country is the Sechura Desert?
24. Sometimes referred to as the Thirteen Years' War, by what name is the war that took place between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire between 1593 and 1606 better known?
25. Which book of the New Testament tells the parable of the Good Samaritan?
26. The FBI grew out of a force of Special Agents created in 1908 by which American Attorney General?
27. In the deadliest single shooting incident in the history of the United States, thirty two people were shot dead by Cho Seung Hui in April 2007 in what has become known as the Virginia Tech Massacre. In which town in Virginia did the shootings occur?
28. Who was the British neurosurgeon who wrote the influential book 'Neurynology' in 1843 and introduced the word 'hypnotism' into the English language?
29. From 1988 to 2002, Prince Albert of Monaco competed at every Winter Olympics in which sport?
30. Originally known by the codename ‘Longhorn’, which ‘Windows’ line of graphical operating systems was released by Microsoft in January 2007 as a replacement for Windows XP?
31. Which Italian poet wrote the Futurist Manifesto in 1909?
32. What is the name of the great-granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner who caused controversy at the 2007 Bayreuth Festival with her direction of 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' that included nudity, giant plastic phalluses and ‘raining’ shoes?
33. Located in the Baltic Sea, to which country do the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa belong?
34. The musical play 'Mother of All the Peoples' dramatised the life of which female Scottish missionary to Nigeria?
35. Who was the Roman goddess of strife?
36. In which British city was the Israeli President Chaim Herzog born in 1918?
37. Deriving from the Sanskrit for ‘Man of the forest’, what is the name of the legendary bipedal primate said to inhabit the mountainous regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan?
38. Which small, herbivorous mammal, native to Africa and the Middle East, looks similar to a rabbit but is often said to be the closest living terrestrial relative of the elephant?
39. Which horse won the 1967 Grand National at odds of 100/1 after a melee at the 23rd fence caused most of the field to pull up?
40. Which African country joined OPEC on January 1 2007?
41. Who was the 19th Century English essayist who wrote 'The Spirit of the Age' and 'On the Pleasure of Hating'?
42. Zheng Xiaoyu, director of the State Food and Drug Administration of the People's Republic of China, was executed in July 2007 after he was held responsible for the deaths of forty people in which country? He was convicted of taking bribes and dereliction of duty when the people died after taking a cough syrup that contained diethylene glycol.
43. Which town in Alaska is the terminus of the Pan-American Highway?
44. Who was the ancient Greek explorer, who lived in modern-day Marseille in France, who travelled around much of Northern Europe and was the first person to mention the name Britannia?
45. Which legendary monster is said to guard the Swiss city of Basel?
46. Who became the first President of the independent Republic of the Philippines in 1946?
47. Which Greek basketball club won the Euroleague in May 2007 after defeating CSKA Moscow 93-91?
48. In 1583, which botanist and philosopher wrote 'De Plantis Libri XVI' which is considered to be the first textbook of botany?
49. By what name was the football League Cup known between 1981 and 1986?
50. In 2006, which American record producer privately sold Jackson Pollock’s 'No. 5, 1948' and Willem de Kooning’s 'Woman III' for alleged prices of $140,000,000 and $137,500,000 respectively which, if true, would make them the two most expensive paintings in history?

Any good?

1. CHARLES GOUNOD
2. THE LAST JUDGEMENT
3. GASTEIZ
4. CLOVIS I
5. ENDYMION
6. PAUL DOUMER
7. I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
8. HANS
9. ALBERTO JUANTORENA
10. RUBIN CARTER
11. NAZARENES
12. MARTHA LOUISE
13. CLACKMANNANSHIRE
14. SKANDERBEG
15. SAUL
16. MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES
17. ARCHITECTURE
18. JJ THOMSON
19. MIAMI
20. VOLKSMUSIK
21. SOMA
22. UGUETH URTAÍN URBINA
23. PERU
24. THE LONG WAR
25. LUKE
26. CHARLES J BONAPARTE
27. BLACKSBURG
28. JAMES BRAID
29. BOBSLED (or BOBSLEIGH)
30. WINDOWS VISTA
31. FILIPPO TOMMASO MARINETTI
32. KATHARINA WAGNER
33. ESTONIA
34. MARY SLESSOR
35. DISCORDIA
36. BELFAST
37. BARMANOU (or BARMANU)
38. HYRAX
39. FOINAVON
40. ANGOLA
41. WILLIAM HAZLITT
42. PANAMA
43. FAIRBANKS
44. PYTHEAS
45. BASILISK
46. MANUEL ROXAS
47. PANATHINAIKOS BC
48. ANDREAS CAESALPINUS
49. RUMBELOWS CUP
50. DAVID GEFFEN

THE 24th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-08-28T03:32:00.000Z

Hello again. Have you missed me? Here's your quiz:

1. Which famously misogynistic Roman satiric poet of the 1st and 2nd Centuries wrote 'The Woes of a Gigolo' and 'Roman Wives'?
2. Which famous Greek wine is flavoured with pine resin?
3. Lying on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, which is the most westerly city in Germany?
4. What was the name of the Polish and Lithuanian national hero and general who led the 1794 uprising against the Russian Empire?
5. Who was the legendary Prince of Troy, and father of Aeneas, who was blinded by a flash of lightning for boasting that he had made love with the goddess Aphrodite?
6. Who was the Belgian socialist politician and former Prisoner of War who served as Belgian Prime Minister on three occasions between 1938 and 1949?
7. Under what name do the British electronic music duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons record?
8. The axilla is the medical name for which part of the body?
9. On which golf course did Tony Jacklin win the British Open in 1969?
10. Who played The Wizard of Oz in the 1939 film of the same name?
11. Which fictional detective made his first appearance in the 1977 novel 'A Morbid Taste for Bones'?
12. Named after a region in Slovakia, what is the name of the Slovak dish, also used in Hungarian and Austrian cuisine, of spiced white cheese made from a mixture of sheep and cow milk?
13. Which famous landmark is featured at the centre of the flag of Cambodia?
14. In which coastal town in Devon did William of Orange and his Dutch army land to fight the Glorious Revolution?
15. Which is the longest book of the New Testament?
16. Which is the only country in Europe to still use capital punishment?
17. Which Austrian psychologist and Holocaust Survivor, who founded logotherapy and Existential Analysis, wrote the book 'Man's Search for Meaning', chronicling his experiences in a concentration camp?
18. In astronomy, what term describes the point in the orbit of a planet or a comet at which it is farthest from the Sun?
19. According to tradition, all racehorses in the Southern hemisphere celebrate their birthday on what date?
20. Who wrote the short story upon which the film 'Brokeback Mountain' was based?
21. What was the pen-name adopted by the French novelist Henri-Marie Beyle?
22. What type of pasta takes its name from the Italian for a 'three-cornered hat'?
23. Which island separates the American and Canadian Niagara Falls?
24. Which ancient country, conquered by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd Century, covered parts of present-day Serbia, Macedonia and Albania and had its capital at Damastioni and, later, at Naissus?
25. Which was the final battle of King Arthur, at which he was mortally wounded?
26. Who was the President of the USA when the Statue of Liberty was assembled in 1886?
27. Which indie group achieved their best British chart position in March 1996 when their song 'Being Brave' reached number 10?
28. Who was the Hungarian-born American physicist, who died in 2003, who is known as the 'father of the hydrogen bomb'?
29. Who became the first £1,000 footballer when he was transferred from Sunderland to Middlesbrough in 1905?
30. In the Popeye cartoons, what is the name of Olive Oyl’s brother?
31. In Jonthan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels' what is the name of the island that is eternally at war with Lilliput?
32. Transnistria is a breakaway territory within the internationally recognised borders of which European country?
33. By what name was the Venezuelan city Ciudad Bolívar known prior to 1846?
34. What was the name of the American serial killer, nicknamed the Killer Clown, who was executed in 1994 for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young men?
35. According to the Bible, in which ancient city, in modern day Turkey, was Saint Paul the Apostle born?
36. In which city are the Headquarters of the International Red Cross?
37. Which song, released by Basement Jaxx in May 1999, was the only top ten hit of the 1990s to contain the word 'red' in its title?
38. Which scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his application of quantum theory to the problem of atomic and molecular structure?
39. Which Italian became the first Formula 1 World Champion in 1950?
40. Set in the year 2027, which film by the Austro-German director Fritz Lang, became the most expensive silent film ever made when it was released in 1927?
41. Which artist, born in Paris in 1771 and star pupil of Jacques-Louis David, was appointed as official war painter by Napoleon?
42. How many ordinary wine bottles make up a melchior of Champagne?
43. What was the name of the language spoken by the Incas?
44. What was the name of the satellite that in 1971 became the UK's first artificial satellite in space?
45. According to the Bible, which handmaiden of Sarah was the mother of Ishmael?
46. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the Boston Tea Party?
47. Which singer and songwriter produced the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's only top ten hit 'I'm the Urban Spaceman' using the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth?
48. Which elementary particle was discovered in 1964 by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig?
49. Including the end zones, what is the standard length, in yards, of an American football pitch?
50. The 1980 film 'Coal Miner's Daughter', starring Sissy Spacek portrayed which country singer's rise to stardom?

I hope that was enjoyable. You may have noticed that the last two quizzes have been slightly easier; this is because the quiz three weeks ago was simply far too hard - the highest score I know of was fewer than half marks. Let's see how we do here:

1. JUVENAL
2. RETSINA
3. AACHEN
4. TADEUSZ KOŚCIUSZKO
5. ANCHISES
6. PAUL-HENRI SPAAK
7. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
8. ARMPIT
9. ROYAL LYTHAM & ST ANNES
10. FRANK MORGAN
11. CADFAEL
12. LIPTAUER (or LIPTOV)
13. ANGKOR WAT
14. BRIXHAM
15. ACTS (OF THE APOSTLES)
16. BELARUS
17. VIKTOR FRANKL
18. APHELION
19. AUGUST 1ST
20. ANNIE PROULX
21. STENDAHL
22. CAPPELLETTI
23. GOAT ISLAND
24. DARDANIA
25. BATTLE OF CAMLANN
26. GROVER CLEVELAND
27. MENSWEAR
28. EDWARD TELLER
29. ALF COMMON
30. CASTOR
31. BLEFUSCU
32. MOLDOVA
33. ANGOSTURA
34. JOHN WAYNE GACY
35. TARSUS
36. GENEVA
37. RED ALERT
38. NIELS BOHR
39. GIUSEPPE 'NINO' FARINA
40. METROPOLIS
41. ANTOINE-JEAN GROS (or BARON GROS)
42. 24
43. QUECHUA
44. PROSPERO X-3
45. HAGAR
46. LORD NORTH (FREDERICK NORTH)
47. PAUL MCCARTNEY
48. QUARK
49. 120
50. LORETTA LYNN

THE 23rd TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-08-21T11:13:00.000Z

Welcome back for another fifty questions. I hope you like:

1. Which influential writer of the French Renaissance, who helped to popularise the essay as a literary form, is perhaps best remembered for his 'Apology for Raymond Sebond'?
2. Telegraph, Tokyo and King of the Ridge are all varieties of which vegetable?
3. Which lake and UNESCO World Heritage Site straddles the border between Macedonia and Albania?
4. At which battle, fought in August 1526, was Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, defeated and killed by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent?
5. Which Pope who reigned for thirteen days in September 1590 is the shortest reigning Pope in history?
6. Elected in 2005, Albert Pintat Santolària is the head of government in which European country?
7. Released by Elvis Presley in 1958, which was the first song to go straight to number 1 in the UK singles chart?
8. Hippotragus leucophaeus was an antelope that became, in around 1800, the first large African mammal to become extinct in historic times; what was its common name?
9. Which former Wimbledon men's singles champion was known as the Bounding Basque?
10. What was the first name of the cartoon character Mr Magoo?
11. Which famous Japanese architect designed the city plan for the Nigerian capital Abuja?
12. The mojito is a traditional cocktail that originated in which country?
13. In which American city could you visit the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial?
14. Lasting between 1804 and 1813, in which country did the first revolution to occur in Europe following the French Revolution take place?
15. Deriving from the Slavonic for 'assembly', which word is given to a council of bishops and other clerical and lay representatives representing the church in matters of importance?
16. In which country was the three time Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres born?
17. Which group's first hit was 'Apache' in 1960?
18. Who was the 18th Century Swiss mathematician and physicist, who published more papers than any other mathematician in history, who pioneered the theory of trigonometric and logarithmic functions?
19. In which Scottish town do Albion Rovers Football Club play their home matches?
20. Who played the title character in the 1969 film 'Isadora'?
21. What was the name of the 15th Century Florentine humanist and historian who is best known for his work 'On Civic Life'?
22. Which grain is alternatively known as Guinea corn or Egyptian millet?
23. Aletch Glacier, the largest glacier in continental Europe, is located in which country?
24. Which Italian city was the capital of the Kingdom of Etruria that existed between 1801 and 1807?
25. In Greek mythology, which Spartan king was the father of Helen and Clytemnestra?
26. In 1958, which German politician became the first President of the European Commission?
27. Born in 1943, what was the stage-name adopted by the singer and musician Roberta Joan Anderson?
28. Spica is the brightest star in which constellation?
29. During a Test Match against India in 1976, which English bowler was accused of rubbing Vaseline into the ball in order to make it swing better?
30. Which female country singer's life was dramatized in the 1985 film 'Sweet Dreams'?
31. What is the English title of Rossini's opera 'La Gazza Ladra'?
32. Which vegetable takes its name from the German for 'cabbage-turnip'?
33. What is the official currency of both Uganda and Somalia?
34. Which city was the capital of Moldavia between the 16th Century and 1861 and the capital of Romania from 1916 to 1918?
35. Which ancient Egyptian god was the son of Osiris and Isis?
36. Which early 20th Century British diplomat and MP is best remembered for his passionate support for Albanian independence and was subsequently offered the throne of Albania, which he declined?
37. Which American alternative rock band formed in Escatawpa, Mississippi in 1994 signed to Universal Records after their chart success with the song 'Kryptonite'?
38. Found exclusively in the Galapagos Islands, what is the name of the world's only lizard that hunts and forages in the sea?
39. Bando and Krabi-Krabong are martial arts originating in which country?
40. Who was the American animator who created Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny?
41. Which 20th Century French painter designed scenes for Diaghilev's ballets 'Les Fâcheux' and 'Zéphyr et Flore'?
42. Used when making tea, and deriving from the Russian for 'self brewer', what name is given the heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in Russia, Iran and Turkey?
43. What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous region of Cantabria?
44. Fought on September 7th 1812, which was the largest and bloodiest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than a quarter of a million soldiers and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties?
45. The Digambara Texts are sacred writings in which religion?
46. Who was the Democratic Presidential nominee who was defeated by George Bush Snr. in the American Presidential elections in 1988?
47. Which group, formed in Glasgow in 1996, took their name from a children's book written by the French actress and writer Cécile Aubry?
48. What is the name of the metal or plastic tubes fixed around the end of shoelaces?
49. Which American medial mogul created the Goodwill Games in reaction to the political troubles that surrounded the Olympic Games during the early 1980s?
50. Who wrote the musical 'Guys and Dolls'?

How was that? Do well? Let's see:

1. MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE
2. CUCUMBER
3. LAKE OHRID
4. BATTLE OF MOHÁCS
5. URBAN VII
6. ANDORRA
7. JAILHOUSE ROCK
8. BLUEBUCK (or BLUE ANTELOPE)
9. JEAN BOROTRA
10. QUINCY
11. KENZO TANGE
12. CUBA
13. ST LOUIS
14. SERBIA
15. SOBOR
16. POLAND
17. THE SHADOWS
18. LEONHARD EULER
19. COATBRIDGE
20. VANESSA REDGRAVE
21. MATTEO PALMIERI
22. SORGHUM
23. SWITZERLAND
24. FLORENCE
25. TYNDAREUS
26. WALTER HALLSTEIN
27. JONI MITCHELL
28. VIRGO
29. JOHN LEVER
30. PATSY CLINE
31. THE THIEVING MAGPIE
32. KOHLRABI
33. SHILLING
34. IAŞI
35. HORUS
36. AUBREY HERBERT
37. 3 DOORS DOWN
38. MARINE IGUANA
39. BURMA (or MYANMAR)
40. TEX AVERY
41. GEORGES BRAQUE
42. SAMOVAR
43. SANTANDER
44. BATTLE OF BORODINO
45. JAINISM
46. MICHAEL DUKAKIS
47. BELLE & SEBASTIAN
48. AGLETS
49. TED TURNER
50. FRANK LOESSER

THE 22nd TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-08-14T11:39:00.000Z

Hello and welcome once again to the Tuesday Quiz. Over the coming weeks, you may find a large number of Eurocentric questions in the quizzes - revision, you see. The European Quiz Championships are held in November and I'm revising like mad. Hope you like this selection:

1. What was the name of the 19th Century Albanian author and poet, who worked for the British Consulate in his homeland, whose best known published works include 'The Truth of Albania' and 'A Historical Outline of Montenegro According to the Traditions of Albania'?
2. Which trademarked quality description of a group of cultivars of rapeseed variants was initially bred in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur Stefansson in the 1970s?
3. What is the name of the least populous and easternmost state of Austria that joined from Hungary in 1921?
4. Which short-lived Kingdom was created by the Treaty of Aranjuez in 1801?
5. Who was the priest of Apollo in Greek mythology who was given a magical golden arrow that rendered him invisible and with which he rid plagues and gave oracles?
6. Who was the Christian Socialist Chancellor of Austria who was assassinated by Nazi agents in 1934?
7. The Deep Purple hit song 'Smoke on the Water' was inspired by a casino fire that occurred whilst the band were recording in which country?
8. The name of which brightly coloured marine fish is derived from the Cornish word for 'old woman'?
9. Which Australian snooker player was banned for eight years in February 2006 after being found guilty of match fixing?
10. In which English city was the 1960 film 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning', starring Albert Finney, set?
11. What is the name of the school in which the Muriel Spark novel 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' is set?
12. One of the oldest known cocktails was created by Antoine Amédée Peychaud in New Orleans in the 1850s and consists of Cognac, rye whiskey, absinthe, pastis, Peychaud's bitters and Angostura bitters; which cocktail?
13. Which historical region in eastern Germany derives its name from the Sorbian for 'swamps'?
14. Which battle of September 9AD saw the destruction of three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus by an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius?
15. According to the Bible, who was the mother of Moses?
16. The Sindic is the title given to the President of the parliament of which European country?
17. Which 70s rock group, who reformed in 1993, took their name from that of a steam-powered dildo in William S. Burroughs' novel 'Naked Lunch'?
18. Which pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, born in the city of Miletus in the 7th Century BC, is regarded as the 'father of science'?
19. In which sport is the Strathcona Cup awarded?
20. Which English television composer wrote the scores for the TV series 'The Avengers' and 'The Professionals'?
21. Which artificial language was created by Johann Martin Schleyer in 1880?
22. Founded in 1926 with the mission of celebrating and promoting cherries, the National Cherry Festival is held annually in which city in Michigan?
23. The Tara River Canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe, is located in which country?
24. Which Pope crowned Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800AD?
25. Who is the patron saint of housewives?
26. In which US city was the United Nations Charter, that established the UN, signed in 1945?
27. Which Swedish alternative rock group had hits in the mid-90s with 'You and Me Song' and 'Hit'?
28. Which British engineer designed the Forth Bridge and the original Aswan Dam?
29. Which Dutch tennis player did Virginia Wade defeat in the 1977 Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Final?
30. Which British former heavyweight boxing champion was seen striking the huge gong at the start of the J Arthur Rank films?
31. What was the name of the 6th-7th Century Welsh-language poet who wrote 'The Gododdin'?
32. Known in South-East Asia as 'The King of Fruits', which fruit of the family Malvaceae is sometimes banned from aeroplanes and taxi cabs because of its offensive odour?
33. In which American state is the Lowell Observatory?
34. Napoleon was exiled to Elba in 1814 following the signing of which treaty?
35. Established in Iceland in the 1960s, what is the name of the polytheistic reconstructionism movement whose focus is reviving the Norse paganism of the Viking Age and is now officially recognised by several Scandinavian governments?
36. Eddie McGrady and Mark Durkan are current British M.P.s representing which party?
37. The pop group The Monkees were created for a television show on which American network?
38. Which order of fish, with a Greek name meaning 'hollow spine' and closely related to the lungfish, was believed to have been extinct since the Cretaceous period until a live specimen was caught off the coast of South Africa in 1938?
39. Who scored the only goal when Nottingham Forest defeated Hamburg 1-0 in the 1980 European Cup Final?
40. Which 1964 film starring Clint Eastwood was a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Japanese classic 'Yojimbo'?
41. Which 19th Century Russian composer was also a noted chemist, gaining great respect for his work on aldehydes?
42. Chewed by West African tribes before meals, which fruit, with the Latin name Sideroxylon dulcificum, was first documented in the West by the French explorer Des Marchais in 1725?
43. Khalka is the principal language spoken in which country?
44. Which English Queen was imprisoned for 32 years after she was accused of infidelity by her husband King George I?
45. The Kojiki is a sacred text of which religion?
46. What was the name of the governor of Texas who was in the same car as John F. Kennedy when he was killed in 1963?
47. Released in 1957, 'Butterfly' was the only UK number 1 hit single for which singer?
48. What name is given to the rate of temperature change observed while moving upward through the atmosphere?
49. Which annual sporting activity takes place at Cooper's Hill in the Cotswolds?
50. Who played the Bandit in the 1977 film 'Smokey and the Bandit'?

How did you do? Let's have a look:

1. PASHKO VASA
2. CANOLA
3. BURGENLAND
4. ETRURIA
5. ABARIS
6. ENGELBERT DOLLFUSS
7. SWITZERLAND
8. WRASSE
9. QUINTEN HANN
10. NOTTINGHAM
11. THE MARCIA BLAINE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
12. SAZERAC
13. LUSATIA
14. BATTLE OF TEUTOBURG FOREST
15. JOCHEBED
16. ANDORRA
17. STEELY DAN
18. THALES
19. CURLING
20. LAURIE JOHNSON
21. VOLAPÜK
22. TRAVERSE CITY
23. MONTENEGRO
24. LEO III
25. ST ANNE
26. SAN FRANCISCO
27. THE WANNADIES
28. BENJAMIN BAKER
29. BETTY STÖVE
30. BOMBARDIER BILLY WELLS
31. ANEIRIN
32. DURIAN
33. ARIZONA
34. TREATY OF FONTAINEBLEAU
35. ÁSATRÚ
36. SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY (SDLP)
37. NBC
38. COELACANTH
39. JOHN ROBERTSON
40. A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
41. ALEXANDER BORODIN
42. MIRACLE FRUIT
43. MONGOLIA
44. SOPHIA DOROTHEA
45. SHINTO (or SHINTOISM)
46. JOHN CONNOLLY
47. ANDY WILLIAMS
48. LAPSE RATE
49. CHEESE ROLLING
50. BURT REYNOLDS

THE 21st TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-08-07T08:20:00.000Z

Hello and welcome to the latest Tuesday Quiz. Hope you enjoy.

1. The most famous works of which 18th Century English painter include 'An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump' and 'The Orrery'?
2. 'An Omelette and a Glass of Wine' is the title of a book by which English cookery writer, who is considered responsible for popularising French and Italian cookery in British homes?
3. In which town in Hertfordshire would you find the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum?
4. In 1773, which of Captain James Cook's ships became the first recorded vessel to cross the Antarctic circle?
5. In Greek mythology, for his first labour Heracles had to slay which creature?
6. Which former Prime Minister of Luxembourg was President of the European Commission between 1995 and 1999?
7. Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe make up which British dance music duo?
8. In particle physics, what collective name is given to the force carrying particles such as gluons and photons?
9. The vallenato is dance that originated in which South American country?
10. Which 1968 film, staring Steve McQueen, was based on Robert L Pike's novel 'Mute Witness'?
11. 'Dyskolos' is the title of the only play that survives in its entirety written by which Greek dramatist?
12. The Ancient Greeks and Romans regarded which herb (Tanacetum vulgare) as a symbol of immortality?
13. Which Canadian Canal was opened in 1829 to allow ships to circumvent the Niagara Falls?
14. During World War II, by what name were members of The Yugoslav Royal Army in the Fatherland known?
15. Along with the Gospel of Luke, which other book of the New Testament is thought to have been written by St Luke the Evangelist?
16. Joseph Bamina, who was assassinated in 1965, was the Prime Minister of which African country?
17. Stevie Wonder originally wrote his hit single 'Superstition' for which guitarist and songwriter?
18. What is the name of the oval yellow spot found at the centre of the retina in the human eye that is specialised for high clarity vision?
19. In 1968, England's cricket team's Test series against South Africa was cancelled by the South African authorities after the inclusion of which black player in the England team?
20. Directed by Sheka Kapur, which 1994 film told the true story of Phoolan Devi, an Indian criminal who later became an member of parliament in India?
21. Which six-letter word is the only word in the English language to begin with the letters 'tm'?
22. Although often referred to as a nut, to which family of fruit do almonds belong?
23. Mount Korab is the highest peak in which European country?
24. What was the codename given to the initial landing operation of Operation Overlord in June 1944, the precursor to the allied invasion of Normandy?
25. Which religious denomination was founded by John Thomas in 1848?
26. Which controversial British politician committed suicide in 1822 by slitting his throat with a letter opener after, apparently, being blackmailed about a homosexual affair?
27. Which band did Jack Bruce leave to form Cream in 1966?
28. Who was the immunologist and pathologist who discovered the major blood groups and developed the ABO system of blood typing, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1930?
29. Which English cricket captain also won the boxing gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1908?
30. What is the name of the remote Hebridean island upon which the 1973 film 'The Wicker Man' is set?
31. In which city is John le Carre's novel 'A Small Town in Germany' set?
32. What is the name of the highly seasoned French thick, creamy soup made from puréed crustaceans?
33. Founded by St Kevin in the 6th Century, in which Irish county could you visit the Glendalough monastery?
34. William Adelin, who drowned off the coast of Normandy in the White Ship disaster, was the only legitimate son of which English King?
35. Who was Pope during World War II?
36. Which is the USA's oldest state, having been the first state to ratify the American Constitution?
37. Jello Biafra was the lead singer of which American punk group?
38. Which bodily secretion is properly known as cerumen?
39. In 2002, which Turkish footballer scored the fastest goal in World Cup history after just 10 seconds in Turkey's third place play-off match against South Korea?
40. Released in 1962, which was the first of the 'Carry On...' films to be released in colour?
41. In the year 2000, which author became the first person writing in Chinese to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?
42. Gorgonzola cheese is named after the small town of Gorgonzola on the outskirts of which Italian city?
43. In which English city could you cross the Palladian Pulteney Bridge?
44. First published in 1702, which was Britain's first regular daily newspaper?
45. By which English name is the Jewish festival of Purim commonly known?
46. Who was the German nobleman and diplomat who served as Imperial Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice Chancellor under Hitler from 1933 to 1934?
47. Who wrote the Sheena Easton hit single 'Sugar Walls' using the pseudonym Alexander Nevermind?
48. Deriving from the Turkish for 'black ear' because of its conspicuous black ears, what is the common name for the cat that is also known as the Persian or African lynx?
49. The Football Association was founded in October 1863 at which London inn?
50. Lamont Cranston is the human alter-ego of which comic book superhero?

Do well? Let's see:

1. JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY
2. ELIZABETH DAVID
3. TRING
4. RESOLUTION
5. NEMEAN LION
6. JACQUES SANTER
7. BASEMENT JAXX
8. BOSONS
9. COLOMBIA
10. BULLITT
11. MENANDER
12. TANSY
13. WELLAND CANAL (or WELLAND SHIP CANAL)
14. CHETNIKS
15. ACTS (OF THE APOSTLES)
16. BURUNDI
17. JEFF BECK
18. MACULA
19. BASIL D'OLIVEIRA
20. BANDIT QUEEN
21. TMESIS
22. PEACH
23. ALBANIA
24. OPERATION NEPTUNE
25. CHRISTADELPHIANS
26. VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH
27. MANFRED MANN
28. KARL LANDSTEINER
29. JOHNNY DOUGLAS
30. SUMMERISLE
31. BONN
32. BISQUE
33. WICKLOW
34. HENRY I
35. PIUS XII
36. DELAWARE
37. DEAD KENNEDYS
38. EARWAX
39. HAKAN ŞÜKÜR
40. CARRY ON CRUISING
41. GAO XINGJIAN
42. MILAN
43. BATH
44. DAILY COURANT
45. FEAST OF LOTS
46. FRANZ VON PAPEN
47. PRINCE
48. CARACAL
49. FREEMASON'S TAVERN
50. THE SHADOW

THE 20th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-08-01T19:59:00.000Z

Hi, again, and apologies for the delay in posting the latest quiz. I've been moving house and so have been otherwise detained. However, I hope you like this set:

1. In HG Wells' novel 'The Time Machine', what name is given to the subterranean humanoid race that feeds on a mentally retarded race of people called the Eloi?
2. Which foodstuff is known as 'chesnock' in Russian, 'ajo' in Spanish and 'suen tau' in Chinese?
3. Which is the smallest of the five inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly?
4. Who was the commander of the Spartan fleet that was victorious against the Athenians at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405BC and who brought the Peloponnesian War to an end by taking Athens the following year?
5. How many theses did Martin Luther nail to the door of Wittenberg Church in 1517?
6. If a monopoly is the market condition that exists when there is only one seller, what name is given to the market condition that exists when there is only one buyer?
7. Which singer, songwriter and spoken-word artist became the lead singer of the hardcore punk band Black Flag in 1981?
8. Nicknamed the 'comet ferret', which 18th Century French astronomer compiled the first catalogue of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters?
9. What was the name of the horse upon which Zara Phillips won the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in 2006?
10. The 1994 film 'The Browning Version', starring Albert Finney, was an adaptation of a one-act play of the same name by which dramatist?
11. Which landscape painter, born in London in 1752, was described by John Constable as “The greatest genius that ever touched landscape”?
12. Halal is the word used to describe food that is produced in such a way to make it permissible according to Islamic law; what word is used to describe food that is considered unlawful?
13. The inhabitants of which American state are known as 'Nutmeggers'?
14. Who did William the Conqueror appoint as his first Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070?
15. Who was the legendary king of Athens and father of Theseus who threw himself into the sea upon mistakenly believing that his son had perished during his mission to kill the minotaur?
16. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the Peterloo Massacre and the Cato Street Conspiracy?
17. From 1984 to 1987, Pearl Jam's future guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Mark Ament were both members of which early grunge band fronted by the future Mudhoney lead vocalist Mark Arm?
18. The nymphs of which insects produce cuckoo-spit?
19. At which Scottish golf course was the first Open Championship held in 1860?
20. The English folk song 'Johnny Todd' was used as the theme tune to which British TV series of the 1960s and 70s?
21. In EM Forster's novel 'Maurice', what is the name of the gamekeeper with whom the title character falls in love?
22. What is the name of the traditional Ashkenazi Jewish braided bread that is eaten on the Jewish Sabbath and other holidays when the eating of leavened bread is forbidden?
23. On which river does the Italian city of Verona stand?
24. What was the name of the week-long Roman winter festival dedicated to the god of agriculture?
25. Which rank in the Christian ministry takes its name from the Greek for 'waiter'?
26. In English law, the phrase 'time immemorial' refers to the time prior to the reign of which English King?
27. Who was the American singer and songwriter who wrote the famous folk song 'This Land is Your Land' in 1940 in response to Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America', which he considered unrealistic and complacent?
28. Commonly seen in insects such as crickets and grasshoppers, what name is given to the act of producing sound by rubbing certain body parts together?
29. Which Greek businessman became the first President of the International Olympic Committee in 1894?
30. What was the surname of the family featured in the American sit-com 'The Cosby Show'?
31. Sometimes referred to as Europe's first professional female writer, what was the name of the author, born in Venice in 1364, whose best known works include 'The Book of the Cities of Ladies' and 'The Book of the Three Virtues'?
32. Which drink did Ernest Hemingway describe as "...that opaque, bitter, tongue-numbing, brain-warming, stomach-warming, idea-changing, liquid alchemy"?
33. St Machar's, St Mary's and St Andrew's are three cathedrals in which British city?
34. What was the codename given to the spy Elyesa Bazna, a naturalised Turk of Albanian origin, who offered secret British documents to Nazi Germany during the Second World War?
35. Which book of the New Testament gives the number of the beast, usually said to be 666?
36. Coming to office in 1762, who was the first Tory Prime Minister?
37. In 1969, the singer-songwriter Steve Marriott left The Small Faces to form which group?
38. Which element has the highest melting point?
39.Camogie is the name given to the women's variant of which team sport?
40. Who was the only actor to appear in all 251 episodes of the American TV series 'M*A*S*H'?
41. In which river did the author Virginia Woolf drown in 1941?
42. Xingu is a popular beer produced in which country?
43. Which town in Denmark is home to the Lego Group and the original Legoland theme park?
44. In the 19th Century by what collective name were James Brine, James Hammett, George Loveless, James Loveless, Thomas Standfield and John Standfield known?
45. Which Christian feast is celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday?
46. Hastings Banda was the first Prime Minister of which African country?
47. Which song, released in August 1963, was the best selling single in the UK of the 1960s?
48. Which Dutch pathologist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology in 1929, demonstrated that beriberi is caused by a poor diet?
49. In 2007, the footballer Martin Reim equalled Lothar Matthäus’ European record when he won his 150th cap for which country?
50. The 1999 film 'Tea with Mussolini' tells the story of a young boy's upbringing in which Italian city?

Shall we see how you did? Let's:

1. MORLOCKS
2. GARLIC
3. BRYHER
4. LYSANDER
5. 95
6. MONOPSONY
7. HENRY ROLLINS
8. CHARLES MESSIER
9. TOYTOWN
10. TERRENCE RATTIGAN
11. JOHN ROBERT COZENS
12. HARAM
13. CONNECTICUT
14. LANFRANC
15. AEGAEUS
16. EARL OF LIVERPOOL, ROBERT JENKINSON
17. GREEN RIVER
18. FROGHOPPERS
19. PRESTWICK
20. Z CARS
21. ALEC SCUDDER
22. CHALLAH
23. ADIGE
24. SATURNALIA
25. DEACON
26. RICHARD I
27. WOODY GUTHRIE
28. STRIDULATION
29. DEMETRIUS VIKELAS
30. HUXTABLE
31. CHRISTINE DE PIZAN
32. ABSINTHE
33. ABERDEEN
34. CICERO
35. REVELATION
36. JOHN STUART, THE EARL OF BUTE
37. HUMBLE PIE
38. CARBON
39. HURLING
40. ALAN ALDA
41. OUSE
42. BRAZIL
43. BILLUND
44. THE TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS
45. CORPUS CHRISTI
46. MALAWI
47. SHE LOVES YOU
48. CHRISTIAAN EIJKMAN
49. ESTONIA
50. FLORENCE

THE 19th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-07-24T00:37:00.000Z

Welcome back for another quiz feast. Hope these are to your liking:

1. Written, at least in part, whilst their author was confined to a lunatic asylum, the poems 'A Song to David' and 'Jubilate Agno' are among the most famous works of which 18th Century English poet?
2. Which dish, consisting of toast, bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, is named after a 19th Century New York stockbroker?
3. The Greek architect Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis is best remembered for designing which Asian capital city?
4. What was the name of the King's horse that trampled and killed the suffragette Emily Davison during the 1913 Epsom Derby?
5. What was the name of the female monster of Greek mythology, that had the head and torso of a woman and the lower half of a snake, who stole and ate children?
6. Who was elected American President in 1840 using the slogan 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too'?
7. Who was the American Vice-President to Calvin Coolidge who wrote the music for the song 'It's All in the Game', later to be recorded by Cliff Richard, Elton John and Barry Manilow among others?
8. Who was the English analytical chemist who produced the first periodic table of the elements arranged in order of atomic mass in 1863?
9. In 1977, which East German athlete became the first female high jumper ever to clear a height of 2 metres?
10. What was the name of the prized stud racehorse that was beheaded in the 1972 film 'The Godfather'?
11. Which famous poem by Lewis Carroll is subtitled 'An Agony in Eight Fits'?
12. From which African country does Cap Bon wine come?
13. Which mountain in the Sequoia National Park is the highest peak in the forty-eight contiguous states of the USA?
14. In the 1st Century BC, which Roman statesman and general ordered the construction of the original Pantheon in Rome that was later rebuilt, on the orders of Hadrian, after it had been destroyed by fire in 80AD?
15. What name is given to the shawl with fringed corners worn by Jewish men at prayer?
16. Founded by Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin in 1988, by what acronymic name is the Islamic Resistance Movement better known?
17. Niomi MacLean-Daley is the real name of which British singer?
18. What term describes the point at which a celestial object in orbit around the Earth, such as the Moon, makes its closest approach to the Earth?
19. Which Northern Irish motorcycle racer, who was nicknamed 'King of the Road', died in a crash in a race in Estonia in 2000?
20. Which 1954 musical film was based on Stephen Vincent Benéts short story 'The Sobbin' Women'?
21. In George Orwell's '1984', Room 101 is part of which government ministry?
22. Used in brewing, a hogshead of beer is equal to how many gallons?
23. The Place de Quinconces and the Colonnes des Girondins are sight-seeing attractions in which French city?
24. What was the first name of the young girl who, in 1948, became the first patient to be treated through the National Health Service?
25. According to the Bible, from which wood was the Ark of the Covenant built?
26. Which Norwegian politican became the first Secretary General of the United Nations in 1946?
27. Which rock group, formed in 1992, were originally called Tragic Love Company?
28. The headquarters of the car manufacturer Ferrari are based in which Italian town 12 miles outside Modena?
29. According to the 2001 census, which is the largest town in England never to have had a football league team?
30. The 1958 film 'The Inn of the Sixth Happiness' told the true story of which British missionary in China?
31. Which 17th-Century French author wrote many of today's most famous fairy-tales, including 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Cindarella', 'Puss in Boots' and 'Sleeping Beauty'?
32. With a name meaning 'to chop into small pieces', what is the name of the cold Russian soup made from raw vegetables, boiled potatoes, eggs and ham?
33.The islands of Bulla, Vulf and Nargin all lie in which body of water?
34. The word ghetto has come to describe any area where people from a specific racial or ethnic background live as a group in seclusion; but the original ghetto was an area set aside for Jews in the 15th and 16th Centuries in which city?
35. Deriving from the Persian for 'fairy', what name is given to the creature of Persian mythology, descended from fallen angels, who have been denied Paradise until they have done penance?
36. Who became the first President of Indonesia upon its independence from the Netherlands in 1945?
37. In which American state did Buddy Holly die in a plane crash in 1959?
38. Paraesthesia is the medical name for which minor complaint?
39. Which early 20th Century baseball player, who spent most of his career at the Detroit Tigers, was nicknamed 'The Georgia Peach'?
40. In the cartoons, which fictional football team does Postman Pat support?
41. In the early 20th Century, which hotel in New York was used as the site for the meetings of the literary Round Table, whose members included Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott and Robert Benchley?
42. The name of which liqueur translates into English from Scots Gaelic as 'the drink that satisfies'?
43. At 926 metres, Lugnaquilla is the highest peak in which mountain range?
44. Who was the 17th-Century King of Sweden known as 'The Lion of the North' who was killed at the Battle of Lützen?
45. What name is given to the wall of a mosque that faces Mecca?
46. Which demographer and political economist published the influential 'Essay on the Principle of Population' in 1798?
47. Which singer launched his own record label, Direction Records, in 1969?
48. Which medium-sized passerine bird of the family Artamidae native to Australia is sometimes referred to as the piping-crow because of its resounding, metallic cry?
49. Between 1919 and 1937, Ralph Greenleaf was the 20 times world champion in which sport?
50. Bob Dylan won the 2000 Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Things Have Changed', taken from the soundtrack to which film?

How did you do? Let's take a look:

1. CHRISTOPHER SMART
2. EGGS BENEDICT
3. ISLAMABAD
4. ANMER
5. LAMIA
6. WILLIAM HARRISON
7. CHARLES DAWES
8. JOHN NEWLANDS
9. ROSEMARIE ACKERMANN
10. KHARTOUM
11. THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
12. TUNISIA
13. MOUNT WHITNEY
14. AGRIPPA
15. TALLITH
16. HAMAS
17. MS. DYNAMITE
18. PERIGEE
19. JOEY DUNLOP
20. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS
21. MINISTRY OF LOVE
22. 54
23. BORDEAUX
24. SYLVIA
25. ACACIA WOOD
26. TRYGVE LIE
27. STEREOPHONICS
28. MARANELLO
29. WAKEFIELD
30. GLADYS AYLWARD
31. CHARLES PERRAULT
32. OKROSKHA
33. CASPIAN SEA
34. VENICE
35. PERI
36. SUKARNO
37. IOWA
38. PINS AND NEEDLES
39. TY COBB
40. PENCASTER UNITED
41. ALGONQUIN HOTEL
42. DRAMBUIE
43. WICKLOW MOUNTAINS
44. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
45. QIBLA WALL
46. THOMAS MALTHUS
47. BOBBY DARIN
48. CURRAWONG
49. POOL (or POCKET BILLIARDS)
50. THE WONDER BOYS

THE 18th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-07-14T16:57:00.000Z

Hello once again. You may have noticed that it's not yet Tuesday. Well done, award yourself an extra point. As some of you will know, televisual duties mean that I shall be without an internet connection for a few days. I hope you enjoy this selection:

1. Deriving from the Latin for 'a cutting', what name is given to an audible pause that breaks up a line of poetry?
2. Which almond filling used in cakes, tarts and pastries is thought to be named after the perfumer to King Louis XIII of France?
3. Which capital city stands at the confluence of the rivers Alzette and Petrusse?
4. Who was the British major-general who formed and led the Chindit special force in Burma and India during World War II before being killed in a plane crash in 1944?
5. Which king of Greek mythology, when defeated by Odysseus for the armour of Achilles, went mad and slaughtered a herd of sheep before killing himself?
6. Which Labour MP lost her Bethnal Green and Bow constituency to George Galloway in 2005?
7. For which stage and film musical did Dolly Parton write the hugely popular song 'I Will Always Love You'?
8. What name is given to the bluish-brown halo that can be seen around the Sun in the presence of large amounts of dust in the stratosphere, typically observed after a large volcanic eruption?
9. In 1898, which American writer and adventurer became the first person to sail single-handedly around the world?
10. Which 1980 film, starring Robert Redford and directed by Stuart Rosenberg, was set in Wakefield Prison Farm?
11. Which 17th Century female artist painted 'Judith and Holofernes', a depiction of the Biblical story of Judith beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes?
12. Which food ingredient, made from seaweed or red algae, is used as a vegetarian substitute for gelatine in soups, jellies and ice creams?
13. Which island group in the North Pacific was known as the Catherine Archipelago prior to 1867?
14. Which 17th Century French explorer was known as the 'Father of New France' after founding and naming Quebec City?
15. Which palace is the official residence of the Archbishop of York?
16. Who led the Polish military in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and later became Prime Minister and, ultimately, President in 1989?
17. Which was the only group to have UK number 1 singles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s?
18. What was the common name of Harpagornis moorei, the largest eagle ever to have lived, that was native to New Zealand and became extinct around 1500?
19. Which Scottish club were beaten by IFK Gothenburg in the 1987 UEFA Cup final?
20. The 1965 film 'The Agony and the Ecstasy', a biopic of the Renaissance artist Michelangelo, was based on a novel by which American author?
21. In which 20th Century novel would you find cows called Aimless, Feckless, Graceless and Pointless?
22. A variety of which fruit is named after a Californian postal worker named Rudolph Hass who patented it in 1935?
23. Which city did Astana replace as capital of Kazakhstan in 1998?
24. At which American university were four students killed by the National Guard after an anti-war demonstration in May 1970?
25. In Hinduism, the Great Buddha is represented as the incarnation of which Hindu god?
26. The British sportsman, turned politician, CB Fry was offered the throne of which European country in the 1920s?
27. Mike Ness is the guitarist and vocalist for which punk band whose 1996 album 'White Light, White Heat, White Trash' was met with widespread critical acclaim?
28. Named after the Roman goddess of plants and motherly love, what is the name of the dwarf planet that orbits between Mars and Jupiter?
29. Although he played under the pseudonym A.H. Chequer, what was the real name of the footballer who scored the only goal in the first ever FA Cup Final?
30. Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role as a society call girl in which 1960 film?
31. On which Italian island is the novel 'Catch-22' set?
32. Angostura bitters, used in pink gin, was named after a town in which country?
33. What is the name of the river that is formed by the confluence of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in the Iraqi town of al-Qurnah?
34. Thought to have been the first iron-clad battleships in history, what was the name of the ships, meaning 'turtle ships' in Korean, that made up the fleet built by the Korean naval hero Yi Sun-shin to defend against the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592?
35. Which religion was founded by Vardhamana Mahavira in the 6th Century BC?
36. In 1875, which became the first trademark to be registered in the UK?
37. Which singer-songwriter painted the cover of the 1974 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album 'So Far'?
38. 'The Book of Healing' and 'The Canon of Medicine' are two of the best known works by which Persian philosopher and scientist, whose works were used as standard medical texts at European Universities from the 11th to 17th Centuries?
39. Who was the only male tennis player during the 20th Century to have held the number 1 ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam event?
40. Who directed the 1971 film 'Death in Venice', starring Dirk Bogarde?
41. Which 20th Century artistic movement, associated with the American painters Robert Henri and George Wesley Bellows, sought to portray scenes of daily life in poor urban neighbourhoods?
42. Often flavoured with fruits or herbs and sometimes used in soups, what is the name of the mildly alcoholic beverage made from black or rye bread that is popular in Russia and several ex-Soviet states?
43. What is the unit of currency used in both Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan?
44. Now part of Malaysia, what was the name of the historic state in the northwestern part of the island of Borneo that was ruled by a dynasty of British rajas between 1841 and 1946?
45. Who is the Roman goddess of war, regarded as the sister of Mars?
46. In which ex-Soviet state was Askar Akayev displaced as President after the Tulip Revolution of 2005?
47. Under what name does the British singer-songwriter Damon Gough record?
48. Which African cat, that is extensively hunted for its fur, has the longest legs of all cats relative to body size?
49. The Soviet athlete Viktor Saneyev won his third consecutive gold medal in which event at the 1976 Olympics?
50. In 1961, which footballer became the first person to turn down an invitation to appear on 'This is Your Life'?

Some extremey tricky questions there but a good few easier ones too. How did you do? Let's take a look:

1. CAESURA
2. FRANGIPANE
3. LUXEMBOURG (or LUXEMBOURG CITY)
4. ORDE WINGATE
5. AJAX
6. OONA KING
7. THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
8. BISHOP'S RING
9. JOSHUA SLOCUM
10. BRUBAKER
11. ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
12. AGAR (or AGAR-AGAR)
13. ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
14. SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
15. BISHOPTHORPE PALACE
16. WOJCIECH JARUZELSKI
17. BEE GEES
18. HAAST'S EAGLE
19. DUNDEE UNITED
20. IRVING STONE
21. COLD COMFORT FARM
22. AVOCADO
23. ALMATY
24. KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
25. VISHNU
26. ALBANIA
27. SOCIAL DISTORTION
28. CERES
29. MORTON BETTS
30. BUTTERFIELD 8
31. PIANOSA
32. VENEZUELA
33. SHATT AL-ARAB (or ARVAND RŪD)
34. KOBUKSON
35. JAINISM
36. BASS RED TRIANGLE
37. JONI MITCHELL
38. AVICENNA
39. MARCELO RÍOS
40. LUCHINO VISCONTI
41. ASHCAN SCHOOL
42. KVASS
43. MANAT
44. SARAWAK
45. BELLONA
46. KYRGYZSTAN
47. BADLY DRAWN BOY
48. SERVAL
49. TRIPLE JUMP
50. DANNY BLANCHFLOWER

THE 17th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-07-10T00:05:00.000Z

Hello again and welcome back; I've been waiting for you. Here's your next 50 questions. Don't answer them all at once now, will you?

1. Which 17th Century Italian sculptor was commissioned to make the tomb of Pope Leo XI and a bronze statue of Pope Innocent X?
2. Popular in Mexico, what name is given to a bright container, often in the shape of a donkey, that is broken with sticks in order to collect the sweets that are held within it?
3. Mount Marcy is the highest peak in which American mountain range?
4. Which Roman Emperor was stabbed to death in AD96 in a plot organised by members of the Praetorian Guard, the Senate and his Empress?
5. The Shah Jehan Mosque was the first purpose built mosque in the UK and is situated in which English town?
6. Coming to office in 1852, who was Britain's only Peelite Prime Minister?
7. What name does the American blues singer-songwriter B.B. King give to his customised guitar?
8. Known scientifically as a parhelion, what is the common name for the atmospheric optical phenomenon caused by the refraction of sunlight by the small ice crystals that constitute clouds that creates the illusion of a halo of light that can look like the Sun or a bright comet?
9. Who was the South African rugby union player who scored a world record five drop goals against England during the 1999 World Cup?
10. The controversial 1971 film 'The Devils', directed by Ken Russell, was based on a novel by which British author?
11. Which rhyming verse stanza form was created by Dante and first used in his work 'The Divine Comedy'?
12. Which French sauce, consisting of Béchamel sauce with grated cheese added, is thought to have been named after a 16th and 17th Century writer and diplomat in the court of King Henri IV of France?
13. Which is the most populous native American tribe in the USA?
14. Which American criminal became Public Enemy Number One in the USA upon the death of John Dillinger in 1934?
15. In Greek mythology, who was the son of Helios who drove the Chariot of the Sun for a day but lost control of the horses that drew the chariot, thus turning Africa to desert?
16. What was Camilla Parker-Bowles' maiden name?
17. Sal Solo was the lead singer of which early 1980s New Wave group?
18. What is the medical name given to the white part of the eye?
19. At which English football stadium was the last ever Cup Winner's Cup final held in 1999?
20. The 2001 film 'A Beautiful Mind', starring Russel Crowe, told the true story of which brilliant but disturbed mathematician?
21. Deriving from the Italian for 'murky', and most commonly applied to Spanish painters, what name is given to an atmospheric style of painting using violent contrasts of light and dark?
22. Calzone is a folded pizza that takes its name from the Italian for what?
23. The flag of which country has a red-crested crane at its centre?
24. What was the name used by the aircraft hijacker who, in 1971, leapt from the back of a Boeing 727 over the American Pacific Northwest, after collecting a $200,000 ransom, and was never seen again?
25. Which Greek poet wrote the poem 'Theogony', describing the origins of the gods of Greek mythology?
26. With which two countries did Britain sign the Triple Entente in 1907?
27. Puff Daddy's 1997 hit single 'I'll Be Missing You' was released in memory of which rapper who was murdered in 1997?
28. Who was the English philosopher, known as the father of social Darwinism, who coined the phrase 'survival of the fittest' in his book 'Principles of Biology' in 1864?
29. The first large scale meet of which sport was organised by Major Ernst Killander in Sweden in 1918?
30. Who was the schoolgirl and homecoming queen who became the first character to be murdered in the TV show 'Twin Peaks'?
31. Who was the Canadian soldier of World War I who wrote the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' which begins with the lines “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row”?
32. Which vegetable mix, usually made from carrots, onions and celery and used in soups and sauces, is said to have been named after one of Louis XV's ambassadors?
33. Which is the most westerly capital city in Africa?
34. Who was the 7th Century Anglo-Saxon bishop who, whilst living on the Farne Islands off Northumberland, instituted special laws to protect the eider ducks nesting there?
35. Founded by James and Jane Wardley in 1772, by what name is the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing better known?
36. The parliament of which Asian country is known as the Tshogdu?
37. Which song, recorded by the rock band Queen in 1973, is named after a painting by the 19th Century English painter Richard Dadd?
38. Which 16th Century astronomer kept a moose to entertain his guests and a dwarf named Jepp as a court jester?
39. Which Finnish athlete broke the men's 10,000m world record at the 1972 Olympics despite falling in the twelfth lap?
40. In 1928, who became the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, doing so for his roles in the films 'The Way of All Flesh' and 'The Last Command'?
41. Probably the best known Korean calligrapher of the 19th Century, who developed the unique style of calligraphy known as ch'usa?
42. From which country does the wine Mavrud come?
43. Which archipelago of islands, west of the Outer Hebrides, is named after a non-existent saint?
44. Which American soldier was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour for leading an attack on a German machine-gun nest during World War I, killing 32 German soldiers and capturing 132 others?
45. In Norse mythology, what type of creature was Fenrir, the son of Loki?
46. Nicknamed 'Little Ellick' because of his diminutive size, who was the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War?
47. By what name is the hip-hop legend Andre Romell Young better known?
48. Which plant is sometimes known as 'burning bush' because its oil can vaporise and catch fire in strong heat?
49. In horse racing, at which racecourse is the French Derby run?
50. The television personality and singer Des O'Connor once played professional football for which league club?

Any good? Let's have a look at the answers:

1. ALESSANDRO ALGARDI
2. PIÑATA
3. ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS
4. DOMITIAN
5. WOKING
6. GEORGE HAMILTON GORDON, THE EARL OF ABDERDEEN
7. LUCILLE
8. SUN DOG
9. JANNIE DE BEER
10. ALDOUS HUXLEY
11. TERZA RIMA
12. MORNAY SAUCE
13. CHEROKEE
14. BABY FACE NELSON
15. PHAETON (or PHAETHON)
16. SHAND
17. CLASSIX NOUVEAUX
18. SCLERA
19. VILLA PARK
20. JOHN FORBES NASH
21. TENEBRISM
22. TROUSER LEG
23. UGANDA
24. DB COOPER
25. HESIOD
26. FRANCE and RUSSIA
27. NOTORIOUS B.I.G. (aka BIGGIE SMALLS)
28. HERBERT SPENCER
29. ORIENTEERING
30. LAURA PALMER
31. JOHN McCRAE
32. MIREPOIX
33. DAKAR
34. ST CUTHBERT
35. SHAKERS
36. BHUTAN
37. THE FAIRY FELLER'S MASTER STROKE
38. TYCHO BRAHE
39. LASSE VIREN
40. EMIL JANNINGS
41. KIM CHONG HI
42. BULGARIA
43. ST KILDA
44. ALVIN YORK
45. A WOLF
46. ALEXANDER STEPHENS
47. DR DRE
48. WHITE DITTANY
49. CHANTILLY
50. NORTHAMPTON TOWN

THE 16th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-07-03T00:14:00.000Z

Hello once again. Have a crack at these:

1. In Shakespeare's 'Timon of Athens', what is the name of the churlish philosopher who exerts his influence on the title character?
2. The Pio Quinto is a cake, drenched in rum and topped with custard and cinnamon, that originated in which country?
3. Cape Farewell is a headland that constitutes the southernmost part of which island?
4. What was the name of the train robbed in the Great Train Robbery of 1963?
5. Who was the legendary Greek physician, later deified as the god of the healing arts, who was destroyed by a thunderbolt sent by Zeus lest he teach mankind to evade death?
6. Samuel Joseph Byck gained notoriety after he hijacked a plane with the intention of crashing into the White House in the hope of killing which American President?
7. Which was the first single to sell one million records in the United Kingdom?
8. Which is the only one of the 13 zodiacal constellations not to be used as a star sign?
9. In August 1992, which Sheffield United striker scored the first ever goal in the English Premier League?
10. In the famous James Bond film, what is the first name of the villainous Goldfinger?
11. The Dutch painter Karel Appel was perhaps the most famous member of which avant-garde art movement active from 1949 to 1952 in Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam?
12. Which traditional three-cornered biscuit, usually eaten during the Jewish festival of Purim, is said to have been named after a Biblical Persian official whose hanging is described in the Book of Esther?
13. In which Cornish town is the world-famous Furry Dance performed each May?
14. Who was the first king of the Babylonian Empire?
15. In the Bible, which woman of Jerusalem gave Jesus her cloth to wipe his face as he bore the cross?
16. What is the maximum speed limit on British canals?
17. What is the name of the American record producer who founded Tamla Mowtown in Detroit in 1959?
18. Which subspecies of the plains zebra, that had zebra-like markings on its head and forelegs but plain brown hindquarters, was hunted to extinction in the 1870s?
19. Who was the Irish equestrian who won the gold medal for the Individual Show Jumping event at the 2004 Olympic Games only to be stripped of it due to drug offences?
20. The song 'White Christmas' is taken from which 1942 film?
21. Which Englishman was appointed the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999?
22. What type of mollusc is the geoduck that is highly regarded in Oriental cuisine?
23. Which is the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet?
24. Who was the American serial killer, nicknamed 'The Green River Killer', who, at his trial in 2003, confessed to the murders of 48 women in Washington state?
25. Which knight of Arthurian legend fought against the mysterious Green Knight?
26. Who was the Ugandan political leader who led his country to independence in 1962 but was overthrown by Idi Amin nine years later?
27. The video for which song was the first ever to be played on MTV?
28. Named after the Greek writer who first described it, what name is given to the unlit area of sky that can be seen between the arcs of two rainbows caused by the deviation angles of the primary and secondary bows?
29. Which American tennis player did Richard Krajicek defeat in the 1996 Wimbledon men's singles final?
30. The 1987 film 'Babette's Feast' was taken from a story written by which Danish author?
31. Benjamin Britten's opera 'The Rape of Lucretia' is based on the play 'Le Viol de Lucrèce' by which French playwright?
32. In Mexican cuisine, what name is given to meats, often a whole sheep, that are traditionally cooked in a pit covered with leaves?
33. The Square of Three Powers is the name of the central square in which South American city?
34. During World War II, an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki because bad weather prevented the bomb being dropped on the original target; on which city was the bomb originally scheduled to be dropped?
35. According to Norse mythology, what is the name of the battle that will take place at the end of the world?
36. In which American state did Winston Churchill make his famous speech that brought the term Iron Curtain into popular usage in 1946?
37. The style of music known as heavy metal takes its name from a term used in the 1962 novel 'The Soft Machine', written by which author?
38. Which letter of the alphabet is used to symbolise the atomic number of an element?
39. Which former Spanish international footballer was nicknamed the Beast of Barcelona?
40. What connects Marilyn Monroe's character in 'The Seven Year Itch', Paul McGann's character in 'Withnail and I', and Edward Norton's character in 'Fight Club'?
41. Who was the calligrapher who invented the nakshi script, the first cursive style of Arabic lettering?
42.What is the name of the naturally-carbonated yoghurt beverage that is a popular accompaniment to meals in Iran, Afghanistan and several of the Asiatic ex-Soviet states?
43. The name of which African capital city means 'rope matting' in its local language?
44. What was the name, deriving ultimately from the Berber for 'spear', of the short spear used as a stabbing weapon by the Zulus?
45. In 1558, which Scottish religious reformer wrote 'The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women'?
46. In which city was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in 1972 that led, later that year, to the creation of the UN Environment Programme?
47. Which American singer-songwriter, who recorded as a solo artist as well as with the International Submarine Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, died of a drug overdose at the age of 26 in 1973?
48. In 1824, which became the first dinosaur to be named?
49. In 1981, Susan Brown became the first woman to take part in which sporting event?
50. Arthur Jefferson was born in Ulverston in Cumbria in 1890; under what name did he achieve fame?

The answers this week are:

1. APEMANTUS
2. NICARAGUA
3. GREENLAND
4. ABERDEEN EXPRESS
5. AESCULAPIUS (or ASCLEPIUS)
6. RICHARD NIXON
7. ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
8. OPHIUCUS
9. BRIAN DEANE
10. AURIC
11. COBRA
12. HOMENTASHN
13. HELSTON
14. HAMMURABI
15. VERONICA
16. 4 MPH
17. BERRY GORDY
18. QUAGGA
19. CIAN O'CONNOR
20. HOLIDAY INN
21. SIMON RATTLE
22. CLAM
23. TET
24. GARY RIDGWAY
25. GAWAIN
26. MILTON OBOTE
27. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR
28. ALEXANDER'S BAND
29. MALIVAI WASHINGTON
30. KAREN BLIXEN
31. ANDRÉ OBEY
32. BARBACOA
33. BRASILIA
34. KOKURA
35. RAGNARÖCK
36. MISSOURI
37. WILLIAM S BURROUGHS
38. Z
39. MIGUEL ÁNGEL NADAL
40. THEY REMAIN NAMELESS THROUGHOUT THE FILM
41. IBN MUQLAH
42. DOOGH (or DUGH)
43. BANJUL
44. ASSEGAI
45. JOHN KNOX
46. STOCKHOLM
47. GRAM PARSONS
48. MEGALOSAURUS
49. THE UNIVERSITY BOAT RACE
50. STAN LAUREL

THE 15th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-06-26T01:44:00.000Z

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

THE 14th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-06-19T01:01:00.000Z

Welcome back to your second 50-question Tuesday quiz. It's not too difficult this week (ie. I've got some real nasty ones lined up for you in the next few weeks!). Hope you enjoy.

1. The British authors Aldous Huxley and CS Lewis both died on 22 November of which year?
2. The first Harry Ramsden restaurant was set up in 1928 in which small town in West Yorkshire?
3. In which English seaside town would you find the De La Warr Pavilion?
4. Which patriotic anthem, written by the American abolitionist and poet Julia Ward Howe in 1861, was popularised by the Unionists during the American Civil War?
5. Who was the ancient Greek river deity, eldest son of Oceanus and Thethys, who assumed the form of a bull and fought with Heracles for the love of Deianira?
6. Who was the US Democratic Presidential candidate who was left paralysed after he was shot in an assassination attempt in 1972?
7. 'Scrambled Eggs' was the working title of which of The Beatles' number 1 singles?
8. This Hellenized Egyptian of the 2nd-Century AD is noted for the astronomical treatises 'Almagest' and 'Geography', a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. What is his name?
9. Which sport was invented in 1887 by George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade?
10. Who was the American serial killer, necrophiliac and cannibal whose spate of murders in the 1940s and 50s inspired the films 'Psycho', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'?
11. Which word, deriving from the Latin for 'swaddling clothes', is used to describe books printed prior to 1501?
12. The dish rijsttafel, that takes its name from the Dutch for 'rice table', originated in which country?
13. This small archipelago in the German Bight is noted for its red sedimentary rock, not found anywhere else in the North Sea. It has formerly belonged to Denmark and the Duchy of Schleswig but was seized by the British during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1890 Britain gave up the islands to Germany in exchange for German assurances to not interfere with British interests in Africa. It became an important naval base during the First World War and is now known as a holiday resort and tax haven. What is its name?
14. Which castle near Edenbridge, Kent was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and is said to be haunted by her ghost?
15. According to Islamic tradition, what was the name of the winged horse upon which the Prophet Mohammed flew to Jerusalem?
16. Which novelist and journalist stood for the Dog Lovers' Party against the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe at the 1979 General Election?
17. Released in 1980, which was Abba's last UK number 1 single?
18. Quinine is derived from the bark of which tree native to South America?
19. In 1996, who became the first non-Spanish footballer to sign for Athletic Bilbao since World War I?
20. Who played the character Eddie Yeats in 'Coronation Street' and later went on to play Onslow in 'Keeping Up Appearances'?
21. If the protagonist is the central character in a work of fiction, what name is given to the second most important character?
22. In North America, what name is given to peeled bulls' testicles that are coated in flour and salt and deep fried ready for consumption?
23. What is the name of the new town on the outskirts of Paris which is the site of Euro Disney, opened in 1992?
24. Which Spanish Conquistador founded the South American city of Lima in 1535?
25. Who was the Norse god of light, wisdom and righteousness who was killed by his brother Hod?
26. What was the name of the British warship that hosted talks between Harold Wilson and the Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, regarding the latter's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, in December 1966?
27. Which chart hit from the 1980s begins with the words, "Poor old Johnny Ray sounded sad upon the radio"?
28. All of the known moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare, with the two exceptions of Umbriel and Belinda that are named after characters from the works of which English poet?
29. What name is given to the assistant leader of a Cub Scouts pack?
30. What is the name of the actor and singer who voiced the character Chef in the animated series 'South Park' from 1997 to 2006?
31. Which sculptor created the statue entitled 'Liverpool Resurgent' which stands above the main entrance to the Lewis's department store in Liverpool?
32. Which vegetable, also known as Chinese broccoli, has a name deriving from the Cantonese for 'mustard orchid'?
33. Nicknamed Paddy's Milestone, what is the name of the island in the outer Firth of Clyde that stands halfway between Glasgow and Belfast?
34. Which English king was the last Earl of Wessex prior to the title being conferred upon Prince Edward in 1999?
35. In Greek mythology, who was the king of Thessaly who was bound to a burning wheel for attempting to seduce Zeus' wife Hera?
36. Which Irish patriot, regarded as the 'Father of Irish Republicans', committed suicide by slitting his throat after being sentenced to death for his part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798?
37. Three of the future members of which band recorded and released the single 'I Can Hear Music' in 1973 under the name Larry Lurex?
38. What is the name of the star in the constellation Octans that serves as the Southern Hemisphere's pole star and counterpart to Polaris in the Northern Hemisphere?
39. In which month does the Salmon Season start in Scotland?
40. In 1954, who became the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress?
41. Deriving from the Italian for 'to repent', which word, used in art, is given to the faint images, that were painted out when the artist changed his mind, that begin to show through the paint over time?
42. What is the name of the leaf vegetable grown in Japan, Taiwan and Korea, related to the turnip, that is sometimes referred to as Japanese mustard spinach?
43. The Turkish port of Bodrum is built on the ruins of which ancient city?
44. During which naval conflict of World War II was the British battlecruiser HMS Hood sunk by the German battleship Bismarck?
45. According to tradition, which prophet is said to have written the Book of Lamentations?
46. In 1969, which former West Indian cricketer and politician became the first person of African descent to be given a life peerage?
47. The group Simple Minds took their name from a line in which David Bowie single?
48. In mathematics, which letter of the alphabet is given to the imaginary number equal to the square root of -1?
49. For which club was Peter Shilton playing when he made his 1000th League appearance in December 1996?
50. Who played Dr No in the 1962 film of the same name?

Hope that wasn't too bad. And, John, I simply don't believe you got 42 last week. You are a little fibber - a well known quizzer, ranked in the top ten in Britain (who shall remain nameless), only got 36. I just don't believe you!!! Anyway, to the answers:

1. 1963
2. GUISELEY
3. BEXHILL-ON-SEA
4. THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
5. ACHELOÜS
6. GEORGE WALLACE
7. YESTERDAY
8. PTOLEMY
9. SOFTBALL
10. ED GEIN
11. INCUNABULA
12. INDONESIA
13. HELIGOLAND
14. HEVER CASTLE
15. AL-BORAK (or BORAK)
16. AUBERON WAUGH
17. SUPER TROUPER
18. CINCHONA
19. BIXENTE LIZARAZU
20. GEOFFREY HUGHES
21. DEUTERAGONIST
22. ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
23. MARNE-LA-VALLÉE
24. FRANCISCO PIZARRO
25. BALDER
26. HMS TIGER
27. COME ON EILEEN
28. ALEXANDER POPE
29. BALOO
30. ISAAC HAYES
31. JACOB EPSTEIN
32. KAI-LAN
33. AILSA CRAIG
34. HAROLD GODWINSON
35. IXION
36. WOLFE TONE
37. QUEEN
38. SIGMA OCTANTIS
39. JANUARY
40. DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
41. PENTIMENTI
42. KOMATSUNA
43. HALICARNASSUS
44. BATTLE OF THE DENMARK STRAIT
45. JEREMIAH
46. LEARIE CONSTANTINE
47. THE JEAN GENIE
48. I
49. LEYTON ORIENT
50. JOSEPH WISEMAN

THE 13th TUESDAY QUIZ

2007-06-12T00:09:00.000Z

Hello, once again. Changes afoot this week. As you may have gathered by now, one of my primary reasons for writing this blog is to consolidate otherwise transient information in my mind through the medium of quiz. I am writing so many questions at the moment (100s a day) that I cannot continue to justify the 30-question limit per weekly quiz. Therefore, from this week onwards, you lucky people shall be treated to 50 (yes, that's 50!) quiz questions. Here we go:

1. Which English composer was appointed the first Master of the King's Musick in 1625?
2. Which sub-tropical citrus fruit was developed in the 18th Century as a cross between a pomelo and an orange?
3. Which island nation is, in terms of area, the world's smallest republic?
4. In which modern-day capital city was Mother Teresa born?
5. Who was the son of Odysseus who, when his father had not returned after twenty years, went in search of him and was reunited with Odysseus on Ithaca after being told of his father's homecoming by King Menelaus?
6. During the 20th Century, only two leaders of the Conservative Party failed to become Prime Minister; one was William Hague, who was the other?
7. What is the real first name of the soul singer Smokey Robinson?
8. Also known as the monkey bread trees, the Adansonia are a genus of trees native to Madagascar, Central and Southern Africa and Australia. Occurring only in arid areas they are noted for their capacity to store up to 120,000 litres of water within their trunks. By what name are they commonly known?
9. Which country has appeared in the most football World Cup qualifying campaigns without ever qualifying?
10. Which 1966 film, starring Kirk Douglas and Angie Dickinson, told the story of Colonel David Marcus' attempt to establish the state of Israel in 1948?
11. Published in 1908, 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' was the autobiography of which Welsh poet?
12. What is the name of the paste, used in Middle Eastern cuisine, that is made from ground sesame seeds and is a major ingredient of hummus?
13. In which Devonian fishing port would you find a replica of Francis Drake's ship The Golden Hind?
14. Which African-American abolitionist, who died in 1913, was known as 'The Moses of Her People'?
15. In the Bible, who was the son of King David who was slain in the boughs of an oak tree?
16. Which British author and historian was sentenced to three years in prison in Austria in February 2006 for denying the Holocaust?
17. To what did the pop group The B52s change their name when they released their 1994 top 5 hit 'Meet the Flintstones' taken from the film 'The Flinstones' starring John Goodman?
18. Derived from the Latin for ‘white’, what name is given to the proportion of light or radiation reflected by the surface of a planet or moon?
19. In 1972, she became the youngest ever female Olympic high jump gold medallist and in 1984 she became the oldest ever female Olympic high jump gold medallist; who was this German athlete?
20. What is the name of the animator who created 'Beavis and Butthead' and 'King of the Hill'?
21. In the play by Christopher Marlowe, how many years of happiness is Dr Faustus promised by the Devil?
22. Considered a delicacy, tomalley is a soft, green paste that is extracted from the innards of which creature?
23. La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing festival that takes place annually in which town on the outskirts of Valencia in Spain?
24. From the 14th to the 19th Centuries, what name was given to the infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguard?
25. According to Norse mythology, who was the first human who, with his wife Embla, was created from trees?
26. Elected by Congress in 1781 as President of the Continental Congress, who was the first person to use the title President of the United States?
27. How many copies of a single need to be sold in the UK to be awarded a gold disc?
28. Named after a French novelist, which syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes its sufferer to become dizzy and confused when exposed to works of art?
29. Which 19th Century English flat race jockey was Champion Jockey for 13 consecutive years before his suicide in 1886 at the age of 29?
30. In the 1941 film 'Citizen Kane', what is the name of the huge Floridian estate of Charles Foster Kane?
31. Carl Andre's famous sculpture entitled 'Equivalent VIII' is made from which material?
32. Which tropical fruit, native to the Malay Archipelago and related to the lychee, has a name meaning 'hairy' in Malay?
33. Which island off the south-west coast of Iceland, the name of which means 'Fire Island' in Icelandic, is home to the world's largest gannet colony and was the last home of the great auk before it was hunted to extinction in 1844?
34. Who was the Provost of Paris who built the Bastille in the 14th Century and promptly became the first person to be confined there after he was placed on trial for heresy?
35. By which English name is the Jewish festival of Shavuot commonly known?
36. What name is given to the US President's official helicopter?
37. Which jazz singer was arrested in the USA in 1978 for tax evasion, having refused to pay tax in protest at the Vietnam War?
38. Although it sounds as though it should refer to the puffin, Puffinus puffinus is, in fact, the Latin name for which bird?
39. Which Scottish international footballer scored nine goals in an FA Cup match for Bournemouth in an 11-0 win over Margate in 1971?
40. What is the name of the British television producer who founded Ragdoll Productions in 1984 and has created 'Rosie and Jim', 'Roland Rat' and 'The Teletubbies'?
41. Which Greek philosopher founded the Cynic school?
42. Located in Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands, which is Britain's most northerly operational whisky distillery?
43. The Oregon Trail linked Oregon to which southern US state?
44. 'De Medicina' is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopaedia written by which Roman encyclopaedist?
45. A torii is the name given to a traditional red gate found at the entrance to shrines of which religion?
46. In which year were the Corn Laws repealed?
47. Which group did Ronnie Wood leave to join the Rolling Stones?
48. The domestic horse is descended from which species of wild horse, the last example of which died in captivity in Ukraine in 1918?
49. Which British world champion boxer was charged with the attempted murder of his promoter, Frank Warren, in 1987?
50. In which fictional Birmingham suburb was the soap opera 'Crossroads' set?

Hopefully that first 50 didn't turn out too badly for you. The answers:

1. NICHOLAS LANIER
2. GRAPEFRUIT
3. NAURU
4. SKOPJE
5. TELEMACHUS
6. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN
7. WILLIAM
8. BAOBAB
9. LUXEMBOURG
10. CAST A GIANT SHADOW
11. WH DAVIES
12. TAHINI
13. BRIXHAM
14. HARRIET TUBMAN
15. ABSALOM
16. DAVID IRVING
17. BC52s
18. ALBEDO
19. ULRIKE MEYFARTH
20. MIKE JUDGE
21. 24
22. LOBSTER
23. BUÑOL
24. JANISSARIES
25. ASK
26. JOHN HANSON
27. 500,000
28. STENDHAL SYNDROME
29. FRED ARCHER
30. XANADU
31. FIRE BRICKS
32. RAMBUTAN
33. ELDEY
34. HUGUES AUBRIOT
35. FESTIVAL OF WEEKS
36. MARINE ONE
37. NINA SIMONE
38. MANX SHEARWATER
39. TED MacDOUGALL
40. ANNE WOOD
41. ANTISTHENES
42. HIGHLAND PARK
43. MISSOURI
44. AULUS CORNELIUS CELSUS
45. SHINTO
46. 1846
47. THE FACES
48. TARPAN
49. TERRY MARSH
50. KING'S OAK