THE 50th QUIZ

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