People, Places And Probably More – Quiz Day!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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People and places feature a lot in today’s quiz so if you’re good at those then you are in with a good chance of scoring well.

You will also find out what the CIA has been up to with your tax dollars. Makes you proud!

As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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quiz confused1

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Q.  1.  A ‘Beluga’ is a type of what?

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Q.  2. In what country did the game of ‘Chess’ originate?

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Q.  3.  In 1983 the District of Columbia petitioned to become a state, if the petition had been successful what was the new state to be called?

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Q.  4.  The popular ‘Volkswagen Beetle’ car was developed under whose direction?

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Q.  5.  What drug did the CIA hand out in order to bribe warlords in Afghanistan?

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Q.  6.  What began as a winter resort for the British aristocracy in the late 1700s and now hosts 50% of the world’s super yachts every year?

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Q.  7.  What two men wrote the first and the final drafts of the American Declaration of Independence? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q.  8.  What percentage of the water on Earth is saltwater?

            a)  17%          b) 37%          c) 57%          d)  77%          e) 97%

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Q.  9.  What mountain range is sometimes known as “The Backbone Of England” ?

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Q. 10.  What was the last major landmass on earth to be populated by humans?

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Q. 11.  What is the name given to a young female cow that has not given birth?

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Q. 12.  What famous gourmet insured his taste buds for £250,000 in 1993?

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Q. 13.  ‘Duplicatus’, ‘intortus’ and ‘perlucidus’ are among the varieties of what?

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Q. 14.  What well known city in Australia used to be known as ‘Batmania’ ?

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Q. 15.  What King of England was famous for having six wives?

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Q. 16.  And how many of his six wives did this King have executed? (A bonus point for each one you can name correctly.)

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Q. 17.  What is the more common name for the fictional character ‘Kal-El’ and where is he supposed to be from? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q. 18.  What is the famous steeplechase horse race run at Aintreee in Liverpool, England every year?

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Q. 19.  What well known classical music composer has the initials ‘W.A.M.’ ?

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Q. 20.  And finally for today another name. Columbo is one of the most famous ever detectives to appear on television but what is his first name?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1.  A ‘Beluga’ is a type of what?

A.  1.  Whale.

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Q.  2. In what country did the game of ‘Chess’ originate?

A.  2. Chess originated in India during the Gupta Empire (almost 1,400 years ago)

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Q.  3.  In 1983 the District of Columbia petitioned to become a state, if the petition had been successful what was the new state to be called?

A.  3.  New Columbia.

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Q.  4.  The popular ‘Volkswagen Beetle’ car was developed under whose direction?

A.  4.  Volkswagen Beetles were developed by Hitler because he wanted to manufacture a cheap, affordable car for his roadways.

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Q.  5.  What drug did the CIA hand out in order to bribe warlords in Afghanistan?

A.  5.  Viagra.

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Q.  6.  What began as a winter resort for the British aristocracy in the late 1700s and now hosts 50% of the world’s super yachts every year?

A.  6.  The French Riviera.

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Q.  7.  What two men wrote the first and the final drafts of the American Declaration of Independence? (A point for each correct answer.)

A.  7.  Benjamin Franklin actually wrote the first Declaration of Independence. Eventually, however, Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the final draft.

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Q.  8.  What percentage of the water on Earth is saltwater?

            a)  17%          b) 37%          c) 57%          d)  77%          e) 97%

A.  8.  The correct answer is e) 97%.

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Q.  9.  What mountain range is sometimes known as “The Backbone Of England” ?

A.  9.  The Pennines.

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Q. 10.  What was the last major landmass on earth to be populated by humans?

A. 10.  New Zealand.

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Q. 11.  What is the name given to a young female cow that has not given birth?

A. 11.  It is known as a heifer.

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Q. 12.  What famous gourmet insured his taste buds for £250,000 in 1993?

A. 12.  Egon Ronay.

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Q. 13.  ‘Duplicatus’, ‘intortus’ and ‘perlucidus’ are among the varieties of what?

A. 13.  They are all the names of clouds (cirrus duplicatus, cirrus intortus and altocumulus perlucidus to be more precise.)

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Q. 14.  What well known city in Australia used to be known as ‘Batmania’ ?

A. 14.  The city of Melbourne used to be called ‘Batmania’.

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Q. 15.  What King of England was famous for having six wives?

A. 15.  Henry VIII.

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Q. 16.  And how many of his six wives did this King have executed? (A bonus point for each one you can name correctly.)

A. 16.  Henry VIII had two of his wives executed, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

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Q. 17.  What is the more common name for the fictional character ‘Kal-El’ and where is he supposed to be from? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 17.  His more common name is Superman and hs home planet is Krypton.

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Q. 18.  What is the famous steeplechase horse race run at Aintreee in Liverpool, England every year?

A. 18.  It is called the ‘Grand National’.

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Q. 19.  What well known classical music composer has the initials ‘W.A.M.’

A. 19.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

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Q. 20.  And finally for today another name. Columbo is one of the most famous ever detectives to appear on television but what is his first name?

A. 20.  His first name is “Frank”. It can be seen on his police ID, for example, in the 1971 episode “Dead Weight”, when Columbo introduces himself to General Hollister. So now you know!

Columbo-Signature2-bright

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Dirty Harry? It Must Be Fact Day!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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No dirty facts here. That’s someone else’s job.

Just good clean fun with another selection from the fabulous fasab fact file.

Enjoy.

..Oh, and spare a thought for poor Betty Stobbs who for one split second thought she had made it.

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facts 03

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Dirty Harry’s badge number is 2211.

Dirty_Harry_Badge

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Frisian, a language native to the Netherlands,

is considered the easiest foreign language

for English speakers to learn

Nord friesische Dialekte

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The amount the U.S. military spends annually

on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion.

Keeping their cool

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The Milky Way has four spiral arms, not two.

Milky Way galaxy

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The main ingredient for chocolate are technically cacao beans,

but they are known throughout the cocoa industry as cocoa beans

because of a misspelling.

Cacao beans and chocolate

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Cacao has been around for millions of years and

is probably one of the oldest of nature’s foods.

cacao beans

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It has been calculated that in the last 3,000 years

there have only been 240 years of peace in the world

peace-time-war-time

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During the An Lushan rebellion in China in the mid 700s

nearly 40 million people died.

This was 1/6 of the world’s population.

An Lushan rebellion in China

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Your brain is the fattest organ in your body at around 60%

fat-head

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Curfew comes from a combination of two French words

– “couvrir” and “feu”. Literally this means to “cover fire”.

curfew-photo

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In 1999, Betty Stobbs, 67, of Durham, England,

took a bale of hay to feed her flock of sheep

on the back of her motorcycle.

Her hungry sheep, however, charged her bike and

knocked her into a deep ravine.

She survived the fall but was killed

when her bike landed on top of her.

Betty Stobbs

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Andrew Jackson was involved in as many as 100 duels,

most of which were fought to defend the honor of his wife.

Not surprisingly he was shot multiple times during his life.

Andrew Jackson duel

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Alexander the Great is famous for a spying technique still used today.

He had all his soldiers write home to their families

and then intercepted the letters.

Whoever didn’t have something nice to say was executed.

Alexander_the_Great

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If you are referred to as a “treasured guest”

in Disney don’t get carried away.

That means you’re an asshole and

workers are being warned about you

Sleeping Beauty Castle Disney

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The voices of Yoda and Miss Piggy

were done by the same person.

His name is Frank Oz.

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Last Quiz For This April.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Welcome to the last quiz for this April.

A good mixture of questions this week, some very easy and few that should sort out the serious quizzers from the casual players.

As usual if you get stuck the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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quiz 10

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Q.  1:  What does the ‘Q’ in ‘Q-tips’ stand for?

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Q.  2:  How many curves are in a standard paper clip?

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Q.  3:  In which river are the 1000 islands?

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Q.  4:  The scene of a famous battle, the city of Montevideo is located at the mouth of which river?

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Q.  5:  During World War II, the largest Japanese spy ring was located where?

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Q.  6:  In which country was the “angel of the north” erected in 1998?

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Q.  7:  What 6 colors are on the classic Campbell’s soup label? (A point for each.)

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Q.  8:  She was the leader of the British movement for  female suffrage and in 1903 founded the Women’s Political Union which agitated for votes for women, but died in 1928 just before full voting rights were granted. Who was she?

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Q.  9:  On the United States “Stars and Stripes” flag, is the top stripe red or white?

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Q. 10:  Which German leader was known as the ‘Iron Chancellor’?

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Q. 11:  Name the character who said, “I do wish we could chat longer but I’m having an old friend for dinner” and the movie from which it comes? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q. 12:  Which way do fans rotate?

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Q. 13:  England’s King Henry VIII is infamous for having six wives and for having some of them executed by beheading. But how many of the six wives lost their heads?

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Q. 14:  If ‘Lady’ is a pedigree spaniel what is the name of the mongrel?

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Q. 15:  Whose face is on a dime? 

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Q. 16:  The now famous line “Show me the money” comes from what well known movie?

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Q. 17:  Which country did Xerxes rule?

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Q. 18:  Who is missing from this list?

Sleepy,   Happy,   Sneezy,   Grumpy,   Dopey,   Doc.

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Q. 19:  Which actor in 1962 was the first to say the immortal line “The name is Bond – James Bond”  and in which movie? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q. 20:  Who sang about the ‘Witchita line man’?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  What does the ‘Q’ in ‘Q-tips’ stand for?

A.  1:  The ‘Q’ in ‘Q-tips’ stands for ‘quality’.

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Q.  2:  How many curves are in a standard paper clip?

A.  2:  There are 3 curves on a standard paper clip. (Did you have to look?)

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Q.  3:  In which river are the 1000 islands?

A.  3:  In the St Lawrence River.

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Q.  4:  The scene of a famous battle, the city of Montevideo is located at the mouth of which river?

A.  4:  The River Plate  (Rio de la Plate).

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Q.  5:  During World War II, the largest Japanese spy ring was located where?

A.  5:  The largest Japanese spy ring during WWII was not in the U.S. but in Mexico, where it spied on the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

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Q.  6:  In which country was the “angel of the north” erected in 1998?

A.  6:  In England.

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Q.  7:  What 6 colors are on the classic Campbell’s soup label? (A point for each.)

A.  7:  Blue, red, white, yellow, black, and gold.

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Q.  8:  She was the leader of the British movement for  female suffrage and in 1903 founded the Women’s Political Union which agitated for votes for women, but died in 1928 just before full voting rights were granted. Who was she?

A.  8:  Emmeline Pankhurst.

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Q.  9:  On the United States “Stars and Stripes” flag, is the top stripe red or white?

A.  9:  It is Red. (Again I hope you didn’t have to look!)

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Q. 10:  Which German leader was known as the ‘Iron Chancellor’?

A. 10:  Bismarck.

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Q. 11:  Name the character who said, “I do wish we could chat longer but I’m having an old friend for dinner” and the movie from which it comes? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 11:  Hannibal Lecter said it in the Silence of the Lambs.

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Q. 12:  Which way do fans rotate?

A. 12:  Clockwise as you look at it

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Q. 13:  England’s King Henry VIII is infamous for having six wives and for having some of them executed by beheading. But how many of the six wives lost their heads?

A. 13:  Only two, people usually think it is more.

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Q. 14:  If ‘Lady’ is a pedigree spaniel what is the name of the mongrel?

A. 14:  His name is ‘Tramp’, from the animated feature ‘Lady and the Tramp’.

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Q. 15:  Whose face is on a dime?

A. 15:  US President Franklin D Roosevelt.

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Q. 16:  The now famous line “Show me the money” comes from what well known movie?

A. 16:  The movie was ‘Jerry Maguire’, starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.

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Q. 17:  Which country did Xerxes rule?

A. 17:  Persia.

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Q. 18:  Who is missing from this list?

Sleepy,   Happy,   Sneezy,   Grumpy,   Dopey,   Doc. 

A. 18:  Bashful is missing, he was afraid to appear.

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Q. 19:  Which actor in 1962 was the first to say the immortal line “The name is Bond – James Bond”  and in which movie? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 19:  Sean Connery in Dr No.

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Q. 20:  Who sang about the ‘Witchita line man’?

A. 20:  Glen Campbell.

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Did You Know? More Random Fact File Fun

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Facts don’t more random than these selections.

A little something for everyone seems to be the goal, so I hope you find at least one fact in here of interest.

Enjoy.

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did you know5

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People say “bless you” when you sneeze

because your heart stops for a millisecond.

achoo

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US gold coins used to say

“In Gold We Trust”.

in gold we trust

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Kuwait is about 60% male

(highest in the world).

Kuwaiti men

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Latvia is about 54% female

(highest in the world).

latvian women

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The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.

Hawaiian Alphabet

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Julius Caesar’s autograph is worth about $2,000,000.

Caesar

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The surface of the Earth is about 60% water and 10% ice,

but the volume of fresh water compared to

the volume of the earth is a lot smaller.

global-water-volume-fresh

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For every 230 cars that are made, 1 will be stolen.

car-theft

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Lightning strikes the earth about 8 million times a day.

Lightning Strikes

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John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe died on July 4th.

Presidential funeral procession

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In 1386, a pig in France was executed

by public hanging for the murder of a child

pig hanged

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Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

thigh bone

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Present population of 7 billion plus people of the world

is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.

world_popluation_1

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A man named Charles Osborne

had the hiccups for 69 years!

Charles Osborne

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A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!

(That takes some lickin’)

giraffe tongue

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The average person laughs 10 times a day!

(But obviously readers of the Fasab blog are well above average!)

laughing-men

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Someone paid $14,000 for the bra worn by

Marilyn Monroe in the film ‘Some Like It Hot’.

slih-bra

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More than 1,000 different languages

are spoken on the continent of Africa.

africa_languages

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The White House has 132 rooms and

a total floor area of around 55,000 ft²

(5,100 square metres).

white-house

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Buckingham Palace in England has 775 rooms and

the total floor area of the Palace, from basement to roof,

covers over 828,000 square feet (77,000 square metres).

Buckingham Palace

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A Very Strange Case Of Mistaken Identity

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Throughout history opposing factions, whether in politics, racial campaigns, sports competitions or even wars, have used cartoons as a medium to promote their side and to denigrate the opposition.

Nowhere was this better seen than during WWII when both sides used thousands of derogatory cartoons to depict the ‘enemy’.

But one of the most humorous incidents occurred much earlier, during the Napoleonic war between France and England.

It allegedly took place in the little town of Hartlepool on the north-east coast of England.

As part of the propaganda campaign in England during this war the enemy, the French, had been portrayed as short and hairy, sort of monkey-like. The cartoon below will give you the idea.  

Napoleonic Wars propaganda cartoon of a Frenchman
Napoleonic Wars propaganda style cartoon of a Frenchman

Also, during the Napoleonic Wars there was great fear that the French had plans to invade Britain and therefore much public concern about the possibility of French infiltrators and spies.

As a consequence the fishermen of Hartlepool kept a close watch on French vessels sailing near the English coast.

One day, as they watched, a French vessel was seen struggling against a storm. It took a severe battering in the rough seas and eventually sunk.

The Hartlepool fishermen then turned their attention to the wreckage washed ashore.

Among the wreckage lay one wet and sorrowful looking survivor. It was the ship’s pet monkey and, to amuse the sailors, it had been dressed in a military style uniform.

Stupid individuals are one thing, annoying but they can be handled. Group stupidity on the other hand is extremely dangerous. The stupidity level seems to increase by at least ten times the number of morons gathered together. I’m sure there’s a mathematical formula for this, there should be.

So, severely intellectually challenged, and thinking they had captured the enemy, the Hartlepool fishermen apparently questioned the monkey and held a beach-based trial.

Unfamiliar with what a Frenchman looked like, and unable to understand what he (the monkey) was saying (presumably “ooh ooh aah”, as opposed to “oh la la”), they came to the conclusion that this poor primate was a French spy.

They quickly sentenced the French spy (monkey) to death and the unfortunate creature was hanged, with the mast of a fishing boat (a coble) providing a convenient gallows.

A very strange case of mistaken identity indeed!

Hartlepool Fishermen Hanging Of The French Monkey Spy
Hartlepool Fishermen Hanging Of The French Monkey Spy

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