Yes, there is the opportunity to land yourself with a lot of points in today’s quiz, but some of the questions are quite difficult too so don’t be over confidant.
However, don’t worry, if you get stuck you can always find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: How many legs has a tarantula?
.
.
Q. 2: ‘Zn’ is the symbol of which chemical element?
.
.
Q. 3: What name is given to a baby elephant?
.
.
Q. 4: What is the smallest bone in the body and where is it located? (A point for each correct answer.)
.
.
Q. 5: What is the fahrenheit equivalent of 20 degrees centigrade?
.
.
Q. 6: What city is known as ‘The City of Lilies’ ?
.
.
Q. 7: Who was famous for his theory of gravity and 3 laws of motion?
.
.
Q. 8: What is the most common transplant operation?
.
.
Q. 9: What is the major element of the diet of the Koala bear?
.
.
Q. 10: And in a related question, what is the major element of the diet of the wild giant panda?
.
.
Q. 11: Which gas is responsible for global warming?
.
.
Q. 12: The Ross and Weddell Seas are to be found off the shore of which continent?
.
.
Q. 13: Now for a mega-point question. Listed below (in alphabetical order) are ten countries ending in the word ‘land’. A point for each one you can name correctly.
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D _
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ L A N D
.
.
Q. 14: Who led the Seventh Cavalry to its doom at the Battle of Little Bighorn?
.
.
Q. 15: John Flamsteed was the first holder of which far-sighted post, created in 1675?
.
.
Q. 16: What term is given to the technique where paint is mixed and bound with egg yolk?
.
.
Q. 17: What was launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095?
.
.
Q. 18: Who went on a circumnavigation of the world from the Reform Club as the result of a bet?
.
.
Q. 19: Which New Zealand-born physicist is credited with splitting the atom?
.
.
Q. 20: Which motoring aid was invented by Percy Shaw?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: How many legs has a tarantula?
A. 1: Eight.
.
.
Q. 2: ‘Zn’ is the symbol of which chemical element?
A. 2: Zinc.
.
.
Q. 3: What name is given to a baby elephant?
A. 3: A baby elephant is called a ‘Calf’.
.
.
Q. 4: What is the smallest bone in the body and where is it located? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 4: It is called the ‘Stirrup’ and it is located in the ear.
.
.
Q. 5: What is the fahrenheit equivalent of 20 degrees centigrade?
A. 5: 20 degrees centigrade is 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
.
.
Q. 6: What city is known as ‘The City of Lilies’ ?
A. 6: Florence.
.
.
Q. 7: Who was famous for his theory of gravity and 3 laws of motion?
A. 7: Sir Isaac Newton.
.
.
Q. 8: What is the most common transplant operation?
A. 8: The Bone graft.
.
.
Q. 9: What is the major element of the diet of the Koala bear?
A. 9: Eucalyptus leaves.
.
.
Q. 10: And in a related question, what is the major element of the diet of the wild giant panda?
A. 10: A wild giant panda’s diet is almost exclusively (99 percent) bamboo.
.
.
Q. 11: Which gas is responsible for global warming?
A. 11: Carbon dioxide.
.
.
Q. 12: The Ross and Weddell Seas are to be found off the shore of which continent?
A. 12: Antarctica.
.
.
Q. 13: Now for a mega-point question. Listed below (in alphabetical order) are ten countries ending in the word ‘land’. A point for each one you can name correctly.
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D _
_ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ L A N D
_ _ _ _ L A N D
A. 13: The correct answers are:
FINLAND
ICELAND
IRELAND
NORTHERN IRELAND
NEW ZEALAND
THE NETHERLANDS
POLAND
SWAZILAND
SWITZERLAND
THAILAND.
.
.
Q. 14: Who led the Seventh Cavalry to its doom at the Battle of Little Bighorn?
A. 14: Lt-Col George Armstrong Custer.
.
.
Q. 15: John Flamsteed was the first holder of which far-sighted post, created in 1675?
A. 15: He was the first Astronomer Royal.
.
.
Q. 16: What term is given to the technique where paint is mixed and bound with egg yolk?
A. 16: It is known as ‘Tempera’.
.
.
Q. 17: What was launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095?
A. 17: The First Crusade.
.
.
Q. 18: Who went on a circumnavigation of the world from the Reform Club as the result of a bet?
A. 18: Phileas Fogg and his servant Passepartout (you get the point for naming Phileas Fogg correctly AND two posssible bonus points if you also knew the name of his servant. (From Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days).
.
.
Q. 19: Which New Zealand-born physicist is credited with splitting the atom?
A. 19: Sir Ernest Rutherford.
.
.
Q. 20: Which motoring aid was invented by Percy Shaw?
A. 20: He invented the reflectors known as ‘Cats eyes’, getting his inspiration when he saw a light reflecting off a cat’s eyes as it walked towards him. (British comedian Ken Dodd said that if the cat had been walking away from him he would probably have invented the pencil sharpener!)
Well maybe not just so easy a quiz as all that. You’ll find out below, and why I called it that too.
All the usual mixture of questions are here.
And as usual if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: What city is known as ‘The Big Easy’ ?
.
.
Q. 2: What color are the flowers of the ‘harebell’ ?
a) red b) green c) blue d) yellow
.
.
Q. 3: What is the name of the process in which a solid turns directly into a gas, without passing through the liquid phase?
.
.
Q. 4: What is the largest wild member of the dog family?
.
.
Q. 5: Which element has the symbol ‘Au’ ?
.
.
Q. 6: What is the electrical unit of resistance?
.
.
Q. 7: Who invented the jet engine in 1930?
.
.
Q. 8: How many sheets of paper are there in a ‘ream’ ?
.
.
Q. 9: It is called the ‘Hunter’ and consists of 3 stars, what is the proper name of this constellation?
.
.
Q. 10: What did the British government do on the roads in order to reduce accidents in 1925?
.
.
Q. 11: What is a ‘Flemish giant’ ?
.
.
Q. 12: The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. You get a point if you can name any of the four largest islands that make up this group. (If you can correctly name more than one, give yourself a bonus point for each.)
.
.
Q. 13: If you were ‘purling’, what activity would you be doing?
.
.
Q. 14: Which famous battle was fought on June 18 1815?
.
.
Q. 15: In which country was the world’s first female Prime Minister elected in 1960?
.
.
Q. 16: What is the name of Long John Silver’s parrot?
.
.
Q. 17: This is the name of a famous bicycle manufacturing company, the capital city of a state in the US, and of a writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy, and explorer in Elizabethan England, what is it?
.
.
Q. 18: Who created the famous sculptures ‘The Thinker’ and ‘The Kiss’ ?
.
.
Q. 19: A lot of us now use it, but what does the acronym ‘VOIP’ stand for?
.
.
Q. 20: Which group’s best-known recording is the 1967 single ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ ?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: What city is known as ‘The Big Easy’ ?
A. 1: New Orleans is known as ‘The Big Easy’.
.
.
Q. 2: What color are the flowers of the harebell?
a) red b) green c) blue d) yellow
A. 2: The correct answer is c) blue.
.
.
Q. 3: What is the name of the process in which a solid turns directly into a gas, without passing through the liquid phase?
A. 3: The process is called ‘sublimation’.
.
.
Q. 4: What is the largest wild member of the dog family?
A. 4: The wolf.
.
.
Q. 5: Which element has the symbol ‘Au’ ?
A. 5: Gold.
.
.
Q. 6: What is the electrical unit of resistance?
A. 6: The ‘ohm’.
.
.
Q. 7: Who invented the jet engine in 1930?
A. 7: Frank Whittle.
.
.
Q. 8: How many sheets of paper are there in a ‘ream’ ?
A. 8: 500.
.
.
Q. 9: It is called the ‘Hunter’ and consists of 3 stars, what is the proper name of this constellation?
A. 9: It is ‘Orion’s belt’.
.
.
Q. 10: What did the British government do on the roads in order to reduce accidents in 1925?
A. 10: They painted white lines.
.
.
Q. 11: What is a ‘Flemish giant’ ?
A. 11: I’m tempted to give you a point if you said “A big Belgian’ but I won’t. You get the point if you said a Flemish giant was a Rabbit.
.
.
Q. 12: The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. You get a point if you can name any of the four largest islands that make up this group. (If you can correctly name more than one, give yourself a bonus point for each.)
A. 12: The four largest Balearic islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
.
.
Q. 13: If you were ‘purling’, what activity would you be doing?
A. 13: You’d be knitting.
.
.
Q. 14: Which famous battle was fought on June 18 1815?
A. 14: The Battle of Waterloo.
.
.
Q. 15: In which country was the world’s first female Prime Minister elected in 1960?
A. 15: Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was then – the woman in question being Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike)
.
.
Q. 16: What is the name of Long John Silver’s parrot?
A. 16: Captain Flint.
.
.
Q. 17: This is the name of a famous bicycle manufacturing company, the capital city of a state in the US, and of a writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy, and explorer in Elizabethan England, what is it?
A. 17: It is ‘Raleigh’. Raleigh is a famous bicycle manufacturing company, Raleigh is the capital city of North Carolina, and the famous Elizabethan was Sir Walter Raleigh.
.
.
Q. 18: Who created the famous sculptures ‘The Thinker’ and ‘The Kiss’ ?
A. 18: Auguste Rodin.
.
.
Q. 19: A lot of us now use it, but what does the acronym ‘VOIP’ stand for?
A. 19: Voice Over Internet Protocol.
.
.
Q. 20: Which group’s best-known recording is the 1967 single ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ ?
The usual mixture of subjects including geography, history, science and nature, so something for everyone perhaps.
And remember, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?
.
.
Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?
.
.
Q. 3: Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?
.
.
Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)
.
.
Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?
.
.
Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?
.
.
Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?
.
.
Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)
a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam
.
.
Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)
.
.
Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?
a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935
.
.
Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?
.
.
Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?
.
.
Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?
.
.
Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?
a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants
.
.
Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)
.
.
Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?
.
.
Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?
.
.
Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?
.
.
Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?
.
.
Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?
A. 1: Nitrogen. (By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.)
.
.
Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?
A. 2: They are all called ‘Doe’.
.
.
Q. 3: Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?
A. 3: President Harry Truman in 1947.
.
.
Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 4: NASA is the North American Space Agency and ESA is the European Space Agency.
.
.
Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?
A. 5: A duck.
.
.
Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?
A. 6: The first President of the United States, born in the United States after July 4th, 1776, and therefore American, was Martin Van Buren (born in 1782).
.
.
Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?
A. 7: Surface tension.
.
.
Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)
a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam
A. 8: The correct answers are
a) Canberra b) Reykjavík c) Damascus d) Montevideo e) Hanoi
.
.
Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)
A. 9: South Africa – Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).
.
.
Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?
a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935
A. 10: The correct answer is a) 1924.
.
.
Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?
A. 11: ‘Sn’ is the chemical symbol for Tin.
.
.
Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?
A. 12: Mercury.
.
.
Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?
A. 13: 2016. (It’s easier than you think, any leap year starting on Friday, January 1, should be divisible by 28, such as 1932, 1960, 1988, or 2044.
.
.
Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?
a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants
A. 14: The correct answer is b) trees.
.
.
Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)
A. 15: Romeo and Juliet.
.
.
Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?
A. 16: Jupiter.
.
.
Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?
A. 17: Sir Humphrey Davy.
.
.
Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?
A. 18: On a book.
.
.
Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?
A. 19: Rome.
.
.
Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?
I wrote a short post the other day on the subject of failure. I think it was a success 🙂
What hasn’t been a success, however, is America’s foreign policy. I’ve also written about this many times in the past. I find it very annoying that a country as great as America and with so many brilliant people within it can neither elect a smart politician, or even a not so smart politician but one who has enough brains to hire smart advisers.
The current President, Barack Obama, has continued the trend of failure. Particularly with regard to foreign policy, at which he has not only failed but added indecision and procrastination to the mix.
The examples are many, but the latest foreign policy debacle is the leading role America has taken in the imposition of sanctions against Russia. Sanctions that may have been aimed against Russia but which are already starting to backfire against the US.
I noted in another post that sanctions have been imposed in regard to Russian oil and natural gas, which Europe (particularly Germany and France) needs, but America doesn’t; but that the sanctions were not imposed on nuclear fuels, which America does need.
Believe me, the hypocrisy of that has not been lost on the European governments or its public.
And the hypocrisy does not end there.
On the one hand there have been hyped up media statements telling everyone that Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, and its head Igor Sechin, have been targeted in the sanctions.
But what hasn’t been trumpeted so loudly is the fact that British oil company BP, owns almost 20% of Rosneft, and has confirmed that it would not be severing ties with the Russian firm.
Similarly, Norway’s Statoil is continuing its partnership with Rosneft to search for oil in the Norwegian section of the Barents Sea.
And France’s major oil and gas company, Total, has announced that it is seeking financing for its next gas project in – where else? – Russia. When they get that financing, amounting to something in the region of $27 billion, it will be in Roubles or maybe even Yuan, but certainly not in US dollars – again thanks to the ill thought out sanctions.
This will set a trend for similar deals that will also exclude the US dollar, inevitably lowering its standing as the world’s reserve currency. I expect more such deals to be done with the Russians by German companies in particular as the sanctions fail to bring the promised results and as a consequence start to fall apart.
But it gets worse.
Before any of the US Senators or Congressmen stand up and start to call names at the Brits or the Norwegians or the French for backtracking on sanctions, they would be better to take a look nearer home.
It now seems that American Companies are not paying attention to the sanctions either.
For example, ExxonMobil, America’s largest oil company, has continued drilling offshore in the Russian Arctic, also with Rozneft.
If the sanctions were anything more than a bit of public posturing by Obama, ExxonMobil shouldn’t (and wouldn’t) be doing any more work with the Russians in Russia. But using the excuse that it is environmentally safer to complete the well than to allow the Russians to do it alone, ExxonMobil got permission to continue.
No doubt the company will express its gratitude when the next round of electioneering fund raising comes along! (Gosh, I’m such a cynic!)
Now, if Obama and his advisers had thought for a moment about the consequences of sanctions, they would have realized that, in cases like this, companies such as ExxonMobile had not really got a choice. If they hadn’t continued to work with Rozneft, the Russian company would simply have gone ahead without them with a consequent dilution of ExxonMobile’s return if/when the well is a success.
In addition to that, if the Russian company did need other help you can be sure there would have been a Chinese energy company there ready and willing and eager to take up the slack.
Whilst Obama and his predecessors have been blundering around the world pissing off friend and foe alike, the strategy of the Russian President has been to cultivate new friends and thereby new markets and customers for his country’s vast energy reserves.
It has been a clever move.
Sanctions or not, game to Putin this time I think.
Time to indulge in a little trivia and unusual facts that you can use to impress your friends when the moment is just right. And they will be impressed I’m sure!
So here is today’s selection.
Enjoy.
.
.
The new double-decker Airbus A380 airliner
holds 323,546 liters or 85,472 US gallons of fuel.
A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons!
.
.
A car uses 1.6 ounces of gas idling for one minute.
Half an ounce is used to start the average automobile!
.
.
When glass breaks,
the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour.
To photograph the event,
a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second!
.
.
The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts three naked men
with their hands on each other’s shoulders!
.
.
There are 18 different animal shapes
in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo!
.
.
The Philadelphia mint produces
26 million pennies per day!
.
.
A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times
hotter than those found at the sun’s surface!
.
.
Jim Caviezel was struck by lightening while he
was on the cross in ‘Passion of the Christ’.
.
.
A violin contains about seventy
separate pieces of wood!
.
.
It is estimated that 4 million “junk” telephone calls,
phone solicitations by persons
or programmed machine
are made every day in the United States!
.
.
It takes glass one million years to decompose,
which means it never wears out and can
be recycled an infinite amount of times!
.
.
Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill!
.
.
Michael Myers mask in Halloween
is just a Captain Kirk mask
altered slightly and painted white.
.
.
Almost half the newspapers in the world are
published in the United States and Canada!
.
.
Canadians Scott Abbott and Chris Haney invented Trivial Pursuit.
They were planning on playing Scrabble
and realized that some of the pieces were missing
so they came up with the idea of making their own game;
fasab 