You will find out what the title means later in the quiz.
For now get your thinking caps on and have a go at the following twenty questions in this week’s fasab quiz.
As always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: The terms ‘curd’ and ‘whey’ are associated with making what?
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Q. 2: Which species of animal contains the most poisonous animal in the world?
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Q. 3: Which two metals are used to make pewter?
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Q. 4: What two fruits grow on palms? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you are able to name both correctly.)
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Q. 5: What would you use ‘Archimedes’ Screw’ for?
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Q. 6: Amino acids are essential for the formation of what in the body?
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Q. 7: What can dogs do that wolves cannot?
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Q. 8: A ‘canton’, ‘halyard’ and ‘field’ make up what item?
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Q. 9: What are the two largest fruit crops on earth? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you are able to name both correctly.)
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Q. 10: Which chemical has the symbol ‘CL’?
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Q. 11: Who wrote the famous book ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’?
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Q. 12: Ireland is divided into two political entities, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, how many counties comprise each part? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 13: In what sport can you score a ‘waza-ari’, ‘ippon’ and ‘yuko’?
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Q. 14: The Knesset is the legislature of which country?
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Q. 15: What landlocked sea is 422m (1385ft) below sea level?
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Q. 16: Which monarch observed “L’etat, c’est moi”? (The language should give you a clue.)
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Q. 17: Where is the Yas Marina Motor Racing Circuit?
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Q. 18: The name was mentioned in the news a lot towards the end of 2014, which war was fought by Britain, France, Turkey and Piedmont against Russia between 1853 and 1856?
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Q. 19: In what land are ‘Quadling Country’, ‘Winkie Country’ and ‘Gillkin Country’ to be found?
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Q. 20: Which singer was ‘sailing’ in 1975?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: The terms ‘curd’ and ‘whey’ are associated with making what?
A. 1: Cheese.
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Q. 2: Which species of animal contains the most poisonous animal in the world?
A. 2: Frogs.
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Q. 3: Which two metals are used to make pewter?
A. 3: Tin and Lead.
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Q. 4: What two fruits grow on palms? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you are able to name both correctly.)
A. 4: Coconuts and dates.
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Q. 5: What would you use ‘Archimedes’ Screw’ for?
A. 5: Lifting water to a higher level
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Q. 6: Amino acids are essential for the formation of what in the body?
A. 6: Proteins.
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Q. 7: What can dogs do that wolves cannot?
A. 7: Bark.
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Q. 8: A ‘canton’, ‘halyard’ and ‘field’ make up what item?
A. 8: A flag.
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Q. 9: What are the two largest fruit crops on earth? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you are able to name both correctly.)
A. 9: Grapes, followed by bananas.
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Q. 10: Which chemical has the symbol ‘CL’?
A. 10: Chlorine.
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Q. 11: Who wrote the famous book ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’?
A. 11: Edward Gibbon. (You may have the point if you gave the surname only.)
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Q. 12: Ireland is divided into two political entities, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, how many counties comprise each part? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 12: The Republic of Ireland has 26 counties and Northern Ireland 6.
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Q. 13: In what sport can you score a ‘waza-ari’, ‘ippon’ and ‘yuko’?
A. 13: Judo.
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Q. 14: The Knesset is the legislature of which country?
A. 14: Israel.
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Q. 15: What landlocked sea is 422m (1385ft) below sea level?
A. 15: The Dead Sea.
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Q. 16: Which monarch observed “L’etat, c’est moi”? (The language should give you a clue.)
A. 16: Louis XIV.
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Q. 17: Where is the Yas Marina Motor Racing Circuit?
A. 17: Abu Dabi.
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Q. 18: The name was mentioned in the news a lot towards the end of 2014, which war was fought by Britain, France, Turkey and Piedmont against Russia between 1853 and 1856?
A. 18: The Crimean War.
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Q. 19: In what land are ‘Quadling Country’, ‘Winkie Country’ and ‘Gillkin Country’ to be found?
A. 19: The Land of Oz, from The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.
Last day of this year and time for my recollections of 2014’s main events.
As always this is by no means meant to be a complete coverage of all the events that happened during 2014, just a personal blog post about some of the things I remember, and a few that I had forgotten until I started to compile this list.
I hope you enjoy.
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The Weather
We will start off with the weather since so many of us seem to be obsessed with it.
In the United States there were weather extremes. In California, for example, January was the warmest and driest on record in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. Only four other Januaries since 1878 had been completely dry in Los Angeles until January 2014. Alaskans experienced their third warmest January in 96 years of record, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.
In many parts of the Midwest, on the other hand, 2014 was the coldest winter since the late 1970s or early 1980s. And some southern states of the US became the victims of, firstly, winter storm Kronos which brought a rare blanket of snow as far south as Louisiana, and sleet as far south as Harlingen, Texas and Pensacola, Fla. in late January, and then, just days later, a second winter storm, Leon, hit many of the same areas causing commuter chaos in both Birmingham, Ala. and Atlanta. Leon also spread ice and sleet to the Gulf Coast, including the Florida Panhandle, and the Low country of South Carolina.
And worse was on the way. Winter Storm Pax deposited an inch or more of ice in a swath from east-central Georgia into South Carolina, including Augusta, Ga. and Aiken, S.C. Pax was the second heaviest ice storm dating to 1947 in Wilmington, N.C. The accumulation of ice from Pax claimed the famed “Eisenhower tree” at the Augusta National Golf Club. Pax marked the first time since January 1940 that Columbia, S.C. saw snowfall for three straight days.
In complete contrast, the week after Pax, Columbia, S.C. tied its all-time February high of 84 degrees. Augusta, Ga. warmed into the 80s two straight days on Feb. 19-20.
Elsewhere in the world, severe Atlantic winter storms took their toll on many parts of England which in 2014 experienced storms and rain not seen since the late 19th century.
In Tokyo, Japan, which usually averages only about 4 inches of snow each year, there were also severe snow storms. In February, snow blanketed the city with 11 inches of snow in less than a week, the heaviest snowfall in 45 years for Tokyo and in 60 years for the city of Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo. The following weekend, parts of eastern Japan, including parts of the Tokyo metro area, received another round of snow. Some smaller communities were isolated by more than 3 feet of snow.
And in the southern hemisphere, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reported that more than 10 percent of Queensland and almost 15 percent of New South Wales experienced their record hottest day on Jan. 3. A second heat wave hit parts of southern Australia in mid-January, with temperatures peaking above 41 degrees Celsius (just under 106 degrees Fahrenheit) for four straight days from Jan. 14-17, and reaching a sizzling 43.9 degrees C (111 degrees F) on both Jan. 16 and 17.
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Business and Technology
In the world of business and technology 2014 was the year the Obama administration decided to stop inversion deals, where US companies bought foreign domiciled businesses and moved their profit centers to a much more tax friendly location.
In technology buys, one of the largest was Facebook’s purchase of smartphone application WhatsApp for $19 Billion.
In other sectors 2014 saw world oil price plunge to around $50 per barrel, good news for consumers, not so good for producers.
Under pressure from the fall in oil and gas prices, along with the economic sanctions imposed by the west because of the ongoing situation in the Ukraine, the Russian Ruble went into free fall in December.
Also in 2014, in March, the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s Antarctic whaling program was not scientific but commercial and refused to grant further permits.
With Quantitative Easing having been ended in the US (for the moment anyway) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced plans for a new $29 billion fresh stimulus, including subsidies and job-creating programs, to help pull the world’s third-largest economy out of recession.
After their embarrassing foul up last Christmas, this year both FedEx and UPS managed to deliver more than 99 percent of express packages as promised on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to shipment tracker ShipMatrix.
South Korean prosecutors arrested a government official who allegedly leaked information about an investigation into former Korean Air Lines executive Cho Hyun-ah, who forced a flight to return over a bag of macadamia nuts. Most of the rest of the world tends to think that the idiot executive should suffer the consequences of her stupidity, not the whistleblower.
And finally, after their embarrassing hack attack and cringe-worthy capitulation to what amounted to a terrorist cyber attack which was rightly criticized publicly by President Obama, Sony finally decided to release its movie ‘The Interview’.
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Conflicts, Wars & Terrorism
Unfortunately 2014 saw many conflicts and acts of terrorism.
In April an estimated 276 girls and women were abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria. The following month, Boko Haram militants killed approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala and terrorists in Nigeria detonated bombs at Jos, killing 118 people.
June saw the emergence of a Sunni militant group called the ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’ (also known as the ‘ISIS’ or ‘ISIL’). It began an offensive throughout northern Iraq, with the aim of eventually capturing the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrowing the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The group has been responsible for beheading of hundreds of people including several from the United States.
In July and August tensions between Israel and Hamas grew following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July. Israel launched ‘Operation Protective Edge’ on the Palestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. In 7 weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis were killed.
Also in July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 souls on board. There are conflicting claims as to who was responsible, some blaming pro Russian forces for a missile strike and others blaming Ukrainian forces.
In August and September the United States military began an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants and the following month the United States and several Arab partners began an airstrike campaign in Syria.
Expect more on these stories during 2015.
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Departures
During 2014 we said farewell to many well know people from various walks of life. Here is just my selection of those I remember.
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From Literature
Sue Townsend
British novelist and playwright (b. 1946)
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P. D. James
British writer and life peer
(b. 1920)
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From Movies & TV
Roger Lloyd-Pack
British actor
(b. 1944)
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Maximilian Schell
Austrian-Swiss actor
(b. 1930)
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Philip Seymour Hoffman
American actor
(b. 1967)
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Shirley Temple
American actress and diplomat
(b. 1928)
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Sid Caesar
American actor
(b. 1922)
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Harold Ramis
American film director,
writer, and actor
(b. 1944)
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Mickey Rooney
American actor
(b. 1920)
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Bob Hoskins
British actor
(b. 1942)
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Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
American actor
(b. 1918)
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Rik Mayall
British comedian,
writer and actor
(b. 1958)
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Casey Kasem
American radio host
and voice actor
(b. 1932)
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Eli Wallach
American actor
(b. 1915)
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Elaine Stritch
American actress and singer
(b. 1925)
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James Garner
American actor
(b. 1928)
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Menahem Golan
Israeli filmmaker
(b. 1929)
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Robin Williams
American actor and comedian
(b. 1951)
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Lauren Bacall
American actress
(b. 1924)
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Richard Attenborough
British actor and film director
(b. 1923)
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Joan Rivers
American comedian, actress,
and television host
(b. 1933)
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Richard Kiel
American actor (b. 1939)
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Polly Bergen
American actress
(b. 1930)
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Ken Takakura
Japanese actor
(b. 1931)
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Warren Clarke
English actor
(b. 1947)
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Glen A. Larson
American television producer
and writer
(b. 1937)
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Virna Lisi
Italian actress
(b. 1936)
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Billie Whitelaw
English actress
(b. 1932)
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Luise Rainer
Golden Age actress
“The Great Ziegfeld”
(b. 1910)
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From Music
Pete Seeger
American singer, songwriter,
musician, and activist
(b. 1919)
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Johnny Winter
American singer and guitarist
(b. 1944)
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Glenn Cornick
British bass guitarist
(b. 1947)
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Jack Bruce
British rock bassist
(b. 1943)
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Acker Bilk
British jazz clarinetist
(b. 1929)
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Joe Cocker
English singer
(b. 1944)
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From Politics
Zbigniew Messner
9th Prime Minister of the
People’s Republic of Poland
(b. 1929)
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Ariel Sharon
11th Prime Minister of Israel
(b. 1928)
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Tony Benn
British politician and diarist
(b. 1925)
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Adolfo Suárez
138th Prime Minister of Spain
(b. 1932)
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James R. Schlesinger
American economist and politician
(b. 1929)
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A. N. R. Robinson
3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago
(b. 1926)
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Howard Baker
American politician and diplomat
(b. 1925)
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Eduard Shevardnadze
2nd President of Georgia
(b. 1928)
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Albert Reynolds
Irish Taoiseach (prime minister)
(b. 1932)
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Ian Paisley
British politician and
First Minister of Northern Ireland
(b. 1926)
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Nicholas Romanov
Prince of Russia
(b. 1922)
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Jean-Claude Duvalier
41st President of Haiti
(b. 1951)
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John Spencer-Churchill
11th Duke of Marlborough,
British peer and educator
(b. 1926)
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Gough Whitlam
21st Prime Minister of Australia
(b. 1916)
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From Space Exploration
Valeri Kubasov
Soviet cosmonaut
(b. 1935)
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Wubbo Ockels
Dutch astronaut and physicist
(b. 1946)
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Henry Hartsfield
American colonel and astronaut
(b. 1933)
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Anatoly Berezovoy
Soviet cosmonaut
(b. 1942)
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From Sport
Eusébio
Portuguese footballer
(b. 1942)
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Mae Young
American professional wrestler
(b. 1923)
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Louise Brough
American tennis player
(b. 1923)
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Tom Finney
English footballer
(b. 1922)
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Nelson Frazier, Jr.
American professional wrestler
(b. 1971)
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Jimmy Ellis
American boxer
(b. 1940)
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Jack Brabham
Australian race car driver
(b. 1926)
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Malcolm Glazer
American businessman,
owner of Manchester United
(b. 1928)
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Valentin Mankin
Ukrainian sailor, Olympic triple champion
and silver medalist
(b. 1938)
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Fernandão
Brazilian footballer and manager
(b. 1978)
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Alfredo Di Stéfano
Argentine-Spanish footballer
(b. 1926)
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Andriy Bal
Ukrainian football player and coach
(b. 1958)
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Björn Waldegård
Swedish rally driver
(b. 1943)
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Andrea de Cesaris
Italian race car driver
(b. 1959)
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Health
The big health scare of 2014 that dominated the headlines was the of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa in February, that initially infected over 19,000 people and killing at least 7,000, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties.
In other news, also in February, Belgium became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.
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Politics
On January 1, Latvia officially adopted the Euro as its currency and became the 18th member of the Eurozone.
In February, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest that left around 100 people dead in Kiev. The pro-Russian unrest lead to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and an insurgency in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In March, Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, severed diplomatic and political ties with Panama, accusing it of being involved in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government.
Also in March, an emergency meeting, involving the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspended Russia from the G8.
In April, also in response to the Crimean crisis, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution temporarily stripping Russia of its voting rights; its rights to be represented in the Bureau of the Assembly, the PACE Presidential Committee, and the PACE Standing Committee; and its right to participate in election-observation missions.
The same month, United States President Barack Obama began new economic sanctions against Russia, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In May the Royal Thai Army overthrew the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.
Back in Europe, in June, King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicated in favor of his son, who ascended the Spanish throne as King Felipe VI.
And the political year ended on a positive note, with U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba after more than half a century.
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Space
The major space event of 2014 happened in November when the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Philae probe successfully landed on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft has landed on such an object.
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Sport
The two major world sporting events of 2014 were the XXII Olympic Winter Games, held in Sochi, Russia in February, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, and won by Germany, during June and July.
In American sport the Super Bowl was won by the Seattle Seahawks, the MLB World Series winners were the San Francisco Giants and in basketball the San Antonio Spurs came out on top.
Ice Hockey had three champions in 2014, Canada becoming Olympic champions, Russia world champions and in the NHL the Los Angeles Kings were the victors.
In tennis at the world famous Wimbledon Tournament in England Novak Djokovic became Men’s Singles Champion and Petra Kvitova Ladies Singles Champion, while the men’s and women’s winners of the US Open were Marin Čilić and Serena Williams respectively.
In Soccer, as noted above, Germany won the 2014 World Cup. The European Champions League winners were Real Madrid and the English Premiership was won by Manchester City.
The Formula 1 motor racing champion for 2014 was British driver Lewis Hamilton, who also picked up the award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
In golf’s major championships, the Masters Tournament, held in April, was won by Bubba Watson by three strokes. It was his second Masters championship.
May saw the BMW PGA Championship where young Northern Ireland man Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole to win by one stroke over Irishman Shane Lowry, who also birdied the 18th hole.
In June, U.S. Open winner was Martin Kaymer who won by eight strokes to become the first German player to win the U.S. Open, and the first player to win the Players Championship and the U.S. Open in the same year.
In July, the Open Championship Northern Ireland man Rory McIlroy, was on top again winning by two strokes over Rickie Fowler and Sergio García. It was his third career major championship, and his first Open Championship. With the win, he became the fourth player ever of 25 years old or under to have won at least three majors.
In August, McIlroy was back, winning the PGA Championship by one stroke over Phil Mickelson. He was having quite a year, it was his fourth career major and his second PGA Championship.
Then in September, in the Ryder Cup, Team Europe (also including McIlroy) defeated Team USA by a score of 16½ – 11½. It was the third consecutive Ryder Cup victory for Europe, and also Europe’s fifth consecutive home victory in the Ryder Cup.
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Tragedies
In March Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
In April Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized and sunk after an unmanageable cargo shift. More than 290 people were killed, mostly high school students.
In May hundreds of workers were killed in mining accident in Turkey.
In July, Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashed in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.
And just a few days ago AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed, wreckage has been found off the coast of Indonesia’s Kalimantan coast.
Today’s quiz has a few questions that I think you will find quite challenging, plus one or two that you should breeze through with ease.
But the only way to find out is to have a go.
And remember, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: What goes up and down, but still remains in the same place?
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Q. 2: Who directed both JFK and Nixon?
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Q. 3: Before being harvested and sold, an individual cranberry must bounce at least how many inches high to make sure they aren’t too ripe?
a) 2 inches b) 3 inches c) 4 inches d) 5 inches
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Q. 4: What World War II British naval intelligence officer wrote the children’s story ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang’?
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Q. 5: Who is the only US President who was never elected as either President or Vice President?
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Q. 6: The ‘H-3’ and the ‘H-4’, built in 1757 and 1759 were mechanical wonders. Who constructed them both and what were they used for? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
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Q. 7: What does the term ‘Cornucopia’ mean?
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Q. 8: To nearest 1000, in the year 1800 how many wild turkeys were there in Turkey?
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Q. 9: The two oldest universities in Europe are both found in which country?
a) France b) England c) Italy d) Greece
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Q. 10: Who was the tallest President of the United States and who was the shortest? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
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Q. 11: In which 1949 movie did Sir Alec Guinness famously play the role of eight different members of the D’Ascoyne family?
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Q. 12: Who won this year’s (2014) Formula One World Driver’s Championship and what was his nationality? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
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Q. 13: ‘Fionn mac Cumhaill’, ‘Bergrisar’, ‘Daityas’, ‘Patagons’ and ‘Nephilims’ are all examples of what?
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Q. 14: What does ‘IMAX’, as in the large screen IMAX Cinemas stand for?
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Q. 15: Which boxer’s first professional fight was against Tunney Hunsaker, Police Chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia, on October 29, 1960?
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Q. 16: Which Portuguese-born navigator was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean?
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Q. 17: Who was the first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers?
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Q. 18: Which martial art takes its name from the Japanese for ‘way of the sword’?
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Q. 19: What color is ‘Absynth’?
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Q. 20: Which popular singer and movie star had a ‘secret love’ in 1954 and in which famous movie did it feature? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What goes up and down, but still remains in the same place?
A. 1: Stairs!
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Q. 2: Who directed both JFK and Nixon?
A. 2: Oliver Stone.
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Q. 3: Before being harvested and sold, an individual cranberry must bounce at least how many inches high to make sure they aren’t too ripe?
a) 2 inches b) 3 inches c) 4 inches d) 5 inches
A. 3: The correct answer is c) 4 inches.
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Q. 4: What World War II British naval intelligence officer wrote the children’s story ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang’?
A. 4: Ian Fleming, much better known as author of the James Bond novels.
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Q. 5: Who is the only US President who was never elected as either President or Vice President?
A. 5: Gerald R Ford, who became the 40th Vice-President when Spiro Agnew resigned the position and who subsequently became the 38th President of the USA, when he took over the job after Richard M Nixon resigned.
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Q. 6: The ‘H-3’ and the ‘H-4’, built in 1757 and 1759 were mechanical wonders. Who constructed them both and what were they used for? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
A. 6: John Harrison. H-3 and H-4 were the first successful maritime chronometers.
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Q. 7: What does the term ‘Cornucopia’ mean?
A. 7: Literally ‘Horn of Plenty’, used as a symbol of abundance.
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Q. 8: To nearest 1000, in the year 1800 how many wild turkeys were there in Turkey?
A. 8: The correct answer is ‘None’, the wild turkey it is a native North American bird.
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Q. 9: The two oldest universities in Europe are both found in which country?
a) France b) England c) Italy d) Greece
A. 9: Many people think it is England with the famous Oxford and Cambridge Universities, but the correct answer is c) Italy. Parma (1065 AD) and Bologna (1119 AD)
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Q. 10: Who was the tallest President of the United States and who was the shortest? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
A. 10: Abraham Lincoln was the tallest at 6′ 4″, and James Madison was the shortest at 5′ 4″.
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Q. 11: In which 1949 movie did Sir Alec Guinness famously play the role of eight different members of the D’Ascoyne family?
A. 11: Kind Hearts and Coronets.
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Q. 12: Who won this year’s (2014) Formula One World Driver’s Championship and what was his nationality? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
A. 12: Lewis Hamilton who is British.
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Q. 13: ‘Fionn mac Cumhaill’, ‘Bergrisar’, ‘Daityas’, ‘Patagons’ and ‘Nephilims’ are all examples of what?
A. 13: Giants.
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Q. 14: What does ‘IMAX’, as in the large screen IMAX Cinemas stand for?
A. 14: IMAX stands for ‘Image Maximum’.
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Q. 15: Which boxer’s first professional fight was against Tunney Hunsaker, Police Chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia, on October 29, 1960?
A. 15: Cassius Clay. (Sorry, but you do not score a point if you only said ‘Muhammad Ali’, he did not change his name until 15 years later after converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.)
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Q. 16: Which Portuguese-born navigator was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean?
A. 16: Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521).
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Q. 17: Who was the first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers?
A. 17: Lady Gaga.
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Q. 18: Which martial art takes its name from the Japanese for ‘way of the sword’?
A. 18: Kendo.
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Q. 19: What color is ‘Absynth’?
A. 19: Green.
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Q. 20: Which popular singer and movie star had a ‘secret love’ in 1954 and in which famous movie did it feature? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)
As usual the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below – but NO cheating please.
Enjoy, and good luck!
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Q. 1: In which American state did the English first settle in 1607?
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Q. 2: What name was given to a pilot who flew suicide missions in World War II?
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Q. 3: Whish of these is the name of a town or city in Turkey?
a) Batman b) Robin c) Joker
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Q. 4: Who was the first person to cross the English channel with an airplane?
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Q. 5: Fifty years ago, on November 22nd 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but what was the name of the airport where Air Force One landed on that fateful journey?
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Q. 6: Why did the Roman Catholic church ban Mozart’s music?
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Q. 7: Australia built fences across outback areas to contain what agricultural pest?
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Q. 8: Which country’s troops invaded Cambodia in 1979?
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Q. 9: Who played an aging Jewish Nazi hunter named ‘Ezra Lieberman’ and in what movie? (A point for each answer.)
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Q. 10: In which country is the site of the famous battle of Waterloo?
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Q. 11: Which American diva got married after a whirlwind romance, in 2008?
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Q. 12: What were the first names the four members of the ‘Cartwright family’ and what long running television show they were in? (Character’s names, not their real names and you can have a point for each.)
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Q. 13: What do the actors Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner and Yun Fat Chow all have in common?
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Q. 14: Who noted the day before he was killed in 1968: “I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man”?
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Q. 15: What famous television series starred Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito?
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Q. 16: In which 1964 musical movie was Audrey Hepburn’s singing dubbed by Marni Nixon?
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Q. 17: In which country, until 1922, was the Ruler referred to as ‘Sultan of the Ottoman Empire’?
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Q. 18: Which nanny did Julie Andrews win an Oscar for playing?
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Q. 19: Which Scottish engineer gave the first public demonstration of television in 1925?
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Q. 20: Which song by Survivor is the best selling UK heavy metal release of all time?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: In which American state did the English first settle in 1607?
A. 1: Virginia.
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Q. 2: What name was given to a pilot who flew suicide missions in World War II?
A. 2: Kamikaze.
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Q. 3: Whish of these is the name of a town or city in Turkey?
a) Batman b) Robin c) Joker
A. 3: a) Batman (Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo….)
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Q. 4: Who was the first person to cross the English channel with an airplane?
A. 4: Louis Blèriot.
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Q. 5: Fifty years ago, on November 22nd 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but what was the name of the airport where Air Force One landed on that fateful journey?
A. 5: Love Field.
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Q. 6: Why did the Roman Catholic church ban Mozart’s music?
A. 6: He joined the Freemasons.
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Q. 7: Australia built fences across outback areas to contain what agricultural pest?
A. 7: Rabbits.
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Q. 8: Which country’s troops invaded Cambodia in 1979?
A. 8: Vietnam.
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Q. 9: Who played an aging Jewish Nazi hunter named ‘Ezra Lieberman’ and in what movie? (A point for each answer.)
A. 9: Laurence Olivier in ‘The Boys From Brazil’.
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Q. 10: In which country is the site of the famous battle of Waterloo?
A. 10: Belgium.
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Q. 11: Which American diva got married after a whirlwind romance, in 2008?
A. 11: Mariah Carey.
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Q. 12: What were the first names the four members of the ‘Cartwright family’ and what long running television show they were in? (Character’s names, not their real names and you can have a point for each.)
A. 12: Ben, Adam, Eric (Hoss), and Joesph (Little Joe) in Bonanza.
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Q. 13: What do the actors Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner and Yun Fat Chow all have in common?
A. 13: They have all played the King (King Mongkut) in film. Harrison (‘Anna and the King of Siam’, 1946) Brynner (‘The King and I’, 1956), Chow (‘Anna and the King’, 1999).
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Q. 14: Who noted the day before he was killed in 1968: “I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man”?
A. 14: Martin Luther King.
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Q. 15: What famous television series starred Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito?
A. 15: Taxi.
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Q. 16: In which 1964 musical movie was Audrey Hepburn’s singing dubbed by Marni Nixon?
A. 16: My Fair Lady.
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Q. 17: In which country, until 1922, was the Ruler referred to as ‘Sultan of the Ottoman Empire’?
A. 17: Turkey.
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Q. 18: Which nanny did Julie Andrews win an Oscar for playing?
A. 18: Mary Poppins.
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Q. 19: Which Scottish engineer gave the first public demonstration of television in 1925?
A. 19: John Logie Baird.
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Q. 20: Which song by Survivor is the best selling UK heavy metal release of all time?
fasab 