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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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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Don’t Beam Me Up Just Yet, Scotty!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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You will get what the title is all about later. Let’s just say for now I’ll still be buying my airplane tickets and enduring the rigors of airport security for a few years longer.

As for now it’s Fact Day so have a look at the current offerings.

Enjoy.

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did you know2

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In cold weather keeping your cell phone

as close to your body as you can,

or in the inside pocket of an insulated base layer

will help keep it warm and prolong battery life.

 warm cell phone case

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In the West women usually start shopping for baby things

as soon as they discover they’re pregnant

but in China a pregnant Chinese woman will avoid

getting a stroller before her baby is born because

according to Chinese tradition it’s considered

bad luck to have an empty stroller in the house

while you’re pregnant.

 stroller

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The world’s oldest-known formula for toothpaste

was created by the ancient Egyptians

who used crushed rock salt, mint, dried iris flowers,

and pepper and mixed them to create a cleaning powder.

Research suggests this ancient toothpaste was more

effective than formulas used as recently as a century ago,

although it did have the unfortunate side effect

of causing bleeding gums.

 toothpaste

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A scientific study has suggested that if you

are stressing over an important test or exam,

writing down your feelings on a piece of paper

before an exam will allow you to achieve higher scores.

 writing down your feelings on a piece of paper

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Contrary to many theories,

the tongue does not have specific receptor areas

for bitter, sour, salty, and sweet flavors.

In fact, there is a fifth taste (umami, for savory/meaty flavors)

and all zones of the tongue can sense all flavors.

 all zones of the tongue can sense all flavors

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After banning the Nobel Prize,

Adolf Hitler developed his own version

– the German National Prize for Art and Science.

Ferdinand Porsche was one of the awardees

for being the man behind the world’s first

hybrid car and for the Volkswagen Beetle.

 German National Prize for Art and Science

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In a statement he gave to the New York Times in 1909,

Nikola Tesla predicted that it would soon be possible

to transmit messages via personal devices.

Today, we have wireless communication devices

that we bring with us anywhere we go.

 Nikola Tesla

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A month after the USSR sent Sputnik 1 into space,

they sent Sputnik 2, which was the first spacecraft

to carry an animal (a dog named Laika) into space.

However, despite the Soviets initially claiming that

Laika had survived in orbit for a week,

decades later official Russian sources revealed

that Laika lived only a few hours

before dying from overheating.

Brave little doggie though.

 Laika

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During WWI “Hello Girls,” as American

soldiers called them, were American women

who served as telephone operators for

Pershing’s forces in Europe.

The women were fluent in French and English

and were specially trained by the American

Telephone and Telegraph Company.

In 1979, the U.S. Army finally gave war medals

and veteran benefits to the few Hello Girls who were still alive.

 WWI Hello Girls

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In its early days YouTube’s founders used

Craigslist to try to popularize the site

by offering $100 to attractive girls who would

post ten or more videos of themselves.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get a single response.

 craigslist logo

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The phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’

goes back to at least the mid-nineteenth century

as found in George Eliot’s ‘The Mill on the Floss’ (1860),

where Mr. Tulliver uses the phrase in discussing

Daniel Defoe’s ‘The History of the Devil’,

saying how it was beautifully bound.

Its general meaning today, of course, is that

we shouldn’t judge or make a decision about

someone or something based on a brief

impression or outward appearance.

Wise advice.

 Don’t judge a book by its cover

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Just as true champagne must hail from France,

tequila has Denomination of Origin,

meaning that it has to be produced in Mexico,

mainly in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

The states of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit,

and Tamaulipas are also acceptable.

 taquila bottles

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Located in the city of Taipei in Taiwan, the

D.S. Music Restaurant has nothing to do with music at all.

In fact, it is a bizarre hospital-themed restaurant

where waitresses are all dressed as nurses,

tables are made from metal hospital beds,

drinks are served in IV bottles and

walls are decorated with X-ray scans.

 D.S. Music Restaurant Taiwan

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Remember the teleporter Star Trek?

Well, it’s no longer science fiction because now

matter can be dissolved into particles, transported

and reassembled at another location.

However, it won’t be available for use on humans

in the near future because at the moment,

whilst it is indeed possible to scan every molecule

in the human body and reassemble it in another area,

according to Quantum physics, scanning and

reassembling changes the entire object.

You can’t make an exact copy.

So don’t beam me up just yet, Scotty!

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Did You Know? Here Are The Facts – Let’s Face It Folks, Your Whole Childhood Was A Lie!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes indeed, here are the facts. Another random selection for your enjoyment.

I hope you find them interesting, maybe even educational.  

And, of course, you’ll find out a little later why your whole childhood was a lie.

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The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf

are one in sixty-seven million, 1:67,000,000.

Did You Know hole in one

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Another word for hiccups is ‘singultus’.

Did You Know hiccups

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Airports that are at higher altitudes require

a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

Did You Know lukla-airport

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The only poisonous birds in the world are the three species of Pitohui.

The Hooded Pitohui from Papua New Guinea is the most deadly out of the three

Did You Know Hooded Pitohui poisoness bird

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In 1955, only 330 Volkswagen Beetle’s were sold

at a price of $1800 each in the United States.

Did You Know 1955_volkswagen_beetle

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The Chihuahua was named after

the Mexican state where they were discovered

Did You Know Chihuahua

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There are more than 640 muscles in the human body

(and as you get older they all start to hurt!)

Did You Know Chihuahua

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The odds of having quadruplets are 1 in 729,000

(for men the odds are much higher!)

Did You Know Popeye Quadruplets

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The destruction of the Berlin Wall began when private citizens

started to demolish entire sections of the Wall without interference

from government officials on November 9, 1989

Did You Know berlin_wall

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France is known as the perfume capital of the world

Did You Know France perfume

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Since its introduction in February 1935,

more than two hundred million Monopoly board games

have been sold worldwide

Did You Know Obama-Monopoly

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It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL

with enough leather for a year’s supply of footballs.

Did You Know NFL-football

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When former Texas Governor James Hogg was on his deathbed

he made a special request that a pecan tree

be planted at the head of his grave instead of a tombstone.

The governor passed away on March 2, 1906,

which is Texas Independence Day.

The pecan tree is now the state tree of Texas

Did You Know Jim_hogg

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In 1477, the first diamond engagement ring was given to

Mary of Burgundy by Archduke Maximillian of Austria

Did You Know 1st diamond engagement ring

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The smallest frog is the “Brazilian baby frog”,

which is smaller than a dime

Did You Know brazilian_gold_frog

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India used to be the richest country in the world

until the British invasion in the early 17th Century

Did You Know Golden_Temple_India

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Marie Curie, the Nobel prize winning scientist who discovered radium,

died of radiation poisoning

Did You Know Marie_Curie_c1920

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The iron disulfide (Pyrite) is considered “fool’s gold”

because it looks very similar to gold.

Did You Know fools_gold

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In 1759, St. James’s Gate Brewery (where they brew Guinness)

was leased for to Arthur Guinness for 9,000 years for 45 pounds per year.

Did You Know St James Gate Guinness Brewery entrance

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A Roadrunner’s top speed is 20 mph

while coyotes can reach speeds of up to 43 mph

– so let’s face it folks, your whole childhood was a lie!

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