January 29th

Set by THE BRITISH FLAG

VETTED BY THE KNOT INN


SPECIALIST ROUNDS

1. ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
2. UNIVERSITY CHALLENGED
3. SPORT
4. HISTORY
5. TO CELEBRATE 25TH JANUARY
6. GEOGRAPHY
7. SCIENCE
8. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

ROUND 1: ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

1.
First published in 1929, for which character is Belgian George REMI best known for creating?


TINTIN

2.
Whose 1987 autobiography had the title “Living Dangerously” and 2007 autobiography had the title “Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know” ?

SIR RANULPH FIENNES

3.
In which gallery would you find Constable’s The Haywain?

THE NATIONAL GALLERY

4.
The iron chicken and the froglets appeared in which children’s television programme?

CLANGERS

5.
“The Fat of the Land” was in the charts for which group in the 1990s?

THE PRODIGY

6.
Who said “There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it ?

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

7.
Who wrote Schindler’s Ark, the book on which the film Schindler’s List was based ?

THOMAS KENEALLY

8.
Name the Hollywood silent era filmstar famous for such daring stunts
as swinging from the clock on a skyscraper in films like "Safety Last".

HAROLD LLOYD


SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
In which city is the Hermitage museum?


SAINT PETERSBURG

II.
How many paintings did Vincent Van Gogh sell in his lifetime ?

ONE (to his brother)






ROUND 2: UNIVERSITY CHALLENGED

1.
Which American author is the Chancellor of Durham University?

BILL BRYSON

2.
Which future Prime Minister wrote the outline for a proposal for a ‘University of the Air’ in 1963 which led to the launch of the Open University in 1969?

HAROLD WILSON

3.
In which 1987 TV series, based on a novel by Tom Sharpe, did David Jason play the role of ‘Skullion’, a janitor at a Cambridge College?

PORTERHOUSE BLUE

4.
Birkbeck, Goldsmiths and Queen Mary colleges are part of which University?

THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

5.
After which famous engineer is the University at Uxbridge named?

ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL

6.
Which is the oldest university in Germany?

HEIDELBERG (founded in 1386)

7.
Where did the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV, found the first University in central Europe in 1348

PRAGUE (University Karlova/Charles University)

8.
Who played the part of a hairdresser who became a mature university student in the 1983 film ‘Educating Rita’?

JULIE WALTERS

SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
The Campus of which university in California consists largely of the old farm buildings of the owners who subsequently founded the University?

STANFORD (opened in 1891 by Leland & Jane Stanford)

II.
At which British university was Churchill College established in 1960 ?

CAMBRIDGE



ROUND 3: SPORT

1.
How many barriers must be cleared in the 3000m steeplechase ?

35 (28 barriers and 7 water jumps)

2.
What is the maximum number of horses allowed to run in the Grand National ?

40

3.
Who was voted “BBC Sports Personality of the Year” in 2007 ?

JOE CALZAGHE

4.
In which sport is Great Britain’s Victoria Pembleton a favourite to win a gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games ?

TRACK CYCLING (accept cycling)

5.
Who is the leading points scorer in the Rugby Union World Cup Finals (i.e. games at the finals not including any qualifying games )?

JOHNNY WILKINSON

6.
What was introduced for the first time at the 1986 Wimbledon Tennis championships ?

YELLOW BALLS

7.
Which country is missing from the following list of teams in England’s qualifying group (Group 6) for the 2010 football world cup to be held in South Africa: Croatia, England, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra and ?

UKRAINE

8.
Who recently became only the 3rd bowler in Test Match cricket to take 600 wickets ?

ANIL KUMBLE


SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
As of 28th January 2008 which wicketkeeper has claimed the most Test Match wickets with 416 ?

ADAM GILCHRIST (Australia)

II.
During last year Martin Strel swam a distance of 3274 miles down which river ? Starting on 01 Feb and finishing on 07 Apr - a total of 66 days ?

AMAZON

ROUND 4: HISTORY

1.
Which politicians’ last words were said to have been “I’m so bored with it all”??

WINSTON CHURCHILL

2.
Across which river did George Washington lead his troops at Christmas 1776 ?

DELAWARE

3.
Which British Monarch was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day ?

WILLIAM THE CONQUERER (WILLIAM I)

4.
Which Emperor’s last words were “"Qualis artifex pereo" -- "What an artist dies in me!" ?”

NERO

5.
Which US President won re-election with the slogan “He kept us out of the war”?

WOODROW WILSON

6.
Which 20th Century dictator was the editor of a newspaper called Avanti?

MUSSOLINI

7.
After which battle in World War II did Churchill say “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning?

SECOND BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN (Accept El Alamein)

8.
From which country did Mexico declare independence in 1810 ?

SPAIN


SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
How many British ships were lost at the Battle of Trafalgar?

NONE

II.
In which castle did Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, throw a lavish entertainment for Elizabeth I, almost bankrupting himself ?

KENILWORTH



ROUND 5: TO CELEBRATE 25TH JANUARY

1.
Whose albums include “Intensive Care” and “Sing When You’re Winning”?

ROBBIE WILLIAMS

2.
Which actor was in the films Stardust, Shark Tale, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Flawless?

ROBERT DE NIRO

3.
Who was the author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

4.
What is the name of the Psychology professor, played by Robbie Coltrane, in the TV programme “Cracker”?

FITZ (Eddie Fitzgerald)

5.
Give BOTH names of the World Rally Championship winner in 2001. He was the 1st Englishman to land the coveted title, and died in 2005

RICHARD BURNS

6.
Kenny Burns, the Scottish International footballer, moved to which 1st Division Club in July 1977 from Birmingham City?

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

7.
Give EITHER of the Christian names of Mr. Burns the owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson’s boss.

CHARLES MONTGOMERY (MONTY)

8.
Who was George Burns, the American comedian, married to from 7th Jan 1926 to 27th Aug 1964.

GRACIE ALLEN



SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
To who was Robert Browning secretly married in 1846?

ELIZABETH BARRETT

II.
What is BURNS of London famous for making?

(ELECTRIC) GUITARS


ROUND 6: GEOGRAPHY

1.
Which part of the British Isles is divided into 6 areas called ‘sheadings’?

ISLE OF MAN(the sheadings are named Glenfaba, Michael, Ayre, Garff, Middle and Rushen)

2.
Which small island in the middle of the South Atlantic was named after the day it was ‘discovered’ in 1503?

ASCENSION ISLAND

3.
Name the stretch of water that lies between Iceland and Greenland ?

DENMARK STRAIT

4.
What is the name of the valley in northeast Arizona and southeast Utah which has many sandstone ‘buttes’ and was the location for several John Ford Western movies?

MONUMENT VALLEY

5.
What is the name of the large lake near St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) which provided the only access to Leningrad during the siege of the City by the German Army from 1941 to 1944?

LAKE LADOGA

6.
Jethou, Brechou and Lihou are lesser known islands in which group of islands?

THE CHANNEL ISLANDS

7.
What is the ‘Hoba West’ which was found in 1920 near Grootfontein in Namibia?

The LARGEST KNOWN METEORITE
(about 66 tons of iron and nickel 2.7 by 2.7 by 0.5 metres in size)

8.
What is a Logan ? An example can be found at Treen, near Land’s End, Cornwall)?

A ROCKING STONE
(a boulder balanced on another rock which can be rocked back & forth without falling over)

SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
Which is the third highest mountain in the world and is also the highest in India (Sikkim)?


KANGCHENJUNGA (28,169 feet)


II.
Which city stands on the river Lune ?

LANCASTER



ROUND 7: SCIENCE

1.
Which virus, considered to be the deadliest virus of all time, is named after a river valley in the African state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) near the site of the first recognised outbreaks in 1976 ?

EBOLA

2.
What was the name of the NASA spacecraft that flew by Mercury on Jan 14th earlier this year, the first spacecraft to pass by Mercury since Mariner 10 in 1975 ?

MESSENGER

3.
What name is given to the convex, transparent outer part of the eye that allows light to pass through it onto the lens ?

CORNEA

4.
What is the length of the hypotenuse in a right-angled triangle where the lengths of the other two sides are 6 cm and 8 cm, respectively ? (please allow a little more time for calculations)

10 CM
(6x6 = 36 + 8x 8 = 64 SUM of 36+ 64 = 100 and - square root of 100 = 10 cm)

5.
How many degrees of longitude represent 1 hour of time when calculating Standard World Times ?

15° (24 x 15 = 360°)

6.
Which element is produced by the Frasch Process?

SULPHUR

7.
What important medical discovery and subsequent classification was made by Karl Landsteiner at the University of Vienna in 1901 ??

THE ABO BLOOD GROUP CLASSIFICATION

8.
What method of food preservation did Nicolas Appert invent ? He did this during the Napoleonic Wars for which he received a prize of 12,000 francs !

CANNING

SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
What name is given to the group of elements which include fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine ?

HALOGENS

II.
What name is given to the group of gases helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon ?

NOBLE GASES


ROUND 8: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Below are short descriptions of well known people who unfortunately died during 2007.

1.
Italian film producer of over 140 films – most notable successes La Strada and Dr Zhivago. Married to Sophia Loren. Died at the age of 94.

CARLO PONTI

2.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Texas this US pop-culture icon controversially married octogenarian oil billionaire Howard Marshall. She was playboy’s playmate of the year in 1993 and starred in her own reality TV show. Died at the age of 38.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH

3.
Born in India in 1948 this cricketer played 19 test matches for England. Following his retirement from professional cricket he first coached the South African national team and was coaching the Pakistan National Team at the time of his death in Jamaica. Died at the age of 58.

BOB WOOLMER

4.
First elected President of the Russian Federation in 1991 until 1999 when he resigned and Vladimir Putin took over. Lost part of his thumb and index finger of his left hand when he and some friends sneaked into a red army supply depot, stole several grenades, and tried to dissect them. Died at the age of 76.

BORIS YELTSIN

5.
Austrian politician who was the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While running for President in Austria in 1985 he attained international notoriety because he had falsified, in his memoirs, both the duration and the nature of his service as a Wehrmacht intelligence officer during World War II. Died at the age of 88.

KURT WALDHEIM

6.
Canadian actress who played Miss Moneypenny in 14 of the James Bond films although her total screen time was less than two hours, and she spoke fewer than 200 words She provided the voice of Atlanta for the science fiction children's series Stingray in 1963. Died at the age of 80.

LOUIS MAXWELL


7.
Famous French mime artist who in 1947 created the famous character the clown “Bip”. Played the part of a mad scientist, Professor Ping in Barbarella and a cameo as himself in Mel Brooks “Silent Movie”in which, with purposeful irony, he is the only actor with an audible speaking part, uttering the single word "Non!" when Brooks asks him (subtitled) if he would participate in the film. Died at the age of 84.

MARCEL MARCEAU

8.
Brigadier General in the US Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the B29 Superfortress Bomber “Enola Gaye” – the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb – “little Boy” on 6th August 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan. Died at the age of 92.

BRIGADIER GENERAL PAUL WARFIELD TIBBETS


SUPPLEMENTARIES:

I.
American motorcycle daredevil from Butte, Montana. His nationally televised motorcycle jumps, including his attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in 1974 represent 4 of the 20 most watched ABCs Worldwide Sports events to date. His achievements and failures got him into the Guinness Book of World Records several times , including his record 40 broken bones. Died at the age of 69.

EVIL KNIEVEL


II.
Pakistani politician who became the first woman to lead a Muslim State. She was Prime Minister of Pakistan twice, 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996. Returned to Pakistan from exile on 18 Oct 07 but was assassinated on 27 Dec 07 after attending a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rally in the Pakistan city of Rawalpindi. Died aged 54.

BENAZIR BHUTTO




General Knowledge Questions

The Knot Inn


1) In the Bible, what was the first bird released from Noah’s Ark?
Raven

2) In which town was the Co-operative movement founded?
Rochdale

3) In Greek Mythology, who was the estranged son of the king Laius, whom he was later to murder?
Oedipus

4) Which rapping pop star has, since 2005, co-opted Ray Charles’ ‘I Got a Woman’, Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move on Up’, and Daft Punk’s ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ in order to score worldwide hit singles?
Kanye West (his songs are named ‘Gold Digger’, ‘Touch the Sky’ and‘Stronger’)

5) Which baseball star, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - the same illness that affects Stephen Hawking, became the first player in any sport to have his jersey number “retired” with his departure from the sport?
Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees ‘retired his No.4 jersey)

6) What is the more common name for the triatomic allotrope O3?
Ozone

7) What was the country of birth of the composer Bela Bartok?
Hungary

8) Who painted ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’?
Pablo Picasso

9) Which play, first performed in Paris in 1953, has the translated opening line of dialogue, “Nothing to be done”?
En Attendent Godot or Waiting for Godot (by Samuel Beckett)

10) Which country brews Kirin Beer?
Japan

11) Who rediscovered Troy in the 1870’s?
Heinrich Schliemann

12) What does the musical term ‘Adagio’ mean?
Slow [also restful or at ease]

13) What is the name of the author of the Flashman novels, who died recently?
George Macdonald Fraser (accept Fraser)

14) DNA fingerprinting was invented by Professor Sir Alec Jeffries at which Midlands University?
University of Leicester

15) Which modern British politician said: “The most expensive haircut I ever had cost £10”?
William Hague

16) Which Metaphysical poet wrote: “No man is an island, entire of himself”?
John Donne

17) Give a year in the life of Guy Fawkes.
1570-1606

18) Which European city became a twin town of Los Angeles in 1967, gave its name to a Lou Reed album in 1973 and became a capital city in 1990?
Berlin

19) Where can the Book of Kells be seen?
Trinity College, Dublin (Just Dublin not acceptable)

20) British place names, in the names Bowness, Sheerness, what is meant by ness?
Headland

21) What did Samina Malik, a former employee of WH Smith and writer of bad verse recently became the first woman to be?
Convicted under the Terrorism Act

22) Which current England international sportsman recently confided, “I love the Boss range of grooming products and use Boss Skin refreshing face wash on a daily basis. When I'm playing cricket I apply Boss Skin Revitalizing moisturizer with SPF 15 to help protect against sun damage. At night I use the Boss Skin Moisture Gel.”?
Kevin Pietersen

23) Which local man illustrated Tarka The Otter, by Henry Williamson?
Charles Tunnicliffe

24) Why was David Abrahams in the news late in 2007?
Donations to Labour Party (through a 3rd party)

25) What is the currency of the Czech Republic?
Koruna (accept Crown)

26) Which was the last castle to be built in England?
Castle Drogo (1911-31) (Near Exeter)

27) In which craft activity would you use the burin, a cutting implement?
Engraving

28) About which other performing artist did David Bowie sing, “With a voice like sand and glue / His words of truthful vengeance / They could pin us to the floor”?
Bob Dylan

29) How many pieces are on the board at the start of a game of Backgammon?
30

30) Which poem of 1925, written using a collage of literary allusions, begins with “The Burial of the Dead” and ends with “What the Thunder said”?
The Waste Land (by T.S. Eliot)

31) French Breakfast is a variety of which salad item?
Radish

32) Give a year in the life of Mozart.
1756-1791

33) How many legs are there in a Polo team?
24 (4 riders, 4 horses)

34) Football: In which town do St. Mirren play their home games? Paisley

35) What is the original title of the novel - filmed in 1982 - in which Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter searching for missing androids in 2021, is the protagonist?
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (The film is called Blade Runner)

36) Which North American state’s shoreline contains Island Beach State Park, and is the primary setting for The Sopranos?
New Jersey

37) Chicago, Green Bay and Milwaukee lie on the shores of which of the Great Lakes?
Lake Michigan

38) Which British novelist and professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester was recently accused by his fellow faculty member Terry Eagleton of “hounding and humiliating” Muslims?
Martin Amis

39) Havant and Waterlooville were the last non-league team in this year’s FA Cup, but whom did they beat to qualify for their 4th Round game at Liverpool?
Swansea City

40) What is the collective name for Cheryl, Nicola, Nadine, Sarah and Kimberley?
Girls Aloud

41) Which twentieth century composer, who suffered two governmental denunciations of his work in 1936 and 1948, subtitled three of his symphonies, “The Year 1905”, “The Year 1917” and “Leningrad”?
Dmitri Shostakovich

42) What is the currency of China?
Renminbi or Yuan

43) Heidi, Keisha and Amelle are the members of which well known pop group ?
Sugababes

44) The platypus and the echidna are the only mammals to do what?
Lay eggs

45) The current annoying Halifax advert, featuring a man in a suit surfing, uses a hit by which 60’s British group?
Herman’s Hermits (I’m into Something Good)

46) Who composed Carmina Burana, beloved of users of Old Spice?
Carl Orff

47) What is the meat ingredient in the Italian dish Osso Bucco?
Veal

48) To which native American tribe did Sitting Bull belong?
Sioux

49) From which country does the word ‘Pariah’ originate?
India

50) Julia, Monarch and Postman are all types of what?
Butterfly

51) The National Forest is in 3 UK counties. Leicestershire is one; name either of the others.
Derbyshire or Staffordshire

52) Gillian Gibbons and her teddy bear Mohamed were expelled from which country late in 2007?
Sudan

53) The comedian born Robert Davis uses which stage name?
Jasper Carrott

54) What device was invented by Edwin Land and was briefly brought back to prominence in 2003 after an allusion in a song performed by Outkast?
The Instant/Polaroid Camera

55) Who is the famous former resident of the National Trust attraction Mendips, a house in Woolton, Liverpool?
John Lennon

56) Philip Marlowe was the creation of which writer?
Raymond Chandler

57) Orde Wingate led which allied force during World War II?
Chindits (Fighting the occupying Japanese in Burma)

58) What is the county town of Kent?
Maidstone

59) What is the state capital of Texas?
Austin

60) Mark Zuckerberg is the disputed founder and CEO of which web-based social network?
Facebook

61) What is the title of Gordon Brown’s book, which features chapters written about Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Robert Kennedy?
Courage

62) What is the main red wine grape used in Burgundy?
Pinot Noir

63) How many characters are there in the Hebrew alphabet?
23

64) Serigraphy is more commonly known as what?
(Silk-)Screen Printing

65) British Place names: What is the meaning of ‘bourne’ in Eastbourne, Ashbourne etc?
Brook/Stream (NOT River)

66) In which city are the areas of Fishponds and Bedminster?
Bristol

67) In which publication did the Sherlock Holmes stories first appear?
Strand Magazine (in 1892)

68) Who was captured by the fifty-second Garibaldi brigade in April 1945 having disguised himself in vain as a Luftwaffe officer?
Benito Mussolini

69) Which saint, canonized by Pope Pius XI, coined the word “utopia”?
Saint/Sir Thomas More

70) Bridget Riley is associated mainly with which art movement?
Op Art (short for Optical, since it relies on optical illusion)

71) What type of furniture is a Davenport?
(Writing) Desk

72) Television: on which show did The Simpsons first appear?
The Tracey Ullman show

73) Which spice, used in curries, is believed to help to inhibit Alzheimer’s disease?
Turmeric (Believed to inhibit Beta Ameloids, which are a big factor in the disease’s development).

74) Which great novelist died at the small railway station Astapovo in 1910, having fled home to seek refuge in a monastery?
Leo/Lev Tolstoy

75) What substance has the chemical formula C12H22O11?
Sugar (Also accept Sucrose or Saccharose)

76) Which Hollywood studio, under the leadership of Robert Evans, produced the films Rosemary’s Baby, The Godfather and Chinatown between 1968 and 1974, helping to re-establish itself after near bankruptcy?
Paramount Pictures

77) Who wrote and illustrated the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are”?
Maurice Sendak

78) Which city on the Danube was formed in November 1873 when three towns – two of which gave the city its new name – were amalgamated?
Budapest

79) In which country is the wine growing region of Hawkes Bay?
New Zealand

80) What is the connection between West Ham manager Alan Curbishley and veteran rock band The Who?
The Who are managed by Alan’s brother Bill Curbishley

81) The spy Daniel de Bosola speaks the lines “We are merely the stars’ tennis-balls, struck and banded / Which way please them” to Antonio having murdered him in which Renaissance tragedy?
The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

82) What is the name of the recent biographical film directed by the rock photographer Anton Corbijn (pronounced Corr-bine), whose rock star protagonist died in Macclesfield in 1980?
Control(Biopic of Ian Curtis and the band Joy Division)

83) In which country was the novelist, philosopher and goalkeeper Albert Camus born?
Algeria

84) Which film, written and directed by Martin Scorsese, has the tagline, “You don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets…”?
Mean Streets

85) Which modern British politician said: “Politicians are as human as anyone else”?
David Blunkett

86) Which wood was traditionally used to make longbows?
Yew

87) In architecture, what is a caryatid?
Pillar in shape of a woman

88) Said to be the oldest man in the Bible, how old was Methuselah when he died?
969 years (+/-10 year leeway)

89) Which wading bird is the emblem of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds?
Avocet

90) What is the claim to fame of Cragside, a house in Northumberland?
First house in the world to be lit by electricity.

91) Who is the CEO of the electronics giant Apple, who also co-founded Pixar Animation Studios?
Steve Jobs

92) Ilex is the Latin name for which seasonal shrub?
Holly

93) In which English county is the island of St Michael’s Mount?
Cornwall

94) The Whitefriars factory in London produced what?
Glass

95) From which country does the plant poinsettia originate?
Mexico

96) What is special about an Oriel window?
It projects or sticks out (from an upper storey)


Supplementary Questions

1) In which year of the 1990’s was Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time a UK No. 1?
1999(no leeway)

2) The K Foundation, an artistic organisation formed by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty most famous for burning a million pounds, was established using the profits generated by which British acid house band?
The KLF

3) The 1944 work, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, which displays distorted figures with open, disfigured mouths, is a triptych by which Anglo-Irish artist?
Francis Bacon

4) Which comedy double act, who star in the TV series Peep Show, have recently been seen flogging Apple Mac computers?
Mitchell and Webb

5) De Montfort University is located on two campuses: Leicester and where else?
Bedford

6) Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz features the last concert of which American band, formerly called The Hawks?
The Band

7) In which year were debutantes last presented at court?
1958 (allow 57-59)

8) Mermaid Avenue and a subsequent second volume of the same name are two albums of songs performed by Billy Bragg and Wilco, with lyrics written by which American folk singer?
Woody Guthrie