1st November Questions

Set by the Harrington Academicals

ARAB SPRING

1 The recent Arab spring started with the ousting of president Zine e Abidine Ben Ali. Of which country was he the president?

Tunisia

2 Which country's government used foreign troops to suppress unrest leading to the cancellation of its motor racing grand prix.

Bahrain

3 Protests to oust President Ali Abdallah Saleh from his 33 year rule have been taking place in the capital of Yemen. What is the capital of Yemen.

Sanaa

4 This country's third largest city of Homs has been the location for recent civil unrest put down by the army. Name the country

Syria

5 The new Libyan national flag has three bands of colour. One is green, name either of the other two

Red or Black

6 Which country’s revolution began when allegedly tens of thousands of protesters occupied Tahrir square

Egypt

7 The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven states. Name one

Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fajairah, Ras al Khaima, Umm al Qaiwain

8 In which Gulf state are the headguarters of the Al Jazeera news network

Qatar

S1 Muammar Gadafi had eight sons and one daughter. Name one of them Muhammad, Saif al-islam, Saadi, Mutassim, Hannibal, Saif al-arab, Khamis, Aisha, Milad

S2 What is name of the ruling party of Palestine

Hamas

 

Arts and Entertainment

1 By what name in literature was Edmond Dantes better known

The Count of Monte Cristo

2 Which French artist was famous for his pictures of the Moulin Rouge

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

3 “Dirty Harry” Callaghan fought crime in which city

San Francisco

4 Who played the title roles in the Tim Burton films Batman and Batman returns Michael Keaton

5 Which Dane directed Dancer in the Dark and Dogville

Lars von Trier

6 Which current West End show is about the early days of the Beatles

Backbeat

7 Which film won the 2011 Oscar for best picture

The King’s Speech

8 A rediscovered work , valued at over £100m attributed to which artist is on display at the National Gallery this autumn

Leonardo da Vinci

S1 Which musician recently married Nancy Shevell

Paul Mc Cartney

S2 What is Noel Gallagher’s new band called

High Flying BIrds

Stately Homes & Castles and houses

With connections to literature, film or sport

1 What castle overlooks the test cricket ground at Chester le Street

Lumley Castle

2 Lord Grantham lives at Downton Abbey, but whose stately home is the shooting location, Highclere House.

(Accept Family name or title) Lord and Lady Carnarvon or Herbert family

3 In the lake of which stately home did Colin Firth do his Mr Darcy swim

Lyme Park

4 Which castle in Northumberland was the setting for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter movies

Alnwick

5 The Duke of Norfolk’s XI play cricket in the grounds of which castle

Arundel

6 The National Trust property Hill Top is associated with which author

Beatrix Potter

7 Which Kent castle was the setting for Kind Hearts and Coronets as well as being the venue for the Northern Ireland peace talks in 2004

Leeds Castle

8 Which Derbyshire stately home is associated with Deborah Mitford

Chatsworth

S1 Which Derbyshire hall claims to be probably the finest example of a fortified medieval manor house in existence. It provided a location for Pride and Prejudice in 2005

Haddon Hall

S2 Which literary figure described himself as being one of England’s stately homos

Quentin Crisp

GEOGRAPHY

1. Three countries have coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. France and Spain are two, name the third

Morocco

2. Ferdinand de Lesseps was responsible for an engineering project which was completed in 1869 – what was it

Suez Canal

3. What is the world’s most northerly capital city?

Reykyavik

4. Which tree appears on the flag of Lebanon?

Cedar

5. What is the highest mountain not in a range?

Kilimanjaro

6. The world’s smallest independent country has a birth rate of zero

The Vatican State

7. Which country has the oldest flag, (still in use)?

Denmark

8. In which British city would you find Arthur’s Seat?

Edinburgh

Supplements

1. In which European city is the HQ of Interpol?

Lyon

2. Which is the only African country never to have been occupied by a foreign power?

Liberia

GOING GREEN

All the questions have some reference, vague or otherwise,

To the colour green

1. Who wrote the classic Welsh novel, later made into a film, “How Green was my Valley”?

Richard Llewellyn

2. Who wrote the novel “Greenmantle”?

John Buchan

3. What is the green liquid secreted by the liver?

Bile

4. On which metal does the green pigment verdigris form?

Copper

5. Who is the leader of the Green Party?

Caroline Lucas

6. Hughie Green hosted which popular TV talent show, attracting 18 million viewers

at its peak?

Opportunity Knocks

7. In the USA, what are greenbacks?

Paper dollars (accept Legal Tender Notes)

8. These aquatic creatures have varieties Greenlip, Blue and Zebra, among others.

What are they?

Mussels

Supplementaries

1. Which line is coloured green on London Underground maps?

District

2. What is the value of the green ball in snooker?

Three

History - Kings and Queens

1 Who was the first and only King of Libya who was overthrown by Col Gadaffi in 1969

King Idris

2 Which King of Greece was ousted in a military coup in 1967

Constantine

3 The words Czar and Kaiser are both derived from which famous person in history?

Julius Caesar

4 After the Norman conquest who was the first Welshman to occupy the English throne

Henry VII

5 Who was the king of Egypt who abdicated in 1952 when Nasser rose to power.

Farouk

6 Who was the last King of Albania, fleeing after invasion by Mussolini never to return

King Zog

7 Between them, the six wives of Henry VIII were of three different nationalities. English, Spanish and what other?

German (Ann of Cleves)

8 Who was the first woman to sit on the English throne

Lady Jane Grey (1553)

Supplementaries

S1 Who is the current Belgian Monarch

Albert II

S2 Which exiled English King was lent the palace of St Germain-en-laye by Louis XIV James II

S3 How many English Kings since the reign of King Canute were called Edward? Nine (Edwards 1- 8 plus Edward the confessor)

SCIENCE

1. What is the particle that has allegedly been found to travel faster than the speed of light?
2. A neutrino

2. An orchidectomy is the removal of what?

A testicle

3. What is the largest terrestrial insect in Britain?

Stag Beetle

4. Which metal is the best conductor of electricity?

Silver

5. Where in the body would you find an astrocyte?

The Brain

6. One of the objectives of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is to detect the so called “God Particle”. After which British theoretical physicist is this particle named

Peter Higgs – the Higgs Boson

7. Which vitamin is also known as tocopherol?

Vitamin E

8. What is the sixth planet from the sun?

Saturn

Supplements

1. In physics, what is the symbol for the speed of light?

C

1. What is the clinical term for infection of connective and soft tissues?

Cellulitis

SPORT

1 Name the cyclist who recently became the first British winner of the World Road Race championship for 46 years?

Mark Cavendish

2 Which League one football team recently played Juventus in a game to mark the opening of the Italian giants’ new stadium?

Notts County

(The clubs have historical links and the famous Juventus kit is based on Notts Countys)

3 Which Rugby league side have the unenviable record of having lost the last 5 Grand Finals?

St Helens

4 With a name well-suited to a boxer, which Irish-Mancunian fighter is the current British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion?

Tyson Fury

5 Who won the men’s 100m in the recent athletics World Championships

Yohan Blake (Usain Bolt was disqualified following a false start)

6 Over the past 3 seasons, which county has finished runners up in 5 domestic one day cricket competitions?

Somerset

7 Name the British Indy Car driver killed in October’s Las Vegas 300 race?

Dan Wheldon

8 Who is the only racing driver to be awarded the Formula One Drivers’ Championship posthumously?

Jochen Rindt (1970)

S1 Which sportswoman won an Olympic silver medal for rowing in 2004 and a cycling gold in 2008?

Rebecca Romero

S2 The World mens marathon record was recently broken in Berlin. With a little leeway, what’s the new record?

2hrs 3minutes 38sec. Accept 2hrs 3 min – 2hrs 4min.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS

1 Which country has administrative responsibility for the Azores

Portugal

2 Which shipping area includes Orkney and Shetland

Fairisle

3 Which is the only country to have left the European Union?

Greenland

4 What does the Latin term ‘Ultra Vires’ mean?

Beyond one’s power or authority

5 St Petersburg sits on which river

Neva

6 What is the common name of the reddish star which forms the tip of the hunter’s spear in the constellation Orion?

Betelgeuse

7 Although Beethoven composed several overtures he only completed one opera. What is it called?

Fidelio

8 What are the annual awards for removing oneself from the gene pool in a spectacularly stupid manner. A current nomination is for the couple who parked on a freeway at 6.30 am in thick fog to have sex – then a tanker crashed into them

Darwin Awards

9 Which MP is accused of having pressurised his wife to accept points for speeding when he was the driver

Chris Huhne

10 Who designed the AK47, the terrorists’ weapon of choice

Mikhail Kalashnikov

11 What was the name of the Welsh colliery where 4 miners died this year Gleison

12 Why was Anders Brehing Breivik in the news this summer

He was the gunman who murdered more than 60 people on Utoya this summer

13 In which US state is area 51 located? Nevada

14 What was the capital of the Inca empire

Cuzco or Cusco

15 What is the lowest Alpine pass, running between Italy and Austria

Brenner Pass

16 What acid is also known as spirit of salts

Hydrochloric

17 Sam Houston was first and third president of which republic

Texas

18 The Leyden Jar is an early form of which device

Electrical capacitor

19 What device was once known as a Louisette, after the surgeon Antoine Louis Guillotine

20 Who is the first female in line to the British throne?

Princess Beatrice

21 There are two naturally-occurring elements which are liquid at normal

temperature and pressure. One is Mercury. What is the other one?

Bromine

22 A copy of the 1215 Magna Carta is displayed in the cathedral at old Sarum. What is the modern name of the cathedral

Salisbury

23 No cathedrals were built in England in 600 years since the completion of Salisbury - What was the Victorian cathedral that followed

Truro

24 What award was made this year to researchers for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle

Ig Nobel Prize (for biology)

25 In which modern country is the Temple of Diana at Ephesus

Turkey

26 What is the name of the National Arboretum, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire Westonbirt

27 The Royal Horticultural Society’s gardens at Harlow Carr are located on the outskirts of which Yorkshire town

Harrogate

28 Tom Ford was creative director of which fashion house until 2004, when he started his own label

Gucci (Accept YSL because Gucci took them over and Tom Ford became creative director for both)

29 Who wrote the novel “Whisky Galore”?

Compton McKenzie

30 Who was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in 1948?

Mahatma Ghandi

31 Who did the CIA allegedly attempt to assassinate with an exploding cigar?

Fidel Castro

32 What type of pasta translates as “little worms”?

Vermicelli

33 Who was the last governor of Hong Kong?

Chris Patten Accept Fat Pang, which is what the Chinese called him

34 The 1812 Overture was written to celebrate the successful defence of which city?

Moscow

35 In the Bourne movies, what is Bourne’s first first name?

Jason

36 Pure Pure gold is classified as being of how many carats?

24

37 What type of material is produced in a ginnery

Cotton

38 Which actor played the “Ugly” in the film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Eli Wallach

39 Which British queen was already widowed at the age of 18?

Mary, Queen of Scots (accept Mary or Mary Stuart)

40 What is an epidiascope?

An opaque projector (accept projector) – ie projects an image of a piece of paper or book rather than a transparency

41 After which famous Northern Irishman was Belfast Airport named in 2006?

George Best

42 What was the previous name of John F Kennedy Airport in New York?

Idlewild

43 What was the name of the stadium where the US tennis Open was played before it moved to Flushing Meadow

Forest Hills

44 Which organisation has the slogan “Train One Save Many?

RNLI

45

Who is the animated star of the computer game “Tomb Raider”

Lara Croft

46 What is the Japanese art of flower arranging?

Ikebana

47 Under Islamic law, how many wives is a man allowed at any one

4

48 Which cosmetic brand name is derived from the Latin for snow?

Nivea Nix, the genitive being Nives

49 How many coloured compartments are there on a Las Vegas roulette wheel? 38 (0,00,1-36)

50 Dr Banner is the alter ego of which comic book hero? Incredible Hulk

51 According to the 2011 film,” Anonymous” who wrote Shakespeare’s plays

Edward de Vere Accept Earl of Oxford

52 In a competition in 1829, what beat Cycloped, Novelty, Perseverance and Sans Pareil?

Stephenson's Rocket (Rainhill Trials)

53 What is the significance of the dates August 9th 1902, June 23rd 1911, May 12th 1937 and June 2nd 1953?

They are Coronation dates of UK Monarchs

54 Which terrestrial location was among the first words spoken on the moon?

Houston

55 Name the world figure who publicly renounced his divinity in 1946

Hirohito - emperor of Japan

56 Who won the fight of the century on 8 March 1971

Joe Frazier

57 The name for which type of car stems from the word for long coats worn by French shepherds once upon a time and is also a breed of cattle?

Limousin(e)

58 In 1979 US President Jimmy Carter signed the SALT2 treaty in Vienna along with which Soviet Leader?

Leonid Brezhnev

59 Which London prison did great train robber Ronald Biggs escape from in 1965?

Wandsworth

60 What's a female lobster called?

A Hen

61 Who was leader of the Labour Party prior to Tony Blair?

Margaret Beckett

62 Whose first stage billing was as " Professor Yaffle Chuckabutty - operatic tenor and sausage knotter"?

Ken Dodd

63 In which sport would you find a Bomb, a Blitz and a Shotgun?

American Football

64 The monarchs of which country sat on the Peacock throne?

Persia Accept Iran

65 The law of the sea divides it into three zones, Internal Waters, Territorial Waters, and what?

High seas

66 Which model of Ford car was named after a hunter in Greek mythology? Orion

67 What hoisting apparatus used in construction work and in oil drilling gets its name from a London hangman

Derrick

68 What material was banned after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion until 1782?

Tartan

69 Which European country remained neutral throughout the second world war despite the Germans bombing its capital city in May 1941 by accident?

Ireland

70 Which country takes its name from the fact it was discovered on a Sunday by Christopher Colombus?

Dominica

71 Who is the only US president to have never been elected?

Gerald Ford

72 What event of national importance took place in Britain the day after Everest was first climbed?

Coronation Of Queen Elizabeth II

73 Name the only boxer to knock out Muhammad Ali

Larry Holmes (in 1980)

74 Agent blue is a herbicide that was used against the Vietnamese. What type of poisonous compound does it contain?

Arsenic

75 Which electrician won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize?

Lech Walesa

76 Which record label would you associate with bands such as Joy Division and Happy Mondays, as well as the Hacienda nightclub?

Factory Records

77 Name the Shakespearean actor and previous winner of the Olivier Award who plays Brian Lane in the TV show New Tricks

Alun Armstrong

78 Name the Yorkshire-born actor, best known for his role in Kes, who also wrestled professionally under the name Leon Aris?

Brian Glover

79 Which 80s pop act took their name from TinTin’s bowler-hatted detective friends?

The Thompson Twins

80 What constituency is currently held by in-the-news politician Liam Fox? North Somerset (Also accept Woodspring – as the constituency is also known since the 2010 election)

81 Which European capital city can be found across 14 islands at the mouth of Lake Malaren?

Stockholm

82 In the world of music Johnny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman make up 75% of which multi-million selling UK rock band?

Coldplay. Singer Chris Martin is the somewhat better known 4th member.

83 Which long running ITV light entertainment show was originally presented by Jeremy Beadle, made unwatchable by Lisa Riley, and then rescued by the voiceover talents of Harry Hill?

You’ve Been Framed

84 In the world of children’s toys, there are said to be over 60 of what for every person in the world?

Lego Bricks (According to the company’s adverts).

85 Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler were the lesser known 2 members of which British three-man band of the 70s and 80s?

The Jam. Paul Weller was the better known frontman.

86 For what sort of films is producer Fred Quimby best known?

Cartoons. He’s mainly known as the producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, where his name was always prominent in the titles.

87 Which actor is best known for his portrayal of DCI Gene Hunt

Philip Glennister (In the shows Ashes to Ashes and Life On Mars)

88 In which year did Macclesfield Town play their first football league game?

1997, vs Torquay United

89 Which folk singer was named after the 28th president of the USA, Woodrow Wilson

Woody Guthrie

90 Why has Carina Trimmingham been in the news recently

New wife of Chris Huhne - though possible more newsworthy because of her reputed bisexuality

91 Which type of pastry derives its name from the Greek word for leaf

Filo (or Phyllo)

92 The presidential hopeful, Rick Perry is governor of which US state

Texas

93 Who was the first celebrity to be voted off this year’s Strictly Come Dancing Edwina Currie

94 Who won the Man Booker prize this year after being shortlisted 3 times before

Julian Barnes

95 Who is the former Pakistan cricket captain under investigation for match fixing – or fixing events on which bets are taken

Salman Butt

96 Digital Fortress (1988) is the debut novel by which American author

Dan Brown

S1 Associated with J Lyons and Co, what was a “nippy”

Waitress

S2 What is a Dorset Naga

Chilli – allegedly the hottest in the world

S3 Whernside is the highest point in which National Park

Yorkshire Dales

S4 Which blues legend recorded “Smokestack Lightning” in 1956

Howlin’ Wolf