30th October Questions

Specialist Knowledge Questions set by the Robin Hood, vetted by the Park Timers

Arts and Entertainment
Geography
History
The Great Scientists
Sporting Gods and Goddesses
The Irish Question(s)
The Silver Screen in Silence
Halloween – Which Witch is Which?

Arts and Entertainment

1. In the snug of “the Rovers Return” are Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell and ……?
A. Martha Longhurst

2. What did the trio in the snug drink?
A. Milk Stout

3. Which museum holds the largest collection of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch?
A. The Prado, Madrid

4. How were the Flemish painters Jan Breughel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger related?
A. Brothers, they were sons of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

5. Who was the first English language winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature?
A. Rudyard Kipling in 1907

6. The date of the deaths of both Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare was 23rd of April 1616. However, they did not die on the same day. Why not?
A. The date of Cervantes’ death was by the Gregorian calendar; that of Shakespeare by the Julian calendar (which was 3rd May 1616 in the Gregorian calendar).

7. J R R Tolkien – What do the initials J R stand for?
A. John Ronald Reuel

8. Marion Crane is the tragic figure in which classic horror film?
A. Psycho
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9. Name the film from the quote I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.'
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

10. Who played Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film ‘Chaplin’?
Robert Downey Jnr

 

 

Geography
1. What is the highest mountain in Antarctica?
A. Mount Vinson (or Massif Vinson)

2. What is the longest river in Europe?
A. The Volga (3692 km – the Danube is the second longest)

3. Which African country is bordered to the south by South Africa, to the north by Angola and to the east by Botswana?
A. Namibia

4. What is the capital of the US state of Kansas?
A. Topeka

5. What is the capital of Latvia?
A. Riga

6. What is the highest mountain in South America?
A. Aconcagua

7. In which city would you find the Alhambra Palace?
A. Granada (Spain)

8. Which South American country is bordered by Colombia to the North and Peru to the South ?
A. Ecuador
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Supplementaries
9. What is the capital of Slovenia?
A. Ljubljana

10. Where would you find La Scala Opera House?
A. Milan

 

History
1. What was the drastic action taken by the first President of the French Republic in 1852?
A. He abolished the Republic of France, the Presidency and re-established the French Empire, declaring himself Emperor Napoleon III

2. What treasure did Colonel Thomas Blood try to steal in the 17th century?
A. The Crown Jewels

3. The world’s first iron bridge was erected during 1779 in which English county?
A. Shropshire

4. In what year was universal adult female suffrage introduced in Britain?
A. In 1928 – Voting rights from then were equal with those of men; previously women had to be 30 years old and own property

5. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800. What does his name mean?
A. Charles the Great

6. During the 1960’s the major East End crime family was the Krays. Who were their South London equivalents?
A. The Richardsons

7. Who was the first man to walk on all 5 continents?
A. Captain James Cook

8. Knowledge of which relatively recent extinct language was essential for the deciphering of hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone?
A. Coptic
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9. Which geographical location was the first word spoken on the moon? A. Houston as in “Houston, we have landed!”

 

10. In what year was universal adult male suffrage introduced in Britain?
A. In 1918 – All men over 21, without property owning requirements

 

Science – Great Scientists

The answers to all these questions are famous scientists, engineers or inventors.
1. Who published his Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687?
A. Sir Isaac Newton

2. Who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for his discovery of X-rays?
A. William Roentgen

3. Who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918 for his formulation of quantum theory?
A. Max Planck

4. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win a Nobel award in two sciences? She was famous for her research into radioactivity.
A. Marie Curie

5. He lived from 1564 – 1642 and amongst his many contributions to science, he discovered the four largest satellites of Jupiter. Who was he?
A. Galileo Galilei (accept Galileo)

6. Which chemist who lived from 1778 – 1829and who is probably best remembered for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals and who invented a lamp that allowed miners to work safely in the presence of flammable gases.
A. Humphrey Davy

7. Which British computer scientist is credited as inventing the World Wide Web and whose achievements were celebrated during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic games
A. Tim Berners-Lee

8. Which English physician and scientist who lived from 1749-1823, was the pioneer of the small pox vaccine and is often called the father of immunology
A. Edward Jenner
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Supplementaries
9. Which British engineer is credited as inventing the first practical turbojet engine?
A. Sir Frank Whittle

10. Which French microbiologist who lived from 1822-1895 pioneered the Germ Theory of disease?
A. Louis Pasteur

 

Sporting Gods and Goddesses

1 Who holds the record of being top scorer for England in soccer internationals ?
A. Bobby Charlton with 49

2 Who, whilst playing for Warrington in this years’ Rugby League Grand Final, lost part of his manhood as a result of an injury early in the second half?
A. Paul Wood (he played on to the end but had a ruptured testicle removed after the game )

2 Who is the world number one Chess player?
A. (Sven) Magnus Carlson

4 Who holds the record of being England’s top try scorer in Rugby union internationals?
A. Rory Underwood with 49 (plus 1 for the lions)

5 Which racing driver was seriously burned in a crash at the German Grand Prix in 1976, received the last rites but returned to racing 6 weeks later?
A.Nikki Lauda

6 As of October 22, who is the world’s number one women’s tennis player?
A. Victoria Azarenka

7 What is the name of the swimmer who competes in the S6 class of Paralympics events and who won 2 gold’s in the London games
A.Ellie Simmonds

8 Which golfer has the most Men’s Major Championship victories
A. Jack Nicklaus
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Supplementary questions
1Who was the goalkeeper who broke his neck but played on in the 1956 FA cup final?
Bert Trautmann for Man City

2Who was the first woman to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics in gymnastics?
Nadia Kommenech

 

The Irish Question(s)

1. What is the colour originally associated with St Patrick? –
A. Blue; there is a St Patricks Blue; St Patrick is traditionally depicted wearing blue vestments, the Irish Guards wear a St Patrick’s blue plume in their bearskins

2. What was the nationality of St Patrick?
A. British, a Briton or Welsh NOT Irish, English or Scottish

3. What does Dublin have in common with England’s Blackpool?
A. Its name – The name Dublin or Dubh Linn is Black Pool in Irish

4. What is the Emerald isle of the Caribbean?
A. Montserrat - Settled by many colonists from Ireland during the 17th Century; St Patrick’s Day is a national holiday on the island

5. Where is New Ireland?
A. Papua New Guinea (Near New Britain)

6. Who or what was: The little gentlemen in velvet?
A. A mole, specifically, the mole that made the molehill that tripped William III’s horse. King Billy died after his fall, so there is a traditional Irish toast to the little gentleman in velvet.

7. Who or what was: Séamus an Chaca? – (pron. Shaymus an Kaka)
A. James II, literally James the Shit a name conferred on James II when he deserted his largely Irish army after the battle of the Boyne

8. In Dublin what is The Tart with the cart?
A. Statue of Molly Malone (in Grafton Street)
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9. In Dublin what is The Spike?
The Dublin Spire in O’Connell Street also known as the Stiletto in the Ghetto or the Stiffy by the Liffy

10. In Dublin what is the The Quare in the Square? (Quare pron. Kwair, so that it rhymes with square)
Statue of Oscar Wilde (in Merrion Square)

Movies: The Silver Screen in Silence
1. Who was “the man of a 1000 faces”?

A. Lon Chaney Snr.

2. Which 1927 German film, including the iconic robot, Maria, led to Goebbels offering its part-Jewish director, Fritz Lang, a key position in the German film industry?

A. “Metropolis”.
3. In which 1925 film does Charlie Chaplin eat his boots?

A. “The Gold Rush”.
4. Which 1926 Buster Keaton film takes its title from the name of a train?

A. “The General”.
5. What is the first spoken line in the first widely-seen taking picture, The Jazz Singer, made in 1927?

A. “(Wait a minute, wait a minute,) you ain’t heard nothin’ yet”. NB Question masters should gently prod for the second part as I reckon if the individual or team provides the first part then they will know the second.
6. Which film did Hitchcock begin in 1929 as a silent film and then re-shoot as his first sound film?

A. “Blackmail”.
7. Which American actress with a trademark bobbed hair style starred in the 1929 German film “Pandora’s Box”?

A. Louise Brooks.
8. Which silent film actress starred as an ageing former silent film star in the acerbic 1950 American film, “Sunset Boulevard”?

A. Gloria Swanson.
9. Who directed the 1915 film “Birth of a Nation”, which romanticised the Ku Klux Klan and caused riots in Boston and other American cities?

Answer: D. W. Griffith.
10. What was the title of the 1922 German film directed by F. W. Murnau that was an unofficial adaptation of “Dracula” ?

A. “Nosferatu”.
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Supplementary Questions
9. Who was the cross eyed comedy star of silent movies? Ben Turpin
10. What was the name of the romantic, heart throb of silent movies who starred in such films as The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Rudolph Valentino

Halloween theme – Which Witch is Which?
1. Who wrote the occult thriller The Devil Rides Out?

A. Dennis Wheatley

2. Which band sang about a "witchy woman" in 1972?

A. The Eagles
3. Name the Templar Grand Master burnt as a heretic on 19 June 1314 in Paris

A. Jacques de Molay 4. Name the Charles Dickens short story about a haunted railway junction.

A. The Signal Man

5. In which 1987 film does Jack Nicholson play the Devil?

A. The Witches of Eastwick

6. Which famous person did the English have burnt at the stake for witchcraft in 1431?

A. Joan of Arc

7. In 1971, Redbone had a hit singing about a Witch Queen, of which city?

A. New Orleans
8. Who played Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby?

A. Mia Farrow
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Supplementary Questions
In which British horror movie of 1968 did Vincent Price play the notorious inquisitor Matthew Hopkins?

Witchfinder General

Name the central character in Bewitched?

Samantha

 

 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

set by the Park Timers vetted by the Robin Hood

 

Q1. What colour are raw prawns?
A1. Grey
Q2. Which 1968 film featured Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond and the 3rd Foot and Mouth?
A2. Carry On Up the Khyber
Q3. Considered to be unlucky, what score is referred to as “Nelson” by English cricketers?
A3. 1 1 1 (One hundred and eleven)
Q4. Lake Balaton is the largest lake in which country?
A4. Hungary
Q5. In kilometres how far is it from the equator to the North Pole?
A5. 10,000 (linking to the original French definition of the metre). [Accept anything in the range 9,500-10,500 km]
Q6. How many miles is an Astronomical Unit, the average distance from the Earth to the Sun?
A6. 92,955,808 miles [accept anything in the range 90 million and 95 million]
Q7. The Indian city of Chennai was formerly known by what name?
A7. Madras
Q8. L Ron Hubbard was the founder of which controversial religious cult?
A8. Scientologists
Q9. How many seconds are there in an arc of one degree?
A9. 3,600 (no leeway)
Q10. Why is a brass bolt at the Newlyn Tidal Observatory of national importance for the UK?
A10. It defines mean sea level against which all heights are measured
Q11. Which high-jumper set a new Olympic record at the 1968 Mexico Olympics?
A11. Dick Fosbury
Q12. Sir Fredric Truby King, Penelope Leach and Gina Ford have all written on which subject?
A12. Childcare
Q13. What is the capital of Croatia?
A1 3. Zagreb
Q14. If Sicily is the largest Mediterrean island and Cyprus the third, what is the second? A14. Sardinia
Q15. What snooker accessory is also a common name for calcium carbonate? A1 5. Chalk
Q16. Which UNESCO world heritage site lies just off the A303, the road that links the towns of Basingstoke and Honiton?
A16. Stonehenge
Q17. In which Yorkshire town was Last of the Summer Wine filmed?
A17. Holmfirth
Q18. In 1774 Joseph Priestly isolated "dephlogisticated air". What did Antoine Lavoisier name it?
A18. Oxygen
Q19. Why was Francesco Schettino in the news in January 2012?
A19. Captain of Costa Concordia Cruise ship which sank off Italy (accept anything along these lines)
Q20. Where in the human body would you find the Anterior Cruciate ligament?
A20. Knee
Q21. Which town's manufacturers did Friedrich Engels single out for the "crown" of employing the youngest children and crippling them by overwork?
A21. Macclesfield
Q22. What part of the Earth did the ancient Greeks and Romans refer to as Ultima Thule?
A22. The region furthest north [accept anything along these lines]
Q23. What is the biggest volcano on Earth?
A23. Mauna Lowa, Hawaii
Q24. What is the biggest volcano in the solar system?
A24. Olympus Mons
Q25. Which people meet in Kingdom Halls?
A25. Jehovah’s Witnesses
Q26. Name the Russian submarine that sank in August 2000
A26. Kursk
Q27. Which country staged the Manchurian Incident as a pretext to invade China?
A27. Japan
Q28. What is the formal archaeological term for the middle stone age?
A28. Mesolithic
Q29. Who wrote the novel Birdsong?
A29. Sebastion Faulks
Q30. Who wrote the series of novels called Parade's End?
A30. Ford Madox Ford
Q31. As of October 2012, what do the largest UK employers have to do for their
employees?
A31. Enrol them in a workplace pension scheme
Q32. In food and drink Gueuze [pron. "gerz"] is a type of what?
A32. Beer
Q33. What Estuary is formed by the confluence of the Ouse [pron. "Ooze"] and Trent rivers?
A33. Humber
Q34. In the book and the film, who, or what, was ‘The African Queen’?
A34. A boat
Q35. Which country is the current Rugby League world champion?
A35. New Zealand
Q36. In 2007, 82-year-old Dorothy Hughes became the first woman to wear the scarlet coat of which organization?
A36. Royal Hospital, Chelsea/Chelsea Pensioners
Q37. What term in architecture is used for an intermediate floor, often in the form of a balcony, between two main floors?
A37. Mezzanine
Q38. Salbutamol, distributed under the trade name Ventolin, is widely used to treat which chronic condition?
A3 8. Asthma
Q39. In which city would you find the Mannequin Pis?
A39. Brussels
Q40. Which artist has just unveiled a giant bronze statue in Ilfracombe entitled Verity?
A40. Damien Hirst
Q41. Who would receive an income from a glebe?
A41. A clergyman
Q42. Who was Emperor of Japan during World War 2?
A42. Hirohito
Q43. Which 15th century navigator discovered the sea route from Europe to India by the Cape of Good Hope?
A43. Vasco De Gamma
Q44. Who did Jack Ruby murder?
A44. Lee Harvey Oswald
Q45. Acrophobia is a fear of what?
A45. Heights
Q46. For which film did Emma Thompson win the oscar for best adapted screen play in 1995?
A46. Sense and Sensability
Q47. What does a soldier keep in a frog?
A47. A Bayonet or sword
Q48. Who where the family of Florence bankers whoes riches helped to fund the renaissance?
A48. Medici
Q49. Which European football clubs ground shares its name with Sunderland's stadium?
A49. Benfica (both are the Stadium of Light)
Q50. Which football club play their home games at De Kuip Stadion Rotterdam?
A50. Feyenoord
Q51. What connects the Isle of Dogs, the Isle of Ely and the Isle of Purbeck?
A51. They are not islands [Ely and Dogs were centuries ago but Purbeck has always been a peninsula]
Q52. With its capital in Vilnius, which country was once the largest in 14th century Europe?
A52. Lithuania
Q53. What is the name of the medal awarded to those who have been wounded or killed in serving the United States millatary?
A53. The Purple Heart
Q54. If you where attending a Basho what sport would you be watching?
A54. Sumo
Q55. What is a yarmulka?
A55. A skullcap worn by Jewish men
Q56. Who had a number 1 chart hit with Do Wah Diddy Diddy in 1964?
A56. Manfred Mann
Q57. Which model had a number 9 hit with Do Ya Do Ya in 1986?
A57. Samantha Fox
Q58. Where on a horse would you find feathers?
A58. On its legs
Q59. How were Marcia Barrett, Bobby Farrell, Liz Mitchell and Maisie WIlliams better
known?
A59. Boney M
Q60. How were Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee, and Ian Kilmister better known?
A60. Motorhead
Q61. Ermine is the winter coat of which animal?
A61. Stoat
Q62. The Golden temple of Amritsar is a holy shine in which religion?
A62. Sikh
Q63. In the Bible who did God create from dust?
A63. Adam
Q64. Which Archbishop of Canterbury landed on the Isle of Thanet in 597?
A64. Augustine
Q65. What is the name given to the handmaidens of Odin?
A65. Valkyries
Q66. Which river flows through Stuttgart?
A66. Necker
Q67. Which city is found across the Bay of San Francisco, opposite San Francisco itself?
A67. Oakland
Q68. What country pulled out of World War I on March 3, 1918?
A68. Russia
Q69. What is the Darts score known as 'Feathers'?
A69. 33
Q70. Which team won the Rugby League Challenge Cup nine times from 1985 to 1995?
A70. Wigan
Q71. Who was left in orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin went walkabout on the Moon?
A71. Michael Collins
Q72. Who addressed the October 2004 Tory Conference as party leader?
A72. Micheal Howard
Q73. Why has no horse ever won the Oaks, St Leger or 2000 Guineas two years in succession?
A73. They are races for three-year-old horses only
Q74. What do you have if you suffer from the condition podobromhidrosis?
A74. Smelly Feet
Q75. How many ways to leave your lover does Paul Simon actually itemise in his '50 ways to leave your lover' song?
A75. Five
Q76. What can you measure with a pluviometer?
A76. Rain
Q77. Which milestone birthday have 40% of the population of Cheshire East celebrated?
A77. Their 50th birthday
Q78. What Dept of Transport error will cost UK taxpayers an estimated £40m in compensation?
A78. Mis-handling of the tender process for the West Coast Main Line
Q79. What is the literal translation of Magna Carta?
A79. Great Charter
Q80. Which US state suffered the most deaths from hurricane Katrina?
A80. Louisiana
Q81. Which room was literary charactor Winston Smith told contained the 'worst thing in the world'?
A81. Room 101 [George Orwell's 1984]
Q82. What was the name of the first disabled person to honoured by a statue in Trafalgar Square?
A82. Lord Nelson
Q83. Which Country's National Theatre was formally called The Abbey Theatre?
A83. Ireland's
Q84. What was founded in 1945 with 51 member states?
A84. United Nations
Q85. Which Anthony Burgess novel introduced the marauding, murderers known as Droogs?
A85. A Clockwork Orange
Q86. What is the only surname shared by a British Prime Minister and an American President?
A86. Wilson
Q87. What was discovered in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher?
A87. DNA
Q88. Which black-clad, ill-made up band of misery guts had hits in the 1980s with 'Boys Don't Cry", "The Lovecats" and "Charlotte Sometimes"?
A88. The Cure
Q89. What is completely useless if the gnomon isn't casting a shadow?
A89. A Sundial
Q90. Which world leader's recent birthday celebrations included an art exhibition entitled 'The Most Kind-Hearted Man in the World', a 20-foot portrait installed on a mountain and a poetry reading in the capital's main tourist street?
A90. Vladimir Putin
Q91. Which landmark elections will take place in England and Wales on 15 November 2012?
A91. The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections
Q92. What class are the submarines Talent, Tireless, Torbay and Turbulent?
A92. Trafalgar Class
Q93. What city does the River Lagan flow through?
A93. Belfast
Q94. Which TV detective used the phrase 'just one more thing' in every episode?
A94. Columbo
Q95. How is the Cambodian Saloth Sar better known?
A95. Pol Pot
Q96. Which planet in the solar system has the greatest surface gravity?
A96. Jupiter
Supplementary questions
Q97. What tourist attraction lies on the Yamuna River?
A97. Taj Mahal
Q98. What action wins a game of Quidditch?
A98. Catching the golden snitch
Q99. What is the 50th element on the Periodic Table with a chemical symbol of Sn?
A99. Tin
Q100. What is the name of the Conservative Party Chief Whip who resigned on 19
October 2012?
A100. Andrew Mitchell
Q101. What is the name of the NASA vehicle currently sending information back from
Mars?
A101. Curiosity Rover
Q102. What event was investigated by the Warren Commission?
A102. Assassination of John F Kennedy