The first question is related to today, 20 August. The subsequent ones relate to each other.
One
On 20 August 1968, the Soviet Union led the other member nations of the Warsaw Pact, with the exception of Albania and Romania, in an invasion of … to end Alexander Dubček’s liberalisation, known as the … Spring.
What country and city respectively are missing from the above statement?
Two
When the Warsaw Pact was established in 1955, how many nations were members, and what were they?
Three
The Soviet Union was also known as the USSR; what did this abbreviation stand for in English; and for how many years did it exist?
Four
Name the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council?
Five
The picture above shows the United Nations Building. What body of water is in the foreground of this picture?
See question one. Although this is not the Olympics it is Victorian-era cricket. W.G. Grace (right), batting in an 1890s cricket match. Image Encyclopædia Britannica
Today’s first question relates to 19 August. The subsequent questions are not date-related but follow on (continuing the cricketing sayings).
One
Cricket first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1900. How many national teams competed in that tournament, and in how many Olympic events has the sport featured?
Answers: Two; One.
Cricket at the 1900 Paris Olympics featured only Great Britain and France, with the latter being a mixed team of English expatriates. The match, played over two days with 12-a-side, was won by Great Britain by 158 runs. John Symes preserved the game’s details with a handwritten scorecard. A cricket tournament was planned for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St Louis but was cancelled because there were insufficient entries. Cricket will return to the Olympics in 2028 at Los Angeles.
Two
The modern Olympics are numbered in Roman Numerals, for example the second and fifth would be referred to as the II Olympiad and the V Olympiad. What officially were the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China known as?
Answer: XXIX Olympiad.
Held in Beijing, China, the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, were officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Inspired by Ancient Greece and led by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the modern Olympic Games began with the Games of the I Olympiad being held in Athens in 1896. The IOC governs the Olympic Movement, adapting to changes like professional athletes, media influence, and global events. The Games include various competitions, rituals, and symbols, fostering international representation and showcasing host cities. The Olympic Games promote global cooperation and cultural exchange. Hosting them offers economic benefits but also presents challenges, impacting infrastructure, tourism, and local communities.
Three
What is the IATA code for Beijing Capital International Airport?
Answer: PEK.
Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is the busier of Beijing’s two international airports, located 32 km northeast of the city centre. Owned by a state-controlled company, it covers 1,480 hectares and opened in 1958. The IATA code PEK derives from the city’s former romanised name, Peking.
Four
In 2025 Beijing Capital (question two above) was the 15th busiest airport in the world for passenger traffic. What city’s airport was the world’s busiest that year with 106,302,208 passengers?
Answer: Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world’s busiest since 1998 except in 2020 (Covid), regaining the position in 2021; London has the busiest city airport system.
Five
This Province was established as a proprietary colony in 1732 and a royal colony from 1752. One of thirteen, it was named after a reigning British monarch: what monarch?
Answer: George II.
The corporate charter for the colony was issued to General James Oglethorpe on 21 April 1732 by George II, the monarch for whom the territory was named. The King’s privy council completed the document on 9 June 1732. George II ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 to 1760, the last monarch born abroad.
It’s Just Not Cricket
The post title means that something is contrary to traditional standards of fairness or rectitude, but here it is actually used to mean there are other things as well as cricket in these questions. The questions also link to each other:
See question one. Although this is not the Olympics it is still Victorian-era cricket. W.G. Grace (right), batting in an 1890s cricket match. Image Encyclopædia Britannica
Today’s first question relates to 19 August. The subsequent questions are not date-related but follow on (continuing the cricketing sayings).
One
Cricket first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1900. How many national teams competed in that tournament, and in how many Olympic events has the sport featured?
Two
The modern Olympics are numbered in Roman Numerals, for example the second and fifth would be referred to as the II Olympiad and the V Olympiad. What officially were the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China known as?
Three
What is the IATA code for Beijing Capital International Airport?
Four
In 2025 Beijing Capital (question two above) was the 15th busiest airport in the world for passenger traffic. What city’s airport was the world’s busiest that year with 106,302,208 passengers?
Five
This Province was established as a proprietary colony in 1732 and a royal colony from 1752. One of thirteen, it was named after a reigning British monarch: what monarch?
The Midnight Star, Deadwood, South Dakota close in 2017. Image Trip Advisor
Today’s questions follow a theme.
One
The narrator and protagonist of the Booker Prize-winning novel in 1981 is Saleem Sinai, who is born in 1947 at midnight as India becomes independent. Saleem and children born in India between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. on that date are found to have special powers. What is the novel and who wrote it?
Answer: Midnight’s Children; Salman Rushdie.
Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie’s second novel, narrates India’s transition from British rule to independence and partition through Saleem Sinai’s magical realist tale. Blending history with fiction, it echoes The Tin Drum and preserves history via fictional accounts. The novel sold over one million copies in the UK, winning the Booker Prize and James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981. It later received the Booker of Bookers (1993), Best of the Booker (2008), and ranked 100th in the BBC’s The Big Read (2003).
Two
The song Everybody’s Talkin’ won the 1970 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Who was the singer awarded, and in what 1969 film did the song feature?
Answer: Harry Nilsson: Midnight Cowboy.
Fred Neil’s 1966 song Everybody’s Talkin’ was re-recorded by Harry Nilsson in 1969 for Midnight Cowboy, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy. The original, recorded in 1967, was re-released by RCA, achieving similar Billboard success.
Three
It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.
The above quote is from which of the Harry Potter novels?
Answer: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
It is the opening sentence of ‘The Other Minister’, the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which is the sixth book in the series. Harry Potter enters his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Voldemort’s dark forces gather and a mood of dread spreads across the country, Harry recognises that he must soon face his destiny. Can he prevail in the perilous trials ahead?
Four
Come On Eileen was a hit single for which English band?
Answer: Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners, released in June 1982, topped charts in the UK and the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, it won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards. Ranked No. 18 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ‘80s, it was Britain’s best-selling single of 1982.
Five
The Midnight Star was a casino owned by Kevin Costner. It opened in the spring of 1991, after Costner had, the previous year, directed and starred in an Academy Award-winning film which was filmed nearby. In what city and state was the casino sited, and what was the 1990 Oscar-winning film?
Answer: Deadwood, South Dakota; Dances With Wolves.
The Midnight Star was a casino in Deadwood owned by American film actor Kevin Costner. After directing and starring in the Academy Award-winning film Dances With Wolves (1990), which was filmed largely in South Dakota, Costner opened the venue in spring 1991. The casino operated as a saloon that had appeared prominently in Silverado (1985), one of his early major roles. International posters from many of his films lined the walls. The casino closed in 2017.
We’re Going To Shake Your Tambourine
The post title is taken from Eric Clapton’s After Midnight, and midnight was the theme running through today’s quiz, with it being in either the question or the answer.
The Midnight Star, Deadwood, South Dakota close in 2017. Image Trip Advisor
Today’s questions follow a theme.
One
The narrator and protagonist of the Booker Prize-winning novel in 1981 is Saleem Sinai, who is born in 1947 at midnight as India becomes independent. Saleem and children born in India between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. on that date are found to have special powers. What is the novel and who wrote it?
Two
The song Everybody’s Talkin’ won the 1970 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Who was the singer awarded, and in what 1969 film did the song feature?
Three
It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.
The above quote is from which of the Harry Potter novels?
Four
Come On Eileen was a hit single for which English band?
Five
The Midnight Star was a casino owned by Kevin Costner. It opened in the spring of 1991, after Costner had, the previous year, directed and starred in an Academy Award-winning film which was filmed nearby. In what city and state was the casino sited, and what was the 1990 Oscar-winning film?
Today’s first question relates to 17 August and the subsequent ones follow on from the first.
One
Set during the Klondike Gold Rush, complete the title of British-Canadian poet Robert Service’s The Shooting of …?
Answer: Dan McGrew.
Gold found in 1896 launched the Klondike Gold Rush. Robert William Service, an English-born Canadian writer, became well known for his Klondike poems, including The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee. Commercial success from collections such as Songs of a Sourdough allowed for travel and a leisurely life.
Two
Which nesosilicate mineral derives its name from the Persian word for ‘gold-hued’?
Answer: Zircon.
Zircon is a tetragonal nesosilicate (ZrSiO₄) yielding zirconium and containing hafnium at 1–4%. It precipitates from silicate melts and occurs in varied colours. The name comes from Persian zargun (“gold-hued”), becoming jargoon for light zircons; English zircon derives from German Zirkon.
Three
Which Persian king, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, was assassinated in 465BC by Artabanus, the commander of the royal guard?
Answer: Xerxes I or Xerxes the Great.
Founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire became the largest of its time, spanning from the Balkans to the Indus Valley. Alexander the Great conquered it in 330 BC; later, the Parthian Empire emerged. Its bureaucracy, tolerance and infrastructure influenced later empires.
Four
Alexander the Great extended the Macedonian kingdom as far east as what modern country?
Answer: India.
The Beas River, in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in northwestern India, marked Alexander the Great’s eastern limit in 326 BC after his troops mutinied at Mukerian. Alexander yielded after three days and raised twelve altars; their fate is unknown.
Five
What novel by Herman Wouk, which is about a mutiny, was turned into a 1954 film starring Humphrey Bogart?
Answer: The Caine Mutiny.
Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel The Caine Mutiny draws on Pacific Theater service to explore officers’ moral choices. A legalistic mutiny during Typhoon Cobra leads to a court-martial climax.
One Thing Leads to Another
The post title points to a trail through the questions. One is set during the Klondike Gold Rush; Two derives from Persian for ‘gold-hued’; Three is about a Persian king of the Achaemenid Empire; Four is about the conqueror of the Achaemenid Empire facing a mutiny; and Five is about a fictional mutiny.
The first question is connected to today, 16 August. The subsequent questions are not date-related but continue a Superlative’s theme which moves on from first, to furthest, heaviest, furthest (again) and finally shortest.
One
In 1858, Queen Victoria sent the U.S. President the first message via the Transatlantic telegraph. How long did the transmission of the message take:
7 minutes
9 hours
16 hours
Answer: 3. 16 hours
On this day in 1858, the first successful transatlantic telegraph exchange between heads of state took place. Queen Victoria sent the initial message to U.S. President James Buchanan. Although nearly instantaneous by 19th-century standards, the transmission required more than 16 hours. Unfortunately, the cable failed on 1 September, and a functioning line was not restored until 1866.
Two
The summit of what stratovolcano is the furthest point from the centre of the Earth?
Chimborazo, Ecuador
Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
Kogajajima, Japan
Answer: 1. Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador.
Chimborazo, an inactive volcano which sits between Guayaquil and Quito, wins due to Earth’s oblate spheroid shape, placing Whymper — the tallest of its four summits — 7,096 feet (2,163 m) farther from the centre of the Earth than Everest.
Three
Which species is the heaviest living monkey?
Mandrill
Nepal Grey Langur
Olive Baboon
Answer: 1. Mandrill
Mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), is a colourful, sexually dimorphic Old World monkey from west central Africa, closely related to the drill and white-eyelid mangabeys. Active by day on the ground, it eats fruit, seeds and animals in large female-centred hordes; dominant males are solitary outside breeding.
Four
On 15 August 2026, how far was Voyager 1 from Earth?
8.7 billion miles (14.0 billion km)
11.3 billion miles (18.2 billion km)
15.9 billion miles (25.6 billion km)
Answer: 3. 15.9 billion miles.
Voyager 1 was launched on the 5 September 1977 16 days after Voyager 2.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026, at 2:16:07 a.m. PST, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft will be 16,094,799,096 miles (25,902,068,356 kilometers) away from Earth — or, the distance light travels in 24 hours, also known as one light-day. Voyager 1 will be the first human-made object to reach this distance from Earth, adding to a long list of historic firsts for the mission. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever operate outside the heliosphere, or the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. — NASA
Five
What is the fastest time taken to complete the world’s shortest domestic scheduled flight?
53 seconds
97 seconds
131 seconds
Answer: 1. 53 seconds.
The shortest domestic scheduled flight is 2.74 km (1.7 miles) between the Orkney islands of Westray and Papa Westray. The flight takes two minutes (including taxiing) and is operated by Loganair which has been flown with Britten-Norman Islander eight-seat aircraft since September 1967. The total distance is less than either of the runways at Heathrow Airport, London, UK. Stuart Linklater announced his retirement as airplane pilot on the record route and between Stronsay, Sanday, North Ronaldsay and Eday in May 2013. He flew the routes 12,000 time over more than 24 years, clocking up 1.3 million miles. Loganair reported that he had set the fastest time for the Westray and Papa Westray route, with 53 seconds. — Guinness World Records
The first question is connected to today, 16 August. The subsequent questions are not date-related but continue a Superlative’s theme which moves on from first, to furthest, heaviest, furthest (again) and finally shortest.
One
In 1858, Queen Victoria sent the U.S. President the first message via the Transatlantic telegraph. How long did the transmission of the message take:
7 minutes
9 hours
16 hours
Two
The summit of what stratovolcano is the furthest point from the centre of the Earth?
Chimborazo, Ecuador
Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
Kogajajima, Japan
Three
Which species is the heaviest living monkey?
Mandrill
Nepal Grey Langur
Olive Baboon
Four
On 15 August 2026, how far was Voyager 1 from Earth?
8.7 billion miles (14.0 billion km)
11.3 billion miles (18.2 billion km)
15.9 billion miles (25.6 billion km)
Five
What is the fastest time taken to complete the world’s shortest domestic scheduled flight?
The first date-related question sets a theme for the subsequent questions and/or answers.
One
Napoleon Bonaparte was strongly linked to three islands: (i) where he was born on 15 August 1769; (ii) where he was exiled in 1814 and subsequently escaped; and (iii) where he was exiled in 1815 and subsequently died. What are these islands and in what seas or oceans are they found?
Answers: (i) Corsica, Mediterranean Sea; (ii) Elba, Mediterranean Sea and (iii) Saint Helena, South Atlantic Ocean (or Atlantic Ocean).
Corsica is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea, known for its mountainous terrain and historical ties to Italy it has a population of 355,528. Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica in 1769. Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, known for being the site of Napoleon’s first exile from 1814 to 1815. It is the largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest in Italy. Saint Helena is a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of a British overseas territory. It was uninhabited until the 16th century and served as a crucial stopover for ships between Europe and Asia before the Suez Canal opened. The island is also known for being Napoleon Bonaparte’s second place of exile from 1815 until his death in 1821.
Two
Ursus arctos middendorffi, the largest brown bear species, has a common name derived from an archipelago; which archipelago is it, and in what sea or ocean is it located?
Answer: Kodiak (Archipelago); North Pacific Ocean (or Pacific Ocean).
The Kodiak bear inhabits the Kodiak Archipelago and is among the largest bears, averaging 1.5 to 2 times larger than other brown bears. Human interactions include hunting and protection efforts; the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and United States Fish and Wildlife Service monitor the population.
Three
Puerto Ayora, also called Santa Cruz, is the largest town in which island group, and these islands are part of which country?
Answers: Galápagos Islands; Ecuador.
Puerto Ayora, the most populous Galápagos town with 12,696 people, sits on Santa Cruz Island’s southern shore as the seat of Santa Cruz Canton and honours former president, Isidro Ayora.
Four
Leaving in about 982 from Snæfellsjökull, one of the westernmost points of …, Erik and a small group of men reached land on the opposite shore of …, a land that had been skirted by the Norwegian Gunnbjörn Ulfsson earlier in the 10th century. — Encyclopædia Britannica
The above quote from Encyclopædia Britannica has had two island countries removed from it. What are these two countries?
Answers: Iceland; Greenland.
Exiled from Iceland around 980, Erik explored and named Greenland, settling at Brattahlid. Returning in 985 or 986, he led 14 ships to Eystribygd, Norse Greenland, establishing a colony of up to 3,000 that lasted until the mid-15th century.
Five
What is the second-largest Canadian island, and in what ocean is it found?
Answers; Victoria Island; Arctic Ocean.
Victoria Island, Canada’s second-largest landmass, spans Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, supporting 2,168 residents in Cambridge Bay and Ulukhaktok. It lies off the northern coast within the Arctic Ocean, east of the Beaufort Sea. Known in Inuinnaqtun as Kitlineq, the island was named for Queen Victoria and charted by Europeans beginning in 1826.
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