See question two. Robinson Crusoe. Image Goodreads
Five questions which follow are not date related but do follow a theme.
One
The 2010 autobiography of whom is titled 9.58?
Answer: Usain Bolt.
Usain Bolt, born 21 August 1986, is a retired Jamaican sprinter, considered the greatest ever. An eight-time Olympic gold medallist, he holds world records in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. Known as ‘Lightning Bolt’, he won multiple World Championships and numerous prestigious awards, retiring in 2017.
Two
The location of the uninhabited island where Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked is described as being ‘near the mouth of the great river …’— what river mouth?
Answer: Oroonoque or Orinoco.
Either Oroonoque or Orinoco as the spelling varies between editions. Robinson Crusoe, published on 25 April 1719 by Daniel Defoe, is an English adventure novel often credited as the start of realistic fiction. It follows Robinson Kreutznaer’s 28-year survival on a desert island, inspired by real-life castaways. Initially believed non-fiction, it was well-received for its narrative style. By the end of 1719, the book had four editions and became one of history’s most published works. It inspired numerous imitations across literature, film, television, and radio, defining the Robinsonade genre
Three
Historically known as Alexandretta, this city featured in a 1984 film starring Sean Connery. What was the film, and by what name is the city now known?
Answer: İskenderun; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
İskenderun, historically known as Alexandretta, is a district in Hatay Province, Turkey, with a population of 251,682 as of 2022. Situated on the Mediterranean coast, it experienced significant damage from the earthquakes in February 2023. The city was likely founded during the Hellenistic period by a successor of Alexander the Great and has since been under the control of the Seleucid, Roman, Abbasid, and Mamluk empires. It became part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I, after which it was a French mandate sanjak until gaining independence in 1938 and officially joining Turkey in 1939. İskenderun appears in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Four
Which song begins:
Risin’ up, back on the street Did my time, took my chances
Answer: Eye of the Tiger
“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, written for Rocky III, topped charts worldwide and won a Grammy. It was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Five
Who played the title role in the 1973 film Serpico?
Answer: Al Pacino.
Serpico is a 1973 biographical crime drama film about Frank Serpico, a whistleblower who exposed corruption in the NYPD. The film, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino, was a critical and commercial success, earning several award nominations.
The Great Vowel Shift
Today’s title really in this instance only refers to the answers starting with one of the five vowels which have been ‘shifted’ into reverse order, U – O – I – E – A. The Great Vowel Shift, occurring between 1400 and 1700, altered the pronunciation of all Middle English long vowels and some consonant sounds. This shift, beginning in southern England, significantly influenced English dialects and contributed to the divergence between English spelling and pronunciation.
See question two. Robinson Crusoe. Image Goodreads
Five questions which follow are not date related but do follow a theme.
One
The 2010 autobiography of whom is titled 9.58?
Two
The location of the uninhabited island where Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked is described as being ‘near the mouth of the great river …’— what river mouth?
Three
Historically known as Alexandretta, this city featured in a 1984 film starring Sean Connery. What was the film, and by what name is the city now known?
Four
Which song begins:
Risin’ up, back on the street Did my time, took my chances
Five
Who played the title role in the 1973 film Serpico?
All of today’s questions are related to the date, 1 August.
One
In 1980, for the first time anywhere in the world, a woman was elected head of state in a national election. This election was the first of four terms in this role. Who is she, and of what country was she president?
Answer: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir; Iceland.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir served as Iceland’s president from 1980 to 1996 and was the first woman globally elected head of state. After retiring from office Finnbogadóttir chaired the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology from 1997 to 2001 and became UNESCO’s goodwill ambassador for languages in 1998.
Two
In 1996, George R.R. Martin published the first volume of a book series. What is the book series called?
Answer: A Song of Ice and Fire.
George R.R. Martin, born in 1948, is an American fantasy writer known for his A Song of Ice and Fire series, adapted into Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. He began his career with short fiction and television writing before returning to novels.
Three
What Formula 1 driver, who suffered extensive burns in a severe accident in the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, returned to racing still heavily bandaged, having only missed two races?
Answer: Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda, after a near-fatal crash in 1976, won his second championship with Ferrari in 1977. He took a two-year hiatus before returning with McLaren, winning his third championship in 1984, and retiring in 1985.
Four
On this date, the Guam Organic Act was signed, officially establishing Guam as an organised unincorporated territory of the United States. Who was the U.S. president at the time?
Answer: Harry S. Truman.
Guam, a territory since 1899, was acquired at the end of the Spanish-American War. It’s home to Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. Organised under the Guam Organic Act of 1950, it granted U.S. citizenship to Guamanians and established a local government. The act was amended in 1968 to allow for the election of a governor.
Five
In 1620, Myles Standish, his wife Rose and others sailed from Delfshaven, Netherlands to England where they would join with the Mayflower to sail to America. What is the name of the ship on which Standish and his wife sailed from Delfshaven, and in what modern country is Delfshaven?
Answer: Speedwell; Netherlands.
On 1 August 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers left Delfshaven on the Speedwell. After delays due to leaks, they departed Southampton on 5 August with the Mayflower. The Speedwell was abandoned, and its passengers, including the Standishes, joined the Mayflower for the voyage to the New World.
All of today’s questions are related to the date, 1 August.
One
In 1980, for the first time anywhere in the world, a woman was elected head of state in a national election. This election was the first of four terms in this role. Who is she, and of what country was she president?
Two
In 1996, George R.R. Martin published the first volume of a book series. What is the book series called?
Three
What Formula 1 driver, who suffered extensive burns in a severe accident in the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, returned to racing still heavily bandaged, having only missed two races?
Four
On this date, the Guam Organic Act was signed, officially establishing Guam as an organised unincorporated territory of the United States. Who was the U.S. president at the time?
Five
In 1620, Myles Standish, his wife Rose and others sailed from Delfshaven, Netherlands to England where they would join with the Mayflower to sail to America. What is the name of the ship on which Standish and his wife sailed from Delfshaven, and in what modern country is Delfshaven?
James Irwin with the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Mons Hadley is in the background. Image NASA/David Scott via Wikimedia Commons
One to five as usual today, but you need to find ten answers. The first question is related to today’s date, 31 July, while the subsequent ones follow on from the theme created by the first.
One
On this day in 1971, Apollo 15’s astronauts first used the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which is also colloquially known as a Moon Buggy, on the Lunar surface. By the end of the Apollo program how many of these vehicles were left behind on the Moon?
Answer: Three.
The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), built by Boeing Co., enabled extended travel, speed, and greater scientific activity on the Moon during the Apollo era. The first surface mission to use the LRV, Apollo 15 astronauts covered a total 17.5 miles of exploration and discovery. The historic Apollo Program sent the first U.S. astronauts into orbit around the Moon in 1968 and landed a dozen astronauts on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. The reach of initial Apollo surface missions was restricted to short walking distances. During each of the last three Apollo missions, between 1971 and 1972, a battery powered LRV provided transportation for two crew members and supplies several miles beyond the landing site. — NASA
Two
Set on the Moon in 1996, a short story first published in 1951 describes the discovery of a mysterious pyramid which had been placed by aliens several billion years previously. This story has an influential role in the development of a 1968 film. Three questions:
What is the story’s title?
Who was its author?
What was the title of the 1968 film?
Answers
The Sentinal
Arthur C. Clarke
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Sentinel (1951) by Arthur C. Clarke, set in 1996, follows selenologist Wilson discovering a mysterious alien structure on the Moon. After breaching its shield with atomic energy, the structure is destroyed, revealing advanced technology. Wilson theorises it was a sentinel alerting aliens to the emergence of intelligent life.
Three
The Huygens lander was the first man made object to land on a world in the outer Solar System. Where did it land?
Answer: Titan.
The Cassini–Huygens mission, a collaboration between NASA, ESA, and ASI, aimed to study Saturn and its system. It included NASA’s Cassini probe and ESA’s Huygens lander. Launched in 1997, Cassini orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, providing extensive data on the planet and Huygens landed on Titan. The mission included flybys of Venus, Earth, asteroid 2685 Masursky, and Jupiter, ending on September 15, 2017, by burning up in Saturn’s atmosphere to prevent contamination. It was a ‘mission of firsts’, revolutionising understanding of Saturn’s system and potential life-supporting environments in the Solar System and landing on on a world in the outer Solar System the first time.
Four
In ancient Greek mythology who was the goddess and personification of the Moon who drives her Moon chariot across the heavens?
Answer: Salene.
The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. — Homeric Hymn to SaleneWikipedia
Five
Moon River featured in a 1961 film and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Four questions:
Who composed the song?
Who wrote the lyrics?
What was the 1961 film?
Who sang it in the film?
Answers
Henry Mancini
Johnny Mercer
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Audrey Hepburn
Moon River, composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, was performed by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), winning an Academy Award and two Grammys. The song relaunched Mercer’s songwriting career, stalled by rock and roll’s rise. The lyrics reflect Mercer’s Southern youth and wanderlust and an inlet near Savannah, Georgia, was named Moon River in his honour. Andy Williams made it his theme song, recording it in 1962 and in 2022, his version was preserved in the U.S. Library of Congress.
James Irwin with the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Mons Hadley is in the background. Image NASA/David Scott via Wikimedia Commons
One to five as usual today, but you need to find ten answers. The first question is related to today’s date, 31 July, while the subsequent ones follow on from the theme created by the first.
One
On this day in 1971, Apollo 15’s astronauts first used the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which is also colloquially known as a Moon Buggy, on the Lunar surface. By the end of the Apollo program how many of these vehicles were left behind on the Moon?
Two
Set on the Moon in 1996, a short story first published in 1951 describes the discovery of a mysterious pyramid which had been placed by aliens several billion years previously. This story has an influential role in the development of a 1968 film. Three questions:
What is the story’s title?
Who was its author?
What was the title of the 1968 film?
Three
The Huygens lander was the first man made object to land on a world in the outer Solar System. Where did it land?
Four
In ancient Greek mythology who was the goddess and personification of the Moon who drives her Moon chariot across the heavens?
Five
Moon River featured in a 1961 film and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Four questions:
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four. Image Pinterest
Today’s questions are not related to the date; instead, they share a theme linked to the title in a subtle or hidden manner.
One
ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, an appreciation society and their publication Mostly Harmless is connected to what science fiction franchise?
Answer: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha organises gatherings and social events, produces the magazine Mostly Harmless and sells Beeblebears modelled on Zaphod Beeblebrox. It celebrates The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Douglas Adams’s works.
Two
What single word can mean nought, a strong-lined fabric, a quick immersion, a bivalve mollusc, a lowering of the head or a bird and in which sport did the meaning ‘nought’ originate?
Answer: Duck: cricket.
All of the above are from definitions of duck.
Nought: in cricket a batter’s score of zero. Origin mid 19th century: short for duck’s egg, used for the figure 0 because of its similar outline.
Fabric: a strong cotton or linen fabric. Origin mid 17th century: from Middle Dutch doek ‘linen, linen cloth’; related to German Tuch ‘cloth’.
Immersion: to dip under water. Origin Middle English: of Germanic origin; related to Dutch duiken and German tauchen ‘dive, dip, plunge’.
Mollusc: a pure white thin-shelled bivalve mollusc found off the Atlantic coasts of America. Genus Anatina, family Mactridae.
Lowering head: lower the head or the body quickly. Origin Middle English: of Germanic origin; related to Dutch duiken and German tauchen ‘dive, dip, plunge’.
Bird: a waterbird with a broad blunt bill. Origin Old English duce, from the Germanic German tauchen ‘dive, dip, plunge’.
Three
Where is the mythical Snow Lion a celestial emblem?
Answer: Tibet.
The Snow Lion, Tibet’s celestial emblem, symbolises power, strength, fearlessness, joy, east, and earth. Featured on Tibet’s flag from 1916 to 1950, it remains used by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Depicted as white with a turquoise mane, it represents hermits and yogis, and is prominent in Tibetan culture.
Four
What character is named when symbols for sulphur, nobelium, oxygen, phosphorus and yttrium are placed together in order?
What are the three super-states in the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, and in which of these is London located?
Answers: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia; Oceania.
In April 1984, Winston Smith lives in Airstrip One (previously Great Britain), a province of Oceania, under totalitarian rule by ‘the Party’ and Big Brother. The Party enforces conformity through surveillance and Thought Police, erasing dissenters as “unpersons”. Winston, an Outer Party member at the Ministry of Truth, secretly rebels against the regime.
42-0-20-(Z 16-102–8-15-39)-13
The numbers in the title offer clues, perhaps obscure, to each of the questions in the correct order. The information breaks down like this
42: In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.
0: A duck is 0 as explained above, see ‘Nought’ under the second answer.
20: The 20th letter of the alphabet ‘T’ is the initial to this answer.
(Z 16-102–8-15-39): Z is the symbol for atomic numbers and 16 is the atomic number for sulphur, 102 is nobelium 8 is oxygen 15 is phosphorus and 39 is yttrium each of which make Snoopy.
13: : ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ Thirteen concludes the opening line of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four.
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four. Image Pinterest
Today’s questions are not related to the date; instead, they share a theme linked to the title in a subtle or hidden manner.
One
ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, an appreciation society and their publication Mostly Harmless is connected to what science fiction franchise?
Two
What single word can mean nought, a strong-lined fabric, a quick immersion, a bivalve mollusc, a lowering of the head or a bird and in which sport did the meaning ‘nought’ originate?
Three
Where is the mythical Snow Lion a celestial emblem?
Four
What character is named when symbols for sulphur, nobelium, oxygen, phosphorus and yttrium are placed together in order?
Five
What are the three super-states in the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, and in which of these is London located?
The first question is connected to today, 29 July. The remainder are not date-related but continue a theme leading you on a quest through the fantasy worlds of fiction.
One
In 1954, the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings was published. What was the title of this volume?
Answer: The Fellowship of the Ring.
In 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien published The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the first parts of The Lord of the Rings, followed by The Return of the King in 1955. The Fellowship of the Ring refers to the company made up by Frodo, Merry, Sam and Pippin: all Hobbits; Aragorn and Boromir: both men; Legolas, an Elf; Gimli, a Dwarf; and Gandalf, a Wizard.
Two
What author’s work is home to the battle poet William the Gonnagle?
Answer: Terry Pratchett.
In Pratchett’s Discworld series, William the Gonnagle, a 96-year-old battle poet and musician, speaks in the lowland Scots of Robert Burns and with a slow careful voice. He plays mouse pipes that drive Grimhounds mad. Unlike bards, gonnagles compose poems to frighten enemies during battles causing their ears to explode. His name is derived from the notoriously poor poet William Topaz McGonagall.
Three
What series of books, the first published in 1995, included the character Fra Pavel Rašek, an alethiometrist of the Consistorial Court of Discipline (CCD), and of what organisation is the CCD a branch?
Answers: His Dark Materials; Magisterium.
Philip Pullman’s trilogy unfolds across a multiverse, with Northern Lights set in a world akin to Edwardian Britain, featuring zeppelins instead of cars or planes. The Church, led by the Magisterium, mirrors the Catholic Church’s authority, with the CCD as one of its most active branches.
Four
Who were Paul and Alia’s parents in the novel Dune?
Answer: Lord Leto Atreides and Lady Jessica
Dune, a 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, is set in a feudal interstellar society where noble houses vie for control of Arrakis, the sole source of the valuable spice melange. The story follows Paul Atreides as he navigates politics, religion, and ecology in this epic science fiction tale.
Five
In the world of Harry Potter, the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra), the Cruciatus Curse (Crucio), and the Imperius Curse (Imperio) are known collectively as what?
Answer: Unforgivable Curses.
The Unforgivable Curses, Avada Kedavra, Crucio, and Imperio, are the most powerful and sinister Dark spells in the wizarding world. First classified as ‘Unforgivable’ in 1717, they carry the strictest penalties for their use, being tools of the Dark Arts.
Enchanted Forest
The title refers to a common feature in fiction: an enchanted forest.
