National Mall, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, Washington D.C. Image Wikipedia
One
What decade saw the first time that residents of Washington, D.C. could vote in a U.S. presidential election
Answer: 1960s (1964)
Twenty-Third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961, granted D.C. three electoral votes—the same number as the least-populous state. Before this, its residents had no say in electing the president or vice-president.
Two
Today Henry VIII of England became the first Supreme Head of the Church of England. In which century was this?
Answer: 16th century (1534)
The Act of Supremacy officially severed England’s ties with the Roman Catholic Church and papal authority, paving the way for the English Reformation. Henry’s motivations were both political and personal; he desired an annulment from Catherine of Aragon.
A dog named Laika went into space on this day in 1957. Which of these craft carried her: Soyuz 1, Sputnik 2 or Salyut 3?
Answer: Sputnik 2
Laika, a stray from Moscow’s streets, became a global icon of the Space Race. Sadly, she died within hours due to overheating, although the Soviets initially claimed she survived for several days.
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Four
On this date, the Caribbean island nation of Dominica was first sighted by Europeans. Four hundred and eighty-five years later, it gained independence from a European country. What does the island’s name mean and from which country did it achieve independence?
Answer: United Kingdom; and Sunday
On 3 November 1493, Christopher Columbus sighted Dominica and named it Dies Dominica, meaning ‘the Lord’s Day’. Four hundred and eighty-five years later, on 3 November 1978, Dominica achieved independence after being a British colony and briefly a French one.
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Five
On this day in 1911, a racing driver and engineer, born in 1878, co-founded the American motor car manufacturer Chevrolet, who was he and in what country was he born?
Answer: Louis Chevrolet; Switzerland
Louis Chevrolet’s name lives on in one of America’s most famous car brands, but he sold his stake early and never profited from its later success. Ironically, he died while working for a rival carmaker.
A dog named Laika went into space on this day in 1957. Which of these craft carried her: Soyuz 1, Sputnik 2 or Salyut 3?
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Four
On this date, the Caribbean island nation of Dominica was first sighted by Europeans. Four hundred and eighty-five years later, it gained independence from a European country. What does the island’s name mean and from which country did it achieve independence?
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Five
On this day in 1911, a racing driver and engineer, born in 1878, co-founded the American motor car manufacturer Chevrolet, who was he and in what country was he born?
Here are the answers to the questions about universities which were posed earlier.
Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, Fez, Morocco. Image Wikipedia
One
The world’s oldest continuously operating university is the University of al-Qarawiyyin. In what city and country is it located?
Answer: Fez, Morocco.
Founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a woman who used her inheritance to establish a centre for education and religion, Al-Qarawiyyin began as a madrasa. It later became a leading spiritual and educational hub in the Muslim world. UNESCO and the Guinness World Records both recognise it as the oldest continuously operating higher education institution globally.
Two
The second-oldest university in the United States is what, and who is it named after?
Answer: College of William & Mary; (named after England’s) King William III and Queen Mary II
Founded in 1693 in Williamsburg, Virginia, William & Mary was established by royal charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England. It educated several key figures in early US history including Thomas Jefferson James Monroe and John Tyler all of whom became presidents. Notably it was also the first US college to implement an honour code and establish a Greek-letter fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1776.
Three
What’s the third book (2009) in the series featuring a fictional professor of religious iconology and symbology? Who is this professor? The character first appeared in a book published in 2000.
Answer: The Lost Symbol; Robert Langdon
Dan Brown’s book series centres on Robert Langdon, a fictional Harvard professor of Religious Iconology and Symbology. This latter subject is a fictional field studying historic symbols distinct from the real discipline of semiotics.
In the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Charles (Hugh Grant), Tom (James Fleet), and Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman) have known each other since university. What university?
Answer: Cambridge University
Charles, Tom and Scarlett are shown to have attended Cambridge University in Four Weddings and a Funeral and their friendship began there.
Five
What are the five ancient universities of Britain and Ireland which were founded in the 15th and 16th centuries and are NOT located in England?
Answer: University of St Andrews (founded 1413), University of Glasgow (1451), University of Aberdeen (1495), University of Edinburgh (1583) and University of Dublin (Trinity College Dublin) (1592)
Although located in Ireland, Trinity College is historically linked with the British ancient universities. The other two ancient universities of Britain are Oxford (1096) and Cambridge (1209).
Coat of Arms, Unseen University, Motto: Nunc id Vides, Nunc ne Vides (“Now you see it, Now you don’t.”). Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Image Wikipedia
One
The world’s oldest continuously operating university is the University of al-Qarawiyyin. In what city and country is it located?
Two
The second-oldest university in the United States is what, and who is it named after?
Three
What’s the third book (2009) in the series featuring a fictional professor of religious iconology and symbology? Who is this professor? The character first appeared in a book published in 2000.
Four
In the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Charles (Hugh Grant), Tom (James Fleet), and Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman) have known each other since university. What university?
Five
What are five of the ancient universities of Britain and Ireland which were founded in the 15th and 16th centuries and are NOT located in England?
The tiger shark, the largest member of the Galeocerdo genus, is a solitary, nocturnal predator found in tropical and temperate waters. It has a diverse diet and is considered near-threatened due to human activities.
Two
What 1964 film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Cain depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift?
Answer: Zulu
Zulu is a 1964 British historical drama film about the Battle of Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War. Directed by Cy Endfield, it stars Stanley Baker and Michael Caine, and received critical acclaim for its sets, soundtrack, cinematography, and performances.
Three
Complete the title of this short story by Alan Sillitoe which was published in 1959: The Loneliness of the…?
Answer: Long-Distance Runner(The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner)
Alan Sillitoe’s 1959 short story The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner follows Smith, a Nottingham teenager who finds solace in running.
Four
Which state or territorial capital of mainland Australia is the only one north of the Tropic of Capricorn?
Answer: Darwin (Northern Territory)
Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly capital city. It has a tropical climate with a wet and dry season, and its proximity to Southeast Asia makes it a key link between Australia and countries like Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The city has been rebuilt four times due to cyclones and WWII air raids.
Chumbawamba’s 2008 album The Boy Bands Have Won holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title. Can you tell me how many words are in the full title? A decade (a group of ten) is acceptable. For example, if the answer is 104 then 101-110 is fine.
Answer: 156 (151-160 acceptable)
Its full title contains 156 words, or 865 characters, and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title. In full, it is…
The boy bands have won, and all the copyists and the tribute bands and the TV talent show producers have won, if we allow our culture to be shaped by mimicry, whether from lack of ideas or from exaggerated respect. You should never try to freeze culture. What you can do is recycle that culture. Take your older brother’s hand-me-down jacket and re-style it, re-fashion it to the point where it becomes your own. But don’t just regurgitate creative history, or hold art and music and literature as fixed, untouchable and kept under glass. The people who try to ‘guard’ any particular form of music are, like the copyists and manufactured bands, doing it the worst disservice, because the only thing that you can do to music that will damage it is not change it, not make it your own. Because then it dies, then it’s over, then it’s done, and the boy bands have won.
Today’s five questions are random with no connection.
Image Wikipedia
One
Which shark is pictured?
Two
What 1964 film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Cain depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift?
Three
Complete the title of this short story by Alan Sillitoe which was published in 1959: The Loneliness of the…?
Four
Which state or territorial capital of mainland Australia is the only one north of the Tropic of Capricorn?
Five
Chumbawamba’s 2008 album The Boy Bands Have Won holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title. Can you tell me how many words are in the full title? A decade (a group of ten) is acceptable. For example, if the answer is 104 then 101-110 is fine.
What is the largest butterfly in the UK? It has a ten-letter name and lives in the Norfolk Broads.
Answer: Swallowtail
The swallowtail is the largest and most localised butterfly in the UK. Adults emerge from winter chrysalises, drying their wings in reedbeds before displaying their bright colours. Their swallow-like tails and false eye spots confuse predators. Even as caterpillars, they are striking, with bulging horns for defence and orange scent glands that release a pineapple-like odor when threatened.
Two
In what 1975 novel does IRA member Liam Devlin take part in a wartime plot to kidnap Winston Churchill?
Answer: The Eagle Has Landed
Irish Republican Liam Devlin and Joanna Grey, an Afrikaner woman and seasoned Abwehr agent residing in England, team up with German paratroopers to plan and execute the kidnapping of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Three
In the 1955 film, To Catch a Thief (1955), who is seen sitting beside Cary Grant and a pair of caged birds on a bus?
Answer: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer and director Alfred Hitchcock makes his signature cameo, approximately ten minutes into the film, as a bus passenger sitting next to Cary Grant and a caged pair of birds.
Four
What single answer satisfies all of the following: the title of Fleetwood Mac’s only number one hit on the UK Singles Chart; a significant being in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; and in golf, refers to a score of three strokes under par for a hole?
Answer: Albatross
Albatross is a guitar-based instrumental by Fleetwood Mac, composed by Peter Green. It was released as a single in 1968 and became their only number one single on the UK charts. The albatross that saves the ship by leading the way from the ice in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is then shot; and the word used as an alternative to double eagle meaning a score of three strokes under par for a hole.
A nesting pair of Macaroni penguins, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Image Wikipedia
Five
Eudyptes chrysolophus: part of this bird’s name is also a type of pasta. What pasta?
Answer: Macaroni
The macaroni penguin—Eudyptes chrysolophus—is a crested penguin with a distinctive yellow crest, it is the most numerous penguin species, with an estimated 18 million individuals. Despite its abundance, the species is vulnerable due to widespread population declines since the mid-1970s.
Theme
The theme was of course Birds. Question 1. swallow (from swallowtail); 2. Eagle; 3. Caged birds mentioned in the question plus Hitchcock was the director of The Birds; 4. Albatross and 5. penguin.
What is the largest butterfly in the UK? It has a ten-letter name and lives in the Norfolk Broads.
Two
In what 1975 novel does IRA member Liam Devlin take part in a wartime plot to kidnap Winston Churchill?
Three
In the 1955 film, To Catch a Thief (1955), who is seen sitting beside Cary Grant and a pair of caged birds on a bus?
Four
What single answer satisfies all of the following: the title of Fleetwood Mac’s only number one hit on the UK Singles Chart; a significant being in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; and in golf, refers to a score of three strokes under par for a hole?
Five
Eudyptes chrysolophus: part of this bird’s name is also a type of pasta. What pasta?
Here are the answers to the questions I asked earlier.
The Rumble in the Jungle. Muhammad Ali (standing) and George Foreman (on canvas). Image USA Today
One
On October 30, 1974, the legendary boxing event The Rumble in the Jungle took place. In which city and country did this event take place? Who were the two boxers involved? And which fighter emerged victorious, reclaiming the world heavyweight title that day?
Answer: Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo); Muhammad Ali and George Foreman; and Muhammad Ali (recovered title)
This fight took place in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). It drew a massive crowd of 60,000 and was one of the most-watched televised events at the time. Ali emerged victorious by knockout in the eighth round.
Orson Welles at the press conference after The War of the Worlds broadcast, 1938. Image Wikipedia
Two
The 1938 broadcast of a radio drama adaptation caused panic among listeners who thought it was real. What was the title of this drama and who wrote the original novel?
Answer: The War of the Worlds; (written by) H.G. Wells
The broadcast presented H.G. Wells’s story in a live news style format and reportedly caused panic by convincing some listeners that Martians were invading.
Three
In 1817, who became president of the newly formed Third Republic of Venezuela?
Answer: Simón Bolívar
Bolívar played a crucial role in Latin American independence, significantly shaping Venezuela’s early republican era.
Comparison of Nuclear Explosions. Image World of Engineering via Reddit
Four
In 1961, the Tsar Bomba test — the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated — was detonated in what archipelago and by which country?
Answer: Novaya Zemlya (archipelago); Soviet Union (USSR)
The Tsar Bomba, or AN602, was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested, designed by Soviet physicists under Andrei Sakharov’s oversight. The bomb’s yield was around 50 megatonnes, and the test took place over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
Five
In 1905, to quell revolutionary pressure in Russia, a significant concession was made: the establishment of an elected parliament, the Duma, and the guarantee of civil liberties. Who made this concession?
Answer: Tsar Nicholas II
This was part of the aftermath of the 1905 Russian Revolution and marked the beginning of attempts at constitutional government in Russia, with Tsar Nicholas II issuing the October Manifesto in 1905, promising civil rights and an elected parliament, the Duma, after being pressured by Sergei Witte and Grand Duke Nicholas.
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