On 5 June 1968, U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot? Who shot him, and in what building and in what city was he shot?
Two
AIDS was reported for the first time after a rare form of pneumonia was found in five homosexual men. In what year was this, and in what city was the pneumonia detected?
Three
Born this day in 1939, this man would become Canada’s 16th and youngest prime minister 40 years later. Who is he?
Four
This author was born in Wales in 1949, and had a breakthrough with his 1978 novel Eye of the Needle. His successful Kingsbridge series began with The Pillars of the Earth (1989). Who is this author?
Five
This actor turned politician had his first screen credit in a starring role in 1937 as Andy McCaine in Love Is on the Air and 20 years later he was Cdr. Casey Abbott in Hellcats of the Navy. Who is he?
Question two. Just Room Enough Island, Thousand Islands archipelago. Image Wikimedia Commons
Today’s first question concerns the date 2nd June. The other questions are random and unrelated.
One
In 1953, ‘Inquiring Camera Girl’ covered the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at London’s Westminster Abbey for the Washington Times-Herald. Shortly to become very famous herself, who was ‘Inquiring Camera Girl’?
Answer: Jackie Bouvier (Kennedy).
Jackie Bouvier, a reporter for the Washington Times-Herald and writer of the paper’s Inquiring Camera Girl column, was in the crowd outside the Abbey for the coronation. Three months later, she would marry John F. Kennedy, and in under eight years, she would be First Lady.
Two
In what body of water are North America’s Thousand Islands found, and to the nearest fifty, approximately how many islands are in the archipelago?
Answer: Saint Lawrence River; 1,850.
The Thousand Islands, an archipelago of 1,864 islands, straddles the Canada-US border in the Saint Lawrence River. The islands range in size and must have at least one square foot of land above water year-round, and have one or two living trees* to be considered part of the Thousand Islands. (*Number of trees varies depending on source.)
Three
The Olympic Rings are a symbol consisting of five interlocking coloured rings. What colours are the rings on top?
Answer: Blue, black and red.
The rings are interlaced from the left and are blue, yellow, black, green, and red. The founder of the modern Olympics stated the following in 1913:
… the six colours (including the flag’s white background) combined in this way reproduce the colours of every country without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tricolour flags of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Hungary, and the yellow and red of Spain are included, as are the innovative flags of Brazil and Australia, and those of ancient Japan and modern China. This, truly, is an international emblem. —Baron Pierre Coubertin, Olympique, August 1913.
Four
The forum currently known as the Group of Seven (G7) has, since its founding, been variously the G6, G7, and the G8. Angela Merkel was the second woman to chair this forum; who was the first?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental forum of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the EU, focusing on pluralism and liberal democracy. Established in 1973, it addresses global issues like trade and climate change. Despite criticism for limited representation, the G7 has influenced initiatives like the Paris Agreement. Members, with a population of 780 million, contribute over 44% to the world’s nominal GDP and 30% by purchasing power parity.
Five
What colour are white rhinoceros?
Answer: Grey.
White rhinos, the second-largest land mammals, are named for their wide mouths, not their colour and there is no difference in the skin colour of white and black rhinos. There are two subspecies of white rhino: northern and southern. As of March 2018, only two female northern white rhinos remain, critically endangered due to poaching. Southern white rhinos, once thought extinct, now number around 18,000, classified as Near Threatened. They inhabit South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. White rhinos have complex social structures, with females forming groups and males defending territories.
Question two. Just Room Enough Island, Thousand Islands archipelago. Image Wikimedia Commons
Today’s first question concerns the date 2nd June. The other questions are random and unrelated.
One
In 1953, ‘Inquiring Camera Girl’ covered the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at London’s Westminster Abbey for the Washington Times-Herald. Shortly to become very famous herself, who was ‘Inquiring Camera Girl’?
Two
In what body of water are North America’s Thousand Islands found, and to the nearest fifty, approximately how many islands are in the archipelago?
Three
The Olympic Rings are a symbol consisting of five interlocking coloured rings. What colours are the rings on top?
Four
The forum currently known as the Group of Seven (G7) has, since its founding, been variously the G6, G7, and the G8. Angela Merkel was the second woman to chair this forum; who was the first?
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 24th. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here but is basically the same as yesterday.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
After discounting the initial letter which has already been used the remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five questions, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
One
Mike … was …; while Cameron was …; and Eddie was a bit of an ass. Three five-letter names are missing from the above statement. What are they?
Answers: Myers; Shrek and Fiona.
Shrek (2001), an animated fantasy comedy film, follows an ogre’s quest to reclaim his swamp from banished fairy tale creatures. Mike Myers voices Shrek and Cameron Diaz is Princess Fiona. Eddie Murphy was the voice of Donkey.
Two
The nurse shark pictured above is accompanied by a fish of the family Echeneidae. What is the common six-letter name of the smaller fish?
Answer: Remora.
Remoras, or suckerfish, are eight species of marine fish known for attaching to larger marine animals and ships using a specialised sucking disk. They typically range from 30 to 90 cm in length and feed on leftovers or parasites.
Three
This UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is 15 miles (25 km) long by 7 miles (12 km) wide, is one of the world’s remotest places. It is 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the nearest inhabited island and almost 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the nearest continent. Where is it?
Answer: Easter Island.
Easter Island, a special territory of Chile in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is renowned for its nearly 1,000 moai statues created by the early Rapa Nui people. Originally called Rapa Nui, the island has a mixed population predominantly of Polynesian descent. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.
Four
What is the most abundant element in the known universe?
Answer: Hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the simplest chemical element, a colourless, odourless, flammable gas. It is the most abundant element in the universe and is used industrially to make ammonia and hydrogenate compounds.
Five
The name of which unicameral national legislature means ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ in Hebrew?
Answer: Knesset.
The Knesset, Israel’s unicarmel parliament, is responsible for passing laws, electing the president and prime minister, approving the cabinet, supervising the government, and electing the state comptroller. It has the authority to waive member immunity, remove officials, dissolve the government or itself, and call elections. Members are elected through proportional representation in Jerusalem. The term Knesset originates from the ancient Knesset HaGdola, or Great Assembly, a group of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets from the end of Biblical prophets to Rabbinic Judaism’s development, around 200 BCE. Despite the name, there is no organisational continuity; the ancient Knesset was unelected and religious.
Explanation
Answers
In full, the first part of question one read ‘Mike Myers was Shrek; while Cameron was Fiona; and Eddie was a bit of an ass.’
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 24th. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here but is basically the same as yesterday.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
After discounting the initial letter which has already been used the remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five questions, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
One
Mike … was …; while Cameron was …; and Eddie was a bit of an ass. Three five-letter names are missing from the above statement. What are they?
Two
The nurse shark pictured above is accompanied by a fish of the family Echeneidae. What is the common six-letter name of the smaller fish?
Three
This UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is 15 miles (25 km) long by 7 miles (12 km) wide, is one of the world’s remotest places. It is 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the nearest inhabited island and almost 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the nearest continent. Where is it?
Four
What is the most abundant element in the known universe?
Five
The name of which unicameral national legislature means ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ in Hebrew?
No theme today, just five general knowledge questions.
Statue of Helvetia on the Federal Palace of Switzerland, Bern. Image Wikimedia Commons
One
The image shown is that of ‘Statue of Helvetia on the Federal Palace of …’. What country finishes the previous statement, and in what city is the Federal Palace located?
Answers: Switzerland; Bern.
Helvetia, the national personification of Switzerland, is depicted with flowing clothing, with the Swiss flag, braided hair, and often with shield and a wreath. The name derives from the Helvetii, a Gaulish tribe.
Two
The …, or boreal forest, is the world’s largest land biome. In North America, it covers most of inland Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern contiguous United States. In Eurasia, it covers most of Sweden, Finland, much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean (including much of Siberia), much of Norway and, some of the Scottish Highlands, some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland, and areas of northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, and northern Japan (on the island of Hokkaido).
The above quote from Wikipedia describes a biome whose name has been omitted. What is that missing name?
Answer: Taiga.
taiga /ˈtʌɪɡə / ▸ (the taiga) noun [mass noun] the swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia: the coniferous forest of the taiga.
– ORIGIN late 19th century: from Russian taĭga, from Mongolian. — Oxford English Dictionary
Three
What word completes the title of this 1957 sci-fi novel: The Midwich …; and who wrote it?
Answers: Cuckoos; John Wyndham.
The Midwich Cuckoos, a 1957 sci-fi novel by John Wyndham, explores moral ambiguities in an English village where women become pregnant by aliens.
Four
What calendar was replaced in England by the Gregorian in 1752?
Answer: Julian.
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, is a solar calendar with a leap year every four years. It gained one day every 128 years compared to the solar year, leading to a drift against the solar year. The Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582, corrected this by eliminating occasional leap days, reducing the average year length to 365.2425 days. Although introduced in 1582 it took a lot longer to be adopted by individual nations. As stated in the question England adopted it in 1752 but Greece and turkey did not adopt until the 1920s and Saudi Arabia’s adoption of it was not until 2016.
Five
Who played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk television series which originally aired between 1978 and 1982?
Answer: Lou Ferrigno.
The Incredible Hulk is a CBS series starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. Banner, a scientist transformed by gamma radiation, travels the U.S. helping others while pursued by reporter Jack McGee. The series aired 80 episodes from 1978 to 1982, starting with a pilot on November 4, 1977. In 1988, New World Television acquired filming rights from MCA/Universal for TV movies to conclude The Incredible Hulk series, with NBC broadcasting. They produced three films: The Incredible Hulk Returns, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and The Death of the Incredible Hulk, directed by Nicholas J. Corea and Bill Bixby.
No theme today, just five general knowledge questions.
Statue of Helvetia on the Federal Palace of …. Image Wikimedia Commons
One
The image shown is that of ‘Statue of Helvetia on the Federal Palace of …’. What country finishes the previous statement, and in what city is the Federal Palace located?
Two
The …, or boreal forest, is the world’s largest land biome. In North America, it covers most of inland Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern contiguous United States. In Eurasia, it covers most of Sweden, Finland, much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean (including much of Siberia), much of Norway and, some of the Scottish Highlands, some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland, and areas of northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, and northern Japan (on the island of Hokkaido).
The above quote from Wikipedia describes a biome whose name has been omitted. What is that missing name?
Three
What word completes the title of this 1957 sci-fi novel: The Midwich …; and who wrote it?
Four
What calendar was replaced in England by the Gregorian in 1752?
Five
Who played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk television series which originally aired between 1978 and 1982?
These questions all relate to people born this day, 15th May, and where they were born.
One
Born on this day in 1914, the Sherpa who, along with Edmund Hillary, was the first to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. Who was this Sherpa, and in what country was he born according to either his own autobiography or a later biography co-written by his son?
Answers: Tenzing Norgay (aka Sherpa Tenzing); (either) Nepal or Tibet.
Conflicting accounts exist regarding his birthplace so either Nepal or Tibet is acceptable. Tenzing Norgay was born to Tibetan parents in either in Nepal or Tibet, and likely grew up in Khumbu, Nepal. His birth name was Namgyal Wangdi, and at some point in his childhood, he took the name Tenzing Norgay. Norgay and Hillary stood on the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.
Two
Born this day in 1937, the woman who would become the first female U.S. Secretary of State. Who was she, and in what city was she born?
Answers: Madeleine Albright; Prague.
Madeleine Albright, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), was the first female U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001) and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (1993-1997). Her family fled Czechoslovakia twice, first due to Nazi occupation and later due to a communist coup, eventually settling in the United States. As a human rights advocate, Albright championed military intervention, democracy, and human rights, notably advocating for NATO bombings in Kosovo. After leaving government service, she founded the Albright Group and supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.
Three
Abraham …, born on this day in 1905, a clothing manufacturer, became famous for a short piece—less than 30 seconds—of 8 mm film captured in Texas in 1963. What was Abraham’s surname, in what country was he born and what event did the film capture?
Answers: Zapruder; Ukraine; the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Abraham Zapruder, a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer, captured the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on film in Dallas, Texas. His footage, considered the most complete of the event, captured 26.6 seconds in 486 frames of the motorcade including the fatal headshot (frame 313). He sold the rights of the film to Life magazine, donating part of the proceeds to the widow of J.D. Tippet, the Dallas police officer shot by Lee Harvey Oswald less than an hour after the president’s assassination.
Four
Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) was the eighth book in a series. Who, born this day in 1856, was the author of this book and series, and in what U.S. state was this author born?
Answers: L. Frank Baum; New York.
American author Lyman Frank Baum, best known for his children’s fantasy books set in the land of Oz, especially The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was born in Chittenango, New York. Tik-Tok of Oz is the eighth book of Baum’s Oz Series in which Tik-Tok is a ’mechanical man’. He has been termed ‘the prototype robot’, and is widely considered to be one of the first robots to appear in modern literature, though the term ‘Robot’ was not used until the 1920s, in the play R.U.R.
Five
Born this day in 1859, a scientist who, along with his wife, became the first married couple to win a Nobel Prize. Who was this male scientist and in what city was he born?
Answer: Pierre Curie; Paris.
Pierre Curie (1859–1906) was a French physicist and chemist known for his work in crystallography, magnetism, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, marking the first Nobel win by a married couple. Born in Paris, he excelled in mathematics and became a Professor of Physics. With his brother Jacques, he discovered piezoelectricity and invented the piezoelectric quartz electrometer. Their research led to the isolation of polonium and radium, coining the term ‘radioactivity’. Curie’s work on magnetic coefficients and radiation emissions advanced nuclear physics, influencing fields like plate tectonics and nuclear energy. Pierre Curie in 1906, in a street accident in Paris after slipping and being struck by a horse-drawn carriage.
These questions all relate to people born this day, 15th May, and where they were born.
One
Born on this day in 1914, the Sherpa who, along with Edmund Hillary, was the first to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. Who was this Sherpa, and in what country was he born according to either his own autobiography or a later biography co-written by his son?
Two
Born this day in 1937, the woman who would become the first female U.S. Secretary of State. Who was she, and in what city was she born?
Three
Abraham …, born on this day in 1905, a clothing manufacturer, became famous for a short piece—less than 30 seconds—of 8 mm film captured in Texas in 1963. What was Abraham’s surname, in what country was he born and what event did the film capture?
Four
Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) was the eighth book in a series. Who, born this day in 1856, was the author of this book and series, and in what U.S. state was this author born?
Five
Born this day in 1859, a scientist who, along with his wife, became the first married couple to win a Nobel Prize. Who was this male scientist and in what city was he born?
Here are five sets of initials for you to flesh out.
One
In computing what does WYSIWYG stand for?
Answer: What You See Is What You Get.
WYSIWYG software allows content editing in a form resembling its final appearance, such as a printed document or web page.
Two
UNICEF was formed in 1946 what, at that time, did the letters in UNICEF stand for?
Answer: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
UNICEF, a United Nations agency, provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. Operating in 192 countries, its activities include immunisations, disease prevention, nutrition, sanitation, education, and emergency relief. UNICEF relies on voluntary contributions and is governed by a 36-member executive board. Since 1953, UNICEF has officially been the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Three
In the US military MASH was an abbreviation meaning what?
Answer: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) were U.S. Army field hospitals operational from the Korean War to the Gulf War. They provided crucial medical support to large army units, with a low mortality rate due to their proximity to the front lines. A media franchise (books, film and television) which depicts fictional characters at a fictional Korean War field hospital, focussing on medical practice and the staff’s humorous antics.
Four
During the NASA Space Shuttle program each mission was referred to by an STS number. What words were represented by the letters STS?
Answers: Space Transportation System.
The Space Shuttle programme, operational from 1981 to 2011, was NASA’s fourth human spaceflight programme. It involved reusable orbiters launched with solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank, carrying astronauts and payloads to low Earth orbit. The Shuttle was the first reusable crewed space vehicle to achieve orbit and landing.
Five
In Australian geography what is A.C.T.?
Answer: Australian Capital Territory.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), established in 1911, houses the nation’s capital, Canberra. While the ACT has its own government, the Federal Parliament can overrule its legislation.