On 15 July 1916, in Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporated…
BoWes Aviation Company
Northwest Airplane Corporation
Pacific Aero Products Company
Two
The Rosetta Stone was discovered on 15 July 1799. Where was it found?
Egypt
Greece
Rome
Three
On 15 July 1888, Mount Bandai, a stratovolcano, erupted, resulting in an estimated 500 fatalities. Mount Bandai is located in which country?
Indonesia
Japan
Philippines
Four
On this day in 1964, a NASA space probe took the first close-up pictures of another planet and began transmitting them back to Earth the following day. What planet was photographed?
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Five
The Spanish Inquisition was officially disbanded on 15 July 1834. How many years had it been in operation?
The unstriped ground squirrel is which of these? – Xandra Neramanius – Xerus rutilus – Xantia citroenus
Answer: Xerus rutilus
The unstriped ground squirrel is a rodent species found in dry savannas and shrublands across East Africa. The distractors provided were made-up terms: Xandra Neramani (us) is a character in Marvel comics, while Xantia citroen (us) refers to the Citroën Xantia, a French car manufactured between 1992 and 2001.
Founded in Rochester, New York in 1906 the Haloid Photographic Company is better known today as…
Answer: Xerox
Xerox, founded in 1906 as Haloid Photographic Company, commercialised Chester Carlson’s xerography process in 1951. Joseph C. Wilson, who took over Haloid, led the company’s development of xerography and renamed it Xerox Corporation in 1961. In 2019, it became Xerox Holdings Corporation.
Cover of the first edition of The Thirty-nine Steps. Image Wikipedia
Three
Calculate the sum of the number of steps from the title of John Buchan’s 1915 novel plus the title of the 1979 Blake Edwards romantic comedy film starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews and Bo Derek. Please express your answer in Roman numerals.
Answer: XLIX
John Buchan’s steps are The Thirty-nine Steps and Blake Edward’s film is 10. Therefore, 39 + 10 = 49, which is written as XLIX in Roman numerals.
A Catholic missionary who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, and
The fictional Professor X from the Marvel universe.
Answer: Xavier
Francis Xavier, a cleric and missionary, co-founded the Society of Jesus and led the first Christian mission to Japan. He is venerated as a saint and known as the ‘Apostle of the Indies’ for his extensive missionary work in Asia, particularly in India and Japan.
In the Marvel universe, Professor Charles Francis Xavier, known as Professor X, is a powerful telepath and mutant. As the founder of the X-Men, Professor X runs a school for mutants in New York. The character has been portrayed by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy in the X-Men film series.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, January 1967. From left: John Dymond (Beaky), Ian Amey (Tich), Trevor Ward-Davies (Dozy), Mick Wilson (Mick) and Dave Dee. Image Wikipedia
Five
One word links the following?
A word in the first line of an 1816 poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem
A 1968 by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
A 1980 song by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra
Answer: Xanadu
The poem is Kubla Khan, shown in full below. The Legend of Xanadu was by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and Olivia Newton-John and ELO’s song was Xanadu.
Kubla Khan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced: Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail: And ‘mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: And ‘mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight ‘twould win me That with music loud and long I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed And drunk the milk of Paradise.
The unstriped ground squirrel is which of these? – Xandra Neramanius – Xerus rutilus – Xantia citroenus
Two
Founded in Rochester, New York in 1906 the Haloid Photographic Company is better known today as…
Three
Calculate the sum of the number of steps from the title of John Buchan’s 1915 novel, plus the title of the 1979 Blake Edwards romantic comedy film starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews and Bo Derek. Please express your answer in Roman numerals.
Four
What surname links these?
A Catholic missionary who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, and
The fictional Professor X from the Marvel universe.
Five
One word links the following
A word found in the first line of an 1816 poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem
A 1968 song by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
A 1980 song by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra What is the word that links the above?
The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.
The three fictional superstates of the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four are Oceania (black), Eurasia (red) and Eastasia (yellow). Areas shown in grey are ‘disputed’. Image Wikipedia
One
The map above depicts the three fictional superstates from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, along with disputed territories (in grey). The black-coloured state encompassing the Americas, Australia and the United Kingdom, among others, is known by what name?
Answer: Oceania
In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the world is divided into three superstates—Oceania (black on map), Eurasia (red) and Eastasia (yellow)—engaged in a perpetual war. The origins of these states, which may not even exist, are unclear, emerging from nuclear warfare and civil unrest between 1945 and 1965. In this post-war world, totalitarian ideologies such as English Socialism, Neo-Bolshevism and Obliteration of the Self dominate.
Ogden Nash and Dagmar from the television game show Masquerade Party, 1955 Image Wikipedia
Two
Some tortures are physical and some are mental, but the one that is both is dental.
The above quote was originally made by which American humorist and poet?
Answer: Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash, an American humorist, wrote over 500 pieces of light verse, including 20 volumes of poetry and lyrics for musicals and children’s books.
A competitive sport in which runners have to find their way across rough country with the aid of a map and compass. – Oxford English Dictionary
What sport is being defined above?
Answer: Orienteering
Orienteering is a sport involving map and compass navigation through unfamiliar terrain. Participants use specially prepared maps to locate control points, with foot orienteering being the oldest and most popular variation. Orienteering features in the programs of global sporting events, such as the World Games and the World Police and Fire Games.
Oberammergau Passion Play 1860 Production. Image Wikipedia
Four
A Passion Play, depicting the final phase of the life of Jesus Christ, has taken place in a Bavarian village once every ten years (barring a few exceptions) since the 17 century. What is the village name?
Answer: Oberammergau
The Oberammergauer Passionsspiele, a passion play performed by the inhabitants of Oberammergau, Germany, depicts Jesus’ final days from His visit to Jerusalem to His crucifixion. The play, composed by several individuals and the village inhabitants, is the earliest surviving continuous vernacular drama of the Christian era.
Librarian of the Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork. Image Pinterest
Five
What one creature answers both the following – In The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, the university librarian is accidentally turned into one of these – One is featured in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Answer: Orangutan (or orangutang)
In The Light Fantastic, the second instalment in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld fantasy novel series, the Librarian of the Unseen University undergoes an unexpected transformation into a sentient orangutan. This transformation persists throughout the series, and he actively resists any attempts to revert him to his original state. The Murders in the Rue Morgue tell how a sailor’s orangutan, imitating him shaving, runs off with his straight razor and later kills a woman and her daughter. The sailor, attempting to catch it, was heard arguing with the animal. The orangutan fled, leaving the sailor to sell it and the police to release their suspect, Le Bon.
The map above depicts the three fictional superstates from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, along with disputed territories (in grey). The black-coloured state encompassing the Americas, Australia and the United Kingdom, among others, is known by what name?
Two
Some tortures are physical and some are mental, but the one that is both is dental.
The above quote was originally made by which American humorist and poet?
Three
A competitive sport in which runners have to find their way across rough country with the aid of a map and compass. – Oxford English Dictionary
What sport is being defined above?
Four
A Passion Play, depicting the final phase of the life of Jesus Christ, has taken place in a Bavarian village once every ten years (barring a few exceptions) since the 17 century. What is the village name?
Five
What one creature answers both the following – In The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, the university librarian is accidentally turned into one of these – One is featured in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue
On 8 June 1968, James Earl Ray, who was later convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King, was arrested at…
London Heathrow Airport, UK—James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr., fled to London after the murder and was captured there. In 1999, after a civil trial in Memphis, a jury found Loyd Jowers liable for the assassination, concluding it was a conspiracy involving US government agencies.
Today in 452, an invasion heading towards Rome, devastated the northern provinces of Italy. The invasion was lead by…
Attila the Hun—ruler of the Huns from 434 to 453, led an empire in Central and Eastern Europe. He invaded the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, attempting to conquer Constantinople and Gaul, but died before conquering Rome. Ivan the Terrible and Vlad the Impaler lived a millennium after Attila.
Maximilien Robespierre. Image Wikipedia
On 8 June 1794, during the French Revolution, a new religion was inaugurated, which was celebrated with festivals across France. It was called the Cult of the…
Supreme Being—a deistic religion established by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution, was intended to replace Catholicism and the Cult of Reason. It was banned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
Mount Everest. Image Wikipedia
On this date in 1924, British mountaineers Andrew Irvine and George Mallory went missing. Which expedition were they on?
British Mount Everest Expedition—The 1924 expedition, the second attempt to reach the summit, saw two summit attempts by Edward Norton and the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on the third attempt. Mallory’s body was found in 1999, but Irvine’s remains were only discovered in 2024.
Descendants of Matthew Quintal and John Adams, the mutineers on Bounty, 1862. Image Wikipedia
On 8 June 1856, a group of people arrived on Norfolk Island to be resettled from Pitcairn Island. These were descendants of the mutineers from the…
Bounty—In 1856, 193 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian partners, resettled on Norfolk Island due to Pitcairn’s overpopulation. They established farming and whaling industries, and the island’s population continued to grow despite some families returning to Pitcairn.
Here are a few questions which are related to today’s date, June 8th.
On 8 June 1968, James Earl Ray, who was later convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King, was arrested at…
London Heathrow Airport, UK
Mexico City International Airport
Salisbury Airport, Rhodesia (now Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Zimbabwe)
Today in 452, an invasion heading towards Rome, devastated the northern provinces of Italy. The invasion was lead by…
Attila the Hun
Ivan the Terrible
Vlad the Impaler
On 8 June 1794, during the French Revolution, a new religion was inaugurated which was celebrated with festivals across France. It was called the Cult of the…
Cathars
Huguenots
Supreme Being
On this date in 1924, British mountaineers Andrew Irvine and George Mallory went missing. Which expedition were they on?
British Mount Everest Expedition
International Expedition to Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica
Lost World Expedition to Mount Roraima, Guyana
On 8 June 1856, a group of people arrived on Norfolk Island to be resettled from Pitcairn Island. These were descendants of the mutineers from the…
Two of these were written by the same author and one was not. Which is the odd one out?
George’s Marvellous Medicine—was written by Ronald Dahl. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car and the James Bond novel From Russia with Love were both written by Ian Fleming
Harpy eagle. Image Wikipedia
Two of these creatures are semi-aquatic reptiles, while the third is a completely different kind of animal. Which one is the odd one out?
Harpy—is one of two species of eagle: the American harpy and the Papuan harpy. Nile and saltwater are both species of crocodile.
Crew of Apollo 12. Left to right they are: Commander, Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr.; Command Module pilot, Richard F. Gordon Jr.; and Lunar Module pilot, Alan L. Bean. Image Wikipedia
The three men listed comprised the crew of Apollo 12. With regard to the Moon which of them was the odd one out?
Richard Gordon—was the command pilot who stayed in Lunar orbit while Conrad and Bean landed on the Moon and carried out surface activity for about 31 hours.
The Salvation Army crest. Image The Salvation Army.
Two of these are mottos of military organisations. Which one is the odd one out?
Blood and Fire—is the ‘War Cry’ of the Salvation Army; it refers to the blood of Christ and fire of the Holy Spirit. Semper fidelis (“Always faithful”) is the motto of the US Marine Corps while Who Dares Wins is the motto of the UK’s SAS (Special Air Service)
Aryna Sabalenka, 2024. Image Wikipedia
In sporting terms, which of these women is the odd one out?
Aryna Sabalenka—currently ranked world No. 1 in women’s tennis, has won three major championships: the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens and the 2024 US Open. Additionally, she has won doubles titles at two majors, partnering with Elise Mertens, at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open. Catriona Matthew (Europe) and Stacy Lewis (USA) are both golfers who captained their respective teams to victory in the Solheim Cup.
The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the question simply for your information.
Founded in the 1990s, WestJet is the second-largest airline in which Commonwealth country?
Canada—WestJet, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is Canada’s second-largest airline. It operates scheduled, charter and cargo air service to over 100 destinations across North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Central America. WestJet is not a member of any major airline alliances but utilises codeshare and interline agreements.
The first geological period of the Paleozoic Era has a Latin name connected to Wales. What is it?
Cambrian—The term Cambrian is derived from the Latin version of Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, where rocks of this age were first studied. Adam Sedgwick named it in 1835. The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting 51.95 million years. It witnessed the Cambrian explosion, producing the first representatives of most modern animal phyla. The Cambrian is characterised by the assembly of Gondwana and the development of new plate boundaries.
Frontispiece, 1889 edition A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court Image Wikipedia
In Mark Twain’s novel, Hank Morgan is the titular Yankee. What word is missing from the title: A … Yankee in King Arthur’s Court?
Connecticut—A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is a satirical novel by Mark Twain. The story follows Hank Morgan, a Yankee engineer transported back in time to King Arthur’s court, where he uses his knowledge to modernise the past and challenge feudalism and monarchy.
Achilles. Image Wikipedia
Which of these was a mythical hero whom Thetis dressed as a girl and hid with King Lycomedes of Skyros?
Achilles—To protect Achilles from the war, Thetis hid him disguised as a princess at the court of Lycomedes. Odysseus, disguised as a pedlar, discovered Achilles’ true identity and convinced him to join the Greek campaign against Troy.
What animal is pictured at the top of this post?
Chinchilla—native to the Andes mountains in South America, are known for their dense fur and are related to viscachas and chinchilla rats. Historically hunted for their fur, most chinchillas today are farm-raised for the fur industry, while domestic chinchillas are sometimes kept as pets.
Quizology.Online 
