Quizology.Online

Tag: space

  • Flight of Fancy | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

    Boeing 737-900. ‘Boeing 100 years strong’, Alaska Airlines.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    On 15 July 1916, in Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporated…

    • BoWes Aviation Company
    • Northwest Airplane Corporation
    • Pacific Aero Products Company

    Answer: Pacific Aero Products Company

    William E. Boeing, fascinated by airplanes after seeing one in 1909, bought a shipyard in 1910 and built his first airplane factory. After a crash damaged his Martin seaplane, he built his own, the ‘B&W’, with the help of George Conrad Westervelt and later Wong Tsu. Boeing incorporated his business as Pacific Aero Products Company in 1916 and changed the name to Boeing Airplane Company in 1917.

    Rosetta Stone.
    Image Wikipedia

    Two

    The Rosetta Stone was discovered on 15 July 1799. Where was it found?

    • Egypt
    • Greece
    • Rome

    Answer: Egypt

    In 1799, French soldiers in Napoleon’s army in Egypt discovered a stone with three inscriptions, including hieroglyphs and Greek, at Fort Julien near Rosetta. The Rosetta Stone, a granodiorite stele, contains a 196 BC decree in hieroglyphic, Demotic and Ancient Greek, aiding in deciphering Egyptian scripts.

    Drawing of the Mount Bandai eruption by Yamamoto Hōsui, 1888.
    Image Wikipedia

    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

    Answer: Japan

    On 15 July 1888, Mount Bandai in the Iwashiro Province (now part of Fukushima Prefecture) in the Empire of Japan erupted. The eruption, preceded by earthquakes, caused pyroclastic flows that buried villages and devastated the eastern part of the Bandai region. The tragedy resulted in at least 477 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

    Mariner 4: Image No. 11, Mariner Crater.
    Image NASA

    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

    Answer: Mars

    Picture No. 11 of the Mariner sequence must surely rank as one of the most remarkable scientific photographs of this age.
    – ROBERT B. LEIGHTON. Mariner 4 Principal Investigator, Caltech, speaking at the White House. July 29, 1965

    Mariner 4: Image No. 11, Mariner Crater (shown above)
    This photo clearly showed craters upon craters — and nothing else — a “scientifically startling fact,” according to the Mariner imaging team. They saw a desolate landscape that had scarcely changed in 2 to 5 billion years, an environment more like the lifeless Moon than any place on Earth.
    They called the revelation “profound,” not just for what it suggested about Mars’ past and present, but because it “further enhances the uniqueness of Earth within the solar system.” NASA

    Monty Python members Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones performing The Spanish Inquisition sketch during the 2014 Python reunion. Image Wikipedia

    Five

    The Spanish Inquisition was officially disbanded on 15 July 1834. How many years had it been in operation?

    • 241
    • 298
    • 356

    Answer:

    The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, aimed to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and replace the Medieval Inquisition. It targeted heretics, particularly those who converted from Judaism and Islam, leading to forced conversions, torture, executions, and mass expulsions. The Inquisition, which lasted until 1834, expanded to other Spanish territories and targeted various offences, resulting in around 150,000 prosecutions and 3,000 to 5,000 executions.

  • Flight of Fancy

    Today’s questions cover a range of topics, all related to July 15th.

    William E Boeing, 1929.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    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?

    • 241
    • 298
    • 356

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • V is for… | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

    Valentina Tereshkova, 1963.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    The first female to travel in space was…

    Answer: Valentina Tereshkova

    Valentina Tereshkova, a Russian engineer and former Soviet cosmonaut, was the first woman in space, completing a solo mission on Vostok 6 in 1963. She later became a prominent member of the Communist Party and a State Duma member.

    Valentina Tereshkova, 2024.
    Image Wikipedia
    Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone.
    Image Screenrant.com

    Two

    A fictional patriarch who founded the Genco Pura Olive Oil Company was…

    Answer: Vito Corleone

    Vito Corleone, a fictional character in Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather and the subsequent film trilogy by Francis Ford Coppola, is an Italian immigrant to America who builds a Mafia empire. He is known for his strict moral code of loyalty and respect, and is succeeded by his son Michael as Don of the Corleone crime family.

    Venus de Milo in the Louvre.
    Image Wikipedia

    Three

    What sculpture in the Louvre Museum was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in 1820?

    Answer: Venus de Milo

    The Venus de Milo, a Parian marble statue of a Greek goddess, is likely Aphrodite. It stands over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall and is missing both arms, the left foot and earlobes. Discovered in 1820 by a Greek farmer on the island of Milos, the discovery was witnessed by a French sailor, Olivier Voutier, who encouraged further excavation. It has been in the Louvre since 1821.

    Amerigo Vespucci upon his arrival on his first voyage to the New World, 1497.
    Vespucci is offered native women, notice hammocks in the background. As described in Vespucci’s Letter to Soderini. description (uncertain location, prob. Central America, around Honduras or Yucatan; alternatively poss. Gulf of Paria in Venezuela).
    Engraving from c.1592 by Theodor de Bry (Flemish, 1528-1598).
    Image Wikipedia

    Four

    America is named after Amerigo who?

    Answer: Vespucci (Amerigo Vespucci)

    Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer and navigator, participated in voyages between 1497 and 1504, claiming to have discovered the New World in 1501. His accounts, though disputed, popularised the discoveries and led to the continent being named ‘America’ in his honour.

    A Vogon guard, as seen in the 1981 TV series of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
    Image Hitchhikers Fandom

    Five

    At the start of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy a ____ Constructor Fleet arrives to destroy Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass? What word is missing?

    Answer: Vogon (Constructor Fleet)

    The ships of the Vogon Constructor Fleet were described as ‘impossibly huge yellow somethings,’ resembling the bulldozers that demolish Arthur’s house. They appeared to have been congealed rather than constructed and hung in the air in a peculiar manner, similar to bricks. Radar was said to be unable to detect them, and they were capable of travelling through hyperspace.

  • V is for…

    Continuing the alphabet theme and all today’s answers begin with the letter ‘V’.

    Vostok 6.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    The first female to travel in space was…

    Two

    A fictional patriarch who founded the Genco Pura Olive Oil Company was…

    Three

    What sculpture in the Louvre Museum was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in 1820?

    Four

    America is named after Amerigo who?

    Five

    At the start of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy a ___ Constructor Fleet arrives to destroy Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass? What word is missing?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • E is for… | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

    Europa, as imaged by the Juno spacecraft, September 2022.
    Image Wikipedia
    1. Which moon of Jupiter is pictured?
      • Europa—Europa, one of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, is an icy moon with a smooth surface, possibly due to a subsurface ocean. It is believed to have an iron-nickel core and a water-ice shell, with a thin atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Europa was discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 and named after Europa, a lover of Zeus in Greek mythology.
        Discworld supported by four giant elephants on the back of Great A’Tuin, the Giant Star Turtle.
        Image Pinterest
    2. In Terry Pratchett’s Discworld what are Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phon and Jerakeen?
      • Elephants—Great A’Tuin is the Giant Star Turtle (of the fictional species Chelys galactica) who travels through the Discworld universe’s space, carrying four giant elephants, named Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phon and Jerakeen, who in turn carry the Discworld.
        Alligator in a cypress dome, Everglades National Park.
        Image Wikipedia
    3. The largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the continental USA is which National Park?
      • Everglades National Park—Established in 1947, Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres of wetland, forest, and marine habitats, providing drinking water and recreational opportunities.
        Jane Austen.
        Portrait by Cassandra Austen, c. 1810.
        Image Wikipedia
    4. Name a Jane Austen novel, published in 1816, which is set in the village of Highbury?
      • Emma—a novel by Jane Austen, is set in the fictional village of Highbury and explores the relationships of its inhabitants. The story follows Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy and intelligent young woman who meddles in the love lives of others, leading to humorous misadventures.
    5. Which part of a newt is mentioned as a potion ingredient by the second witch in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?
      • Eye—see quote below from Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1 (line 10)

    In the poisones entrails throw.
    Toad, that under cold stone
    Days and nights has thirty-one
    Sweated venom sleeping got,
    Boil thou first in the charmed pot.
    Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

    Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the cauldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
    Adder’s fork and blindworm’s sting,
    Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing.
    For charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
    Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn and couldron bubble.

    Scale of dragon,tooth of wolf,
    Witch’s mummy, maw and gulf
    Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,
    Root of hemlock digg’d in the dark,
    Liver of blaspheming Jew;
    Gall of goat; and slips of yew
    silver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
    Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
    Finger of birth-strangled babe
    Ditch-deliver’d by the drab,-
    Make the gruel thick and slab:
    Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
    For ingredients of our cauldron.
    Double, double toil and trouble,
    Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

  • E is for…

    A few questions where all the answers begin with ‘E’. As you know the starting letter, there are no multiple-choice options.

    Image Wikipedia
    1. Which moon of Jupiter is pictured?
    2. In Terry Pratchett’s Discworld what are Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phon and Jerakeen?
    3. The largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the continental USA is which national park?
    4. Name a Jane Austen novel, published in 1816, which is set in the village of Highbury?
    5. Which part of a newt is mentioned as a potion ingredient by the second witch in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • Numbers | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the question simply for your information.

    Most of the Apollo astronauts gathered at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1978
    Image Wikipedia
    1. 46 BCE was known as annus confusionis, the ‘Year of Confusion’, as its length was altered to align with the implementation of the Julian Calendar. Consequently 46 BCE consisted of how many days?
      • 445 days—In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, adding leap months to the Roman calendar to align it with the solar year. This resulted in the preceding year, 46 BCE, becoming known as the ’Year of Confusion’, a 445-day year—— almost 80 days longer than the orbit of Earth around the Sun, the sidereal year.
    2. The Complete Deaths by Spymonkey is a play which includes all the onstage deaths in the works of William Shakespeare. Including one which may often be overlooked, how many deaths are there in total?
      • 75—Spymonkey perform all 74, 75 when the black ill-favoured fly killed in Titus Andronicus (Act III, scene 2) is counted, onstage deaths from Shakespeare’s works, ranging from stabbings to poisonings, in a humorous and moving tribute. Directed by Tim Crouch, the show has delighted audiences worldwide since its 2016 Brighton Festival debut.
    3. What number features in the title of the 1915 book which was the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay?
      • 39—The Thirty-Nine Steps, a 1915 adventure novel by John Buchan, introduced Richard Hannay, a resourceful hero. The novel, serialised and published in 1915, has been adapted numerous times, including films and a stage play.
    4. The Summer and Winter Olympics were last held in the same year in …
      • 1992—The 1992 Albertville Olympic Games were the last Winter Games to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games.
    5. How many astronauts walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972?
      • 12—Twelve astronauts have landed on the Moon. This was achieved through six NASA missions, each with two pilot-astronauts flying a Lunar Module. The missions spanned 41 months, beginning on July 20, 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11, and ending on December 14, 1972, with Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on Apollo 17. Cernan was the last man to step off the lunar surface. All Apollo lunar missions had a third crew member who remained on board the command module.

  • Numbers

    Image Pinterest

    A few questions with various numbers as the answers.

    1. 46 BCE known as annus confusionis, the ‘Year of Confusion’, as its length was altered to align with the implementation of the Julian Calendar. Consequently, 46 BCE consisted of how many days?
      • 319 days
      • 386 days
      • 445 days
    2. The Complete Deaths by Spymonkey is a play which includes all the onstage deaths in the works of William Shakespeare. Including one which may often be overlooked, how many deaths are there in total?
      • 63
      • 69
      • 75
    3. What number features in the title of the 1915 book which was the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay?
      • 10
      • 21
      • 39
    4. The Summer and Winter Olympics were last held in the same year in …
      • 1988
      • 1992
      • 1996
    5. How many astronauts walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972?
      • 8
      • 10
      • 12

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • Through the looking glass

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the question simply for your information.

    First public demonstration in Annonay, 4 June 1783.
    Image Wikipedia
    1. On 4 June 1783, an uncrewed hot-air balloon was launched at Annonay in southeastern France. This marked the first public demonstration of the discovery that hot air in a large, lightweight bag rises. Who made this discovery and constructed and launched the balloon? Who made this discovery and constructed and launched the balloon?
      • Montgolfier Brothers—Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, invented the hot air balloon and conducted the first untethered flights in 1783.
        Transcontinental Express.
        Image Pinterest
    2. On this day in 1876, the first Transcontinental Express arrived in San Francisco after travelling from New York. How long did the journey take?
      • 83 hours and 39 minutes—On 4 June 1876, the Transcontinental Express, an express train, arrived in San Francisco, California, via the first transcontinental railroad. This remarkable feat was achieved in just 83 hours and 39 minutes, leaving New York City behind. The news of the Transcontinental Express’s arrival spread rapidly across the United States, captivating newspapers and sparking widespread excitement.
        Ariane 5 flight VA-256 on the launch pad with the James Webb Space Telescope
        Image Wikipedia
    3. Today in 1996, the maiden flight of the European Space Agencies Ariane 5 rocket ended in an explosion after 37 seconds. What was the cause of this incident?
      • Software bug—Ariane flight V88, the maiden flight of Ariane 5, failed due to software errors causing the rocket to veer off course and self-destruct. The failure, costing over US$370 million, is known as one of the most infamous software bugs in history.
        Henry Ford sits in his first automobile, the Ford Quadricycle, in 1896.
        Image Wikipedia
    4. In 1896, Henry Ford completed a successful test on his first gasoline-powered automobile. What did he call it?
      • Ford Quadricycle—in 1896, Henry Ford completed his first experimental automobile, the Quadricycle, in Detroit. This success led to his founding of the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and become one of the world’s richest men. The original Quadricycle is in The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
        Illustration of Humpty Dumpty by John Tenniel, from Through the Looking Glass, 1871.
        Image Wikipedia
    5. On 4 June 1937, an American supermarket chain introduced one of the world’s first shopping carts. What was the supermarket chain?
      • Humpty Dumpty—Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain in Oklahoma. Inspired by a night of contemplation in his office in 1936, Goldman wondered how customers could move more groceries.

  • Through the looking glass

    Here are a few questions which are related to today’s date, June 4th.

    Illustration from Through the Looking Glass.
    Image Wikipedia
    1. On 4 June 1783, an uncrewed hot-air balloon was launched at Annonay in southeastern France. This marked the first public demonstration of the discovery that hot air in a large, lightweight bag rises. Who made this discovery and constructed and launched the balloon? Who made this discovery and constructed and launched the balloon?
      • Leclerc Bothers
      • Meirovitz Brothers
      • Montgolfier Brothers
    2. On this day in 1876, the first Transcontinental Express arrived in San Francisco after travelling from New York. How long did the journey take?
      • 67 hours and 54 minutes
      • 75 hours and 22 minutes
      • 83 hours and 39 minutes
    3. Today in 1996, the maiden flight of the European Space Agencies Ariane 5 rocket ended in an explosion after 37 seconds. What was the cause of this incident?
      • Fuel leak
      • Lightning strike
      • Software bug
    4. In 1896, Henry Ford completed a successful test on his first gasoline-powered automobile. What did he call it?
      • Ford Gasoline-Carriage
      • Ford Model A
      • Ford Quadricycle
    5. On 4 June 1937, an American supermarket chain introduced one of the world’s first shopping carts. What was the supermarket chain?
      • Humpty Dumpty
      • Daisy
      • Tweedledum and Tweedledee

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.