Quizology.Online

Tag: space

  • Five for Twenty-five—Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown below.

    Never Say Never Again.
    Image Pinterest

    One

    Who was the actor born on 25 August 1930 who played James Bond in a 1980s film directed by Irvin Kershner?
    Sean Connery
    George Lazenby
    Roger Moors

    Answer: Sean Connery

    Irvin Kershner directed the 1983 non-Eon Productions Never Say Never Again, the seventh and final Bond film starring Sean Connery. The film‘s title referenced Connery’s 1971 declaration that he would never play the role again. The storyline follows Bond as he investigates the theft of nuclear weapons by SPECTRE. It is based on Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel Thunderball, which was originally written by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fleming. The novel had previously been adapted into the 1965 film Thunderball.

    Two

    On 25 August 1916, US President Woodrow Wilson signed the … Act, which established the National Park Service. What word completes the name of the act?
    Operational
    Organic
    Oversight

    Answer: Organic Act

    Stephen Mather, worried about the condition of national parks, was instrumental in founding the National Park Service (NPS) with his assistant Horace Albright through the Organic Act of 1916. They consolidated NPS properties, marketed the parks, and facilitated the establishment of many new parks and monuments. The act sought to preserve and enhance the enjoyment of national parks, monuments, and reservations.

    Three

    On 25 August 1530, Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was born. He became the Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia. Was he the… person to hold this position. What word completes the previous sentence?
    First
    Fifth
    Fourteenth

    Answer: First

    Ivan the Terrible, first Tsar of Russia, transformed Russia into an empire but at a great cost. His later years were marked by paranoia, violence and the massacre of Novgorod, leading to the end of the Rurik dynasty.

    Four

    On this date in 1825, the Thirty-three Orientals, a revolutionary group, began an insurrection against…
    Benin
    Bhutan
    Brazil

    Answer: Brazil

    The Treinta y Tres Orientales, led by Lavalleja and Oribe, fought for the independence of Oriental Province from Brazil in 1825, leading to the foundation of modern Uruguay.

    Neptune image taken by Voyager 2, August 1989.
    Image NASA via Wikipedia

    Five

    On 25 August 1989, the first human-made object to fly by Neptune made its closest approach to the planet. Which spacecraft was it?
    Viking 1 Voyager 2 Vulcan 3

    Answer: Voyager 2

    Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. The probe is now in interstellar space, the region outside the heliopause, or the bubble of energetic particles and magnetic fields from the Sun.
    — NASA

  • Five for Twenty-five

    All these questions are related to today, August 25th.

    Yellowstone Lake showing geyser, Yellowstone National Park.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Who was the actor born on 25 August 1930 who played James Bond in a 1980s film directed by Irvin Kershner?
    Sean Connery
    George Lazenby
    Roger Moore

    Two

    On 25 August 1916, US President Woodrow Wilson signed the … Act, which established the National Park Service. What word completes the name of the act?
    Operational
    Organic
    Oversight

    Three

    On 25 August 1530, Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was born. He became the Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia. Was he the… person to hold this position. What word completes the previous sentence?
    First
    Fifth
    Fourteenth

    Four

    On this date in 1825, the Thirty-three Orientals, a revolutionary group, began an insurrection against…
    Benin
    Bhutan
    Brazil

    Five

    On 25 August 1989, the first human-made object to fly by Neptune made its closest approach to the planet. Which spacecraft was it?
    Viking 1 Voyager 2 Vulcan 3

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • A Mars a Day—Answers

    The Martian.
    Image Disney

    One

    The 2015 Ridley Scott film The Martian starring Matt Damon was based on a novel of the same name by what American author?

    — Answer: Andy Weir

    The Martian, a 2015 sci-fi film directed by Ridley Scott, stars Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars.

    First Martian emerging from the cylinder that had fallen from the sky. Illustration by Henrique Alvim Corrêa for the 1906 edition.
    Image Wikipedia

    Two

    What novel, and who was the author, featuring Mars or Martians also features Horsell Common, near Woking, Surrey?

    — Answer: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

    H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, depicts an attempted Martian invasion of Earth. In 1938, Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of the novel caused widespread panic by presenting a Martian invasion as real news. The broadcast’s format and timing led to confusion among the public and outrage among the media.

    Gulliver discovers Laputa, the flying island (illustration by J. J. Grandville). Image Wikipedia

    Three

    On Mars’s largest moon, Phobos, there is a regio, Laputa Regio, which is named after Swift’s Laputa because of his ‘prediction’ of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered
    — Wikipedia

    The above quote from Wikipedia refers to an area on Phobos, the largest Moon of Mars, which is named after the fictional ’Laputa’. From what literary work, first published in 1726, does ‘Laputa’ originate and who was the author of it?

    — Answer: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

    Laputa, a flying island from Gulliver’s Travels, is controlled by the king of Balnibarbi using magnetic levitation.

    Michael Rennie as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
    Image Wikipedia

    Four

    In the 2008 remake of the 1951 film, Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu. Name the actor who portrayed Klaatu in the original 1951 version and the title of both films?

    — Answer: Michael Rennie and The Day the Earth Stood Still

    The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi film with two versions: the 1951 original about an alien and his robot delivering a message during the Cold War, and the 2008 remake starring Keanu Reeves as an alien tasked with saving Earth from environmental harm. Despite negative reviews, the 2008 film was financially successful, grossing over $233 million worldwide.

    Five

    Who wrote The Martian Chronicles (1950)?

    — Answer: Ray Bradbury

    The Martian Chronicles explores the consequences of technological advancement and militarism in a future America, addressing concerns about values and direction. It highlights issues like nuclear war, depopulation, racial oppression, and censorship.

    Mars
    Image NASA

  • A Mars a Day

    This is the first photograph ever taken on the surface of Mars. It was obtained by NASA’s Viking 1 minutes after the spacecraft landed July 20, 1976.
    Image NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Viking 1, a robotic US spacecraft, was launched on 20 August 1975 and successfully landed on Mars in 1976, where it operated for over six years. Today, the questions are all related to Mars in fiction.

    One

    The 2015 Ridley Scott film The Martian starring Matt Damon was based on a novel of the same name by what American author?

    Two

    What novel, and who was the author, featuring Mars or Martians also features Horsell Common, near Woking, Surrey?

    Three

    On Mars’s largest moon, Phobos, there is a regio, Laputa Regio, which is named after …’s Laputa because of his ‘prediction’ of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered
    — Wikipedia

    The above quote from Wikipedia refers to an area on Phobos, the largest Moon of Mars, which is named after the fictional ’Laputa’. From what literary work, first published in 1726, does ‘Laputa’ originate and who was the author of it?

    Four

    In the 2008 remake of a 1951 film, Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu. Name the actor who portrayed Klaatu in the original 1951 version and the title of both films?

    Five

    Who wrote The Martian Chronicles (1950)?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.

  • Fly Me to the Moon | Answers

    Jim Lovell, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.
    (March 25, 1928—August 7, 2025).
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    In 1968, what became the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it and return?

    Answer: Apollo 8

    Apollo 8, launched on 21 December 1968, became the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. During its mission, the crew orbited the Moon ten times, conducting various tasks such as photography and navigation, while also transmitting telecasts worldwide. The spacecraft safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 27 December, 147 hours after launch.
    This question was prompted by the death of Jim Lovell, aged 97, on 7 August 2025. He flew to the Moon and back twice but never landed.

    Two

    The 1999 Open Championship was decided in a play-off between Jean Van de Velde and which two other players?

    Answer: Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie

    Jean Van de Velde, ranked 152nd, nearly won the 1999 Open Championship but famously collapsed on the 18th hole. His triple-bogey seven led to a playoff, which he lost to Paul Lawrie.

    Three

    The two great European narcotics, alcohol and…

    — Friedrich Nietzsche: Twilight of the Idols

    — Encyclopædia Britannica

    What word is missing from the end of the above quote?

    Answer: Christianity

    Nietzsche’s quote suggests that he viewed both Christianity and alcohol as ‘narcotics’, substances or influences that dull the senses and provide an escape from reality.

    Four

    Which Canadian province is named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, born in 1848?

    Answer: Alberta

    Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. The name was originally given to the District of Alberta in 1882. The Princess also gave her name to Mount Alberta and Lake Louise.

    Five 

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

    — Wilfred Owen

    The above quote is the opening line of which poem?

    Answer: Anthem for Doomed Youth

    Wilfred Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth, written in 1917, vividly captures the horrors of war. Enlisting in the British army in 1915, Owen was sent to France with the Lancashire Fusiliers to fight in the trenches during World War I. In 1917, during his first six months of battle, his troop was gassed and forced to sleep in an open field of snow. One incident involved Owen spending several days huddled in a foxhole near the body of a fallen soldier. These experiences profoundly impacted Owen as a poet, leading to rapid maturity. The poems written after January 1917 are characterised by anger at war’s brutality, and pity for those who ‘die as cattle’.

    Anthem for Doomed Youth

    BY WILFRED OWEN

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

          — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

          Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle

    Can patter out their hasty orisons.

    No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 

          Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

    The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

          And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

    What candles may be held to speed them all?

          Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

    Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

          The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;

    Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

    And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

    — Wilfred Owen

    — Poetry Foundation

  • Fly Me to the Moon

    Earthrise.
    Image NASA

    One

    In 1968, what became the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it and return?

    Two

    The 1999 Open Championship was decided in a play-off between Jean Van de Velde and which two other players?

    Three

    The two great European narcotics, alcohol and…

    — Friedrich Nietzsche: Twilight of the Idols

    What word is missing from the end of the above quote?

    Four

    Which Canadian province is named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, born 1848?

    Five 

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

    — Wilfred Owen

    The above quote is the opening line of which poem?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • Heads or Tails | Answers

    Velociraptor.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Is it true or false that velociraptors were only about the size of turkeys?

    Answer: True

    Velociraptor, commonly known as “raptor,” is one of the dinosaur genera most familiar to the general public. This is largely due to its prominent role in the Jurassic Park films. However, in reality, Velociraptor was roughly the size of a turkey, considerably smaller than the approximately 2 metres (6.6 feet) tall and 90 kilograms (200 pounds) reptiles depicted in the novels and films. These depictions were based on members of the related genus Deinonychus. 

    – Wikipedia

    Two

    Is it true or false that P.T. Barnum started his career as a showman by publicly displaying an elderly African slave he claimed was George Washington’s 161-year-old former nursemaid?  

    Answer: True

    In 1834 he moved to New York City, where he found his vocation as a showman one year later when he successfully presented Joice Heth, a wizened Black woman whom he advertised as the 161-year-old nurse to Gen. George Washington. On her death, however, the story was exposed as a hoax.

    – Encyclopædia Britannica  

    Three

    Is it true or false that if broccoli is left unharvested, each green bud usually produces a flower with four yellow petals?   

    Answer: True

    Broccoli, a nutritious vegetable from the mustard family, is high in fibre and vitamins. It can be eaten fresh or cooked and should be dark green with firm stalks. If left unharvested, those buds produce yellow flowers with four petals and dry capsule fruits called siliques. 

    Four

    Is it true or false that elephants can communicate with each other using ambisonic calls?  

    Answer: False

    Elephants can communicate with each other using infrasonic calls that are below the range of human hearing. They also stomp messages on the ground that can be felt and understood by other elephants miles away.

    Five 

    Is it true or false that on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east? 

    Answer: True

    Venus is unusual because it spins the opposite direction of Earth and most other planets…

    …And because Venus rotates backwards, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

    – NASA

  • Heads or Tails

    A simple choice of either true or false today.

    Velociraptor skeleton. Image Wikipedia

    One

    Is it true or false that velociraptors were about the size of turkeys?

    Two

    Is it true or false that P.T. Barnum started his career as a showman by publicly displaying an elderly African slave he claimed was George Washington’s 161-year-old former nursemaid?  

    Three

    Is it true or false that if broccoli is left unharvested, each green bud usually produces a flower with four yellow petals?  

    Four

    Is it true or false that elephants can communicate with each other using ambisonic calls? 

    Five 

    Is it true or false that on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east? 

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • It Goes to Show | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

    One

    Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and Clara Bow in Wings (1927).
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    The above picture is a still from the 1927 film Wings, the first to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It features Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and an actress known as the ‘It’ girl. Can you identify who this actress, born 29 July 1905, is?

    Answer: Clara Bow

    Clara Bow, known as ‘The It Girl’, was a prominent American actress during the silent film era and talkies. She retired from acting in 1933 after marrying and having two children.

    Two

    Culzean Castle.
    Image Daily Record

    Beginning the 25 July 2025, United States President Donald Trump stayed at his Turnberry Resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Interestingly, another US President was gifted an apartment in Culzean Castle, just a short drive from Turnberry. Who was this other president?

    Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

    In 1945, the Marquess of Ailsa gifted Culzean Castle to the National Trust for Scotland, offering the top floor to General Eisenhower as a token of appreciation for his role in World War II. Eisenhower visited the castle four times, including once as President, and affectionately called it his ‘Scottish White House’.

    Dwight D. Eisenhower played Turnberry in 1959 while still president of the USA. Image BBC

    Three

    Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle program.
    Image NASA.

    On this day in 1958, NASA was established in the United States. What four words are represented by the letters in the NASA abbreviation?

    Answer: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

    In response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, President Eisenhower signed legislation in 1958 to establish NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), separating the US military and civil spaceflight programmes. NASA, succeeding NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), has led most of America’s space exploration programmes, including the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle.

    Four

    The track of the Armada around Britain.
    Robert Adams, Augustine Rythe, 1590.
    Image National Maritime Museum, London/Wikipedia

    On July 29, 1588, the Spanish Armada was sighted off the southern coast of England. Which Spanish monarch dispatched the fleet, and the overthrow of what English monarch was the objective of the Spanish invasion?

    Answer: King Philip II (of Spain) and Queen Elizabeth I (of England)

    The Spanish Armada, sent by King Philip II in 1588 to invade England and reinstate Catholicism, was commanded by Alonso de Guzmán and sailed from Lisbon. Despite reaching Calais, the Armada was defeated by the English fleet, which relied on artillery and faster ships. The Armada suffered losses from fire ships and the Battle of Gravelines, forcing it to retreat around Scotland and Ireland. The long and treacherous voyage back to Spain resulted in the loss of most of the Armada, with only 60 ships returning.

    Five

    Gandalf proves that Frodo’s Ring is the One Ring by throwing it into Frodo’s fireplace, revealing the hidden text of the Rhyme of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring.
    Image Wikipedia

    On 29 July, the first part of J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings was published. In which decade did this occur?

    ANSWER: 1950s (1954)

    The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, set in Middle-earth. The story follows the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron, uniting a diverse group of characters including hobbits, a wizard, men, an elf, and a dwarf. The work, initially published in three volumes between 29 July 1954 and 20 October 1955, has become a literary classic, influencing the fantasy genre and inspiring numerous adaptations.

  • It Goes to Show

    Today’s questions have a link to the 29 July.

    One

    Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and ? in Wings (1927).
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    The above picture is a still from the 1927 film Wings, the first to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It features Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and an actress known as the ‘It’ girl. Can you identify who this actress, born 29 July 1905, is?

    Two

    Beginning the 25 July 2025, United States President Donald Trump stayed at his Turnberry Resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Interestingly, another US President was gifted an apartment in Culzean Castle, just a short drive from Turnberry. Who was this other president?

    Three

    On this day in 1958, NASA was established in the United States. What four words are represented by the letters in the NASA abbreviation?

    Four

    On July 29, 1588, the Spanish Armada was sighted off the southern coast of England. Which Spanish monarch dispatched the fleet, and the overthrow of what English monarch was the objective of the Spanish invasion?

    Five

    On 29 July, the first part of J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings was published. In which decade did this occur?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.