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GK 31
Quiz
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who is Donald Trump's only child with his second wife, Marla Maples? | Tiffany Trump |
| What is the main city on the Isle of Lewis? | Stornoway |
| What was the maiden name of Donald Trump's mother? | MacLeod |
| Who is the oldest sibling of Michael Jackson? | Rebbie (born Maureen) |
| Who was Michael Jackson's oldest brother? | Jackie (born Sigmund) |
| Who is the youngest sibling of Michael Jackson? | Janet Jackson |
| Who released multimillion selling albums "Luck of the Draw" (1991) and "Longing In Their Hearts" (1994)? | Bonnie Raitt |
| Dalton, Georgia, bills itself as the world capital of which commodity? | Carpets |
| John Landy was the second sportsman to achieve what notable feat, just 46 days after the first person? | Run the sub four minute mile |
| Which boxing weight division lies between light-heavyweight and heavyweight? | Cruiserweight |
| The Tarim Basin lies in which country? | China (in Xinjiang) |
| Which Chinese Dynasty ruled the country in the year 1AD? | Han (206BC-220AD) |
| How long did the Qin (Chin) Dynasty of China last? | 15 years (221-206BC) |
| Which Moghul Emperor ruled 1555-1605, roughly co-temperaneous with Elizabeth I? | Akbar |
| The word 'moghul' derives from the Persian for what, reflecting the early Moghul Emperors' ancestry? | Mongol |
| Who was India's first Moghul emperor? | Babur |
| What country was called 'Serica' by the Romans? | China (it means 'silken') |
| What name is given to the now-outlawed Hindu practice of women burning on their husbands' funeral pyres? | Suttee |
| The Bhagavad Gita is largely concerned with which God, the god of compassion, tenderness, and love in Hinduism? | Krishna |
| Which English loan word derives from huge wagons bearing an image of a Hindu gods used in Indian festivals? | Juggernaut |
| In 602, a dissatisfied and bloodthirsty general by what name usurped the Byzantine throne, having Eastern Roman Emperor Maurice and his six sons executed? | Phocas |
| What name was given to the territory, centred on Metz, which formed the northeastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries? | Austrasia |
| In 597, where was the first Benedictine monastery outside of Italy founded? | Canterbury |
| No longer an island, which part of the UK, and parliamentary constituency was once separated from the mainland by the 600-metre (2,000 ft) Wantsum Channel? | Isle of Thanet |
| Gregory the Great's work 'Liber Regulae Pastoralis', a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy, was translated into Old English by which monarch as part of a project to improve education in Anglo-Saxon England? | Alfred the Great |
| Which pianist had two 1959 UK number 1s with "Side Saddle" and "Roulette" - he died in 2000? | Russ Conway |
| What is seven in the song "One for Sorrow, Two for Joy"? | A secret never to be told |
| What were there exactly nine of in the song "12 Days of Christmas"? | Ladies Dancing |
| Which song from the film "Mary Poppins" won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Original Song? | Chim Chim Chir-ee |
| Which popstar took his name from a black and yellow striped shirt he once wore? | Sting |
| Similar to the classic cup and ball game, which traditional Japanese toy has three cups and a spike which fits into the hole in the ball? | Kendama |
| What were the Christian names of the three ' Railway Children' in Edith Nesbit's novel? | Phyllis, Roberta, Peter |
| Who is Ivan Voinitski in the title of a well-known 19th century play? | Uncle Vanya |
| What is the world's third largest lake after the Caspian Sea and Lake Superior? | Lake Victoria |
| Manitoulin Island, the biggest lake island in the world, is in which lake? | Huron |
| In which month is the National Eisteddfod of Wales traditionally held? | August |
| Who composed "The Dream of Gerontius" in 1900? | Elgar |
| A cocktail containing vodka and orange juice is called what? | Screwdriver |
| Which number piano sonata is Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"? | Fourteen |
| How many valkyries are there in Wagner's Ring Cycle? | Nine |
| Thanjavur, formerly Tanjore, is in which Indian state? | Tamil Nadu |
| Which Brian Aldiss work was the basis for the film 'A.I.'? | Supertoys Last All Summer Long |
| Tenby is in which Welsh county? | Pembrokeshire |
| In beta decay, which two types of particle may be emitted from the atomic nucleus as the 'beta particle'? | An electron or positron |
| Which famed scientist wrote "The Electrical Structure of Matter" in 1926, and "Radioactivity" in 1904? | Ernest Rutherford |
| Founded by Portuguese immigrants, the football team CR Vasco Da Gama play home matches in which city? | Rio de Janeiro |
| How many symphonies did Berlioz compose in total? | Four |
| Which composer's work is "Karelia Suite"? | Jean Sibelius |
| Who composed the opera "The Pearl Fishers"? | Georges Bizet |
| Where is the 1863 opera "The Pearl Fishers" set? | Ceylon |
| Who is Rigoletto's master in the opera of the same name? | The Duke of Mantua |
| Who composed opera "Rigoletto"? | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Who, a dwarf, steals the Rheingold in Wagner's Ring Cycle? | Alberich |
| Who had an August 1961 UK Number 1 with "Well, I Ask You"? | Eden Kane |
| Cavaradossi, Angelotti and Scarpia are characters in which opera? | Tosca |
| Which animal supplies the milk for Roquefort cheese? | Ewe |
| What is the more common name for calcium carbonate? | Chalk |
| What is the old name for Calcium Oxide? | Quicklime |
| What is the more common name for traulism? | Stuttering/stammering |
| What was India's first lunar probe, launched 2008, called? | Chandrayaan-1 |
| Facel Vega cars were made in which country? | France |
| The League Of Cambrai was a coalition force formed in the early 16th century to fight against which European republic? | Venice |
| The Christian ascetic Simeon Stylites lived on top of a pillar near which city? | Aleppo |
| Who created the play "One Man, Two Guvnors" by adapting Goldoni's "Servant Of Two Masters"? | Richard Bean |
| Who composed successful opera "Il filosofo di campagna (The Country Philosopher)", the libretto being written by Goldoni? | Galuppi |
| Complete Venetian scholar Paolo Sarpi's famous maxim - "I never, never lie...." | ...but I do not divulge every fact |
| Give a year in the Fourth Crusade? | 1202-04 |
| The Deutschmark was divided into 100 what? | Pfennigs |
| The succession crisis that emerged when it became clear that Henry III of France would not produce an heir, received which fanciful name? | War of the Three Henrys |
| Which Pope, Patriarch of Venice, assumed the position when the King of Austro-Hungary vetoed the favoured candidate during the Papal Enclave? | Pius X |
| On which island was St Paul shipwrecked on his fourth journey - he stayed the winter there? | Malta |
| Bithynia Et Pontus was a Roman province located (in modern-day terms) in which country? | Turkey (on its Black Sea Coast) |
| Who was the last of the Julio-Claudian Roman Emperors? | Nero |
| What was the 'Year of The Four Emperors' in Rome? | 68AD |
| Which force made up the personal bodyguards of Roman Emperors? | Praetorian Guard |
| Who was the first in the Flavian Dynasty of Roman Emperors? | Vespasian |
| Assassinated in 96AD, who was the last Flavian Roman Emperor - he succeeded his brother Titus, and was a son of Vespasian? | Domitian |
| The Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome was originally the mausoleum of which Roman Emperor? | Hadrian |
| The 'Flower Duet' comes from which opera? | Lakme (Delibes) |
| The Tamworth Country Music Festival is held in which country, annually? | Australia (in New South Wales) |
| In which century were the Carmelite Order (Whitefriars) founded? | 13th |
| Who had a 1968 UK Number 3 with 'Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)'? | John Fred and his Playboy Band |
| What is the correct name of the religious sect known as the 'Moonies'? | Unification Church |
| In Hungarian called "A kékszakállú herceg vára" Which famous piece - perhaps his most famous - did Bela Bartok compose in 1911? | Duke Bluebeard's Castle |
| Which US singer, born Dec 11th 1944, was nicknamed 'Little Miss Dynamite'? | Brenda Lee |
| Which composer wrote 'Preludes for Piano' in 1926? | George Gershwin |
| As of 2017, who is the only solo French male singer to have had a UK number 1, doing so in 1974? | Charles Aznavour |
| 'Getting To Know You' is a song from which musical? | The King And I |
| What was Sandie Shaw's real name? | Sandra Goodrich |
| Which Selkirk fruit cake is made with sultanas? | Bannock |
| A Roman aqueduct in which Spanish city is both a UNESCO heritage site and on the city's coat of arms? | Segovia |
| The ruins of Kourion, including an impressive amphitheatre, are in which country? | Cyprus |
| The first Roman-Jewish war ended with the mass suicide of around 960 Jewish rebels in which town or city? | Masada |
| Who wrote many monologues for actor Stanley Holloway, including 'Albert and the Lion'? | Marriott Edgar |
| In art, what does holding a palm frond symbolise? | Martyrdom |
| How is Titus Flavius Clemens (c150-c215) better known to history? | St Clement of Alexandria |
| What name, derived from the Central Asian nomads who practiced it, is given to the tactic of apparently fleeing on horseback, only to turn and fire an arrow at pursuers? | Parthian shot (hence: parting shot) |
| Which Persian Empire was founded by Ardashir I in 224AD, was an adversary of Rome, and lasted until the coming of Islam? | Sassanid Empire |
| Which Roman Emperor was taken as a prisoner of war (by Shapur I), the only Emperor to suffer this indignity? | Valerian |
| What is given on the 35th wedding anniversary? | Coral |
| In the Hall of the Mountain King was composed by Edvard Grieg as part of which play by Henrik Ibsen? | Peer Gynt |
| Which newspaper editor was played by Peter Capaldi in the film The Fifth Estate? | Alan Rusbridger |
| In which BBC TV drama was Doctor Thomas Chamberlain the Head of the Lyell Centre supported by pathologist Nikki Alexander and forensic scientist Jack Hodgson? | Silent Witness |
| What was the name of the western lowland gorilla that arrived at London Zoo in November 1947, living there until his death in 1978? | Guy |
| Two twentieth century Prime Ministers were Home Secretary before they were Premier. One was Winston Churchill. Who was the other? | James Callaghan |
| Three African countries have a shoreline on Lake Malawi -Tanzania, Malawi and which other? | Mozambique |
| Which acclaimed actor played Eric Babbage in Coronation Street in 2013, and Stan Carter in Eastenders from 2014 to 2015? | Timothy West |
| Which English monarch succeeded Edward V in 1483? | Richard III |
| Which writer created the detective Charlie Chan? | Earl Derr Biggers |
| In which English county is the former village of Borstal (now subsumed by a larger conurbation) which gave its name to youth prisons? | Kent (it is now part of Rochester) |
| Who was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until 1919 when he was assassinated? He shares his forename with a man who was briefly king in 1929 until he too was deposed and executed. | Habibullah Khan |
| Mahmud beg Tarzi became a key figure in the history of which country, following the lead of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Turkey by working for modernization and secularization, and strongly opposing religious extremism and obscurantism? | Afghanistan |
| Who was the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, dying in exile in Switzerland in 1960? | Amanullah Khan |
| Who was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973? | Mohammed Zahir Shah |
| As of 2017, Pakistan's longest-serving head of state, which was a four-star rank general who served as the 6th President of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in 1988, after declaring martial law in 1977? | General Zia (Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq) |
| Which Welsh author with an interest in occultism wrote the September 1914 short story "The Bowmen" that 'inspired' the story of the "Angels of Mons"? | Arthur Machen |
| What is the name of the annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc? | Jane's Fighting Ships |
| Which Scottish medium is best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735, in 1944? | Helen Duncan |
| Flight Lieutenant Carmichael Irwin was in command of which ill-fated craft when it crashed in 1930? | R101 |
| Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the leader of which religious group? | Shakers (United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing) |
| Which Belgian athlete became Olympic champion in the heptathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the world champion in London in 2017? | Nafi Thiam |
| Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Caged (1950) and Detective Story (1951)? | Eleanor Parker |
| Who was nominated for successive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Country (1984) and Sweet Dreams (1985)? | Jessica Lange |
| What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Cantabria? | Santander |
| Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in the USA, is to be found in which Alaskan National Park and Preserve, the name of which means "the great one" in the native Athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself? | Denali |
| Who led the American forces against the British fleet, under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane, at the Battle of New Orleans, the final major battle of the War of 1812? | Andrew Jackson |
| The Era of Good Feelings is a much-used phrase coined by the journalist Benjamin Russell to describe a period of American history under which President? | James Monroe |
| In April 2007, a strong storm caused a 300 yard breach between Martha’s Vineyard and which smaller island off its eastern end that had previously been connected to the main island? | Chappaquiddick Island |
| What is the name of the historic village in Viriginia where the surrender of the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War? | Appomatox Court House |
| With a population of a little over 11,500, which Floridian city is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the USA, and the oldest port in the continental United States? | St Augustine |
| It is traditionally held that the American Civil War began when which Confederate General opened fire upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina? | Pierre Beauregard |
| In 1848, the former Democratic President Martin van Buren was again nominated for Presidency by which short-lived political party that was active during the 1848 and 1852 elections before being largely absorbed by the Republican Party in 1854? | Free Soil Party |
| Devils Tower in Wyoming gained its name during an 1875 expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the Lakota name ‘Mato Tipila’ to mean Bad God's Tower, later to be altered. What is the correct translation? | Bear Tower |
| Named after an American slave who was later hanged, what name was given to the slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 31 during which over 50 people were killed? | Nat Turner's Rebellion |
| What was the name of the American Commodore who compelled the opening of the Japanese ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to United States trade with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854? | Matthew Perry |
| The Pocono Mountains region is a popular tourist destination located in the northeastern part of which state? | Pennsylvania |
| What was the popular name given to the movement that originated in New York in 1843 as the American Republican Party that was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants? | Know-Nothing Party |
| Kolob Arch, the second longest natural arch in the world, can be found in which National Park in Utah? | Zion National Park |
| Which title, referring to episode in the legendary history of early Rome, is shared by paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Peter Paul Rubens and Pablo Picasso? | Rape of the Sabine Women |
| Which title, the name of a Biblical King, is shared by sculptures by Donatello, Andrea del Verrocchio and Gian Lorenzo Bernini? | David |
| Which Italian theatre, opera and cinema director is best known for his films Ossessione (1943), Senso (1954), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1963) and Death in Venice (1971)? | Luchino Visconti |
| Who played Gustav von Aschenbach in the 1971 film "Death in Venice"? | Dirk Bogarde |
| Active from 1990–2003 which Welsh rugby union player scored a total of 1090 points in international matches? | Neil Jenkins |
| Born 25 April 1966 in Córdoba, Argentina, which former rugby union fly-half who played for Argentina and Italy, winning 74 caps for the latter, and 2 for his home nation? | Diego Domínguez |
| Who played Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Dallas Royce on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory? | Cheryl Hines |
| Which fish is traditionally used to make the dish Brandade de Nimes or Brandade de Morue? | Cod |
| Who played both Ronnie and Reggie Kray in the 2015 film "Legend"? | Tom Hardy |
| In Irish mythology, who was the mother of Oisín by Fionn mac Cumhail? | Sadhbh (or Saba) |
| Which Paris landmark did a man named Victor Lustig attempt to sell twice? | Eiffel Tower |
| Indian politician Sonia Gandhi was born Edvige Màino in which country? | Italy |
| The artist Artimesia Gentileschi was born in which century? | 16th |
| Which company bought the company Youtube in $1.65billion in 2006? | |
| What is a sternutation in physiological terms? | A sneeze |
| The US TV star born in 1942, with the marital name Sheindlin, is better known by which two-word stage name? | Judge Judy |
| Which composer wrote "Quartet for the End of Time" that premiered in the Gorlitz POW camp where he was being held captive? | Olivier Messiaen |
| Also known as Haram al-Sharif, on which hill in Jerusalem is the shrine of the Dome of the Rock located? | Temple Mount |
| Who directed the 2015 movie "Bridge of Spies"? | Steven Spielberg |
| Jointly offered the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, who declined it on the grounds that "bourgeois sentimentalities" were not for him and that peace had not in fact been achieved? | Lê Đức Thọ (Le Duc Tho) |
| The largest glacier on the European mainland, Jostedalsbreen, is in which country? | Norway |
| Aged just 36 at the time, who was the youngest of the twelve men to walk on the moon? | Charles Duke |
| Which American theoretical physicist and professor of physics (1904-67) is credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role as Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project? | Julius Robert Oppenheimer |
| First flying in 1949, what was the RAF's first jet bomber? | English Electric Canberra |
| Who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon, via Apollo 12? | Alan Bean |
| Which room in an abbey was the monks' main meeting room? | Chapter House |
| Deneb is the brightest star in which constellation? | Cygnus |
| What is the SI unit of area? | Square Metre |
| In 1947, who became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight? | Chuck Yeager |
| Tollund Man is a bog man found with a rope round his neck, from the 4th century BC, that was found in which modern-day country? | Denmark |
| In nature, what is also called a pollywog? | Tadpole |
| Which Irish county derives its name from "the Land of Owen"? | County Tyrone |
| Which guerrilla movement involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964 gave up their weapons in 2017? | FARC |
| Which museum, opened in 1852, was originally known as the Museum of Manufactures? | The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) |
| Thomas Farnolls Pritchard and Abraham Darby III designed which unique British structure in 1781? | Iron Bridge |
| Luas is a tram/light rail system in which European capital city? | Dublin |
| The 11 Line Islands are divided between which two countries? | USA, Kiribati |
| The Britannia Monument or Nelson's Monument, was completed in 1819, 24 years before the completion of Nelson's Column in London, in which coastal UK town? | Great Yarmouth |
| If you travelled due west from Colombo, Sri Lanka, in which country would you make landfall? | Somalia |
| Which body of water separates Caithness from the Orkney Islands? | Pentland Firth |
| According to scientists, all true toads belong to which family, the only one that is exclusively given the common name ‘toad’? | Bufonidae |
| The two species of reptiles of the genus tuatara (from which they get their common name), Sphenodon punctatus and Sphenodon guntheri are the only surviving members of the order Sphenodontia. They are found in the wild in just one country. Which one? | New Zealand |
| With a name meaning "little rampart", and formerly known as Mogador, which city lies in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast? | Essaouira |
| Which city in the Mediterranean, the third-largest in its country, lies close to the city first established as Kition, originally established in the 13th century BC? | Larnaca (Cyprus) |
| What is the second-largest city by population in Cyprus, after Nicosia? | Limassol |
| What was the working title of George Orwell's novel "1984"? | The Last Man in Europe |
| Which people invaded and sacked Babylon in 1595BCE? | Hittites |
| In which century did Alfred the Great of Wessex live? | 9th Century CE |
| Which river at the extreme end of Bahawalpur district in Punjab is formed by successive confluence or merger of the five rivers of the Punjab, before it joins the Indus River at Mithankot? | Panjnad River |
| In the fencing section of the Modern Pentathlon at the Olympics, which of the three types of fencing sword is used? | Epée |
| In architecture, what name is given to any building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome? | Rotunda |
| Which poet (1631-1700) was nicknamed "Glorious John"? | John Dryden |
| A person who has won an EGOT has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. What additional accolade has a PEGOT winner won? | Pulitzer Prize |
| Following John F Kennedy's assassination, who were the next two US Presidents to be born after him? | Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush |
| Until 2010, Platinum, Gold and Silver were the only precious metals to be given assay hallmarks in the UK. Which other metal started receiving hallmarks in that year? | Palladium |
| Which author created the character Sid Halley? | Dick Francis |
| What is the English translation of the French architectural term "clocher"? | Bell Tower |
| In which city did James Joyce die in 1941? | Zurich |
| In literature, which part of Peter Pan was kept in a drawer? | His shadow |
| Give a year in the life of author Henry Fielding. | 1707-54 |
| Who wrote "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil" in 1983? | Fay Weldon |
| In the Bible, which prophet anointed Saul? | Samuel |
| What is the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit? | 212F |
| From the Latin and Greek for 'diary' or 'journal', in celestial navigation, what name is given to an object that gives the positions of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky at a given time or times? | Ephemeris |
| Which make of car is named for the Zoroastrian god of light and life? | Mazda |
| Selina Kyle was the real name, for a time at least, of which fictional superhero? | Catwoman |
| Named after the man who provided an exact explanation of the phenomenon in 1836, what is the two-word name for the points of light seen around the Moon at the time of the solar eclipse? | Baily's Beads |
| Punta La Marmora is the highest peak on which island? | Sardinia |
| What name is given to a belt worn over one shoulder that is typically used to carry a weapon (usually a sword) or other implement such as a bugle or drum? | Baldric |
| Now on display in a Gosport museum, what was the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy? | Holland 1 |
| Ancona, Andalusian and Australorp are all varieties of which bird? | Chicken |
| Which planet has a year of 29.4571 Earth years? | Saturn |
| Which Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V? | Sassanid Empire |
| The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to Gallienus around the year 260, allowing who to take the title and powers of emperor in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Britannia and Hispania, founding what scholars have dubbed the Gallic Empire? | Postumus |
| Presented in ancient sources as a tyrant and cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity, which Roman Emperor, the son of Septimius Severus, was assassinated by a disaffected soldier in 217CE? | Caracalla |
| Which Roman Emperor was strangled by the wrestler Narcissus at the bidding of his concubine and chamberlain? | Commodus |
| In Rome, due to turmoil at the head of the Empire, how was the year 193CE better known? | Year of the Five Emperors |
| Which Greek scholar, ascetic, and early Christian theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria, was reported by Eusebius to have literally castrated himself in response to Matthew 19:12? | Origen |
| Living c. 150 – c. 215, which theologian was heavily influenced by Plato, and counted among his pupils Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem? He wrote the 'Trilogy' (Protrepticus, Paedagogus, Stromata). | Clement of Alexandria |
| The name of the Gnostics derives from the Greek 'gnosis', meaning what? | Knowledge |
| Who the Jewish leader of a revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE, establishing an independent Jewish state which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("Prince")? | Simon bar Kokhba |
| In which year was the Great Revolt against Roman rule by the Jews, starting the first Jewish-Roman War, precipitated by the plundering of the Temple and arrest of prominent Jews by the Roman governor, Gessius Florus? | 66CE |
| The current and historical flags of which nation, as well as the flags of several of its constituent islands, all contain a white crescent and four white stars? | Comoros |
| In heraldry, what name is given to a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield? | Fess |
| What colour are the crescent and eight-pointed star at the centre of the flag of Azerbaijan? | White |
| What are the two predominant colours of the flag of Haiti? | Red, blue |
| How many stars feature on the flag of Honduras? | Five |
| What colour are the stars on the flag of Honduras? | Blue |
| A gold frigatebird appears on which nation's flag? | Kiribati |
| What colour are the three horizontal bands on the flag of Azerbaijan? | Blue, red, green (top to bottom) |
| The flag of the Bahamas is three bands of aquamarine, yellow and aquamarine from top to bottom, with what colour triangle at the hoist? | Black |
| A mestizo and a black man appear on which country's flag - the only one to have human beings displayed prominently? | Belize |
| Berekum Chelsea F.C. are a team that play in which African country? | Ghana |
| What is the name of the form of alms-giving treated in Islam as a religious obligation or tax, which, by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (salat) in importance? | Zakat |
| No Ruz is New Year in which religion? | Zoroastrianism |
| Aksum had a base in the south of the Arabian peninsula since it conquered which kingdom based in modern day Yemen in 525 CE? This kingdom was centred in Zafar and succeeded the Sabaeans. | Himyarite Kingdom |
| Michael Portillo suffered an unexpected defeat in the Enfield Southgate seat in the 1997 general election. Which Labour MP beat him in that contest? | Stephen Twigg |
| Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls suffered his own Portillo Moment in the 2015 general election when he lost to Andrea Jenkyns in which constituency? | Morley and Outwood |
| Which neighbourhood on the west side of midtown Manhattan, on the Hudson River north of Chelsea, is also known as Clinton? | Hell's Kitchen |
| Which appropriately named neighbourhood on the west side of San Francisco is located south of Golden Gate Park on the Pacific Ocean? | Sunset |
| What album released 30 years ago included the singles Happy When It Rains and April Skies, as well as the title track? | Darklands (Jesus and Mary Chain) |
| What was the second studio album by the Arctic Monkeys, released ten years ago? It included the singles Brianstorm and Flourescent Adolescent. | Favourite Worst Nightmare |
| General George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle (1724-72) is best known to history for his capture of which capital city for the British in 1762, during the Seven Years' War? | Havana |
| Which 1763 treaty formally ended the Seven Years' War? | Treaty of Paris |
| Who led the slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, during August 1831, the largest and deadliest slave rebellion in US history? | Nat Turner |
| What was the name of the American naval ship that sank in Havana Harbour during the Cuban revolt against Spain in 1898? | Maine |
| What was the name of the yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters, including Fidel Castro, of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in November 1956 for the purpose of overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista? | Granma |
| Covering 541 million years to the present, what is the current geologic eon in the geologic time scale, and the one during which abundant animal and plant life has existed? | Phanerozoic Era |
| The Carboniferous Period is divided into two subperiods, both named for US states - which two? | Pennsylvanian, Mississippian |
| Which geologic period and system of the Paleozoic spanned 60 million years from the end of the Silurian, 419.2 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, 358.9 Mya? | Devonian |
| Which geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era, spanned 41.2 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period 485.4 million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period 443.8 Mya? | Ordovician |
| Which geological period followed the Carboniferous but preceded the Triassic? | Permian |
| Kupffer cells are specialised macrophages found in which organ of the human body? | Liver |
| Taking their name from the Greek for "cell movement", what name is given to a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–20 kDa) that are important in cell signalling? | Cytokines |
| Which 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell was the first to have the word "teenage" in its title? | I Was A Teenage Werewolf |
| What name is shared by the first film directed by Robert Altman in 1957, and a 1989 film starring Kylie Minogue? | The Delinquents |
| In which 1931 film did Edward G. Robinson play the gangster "Rico" Bandello? | Little Caesar |
| Considered to be the original outlaw biker film, which 1953 film saw Marlon Brando play Johnny Strabler? | The Wild One |
| Which movie star was born Emanuel Goldenberg on December 12, 1893? | Edward G. Robinson |
| Lita Grey, born Lillita Louise MacMurray, married which actor when she became pregnant by him aged just 16 - a criminal offence in California at the time? | Charlie Chaplin |
| While the City Sleeps (1956) and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) were the last US-made films by which influential director? | Fritz Lang |
| Which 1958 film noir written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles, starred Charlton Heston as Ramon Miguel Vargas, and Janet Leigh as Susan Vargas? | Touch of Evil |
| Which actor and singer married Loray White, May Britt and Altovise Gore? | Sammy Davis Jr. |
| Which prominent man born was Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941? | Reverend Jesse Jackson |
| Which footballer holds the all-time top goalscorer record for the Soviet Union national team with 42 goals? | Oleg Blokhin |
| In particle physics, what is the mechanism of interaction, one of the four fundamental forces, between sub-atomic particles that causes radioactive decay and thus plays an essential role in nuclear fission? | Weak interaction |
| The nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way can be found in which constellation? | Andromeda |
| Whose works included "Michael Robartes and the Dancer" (1921), "The Tower" (1928) and "A Vision" (1925)? | WB Yeats |
| Whose first published novel was 1915's "The Voyage Out"? | Virginia Woolf |
| Which artist (1893-1983) produced his Constellations series during WW2? | Joan Miró |
| Reigning 1621-65, which King of Spain was a patron of Diego Velazquez, who painted him several times? | Philip IV |
| Rene Magritte spent most of his life in which capital city? | Brussels |
| Which Canadian-born inventor is best known for his pioneering work developing radio technology - his achievements included the 1st transmission of speech by radio (1900) & the 1st two-way radiotelegraphic communication across the Atlantic (1906)? | Reginald Fessenden |
| Which eponymous character in a 1922 novel is a realtor from Zenith, Ohio? | (George F.) Babbitt |
| What was the first name at birth of author Sinclair Lewis, Sinclair being his middle name? | Harry |
| Which word, derived from the Spanish diminutive for "sin", refers to a minor misdemeanour, especially sexual misconduct? | Peccadillo |
| Who wrote the 1912 novel "Financier"? | Theodore Dreiser |
| Which American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright (1837-1920) is best known for the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria? | William Dean Howells |
| To which author did Sinclair Lewis dedicate "Arrowsmith" - Lewis had a Pulitzer Prize award for Main Street overturned in this author's favour? | Edith Wharton |
| Which magazine was founded in 1923 and originally run by Henry Luce? | Time |
| DeWitt Wallace cofounded which publication with his wife Lila Bell Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922? | Reader's Digest |
| Which novel by Sinclair Lewis was set in Gopher Prairie? | Main Street |
| What does FB signify on an Ordinance Survey map? | Footbridge |
| How many colleges and universities comprise the "Ivy League"? | Eight |
| Which exotic birds have been a feature of London's St James Park since they were donated by a Russian ambassador in 1664 to Charles II? | Pelicans |
| Which Oxford University College comes first alphabetically? | All Souls |
| In which Worcestershire town was Edward Elgar born? | Broadheath |
| What is Israel's southernmost city, a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba? | Eilat |
| in which country is the deep water port of Lobito? | Lobito |
| Which US state is nicknamed the "Gopher State"? | Minnesota |
| PLUNA, defunct in 2012, was the former national air carrier airline of which country? | Uruguay |
| The Strait of Gibraltar lies at the western end of which , ying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa, that is itself a part of the Mediterranean Sea? | Alboran Sea |
| Which US state is sometimes nicknamed "The Bay State"? | Massachusetts |
| Which sea lies immediately north of Corsica? | Ligurian Sea |
| Which Scottish university is named after two men - a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (4 June 1563 – 12 February 1624), and an inventor (30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819)? | Heriot-Watt University |
| Altamira caves are 30km west of which city, the capital of Cantabria? | Santander |
| In which country is Willendorf, where the famed prehistoric "Venus" was found? | Austria |
| The Hoover Institution and the Hoover Tower are both located at which US university? | Stanford |
| What is the second largest island of Cuba? | Isla de la Juventud |
| Which island group lies due south of Cuba's Bay of Pigs? | Cayman Islands |
| Karl Marx was born in which German city, on the banks of the Moselle? | Trier |
| On which of the Spanish "Costas" is Marbella? | Costa del Sol |
| Over two-thirds of which Caribbean island became uninhabitable after the eruption of a volcano in 1995 that caused the abandonment of the capital city in 1997? | Montserrat |
| Welshpool lies on which river? | Severn |
| Honolulu is located on which island? | Oahu |
| The taka is the currency of which country? | Bangladesh |
| In which Australian state is Phillip Island, famed for its penguins and for motorsport? | Victoria |
| The West Somerset Railway runs from Bishops Lydeard to where? | Minehead |
| An airport located in Schkeuditz serves two cities - name either. | Leipzig or Halle |
| Which sea separates Corsica and Sardinia from mainland Italy? | Tyrrhenian Sea |
| The towns of Whitchurch, Ludlow, Bridgenorth and Market Drayton are all located in which English county? | Shropshire |
| Which stretch of water separates Java from Sumatra? | Sunda Strait |
| The anti-German invasion fantasy The Invasion of 1910 (1906) by which Anglo-French writer has been part-credited with helping to establish the British intelligence services? | William Le Queux |
| Which 1389 battle, with heavy casualties, sometimes called the "Battle of the Field of Blackbirds" saw the Ottomans defeat Serbian resistance? | Battle of Kosovo |
| Which Pope, a significant figure in the Counter-Reformation, was pontiff from 1585-90, and excommunicated both Elizabeth I of England and Henry IV of France? | Sixtus V |
| Which US President wrote to music critic Paul Hume, when Hume had criticised his daughter Margaret's singing: "Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!"? | Harry Truman |
| Which red silk pennant was the battle standard of the King of France in the Middle Ages? | Oriflamme |
| The old British coins, the 'noble', used from 1344 to 1464, was worth what fraction of a pound sterling? | One third |
| Which king of England was nicknamed "Curtmantel"? | Henry II |
| Which British frigate escaped the Yangtse under cover of darkness in July 1949, after she was fired upon by the People's Liberation Army in April of the same year? | HMS Amethyst |
| Isaac Newton lost £20,000 in September 1720 after which company's stock price collapsed suddenly? | South Sea Company (South Sea Bubble) |
| In finance, what name is given to the practice of selling securities or other financial instruments that are not currently owned (usually borrowed), and subsequently repurchasing them ("covering")? | Short selling |
| Once considered for the leadership of his party (which would have led to his becoming Prime Minister) in 1963, which man served as Lord Chancellor from 1970-74, and then again from 1979 to 1987? | Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone |
| Which British model and showgirl was best known for her association with her flatmate Christine Keeler? Dying in 2014, she once described her life as "one slow descent into respectability"? | Mandy Rice-Davies |
| In the UK, which member of the Cabinet is, by law, responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts? | Lord Chancellor |
| Which English cricketer made two test appearances and earned 20 ODI caps before he was killed in a car crash in Australia at the age of 24, in 2002? | Ben Hollioake |
| In cricket, how many runs comprise a "double Nelson"? | 222 |
| In which English county is Southwell racecourse? | Nottinghamshire |
| Who, on 12 August 1977, became the first cricketer to score his one hundredth first-class century in a Test match? | Geoffrey Boycott |
| Sandown Park Racecourse and Kempton Park Racecourse are both located in which English county? | Surrey |
| Which man (1703/4=89) introduced boxing gloves (albeit for practice only) and codified rules for boxing that formed the basis of the sport until they were largely superseded by the Queensberry Rules? | Jack Broughton |
| What do the letters 'TO' mean next to a cricket dismissal? | Timed Out |
| Which female German alpine ski racer (1914-2004) dominated international competition in the 1930s, winning twelve world championship titles between 1934 and 1939? At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, she won the combined competition. | Christl Cranz |
| In mountaineering, what name is given to a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack/seam in the climbing surface with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to either protect the climber against a fall or to assist progress in aid climbing? | Piton |
| Which retired baseball left fielder, nicknamed "The Man of Steal", is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner & of 2017 holds the MLB records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks and leadoff home runs? | Rickey Henderson |
| Ailsa Craig, the island in the Firth of Forth, is visible from which Open Championship hosting golf course? | Turnberry |
| In mountaineering, what name is given to a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components? | Carabiner |
| The Grey Cup is played for in which sport? | Canadian Football |
| Which team won the Grey Cup in 2017, making it a record 17th title? | Toronto Argonauts |
| At which stadium do Valencia CF, a Spanish football team, play home matches? | Mestalla Stadium |
| Which palindromically-named Cambodian politician and general served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), but saw his forces defeated by the Khmer Rouge in 1975? | Lon Nol |
| Which American diplomat and lawyer became the first civilian but third Director of Central Intelligence serving from 1953 to 1961, and overseeing the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the Bay of Pigs invasion? | Allen Dulles |
| What is the collective term for hedgehogs? | Array |
| Broccoli and cauliflower belong to which genus of plants? | Brassica |
| What collective name is given to a large group of starlings? | Murmuration |
| The U-2 spy plane was manufactured by which aircraft manufacturer? | Lockheed |
| What type of garment is a billycock? | Hat |
| What name is given to the lowest commissioned officer in a cavalry regiment? | Cornet |
| Where is a puttee worn? | Lower leg |
| How many feet are in a U.S. cable? | 720 feet |
| The first discovered and second-largest near-Earth object with a mean-diameter of approximately 16.8 kilometres, what was the first asteroid ever studied from orbit? | 433 Eros |
| What is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where nearly all weather conditions take place? | Troposphere |
| How was Russian poet, born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, better known? | Anna Akhmatova |
| Which Russian and American poet and essayist, expelled from the USSR in 1972, was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature? | Joseph Brodsky |
| One of the three current official residences of the President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and Tenuta di Castelporziano in Rome, is located on which hill in Rome? | Quirinal (Quirinal Palace) |
| Francesco Cossiga was president of which country from 1985 to 1992? | Italy |
| Which British historian of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany, made Baron Dacre of Glanton, infamously authenticated the fake Hitler Diaries in 1983? | Hugh Trevor-Roper |
| The Great Dyke, a rich mining region, runs roughly North-east to south-west, across which country? | Zimbabwe |
| What is the highest point in Zimbabwe? | Mount Nyangani |
| Marmolada is the highest mountain in which range? | Dolomites |
| The Palacio de las Garzas (Herons' Palace) is the governmental office and residence of the President of which country? | Panama |
| In which Beatrix Potter book does the title character send his cat Simpkin to buy food and a twist of cherry-coloured silk to complete a waistcoat commissioned by the mayor for his wedding on Christmas morning? | The Tailor of Gloucester |
| Bukavu, formerly called Costermansville and Costermansstad is a city of over 800,000 people in which country? | DR Congo |
| What was the real-life Hôtel des Mille Collines called in the title of a 2004 film? | Hotel Rwanda |
| Who was the military dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997 - he renamed the country Zaire and led a brutal totalitarian regime? | Mobutu (Sese Seko) |
| What was the surname of the man who served as the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997 until his assassination by one of his bodyguards on January 16, 2001, and his son, who took over 8 days later? | Kabila |
| Which English stage and film actor (1901-69) is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s, such as 49th Parallel, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), and A Canterbury Tale? | Eric Portman |
| Which English stage and film actor, who played Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939), and received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Berkeley Square and Pygmalion, was born with the surname 'Steiner'? | Leslie Howard |
| Which US film director was responsible for )The Black Orchid (1958), Hud (1963), The Outrage (1964), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Stanley and Iris (1990) | Martin 'Marty' Ritt |
| Who played Hud Bannon in the 1963 film 'Hud'? | Paul Newman |
| Who played Alec Leamas in the 1965 film "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"? | Richard Burton |
| Which Italian director and producer of operas, films and television is a direct descendant of Leonardo da Vinci, was a senator (1994–2001) for the Italian centre-right Forza Italia party, and directed 1968's "Romeo and Juliet" and 1990's "Hamlet"? | Franco Zeffirelli |
| Lying on a windswept plain, what is the name of the house that was the final residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, during his exile on the island of Saint Helena? | Longwood House |
| Long led by Robert Mugabe, what was the ruling party for over three decades in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980? | ZANU PF |
| The Zambezi forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and which other country? | Zambia |
| Which river forms the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa? | Limpopo |
| Which colour forms the top and bottom horizontal lines on the flag of Zimbabwe? | Green |
| Signed in 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended which war? | The War of Austrian Succession |
| Which is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative capital of Republika Srpska? | Banja Luka |
| Which German author, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1972, wrote the novels 'The Unguarded House' and 'The Bread of Our Early Years'? | Heinrich Böll |
| On which river does Bremen stand? | Weser |
| Which French-speaking singer-songwriter was voted by the public as the greatest ever Belgian in the 2005 television show 'Le plus grand belge'? | Jacques Brel |
| Which famous poem by the Beat Generation writer Allen Ginsberg begins with the line, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness”? | Howl |
| In classical mythology, which king ordered Heracles to perform his twelve labours? | Eurystheus |
| In which country did French troops help to restore former President David Dacko to power in 1979? | Central African Republic |
| Which is the only European language in which the word for mathematics – 'wiskunde' – is not derived from Greek? | Dutch |
| Which inland sea connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea? | Sea of Marmara |
| During the 20th Century, which European country was the first to officially ban religion and become the world's first Atheist state? | Albania |
| Which cartoonist created Bogart the Cat? | Peter Plant |
| Who is the English writer and geographer who is principally remembered for his promotion of English settlements in North America in works such as 'Principal Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation'? | Richard Hakluyt |
| Which metallic element has the highest melting point? | Tungsten |
| In 1989, who was the Moroccan athlete who simultaneously held the world record for the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m? | Said Aouita |
| The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent under the rule of which Emperor, who ruled from 98 to 117 AD? | Trajan |
| Zentralfriedhof is the largest and most famous cemetery in which European capital city? | Vienna |
| Who, in 1789, was the German chemist who discovered Uranium and named it after the newly discovered planet, Uranus? | Martin Klaproth |
| Based in Leuven in Belgium and created after a merger in 2004, what became the world's largest brewery? | Inbev |
| Located in Norway, what are Europe's highest waterfalls? | Ormeli Falls |
| Who is the Italian mountaineer and explorer who, in 1986, became the first person to climb all fourteen of the world's highest mountains? | Reinhold Messner |
| Widely believed to have been the location of the first Jewish ghetto uprising of the Second World War, Lakhva is a small town in which country? | Belarus |
| William Golding wrote the novel 'Lord of the Flies' in response to which 1857 novel? | The Coral Island (by RM Ballantyne) |
| Who, in 1929, when becoming Minister for Labour became the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the British Government? | Margaret Bondfield |
| Deriving from the Latin for 'thunderbolt', what name is given to the natural hollow glass tubes formed in sand or soil by lightning strikes? | Fulgurites |
| What is the correct title of the Renoir painting often called "The Lady in Blue" or "The Blue Lady"? | La Parisienne |
| Which English poet, short-story writer and playwright (1880-1958) was best known for his ballads, "The Highwayman" and "The Barrel-Organ"? | Alfred Noyes |
| What pseudonym was used by Benjamin Disraeli when writing for "The Times" newspaper? | Runnymede |
| Who first used the phrase "time is money"in "Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One"? | Benjamin Franklin |
| Which character was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in the late 1930s? | Batman |
| Farouk I (1920-65) was the penultimate monarch of which country? | Egypt |
| Which Austro–German psychiatrist was the author of the foundational work Psychopathia Sexualis (1886)? | Richard von Krafft-Ebing |
| The Cesarewitch Handicap horse race traditionally takes place at Newmarket in which month of the year? | October |
| Which West Indian cricketer took the West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket, and later served as Trinidad's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, becoming the UK's first black peer? | Learie Constantine |
| Which bird, Acridotheres tristis, and a skilled mimic, is considered a pest in Australia as it is highly invasive and upsets native ecosystems? | Common Myna(h) |
| Which American businessman, electrical engineer and market research analyst (1897-1980) gave his name to the 20th century's most popular TV audience ratings system in the USA? | (Arthur) Nielsen |
| Which American poet and writer who was associated with the Modernist school of poetry (1892-1982) was awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for his work, and wrote 1965's "The Eleanor Roosevelt Story"? | Archibald MacLeish |
| Which American comedian, who died in 1964, became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man? | Gracie Allen |
| Known for his miserly persona, which US comedian (1894-1974) had a fictional valet and chauffeur, Rochester van Jones, played by Eddie Anderson? | Jack Benny |
| Which US TV network is sometimes nicknamed the "Tiffany Network"? | CBS |
| The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, defunct in 1986. What did RCA stand for? | Radio Corporation of America |
| In the name of the US TV network, what does CBS stand for? | Columbia Broadcasting System |
| Which American radio and television sitcom set in Harlem, Manhattan's historic black community, was voiced from 1928 to 1960 by two white actors, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll? | Amos 'n' Andy |
| "The Perfect Song", regarded as the first marketed "theme song" from a film, came from which early film? | The Birth of A Nation |
| Which cigarette brand used the slogan "It's Toasted"? | Lucky Strike |
| To which musician was actress Angie Dickinson married from 1965 to 1981? | Burt Bacharach |
| Which state did former US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey represent as a senator? | Minnesota |
| Harlot's Ghost (1991) is a fictional chronicle of the Central Intelligence Agency by which author? | Norman Mailer |
| What was the US sitcom "All In The Family" renamed for its final four seasons? | Archie Bunker's Place |
| Which American writer and public intellectual (1925-2012) wrote Myra Breckinridge (1968), which explores the mutability of gender role and sexual orientation as being social constructs established by social mores? | Gore Vidal |
| Who was the only of the main five members of the "Rat Pack", the group of entertainers centred on the Las Vegas casino scene in the 1960s, to be British? | Peter Lawford |
| Which Roman empress, one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty, was the mother of Nero? | Agrippina the Younger |
| Which brand of household cleaner products from the US has as its logo, a chick emerging from an egg? | Bon Ami |
| Who the first Puerto Rican-born actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor, to win an Academy Award (in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac)? | José Ferrer |
| Who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Stalag 17, giving an acceptance speech that is one of the shortest on record ("thank you") because of TV time constraints? | William Holden |
| Which American singer and actress achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life being married three times as well as having lesbian relationships? Her career was ruined after she allegedly shot her husband Zachary Smith Reynolds. | Libby Holman |
| Who directed The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), and My Fair Lady (1964)? | George Cukor |
| What nationality was Pola Negri, a film actress who achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film? | Polish |
| Named after a man who applied for its patent, what name is used in North America for a bed that is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall, or inside a closet or cabinet? | Murphy Bed |
| Which 1944 film noir directed by Billy Wilder, stars Fred MacMurray as an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as a housewife who wishes her husband were dead, & Edward G. Robinson as a claims adjuster whose job is to find phony claims? | Double Indemnity |
| What is the literal translation of 'Shulchan Aruch', the name of the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written? | Prepared or Set Table |
| Who wrote the Shulchan Aruch, the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written, in Safed in 1563? | Joseph Karo |
| In Judaism and the Catholic church what name is given to a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them? | Responsa |
| Which Jewish diaspora population who coalesced as a distinct community in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium comprise the majority of Jews in the USA? | Ashkenazi Jews |
| Adding the later seven Rabbinic commandments, the total number of mitzvoth in Orthodox Judaism is what, with the majority given in the Torah at biblical Mount Sinai? | 620 (613 given at Mount Sinai) |
| Who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Constance MacKenzie in "Peyton Place", her only career nomination? | Lana Turner |
| Who wrote the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1934? | James M Cain |
| Married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951, who was famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Gigi (1958), The Band Wagon (1953), and An American in Paris (1951)? | Vincente Minnelli |
| Joan Crawford won her only Academy Award for Best Actress for which film? | Mildred Pierce |
| Cheryl Crane was the only child of which actress - in later life she alleged that she was subject to a series of sexual assaults at the hands of her stepfather and her mother's fourth husband, actor Lex Barker? | Lana Turner |
| Named after a place in Cicero, Illinois, what name is given to a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed? | Hawthorne Effect |
| Who played Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H*? | Alan Alda |
| What does the ZIP stand for in the US term ZIP code? | Zone Improvement Plan |
| Which political party and former guerrilla group are named after the man who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s? | Sandinistas (Sandinista National Liberation Front/FSLN) |
| Set in the fictional Oakdale, Illinois which soap opera aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010? | As The World Turns |
| Pyrrhus, one of the main enemies of early Rome, was king of which ancient Greek state located in the western Balkans? | Epirus |
| Caesar's assassin Brutus committed suicide after which battle of 42BCE? | Battle of Philippi |
| Which forest on the northwestern flank of Japan's Mount Fuji is internationally known as one of the world's most popular suicide sites? | Aokigahara |
| The Brocken the highest peak in which German mountain range? | Harz Mountains |
| The chance to play which character in a 1972 film was reportedly turned down by Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal and Dustin Hoffman? | Michael Corleone (The Godfather) |
| Which American novelist has used the pseudonyms Cameron Kay, Edgar Box and Katherine Everard? | Gore Vidal |
| Which American power pop band, formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1986 are best known for their singles 'Golden Blunders', 'Dream All Day' and 'Flavor of the Month'? | The Posies |
| Grodno, Gomel and Mogilev are major cities in which European country? | Belarus |
| In 1973, which British yachtswoman and author became the first female to sail solo across the Atlantic? | Clare Francis |
| Of what is alektorophobia the fear? | Chickens |
| Whose 2006 music tour was called "A Bigger Bang"? | The Rolling Stones |
| Erroll Garner was best known for playing which instrument? | Piano |
| In the Bible, who was the husband of Jezebel? | Ahab |
| In the Bible, which herd went mad when Jesus sent a devil out of a man into them instead, before running into a lake and drowning? | Gadarene Swine |
| Pablo Casals was most associated with which musical instrument? | Cello |
| Who duetted with Celine Dion on the 1997 song "Tell Him"? | Barbara Streisand |
| "I Hate You Then I Love You"from 1998 is a song sung as a duet between Celine Dion and who else? | Luciano Pavarotti |
| Which musical features the song "With One Look"? | Sunset Boulevard |
| The Red Savina is a type of which fruit? | Chilli Pepper (habanero specifically) |
| Which man founded the Tamla Motown label in 1959? | Berry Gordy Jr. |
| The tanche is a cultivar of which foodstuff? | Olive |
| Spending 50 weeks cumulatively at Number One in the Billboard charts, who were Tamla Motown's best selling act of the 1990s? | Boyz II Men |
| What nickname is given to Beethoven's Piano Op. 97 in B Flat? | Archduke Trio |
| Which number Beethoven symphony is the 'Eroica'? | Three |
| Which number violin sonata is Beethoven's "Kreutzer" sonata? | Nine |
| Don Alfonso and Dorabella appear in which Mozart opera? | Cosi Fan Tutte |
| Elsa is a main protagonist in which Wagner opera of 1850? | Lohengrin |
| What was the first UK number one of Adam and the Ants? | Stand and Deliver |
| Julian Bream and Charlie Christian were most famous for playing which musical instrument? | Guitar |
| Who was, according to all four canonical Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' crucifixion? | Joseph of Arimathea |
| Which Ed Sheeran track was Christmas Number 1 in 2017? | Perfect |
| What number is a storm on the Beaufort scale? | 10 |
| What is the army equivalent of the Navy's Real Admiral rank? | Major General |
| What is the RAF equivalent of the Navy's Rear Admiral rank? | Air Vice Marshal |
| What does PV stand for in the PV system of converting solar to electrical energy? | Photovoltaic |
| In heraldry, what characteristic does a 'salient' animal have? | Springing or leaping |
| What name links the call sign of Apollo 15 to Captain Cook? | Endeavour |
| The result of an explosive eruption, what name is given to the fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that moves away from a volcano reaching speeds of up to 700 km/h? | Pyroclastic flow |
| What term is used to mean 'flying' in heraldry? | Volant |
| Often called 'the Spring City', what is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China? | Jinan |
| Representing November 21st to December 22nd, what is the ninth sign of the zodiac? | Sagittarius |
| What symbol appears over the number 5 on a computer keyboard? | % |
| What is the correct form of address for a duke? | Your Grace |
| Who made the first US spacewalk in 1965? | Ed White |
| A second is technically defined by the oscillations of an atom of which element? | Caesium |
| What is nidification, in the animal world? | Nest building |
| When applied to grades of paper, what does GSM stand for? | Grams per square metre |
| Which man, who circumnavigated the globe single-handedly in 1967-68, for which he was knighted, had a boat called "Lively Lady"? | Alec Rose |
| What colour beret is worn by the SAS? | Sand/beige |
| Which month was named after a Roman festival of purification? | February |
| What is the name of the body of water that separates New Brunswick from Prince Edward Island? | Northumberland Strait |
| In 1963, what became The Beatles' first UK Christmas Number 1? | I Want To Hold Your Hand |
| Who had a 1970 UK Number 1 Christmas One with "I Hear You Knocking"? | Dave Edmunds |
| With what song did Dickie Valentine have a 1955 Christmas Number 1? | Christmas Alphabet |
| Chaleurs Bay separates which two provinces of Canada? | New Brunswick, Quebec |
| The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of which larger range? | Appalachians |
| Known as the "Father of Canadian Poetry", who (1860-1943) published "Orion and Other Powers" and "Songs of the Common Day, and Ave!"? | Charles G.D. Roberts |
| Which US rock band that formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979 had continual members guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart? Albums included Zen Arcade (1984), New Day Rising (1985) & Flip Your Wig (1985)? | Hüsker Dü |
| Which Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, was formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999? | Broken Social Scene |
| The town of Shediac in Westmorland County, New Brunswick promotes itself as the world capital of which foodstuff? A 90-tonne sculpture of it is at the town's western entrance. | Lobster |
| In 2010, it was second in The Guardian newspaper's list of the top 50 TV dramas of all time, and number 1 in the Telegraph's 2015 list - which 1981 TV adaptation starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews? | Brideshead Revisited |
| Which character did Helen Mirren play in the TV series "Prime Suspect"? | DCI Jane Tennyson |
| What was the name of the dog in the 1950s UK children's TV series "The Woodentops"? | Spotty |
| Which TV detective, in a UK series broadcast originally from 2001-08, drove a Jensen Interceptor; and in later episodes a Bristol 410? | Inspector Lynley |
| Which make of car was driven by Peter Kingdom in the ITV TV series "Kingdom"? | Alvis |
| Who played Frenchy, a saloon singer and cowgirl in the 1939 film "Destry Rides Again"? | Marlene Dietrich |
| Who played Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry, Jr., the new town deputy, in the 1939 film "Destry Rides Again"? | James Stewart |
| What is the name of the US President played by Martin Sheen in "The West Wing"? | Josiah "Jed" Bartlet |
| Who created the television series The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip; and the films A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, Moneyball, and Steve Jobs? he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Social Network" | Aaron Sorkin |
| Which 1937 Laurel and Hardy film is mainly set in Brushwood Gulch? | Way Out West |
| Which is the USA's fourth largest state, after Alaska, Texas and California? | Montana |
| Alphabetically, which Shipping Forecast area comes first? | Bailey |
| Alphabetically, which Shipping Forecast area comes last? | Wight |
| Which shipping forecast area lies directly off the coast of Aberdeen? | Cromarty |
| Abergavenny is the largest town in which Welsh county? | Monmouthshire |
| What is the third largest city in Ireland? | Galway |
| Which Irish language word refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts of Ireland where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular? | Gaeltacht |
| In which Irish county is the plain known as the Curragh? | Kildare |
| The golden wattle is the national flower of which country? | Australia |
| The dahlia is the national flower of which country? | Mexico |
| Which author used the pseudonym Mr. Conny Keyber? | Henry Fielding |
| What English title is common to a 1797 poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and an 1897 symphonic poem by Paul Dukas based on Goethe's poem? | Sorcerer's Apprentice |
| RLE, a very simple form of lossless data compression, stands for what? | Run-length encoding |
| Die Jakobsleiter (early 1920s), is an unfinished oratorio by which composer? | Arnold Schoenberg |
| 6 of the 12 original teams in the English football league, in season 1888-89, were based in which county? | Lancashire |
| In 1888-89, who were the very first English football league champions? | Preston North End |
| Which musician was born Aubrey Graham in 1986, and performs under his middle name? | Drake |
| Dembow is a genre of popular music or musical rhythm that originated in which country? | Jamaica |
| Who had a UK Top 10 single in 2016 with "No Lie", featuring Dua Lipa? | Sean Paul |
| As of 2018, which artist has had the most number 1s in the Irish singles chart, with 21? | U2 |
| Which German city was the birthplace of Einstein, and is known for having the church with the tallest steeple in the world? | Ulm |
| Which American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury, painted the "Portrait of Madame X"? | John Singer Sargent |
| "On the Grasshopper and Cricket" is an early 1817 poem by who? | Keats |
| Who painted "The Tragedy of Lucretia", housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts? | Botticelli |
| "Death and Assumption of the Virgin", housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts, was painted by which artist, beatified by John Paul II in 1982? | Fra Angelico |
| Which animal, Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family? | Moose/elk |
| Who wrote 1857's "The Life of Charlotte Bronte"? | Elizabeth Gaskell |
| Which town in Norfolk County, Massachussetts is home to the New England Patriots' Gilette Stadium? | Foxborough |
| For what do the initials JPL stand for in the name of a federally funded research and development centre and NASA field centre in Pasadena, California? | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Which important city of Magna Graecia, located on the Gulf of Taranto, gave its name to a word for seekers of pleasure and luxury? | Sybaris (sybarite) |
| Who was the commander of the government forces at the 1715 Battle of Sheriffmuir? | John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll |
| Published in 1572, which Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões is often regarded as the most important work of Portuguese literature? | Os Lusíadas |
| John Graham of Claverhouse, who commanded Scottish and Irish Jacobite forces at the 1689 Battle of Killiecrankie, was the 1st Viscount of which city? | Dundee |
| The fifth asteroid discovered, on 8 December 1845, which asteroid was named for the Greek virgin goddess of innocence and purity, who is usually associated with the Greek goddess of justice, Dike? | Astraea |
| The Tholen classification is used to classify which objects? | Asteroids |
| The apeiron, or boundless, or infinite, was considered to be the underlying cosmological principle by which Presocratic philosopher? | Anaximander |
| One of the last of the Neoplatonists, which philosopher from Cilicia ( c. 490 – c. 560) is one of the principal sources for the Pre-Socratics? | Simplicius |
| Which Pre-Socratic philosopher stated that it was absurd that men decided that the gods resembled men, and said that cattle would invent gods that resembled cattle? | Xenophanes |
| In Greek myth, who cut off Ouranus (or Uranus)'s genitals, where they fell into the sea - Aphrodite appearing from the froth? | Kronos |
| In which country were 85 protesters killed and more than 600 injured by the police forces during the July Revolt of 1927? | Austria |
| Sophia is the Greek word for what? | Wisdom |
| In which German city was Charlemagne crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800AD? | Aachen |
| The 16th Century Italian poet Torquato Tasso is best remembered for which work in which he tells a fictionalized version of the battles between the Muslims and the Christians during the First Crusade? | La Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) |
| In 1909, which author became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature? | Selma Lagerlöf |
| Which Roman Emperor founded the Flavian Dynasty in AD69? | Vespasian |
| Which country has the International Vehicle Registration code 'RB'? | Botswana |
| Who was the Archbishop of York who crowned William the Conqueror King of England? | Aldred |
| Which Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher was also the biographer of Pythagoras? | Iamblichus |
| Which MLB team, who play at Minute Maid Stadium, won their first World Series in franchise history in 2017? | Houston Astros |
| The word 'physics' derives from the Greek "φύσις" (phýsis), meaning what? | Nature |
| In 2018, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their third child after which city? | Chicago |
| Popular in the UK in the 1970s, which budget aftershave was so named because it contained about one-third of the fragrance of the original product? | Brut 33 |
| Sharing its name with a US TV series of 1990 and 1991 that was revived in 2017, what is the name of Poundland's version of Toblerone? | Twin Peaks |
| Which toll bridge connecting Runcorn and Widnes opened in 2017? | Mersey Gateway |
| What is Alan Sugar's middle name? | Michael (hence AMStrad) |
| Sold in November 2017, for $450.3 million, who painted the c.1500 work "Salvator Mundi"? | Leonardo Da Vinci |
| Sebastian Kurz became head of state of which country aged 31 in 2017? | Austria |
| 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott' or 'A Mighty Forest is Our God' is a hymn, paraphrasing Psalm 46, written by whom sometime between 1527 and 1529? | Martin Luther |
| In cycling, what term - familiar from the world of music - is the number of revolutions of the crank per minute? | Cadence |
| Which eight-letter word refers to a technique in dancing where the head and body turn at different rates, or the eyes are fixed on one point, both to prevent dizziness? | Spotting |
| The bishop of which city is third in seniority in the Church of England after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York? | London |
| Who was the first footballer to have played in Merseyside, Manchester and Old Firm derbies? | Andrei Kanchelskis |
| Who released the 2016 album "Glory Days" that featured the song "Reggaetón Lento (Remix)"? | Little Mix |
| What is the second song, after the title track, on the 1967 Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"? | With A Little Help From My Friends |
| Which chemical element with the atomic number 64 and the relative atomic mass 157.25 is named after a Finnish chemist, born in 1760? | Gadolinum |
| Horace Wells (January 21, 1815 – January 24, 1848) was an American dentist who pioneered the use of what in anaesthesia? | Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) |
| Three panel paintings of Elizabeth I, including one that was saved for the nation in 2017, and is displayed at Greenwich, are named after which major event of her reign? | Armada (Armada Portraits) |
| In its embassy in which island nation did the US allege that its diplomats had been targeted by sonic attacks in 2017? | Cuba |
| Michael Ehrmantraut is a fictional character in Breaking Bad and its prequel spin-off series Better Call Saul, portrayed by which actor who also played Gunderson in 1980's "Airplane!"? | Jonathan Banks |
| Who was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock singers of the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as Billy Fury, Tommy Steele and Marty Wilde? He basically ripped them all off. | Larry Parnes |
| Which UK newspaper launched the first regular crossword puzzle in 1924? | Sunday Express |
| To what did Harlequins Rugby League team change their name in 2012? | London Broncos |
| Which BBC commentator (1904-96) commentated on the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race from 1931 to 1980, and also did work on the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II? | John Snagge |
| Which commentator famously said, during a hockey match, "where were the Germans...but frankly who cares?" | Barry Davies |
| An Olympic medalist in 1968 and named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1970, the former pentathlete turned sprinter Chi Cheng hailed from which country? | Taiwan |
| How wide apart are the goalposts in a polo match? | Eight yards |
| Who, in 2006 became the first woman to sail single-handedly and non-stop around the world "the wrong way"; westward against the prevailing winds and currents, and in 2009 the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in both directions? | Dee Caffari |
| In which year did Arthur Ashe win the Men's Singles at Wimbledon? | 1975 |
| Who were the first three golfers to win all four major tournaments? | Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player |
| Who retained the World Heavyweight Boxing title in 1947 by defeating Jersey Joe Walcott? | Joe Louis |
| Irina Rodnina was a famous name in which sport? | Figure skating |
| Which colours oppose black and blue balls in a game of croquet? | Red and yellow |
| In which card game are jacks called bowers? | Euchre |
| Which sporting hall of fame is located in Cooperstown, New York? | Baseball |
| Which Canadian-American physical educator invented the game of basketball at age 30 in 1891? | James Naismith |
| The Pro Football Hall of Fame, the hall of fame for professional American football, is located in which city in Ohio, USA? | Canton |
| In which sport did the conservationist Peter Scott win an Olympic medal, bronze in 1936? | Yachting |
| Which England cricketer scored a century on his Test debut in March 2006? | Alastair Cook |
| Joe Calzaghe was a boxing champion at which weight division? | Super-middleweight |
| Who appeared 7 times in the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon from 1985 to 1995? | Boris Becker |
| Who wrote the play "Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell"? | Keith Waterhouse |
| Which cartoonist was noted for his "The Man Who..." series of cartoons, featuring comically exaggerated reactions to minor, usually upper-class social gaffes, such as "The Man Who Lit His Cigar Before the Royal Toast" which appeared in the magazine Punch? | HM Bateman |
| In the Orwell novel "1984" where does Winston Smith work? | Ministry of Truth |
| The Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real) is a children's book written by who, in 1922? | Margery Williams |
| "Ballerina with Action Man Parts" and "Bombhugger" are both works by which artist? | Banksy |
| Who wrote the anti-totalitarian novel "Darkness at Noon"? | Arthur Koestler |
| Who wrote the 2010 memoir "Just Kids" published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe? | Patti Smith |
| Which poet (1799-1845) was best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt"? | Thomas Hood |
| Which Booker Prize-winning author wrote the novel "Parrot and Olivier in America" in 2010? | Peter Carey |
| "Lincoln in the Bardo" is a 2017 experimental novel that won that year's Booker prize, by which American writer? | George Saunders |
| What is the first season of the church year? | Advent |
| Who was Brendan Cole's first celebrity partner in the TV series "Strictly Come Dancing"? | Natasha Kaplinsky |
| In Italian cuisine what name is given to stuffed rice balls which are coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried? | Arancini |
| Which thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the centre takes its name from the Italian for 'hole'? | Bucatini |
| Majuro is the capital of which country? | Marshall Islands |
| Who was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in September 2016? | Lord Fowler |
| Which tunnel underneath the Thames links the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich? | Blackwall Tunnel |
| Kirk Douglas played what sort of sportsman in the 1949 film "Champion"? | Boxer |
| Who was Prime Minister of Italy for five separate runs from 1954 to 1987, and nicknamed "Cavallo di Razza" ("Purebred Horse"), thanks to his innate political ability? | Amintore Fanfani |
| Who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, despite never having been an elected politician, leading a government of technocrats in the wake of the Italian debt crisis? | Mario Monti |
| "Monogram", that consists of a stuffed goat with its midsection passing through an automobile tyre, is arguably the most famous work of which artist? | Robert Rauschenberg |
| "Unto This Last" is an essay and book on economy by which man, first published in December 1860? | John Ruskin |
| The Kingdom of God Is Within You (Russian: Царство Божие внутри вас) is a non-fiction book written by who in 1894? | Leo Tolstoy |
| "Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience)" is an essay written by who in 1849? | Henry David Thoreau |
| In astronomy, what name is given to is a (usually) straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system? | Syzygy |
| Often depicted as Nataraja (Sanskrit: naṭarāja, "Lord of Dance"), which Hindu deity is often also seen with an uplifted foot, representing freedom from illusion? | Shiva |
| Which event in the life of Christ is often depicted in art with an emphasis on the feet, such as in a 1958 work by Salvador Dali? | Ascension |
| Winterreise (Winter Journey) is a song cycle for voice and piano by who, published in 1828? | Schubert |
| Who wrote the overture "Ein Sommernachtstraum" in 1826? | Mendelssohn |
| Whose first novel "Look Who's Back" (Er ist wieder da), which has sold over a million copies in Germany, is a satire about Adolf Hitler and 21st-century Germany? | Timur Vermes |
| The TAZARA Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking which port with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province? | Dar es Salaam |
| The Benguela Railway connects the Atlantic port of Lobito to the eastern border town of Luau in which country? | Angola |
| What is the simplest saturated ketone? | Acetone |
| What name is given to the industrial process for developing phenol and acetone from benzene and propylene? | Cumene Process |
| Which French chemist isolated the first amino-acid ever identified, asparagin, in 1805-1806, is credited with discovering Beryllium and isolated, identified and started mass production of codeine in 1832? | Antoine Bussy |
| Which English actor and theatre manager founded RADA in 1904, as well as helping fund the rebuilding of His Majesty's Theatre in 1899? | Herbert Beerbohm Tree |
| Which George Bernard Shaw play, that opened in London in 1914, begins with a group of people sheltering from the rain in Covent Garden? | Pygmalion |
| Which film director was the illegitimate child of actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree? | Carol Reed |
| Which brothers led the band Sparks? | Ron and Russell Mael |
| Formed in 2000, which US group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione and describe their style as "Brechtian punk cabaret"? | The Dresden Dolls |
| A single orbital of an element holds a maximum of how many electrons? | Two |
| Naram-Sin, king of ancient Akkad, was what relation of Sargon? | Grandson |
| Who was the last ruler of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, reigning for just a few days from August 12, 30 BC, up to August 23, 30 BC? | Caesarion |
| What regnal number was Cleopatra, the famous lover of Marc Antony? | VII |
| The philosophers Democritus, Protagorasand Anaxarchus, historian and philosopher Hecataeus, and the lyric poet Anacreon all hailed from which ancient Greek polis in Thrace? | Abdera |
| Which Russian nuclear physicist, dissident, and activist for disarmament, peace and human rights won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975? | Andrei Sakharov |
| Which town in Tuscany was the birthplace, some time between 1412 and 1420 of Piero della Francesca? | Sansepolcro |
| Which great artist was born Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi c. 1386? | Donatello |
| The equivalent of Noah, which character in the Epic of Gilgamesh is tasked by Enki (Ea) to abandon his worldly possessions and create a giant ship to be called The Preserver of Life? | Utanipishtim |
| The Biblical King Solomon is believed to have historically reigned in which century? | Tenth century BCE (c. 961-922BCE) |
| Which city is the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics? | Beijing |
| Who directed the 2009 sports film "Invictus"? | Clint Eastwood |
| The 1954 Mile Race between Roger Bannister and John Landy, the first two men to break the 4 minute mile, was dubbed the "Race of the Century" and took place in which city? A bronze statue of the closing stages now stands there. | Vancouver |
| The first official international match in sport, in 1844, took place between which two nations at which sport? | USA, Canada; cricket |
| Which athlete, born June 30, 1985 in the city, was nicknamed "The Baltimore Bullet"? | Michael Phelps |
| What is the more common name of the deadly species Carcharodon carcharias? | Great White Shark |
| Joe DiMaggio played his entire 13 year professional baseball career for which team? | New York Yankees |
| One of the presenters of British children's television service CBBC, which puppet Border Terrier from Wigan, has a "half-brother" called Dodge? | Hacker T. Dog |
| Which winner of a 2006 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 'Showgirls' stepped out of the public eye for three months in October 2008 after her mother, brother, and nephew were killed in a shooting? | Jennifer Hudson |
| Which religious reformer is considered the founder of the both the Church of Scotland and the Protestant Reformation in Scotland? | John Knox |
| With which band did Ian Broudie and Holly Johnson play together before becoming the lead singers of The Lightning Seeds and Frankie Goes to Hollywood respectively? | Big In Japan |
| In meteorology, what is measured in oktas? | Cloud Cover |
| Which large lake lies on the River Rhine on the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria? | Lake Constance |
| 'Hatter's Castle' was the first novel by which popular 20th century novelist? | AJ Cronin |
| Nicknamed the 'Bull Moose Party', what was the name of the American political party founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 after he had lost the Republican Presidential nomination to William Howard Taft? | Progressive Party |
| Who achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, "Supermodel (You Better Work)", which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World (1993)? | RuPaul |
| Which 2016 Indian Hindi-language film was a record-breaking commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film ever, the fifth highest grossing non-English film ever, and 2017's highest-grossing sports film worldwide? | Dangal |
| Which French term is the equivalent of the Italian rilievo schiacciato? | Bas-relief |
| What was the first freestanding nude sculpture of the Renaissance - the first since classical times? | Donatello's David |
| Which Italian artist was born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone? | Masaccio |
| How is the number involved in the amount of substance in one mole, 6.022140857(74)×1023 mol−1 in the International System of Units (SI), better known after the Italian chemist who proposed a law involving it? | Avogadro's Constant |
| What is the simplest alkene, with formula C2H4 or H2C=CH2? | Ethylene/ethene |
| What name is given to an anion with the chemical formula written as [OCN]− or [NCO]−, which forms a base in aqueous solution? | Cyanate |
| Which alkane has the molecular formula C3H8? | Propane |
| On which island are the archaeological sites of Phaistos and Hagia Triada found? | Crete |
| Which town in the Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1620, was a Danish colony from 1620 until 1845? | Tharamgambadi (or Tranquebar) |
| What is the most northerly county in mainland Great Britain? | Caithness |
| Directed by Max Spielberg, the son of Steven, and with the tagline "This time it's really personal", 'Jaws 19' was a holofilm playing at the Holomax Theater in the year 2015 in which real film of 1989? | Back To The Future Part II |
| By what Anglicised name is Antti Hulkko, the lead singer of the Finnish rock group Hanoi Rocks, better know? | Andy McCoy |
| In which sport did the Indonesian Rudy Hartono win the All England Championship seven years in succession? | Badminton |
| The term "dey woman", used in Shakespeare, refers to a woman who worked where? | Dairy |
| Which future monarch of England was born in Bolingbroke Castle in 1367? | Henry IV |
| The Sundance Kid, an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West, had what real name? | Harry Longabaugh |
| Who was the first US President to die in office? | William Henry Harrison |
| Which senior British Army officer is most famous for commanding the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the first year of the Second World War, which was evacuated from Dunkirk? | (John Vereker, 6th) Viscount Gort |
| Which American abolitionist was the primary author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave"? | Solomon Northup |
| Who was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) for the first year and a half of the First World War? | John French |
| The "Queen's House" at Greenwich was built for which queen? | Anne of Denmark (wife of James I) |
| What name did Francis Drake give to all of North America north of Mexico, from "sea to sea," claimed by him for England in 1579? | New Albion |
| From the name of a German family of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, 'Fuggers' is a nickname for which profession? | Bankers |
| To which Middlesex airport or aerodrome did Neville Chamberlain return from the Munich Conference with the paper referred to in his later "Peace for our time" speech from 10 Downing Street? | Heston Aerodrome |
| Which US outlaw's real name was Robert Leroy Parker? | Butch Cassidy |
| On which island archipelago was Alexander Selkirk marooned for four years? | Juan Fernández archipelago |
| Which Israeli town is the holiest city of the Bahá'í Faith? | Acre |
| Who became Warden of the Royal Mint in 1696? | Isaac Newton |
| In which British town or city was William Wilberforce born? | (Kingston upon) Hull |
| The 1969 "Battle of Bogside" took place in which city? | Derry/Londonderry |
| How many people were killed in the 1819 Peterloo Massacre? | Eighteen |
| Who was the commander of the Republic of Texas at the Battle of the Alamo? | William B Travis |
| Who commanded Royalist revolutionary forces in Lancashire, Cheshire, and north Wales in a 1659 uprising, that were defeated by English Parliamentary general and politician John Lambert at the Battle of Winnington Bridge? | George Booth, (1st Baron Delamer) |
| Which man (1910-89) who jointly won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for "researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect" was an avid eugenicist? | William Shockley |
| The Sinti people belong to which wider ethnic group? | Romany |
| Adopted 1964, which capital city gives its name to a set of ethical principles regarding human experimentation developed for the medical community by the World Medical Association (WMA)? | Helsinki (Helsinki Declaration) |
| In which German state is Nuremberg? | Bavaria |
| With 35,000 living near Graubünden, Switzerland, who are the third-largest population of itinerant people all over Europe, living mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of France? | Yenish |
| In Greek myth, Clytemnestra was whose wife? | Agamemnon |
| The city of Syktyvkar is the capital of which Russian republic and federal state? | Komi Republic |
| Meaning "thief in law" which Russian term refers to a professional criminal who enjoys an elite position within the organized crime environment and employs informal authority over its lower-status members? | Vor v zakone |
| "The Captive Mind" is a 1953 work of nonfiction by which Polish writer? | Czeslaw Milosz |
| Which Australian book by Doris Pilkington, published in 1996, is a personal account of an indigenous Australian family's experiences as members of the Stolen Generation? | Follow The Rabbit-Proof Fence |
| Which American composer and performing musician associated with the minimalist school, is best known for works such as his 1964 composition In C and 1969 album A Rainbow in Curved Air, both considered landmarks of minimalist music? | Terry Riley |
| Which British composer and performer of electronic and acoustic music released her debut studio album, Varmints, to widespread critical acclaim in 2016? | Anna Meredith |
| Which American composer who, along with others, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s created innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns, and composed "Pendulum Music" and "Four Organs"? | Steve Reich |
| Eleanor of Aquitaine was mother of which two kings of England? | Richard I, John |
| Who was the mother of both Charles II and James II of Great Britain? | Henrietta Maria of France |
| Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was mother to which two British monarchs? | George IV, William IV |
| Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages, and Little Gidding, together make up what? | TS Eliot's "Four Quartets" |
| Complete the title of the 2014 Slavoj Zizek work "Absolute Recoil: Towards a New Foundation of Dialectical..." what? | Materialism |
| From the Greek for 'many forms' what term describes cells containing more than two paired (homologous) sets of chromosomes? | Polyploid |
| Which medicinal drug, extracted from the autumn crocus, can be used to induce polyploidy in plants? | Colchicine |
| Which fashion design house was started in London in 1982 by Wayne Hemingway and his wife Gerardine Hemingway? | Red or Dead |
| Sharing its name with a character in US literature, what is the state fruit of Idaho? | Huckleberry |
| The Battle of Tewkesbury of 1471 occurred in which conflict? | Wars of the Roses |
| Which battle, fought on 2 July 1644, is thought to possibly have been the largest fought on British soil? | Battle of Marston Moor |
| Which battle of 21 March 1646 in Gloucestershire effectively ended the first Civil War? | Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold |
| Which battle, fought between 17–19 August 1648, was the largest of the second English Civil War, and the Parliamentarian victory presaged the war's end? | Battle of Preston |
| In Greek myth, which character is stripped and chained naked to a rock as a sacrifice to sate the sea monster Cetus, but is saved from death by Perseus? | Andromeda |
| Massacre at Chios (1824), Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826) and Andromeda (1852) are all works by which artist? | Eugène Delacroix |
| Tamara de Lempicka was an artist from which country? | Poland |
| St Croix and St Thomas are the largest two islands in which group? | US Virgin Islands |
| In which English county is Market Rasen? | Lincolnshire |
| Where is the "Ieoh Ming Pyramid" located? | Outside the Louvre (From the forenames of I.M. Pei) |
| In 1937, Andrew Mellon donated his substantial art collection, collected at a cost of $25 million and valued at $40 million, plus $10 million for construction, to establish which art gallery? | National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
| Jørgen Moe (1813–82) and Sophus Bugge (1833-1907) were among the foremost collectors of the folklore of which country? | Norway |
| Pula is both the one-word motto, and currency, of which country? | Botswana |
| Which country's motto is "!ke e: ǀxarra ǁke" in the now defunct ǀXam language? It means "unity in diversity". | South Africa |
| Who (1536-1624) was commander of the English forces during the battles against the Spanish Armada? | Lord Howard of Effingham (Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham) |
| 16th PM of India, Narendra Modi, was born in which state, of which he also served as Governor from 2001 to 2014? The state is home to Gir Forest National Park, in turn the sole home of the Asiatic lion in the wilderness in the entire world. | Gujarat |
| Which English slave trader, naval commander and administrator (1532-95) pioneered the slave trade, and was, in his ship Victory, third in command at the Armada battles in 1588? | John Hawkins |
| Which Thomas Hardy novel is subtitled "A Pure Woman"? | Tess of the D'Urbervilles |
| The second Abbasid caliph, who is known for founding the 'round city' of Madinat al-Salam which was to become the core of imperial Baghdad? | al-Mansur |
| Ostashkov is the only city on which popular resort lake of central Russia, called the "European Baikal"? | Lake Seliger |
| Named after a Japanese molecular biologist, what name is given to short, newly synthesized DNA fragments that are formed on the lagging template strand during DNA replication? | Okazaki Fragments |
| Which novel begins "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."? | David Copperfield |
| Somerset House, London, and the pagoda at Kew are among the most famous works of which Scottish-Swedish architect and co-founder of the Royal Academy? | William Chambers |
| Death Comes to Pemberley is a 2011 novel by which British writer that continues Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with a murder mystery? | P.D. James |
| Which French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "father of paleontology" (1769-1832) wrote 1817's "The Animal Kingdom" and was the most influential proponent of catastrophism in geology in the early 19th century? | Georges Cuvier |
| In Greek myth, who was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as the "inflexible" or "inevitable"? It was she who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their thread with her "abhorred shears." | Atropos |
| "Pura vida" is a phrase associated with the culture of which country in the Americas? | Costa Rica |
| The Strait of Otranto links the Ionian Sea to which other? | Adriatic |
| Traditionally, all distances in London are measured from an equestrian statue of which king? | Charles I |
| Popularised by the rapper Drake, which city has the nickname "The Six"? | Toronto |
| Which is the only forename to be shared by two of the first twelve men to walk on the Moon? | Alan (Bean, Shepard) |
| Which alcoholic beverage variously made from apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, candy, ketchup, sugar, milk, and possibly other ingredients, including crumbled bread, is best known for being made by prisoners in US jails? | Pruno |
| Which Team GB cyclist received a knighthood in 2009? | Chris Hoy |
| What was the name of the pirate Blackbeard (real name Edward teach)'s ship? | Queen Anne's Revenge |
| Under which Emperor of the Han dynasty did Confucianism become China's state orthodoxy? He was born born Liu Che, courtesy name Tong, and ruled for 54 years? | Emperor Wu of Han |
| Which German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, was the first person to publicly perform any work by Brahms? | Clara Schumann |
| What foul in American Football is signalled by an official placing their hands on their hips? | Encroachment |
| Which character was portrayed by Bradley James in the BBC TV series Merlin (2008-2012)? | King Arthur |
| The pirate John Rackham (26 December 1682 – 18 November 1720) was better known by what nickname? | Calico Jack |
| How many times did Jacqueline Bouvier (July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) marry? | Twice |
| Which fashion house made the pink suit worn by Jackie Kennedy on the day of her husband John's assassination? | Chanel |
| Who was both the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL), and along with Bobby Marshall one of the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920? | Fritz Pollard |
| "One of These Nights" was both a UK Top 10 single, and the name of the fourth studio album by which band? | The Eagles |
| Who composed the opera "Ernani" (1844)? | Giuseppe Verdi |
| "Pastel de nata" cakes originated in which country? | Portugal |
| Jane Shore was a mistress of which English monarch? | Edward IV |
| "Behind the Gloves" is a website dedicated to which sport? | Boxing |
| The university in Linz, Austria is named after which astronomer? | Johannes Kepler |
| How many cymbals make up a hi-hat? | Two |
| What does footballer Javier Hernández's nickname Chicharito mean? | Little Pea |
| Both the ancient towns of Chalcedon and Carthage took their names ultimately from the Phoenician word for what? | New Town |
| Located 29 miles south-west of Rhodes, what is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea? | Karpathos |
| The first emperor to rule the whole of China, who was the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty? | Kublai Khan |
| Who played Custer in the 1941 film "They Died With Their Boots On"? | Errol Flynn |
| Which Coronation Street actress, who played Ena Sharples, died on Boxing Day 1983? | Violet Carson |
| Later appearing drunk on The Word and Shooting Stars, who played Ivy Tilsley in Coronation Street? | Lynne Perrie |
| The US TV series Lou Grant (1977-82) featured which fictional newspaper? | Los Angeles Tribune |
| Which actor, who died aged 45 in 1973, was born Laruschka Mischa Skikne? | Laurence Harvey |
| Which Cumbria village is home to England's highest mainline railway station? | Dent |
| Which solar system plane has an equatorial diameter close to twice that of Earth's moon? | Mars |
| Following the example of the Cadbury brothers at Bourneville, which manufacturer and philanthropist developed the model village of New Earswick, North East of York? | Joseph Rowntree |
| In which Booker Prize winning novel by Peter Carey do the title characters become involved in a wager to transport a glass church into the Australian bush? | Oscar and Lucinda |
| Which German director made the 1982 film "Fitzcarraldo"? | Werner Herzog |
| Based on a novel of 1950, Henri-Georges Clouzet's film "The Wages of Fear" concerns an attempt to transport what substance by jeep across dangerous terrain in South America? | Nitroglycerin |
| Which programming language was invented by Jean E. Sammet and others in 1959 and intended for use in commerce? | COBOL |
| Name the discrete probability distribution taking the value 1 with probability p, and taking the value 0 with probability 1 minus p. | Bernoulli Distribution |
| The first successful version of which device was built by Theodore Maiman in Malibu in 1960? | LASER |
| What term indicates highly magnetised pulsars emitting mainly X-rays and gamma rays? | Magnetars |
| Which musical instrument, standard in British brass bands, takes its name from the German for "wing horn"? | Flugelhorn |
| The economic theory that the true rate of exchange between two currencies can be determined by what can be bought with a unit of each is known as PPP; for what do these initials stand? | Purchasing Power Parity |
| What is the name of the element with atomic number 111? | Roentgenium |
| Which Welsh physicist gives his name to the phenomena that occur when an electric current passes through a very thin insulating layerbetween two superconducting substances? | Brian Josephson (the Josephson effect) |
| What is the common name of songbirds of the genus "motacilla"? British species include the yellow, grey and pied. | Wagtail |
| In 1900, the image that can be seen as both a rabbit and a duck was introduced by which Polish-born US psychologist? He also invented the "ring-segment illusion" that has an alternative name, named after him. | Joseph Jastrow |
| What 8-letter noun denotes a plane curve consisting of two branches situated about a line to which they are asymptotic, so that any line through a fixed point intersecting both branches is of equal and constant length between asymptote and either branch? | Conchoid |
| The German actor Gustaf Gründgens was the inspiration for the novel "Mephisto" by which German author, who questioned his actions during the Nazi era? | Klaus Mann |
| Who gave a speech of 18 February 1943 calling for a total war, as the tide of World War II had turned against Nazi Germany and its Axis allies? | Joseph Goebbels |
| In 2010, which tennis player became the seventh male player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the US Open men's final? | Rafael Nadal |
| Which comedian, singer and actress wrote the 1977 book "George, Don't Do That"? | Joyce Grenfell |
| What is the commercial name sometimes used to designate a red paint made from a traditional lake pigment extracted from the plant Rubia tinctorum? | Rose madder |
| Which collective, who teach architecture without any of them being qualified architects, won the 2015 Turner Prize? | Assemble |
| Which chemical element has the symbol Nd? | Neodymium |
| Which British TV series of 1992-93 was set in the fictional town of Los Barcos? | Eldorado |
| Who wrote the poem that includes the lines "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage""? | Richard Lovelace (To Althea, From Prison) |
| Which colourful name is given to refer to all US tabloid papers? | Yellow press |
| Which poet's opium-induced inspiration was shattered by a 'person from Porlock'? | Samuel Taylor Coleridge |
| Matthew Bourne, born Walthamstow in January 1960, is famous in what field? | Choreography/ballet |
| Which artist painted "Broadway Boogie-Woogie"? | Piet Mondrian |
| "Squares with Concentric Circles" of 1913, "Composition VII" of 1913 and "Points" of 1920 were all works by which artist? | Wassily Kandinsky |
| Which UK novelist's (1918-2006) autobiography was called "Curriculum Vitae"? | Muriel Spark |
| Which wildy-successful author wrote the Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private series? | James Patterson |
| Whose one hundredth novel was published in 1999, a year after she died? Her unmarried name was McMullen. | Catherine Cookson |
| Which Pope commissioned the painting of the Sistine Chapel roof? | Julius II |
| Who painted 1656's "Jacob Blessing The Sons of Joseph"? | Rembrandt |
| Which part of the body is a "bushel" in Cockney rhyming slang? | Neck (bushel and peck) |
| What is the male equivalent of a sculptural karyatid? | Telamon/atlantes |
| The Danish companies Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk are both involved in which industry? | Pharmaceuticals |
| Opened in 1988, the Essen Opera House was designed by, and is named after, which architect? | Alvar Aalto |
| Which American film, stage and television actor's most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in "The Seven Year Itch", and he also starred in "The Girl Can't Help It"? | Tom Ewell |
| In "The Addams Family", what type of animal was Pugsley's pet, Aphrodite? | An octopus |
| Which fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893, drove a Rolls-Royce called "The Grey Panther"? | Sexton Blake |
| Which British actor was born David John McDonald on 18 April 1971? | David Tennant |
| Blanche and Jane Hudson are characters in which film of 1962? | What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? |
| What is the name of "Strictly Come Dancing"'s spin-off show, shown on weekday evenings on BBC2 since 2004? | Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two/It Takes Two |
| Who replaced Sandi Toksvig as host of Radio 4's "The News Quiz" in September 2015? | Miles Jupp |
| First broadcast in 2006, what is the name of the obituary BBC radio series broadcast weekly on Radio 4? | Last Word |
| Which British art historian and museum director presented the radio series, and wrote the book, both entitled "A History Of The World in 100 Objects"? | Neil MacGregor |
| What is the alter ego of Wonder Woman? | Diana Prince |
| In nuclear physics, how is the 'nucleon number' better known? | Mass number |
| What name is given to atoms with equal numbers of protons but differing numbers of neutrons? | Isotopes |
| Long considered stable, it was later found that which element, atomic number 83, had an isotope that decays via alpha decay with a half-life more than a billion times the estimated age of the universe? It is thus stable for all intents and purposes. | Bismuth |
| Which prefix in the SI and other systems of units denotes a factor of 10−9 (one billionth)? | Nano- |
| Which unit prefix in the metric system denotes a factor of 10−18 or 0.000000000000000001? | Atto- |
| The unit prefix -pico denotes a factor of 10 to the minus what? | Twelve |
| What are the three isotopes of hydrogen called? | Hydrogen, deuterium, tritium |
| In what type of radioactive decay might a neutron change into a proton in an atom? | Beta-decay |
| Which English theoretical physicist (1902-84), who shared the 1933 Nobel Prize with Erwin Schrödinger "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory" predicted the existence of positrons before they were discovered? | Paul Dirac |
| Which tributary of the Thames, that shares its name with a Lancashire town, flows through Watford and Uxbridge? | River Colne |
| Joe Clarke won a gold medal for team GB at the 2016 Olympics in which sport? | Canoeing |
| Phillip Hindes and Callum Skinner won gold medals for team GB at the 2016 Olympics in which sport? | Cycling |
| Which two British rowers won the Women's coxless pair events at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics? | Helen Glover and Heather Stanning |
| Between 1935 and 1983 Great Britain (and from 1979 Europe) won only one Ryder Cup - at which course in the West Riding of Yorkshire? | Lindrick (in 1957) |
| Who was the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali? | Trevor Berbick |
| Because it took place in Nassau, what name was given to Muhammad Ali's last professional boxing fight, on December 11, 1981? | Drama in Bahama |
| Which is the only letter in Scrabble to be worth exactly five points? | K |
| How many players on a netball team may score? | Two |
| The first female winner of a gold medal in the Olympics did so in which sport, and did so two months before Charlotte Cooper won a medal in tennis? | Sailing (Hélène de Pourtalès, a crewmember of the Swiss boat Lérina, which won the gold medal in the first race of 2-3 ton class) |
| In 1987, who became the first Irishman to win the Tour De France? | Stephen Roche |
| Inspired by the European masters such as Claude Lorrain and John Constable, Thomas Cole is acknowledged as the founder of which artistic movement, also associated with Frederic Church and Sanford Robinson Gifford? | Hudson River School |
| Which American Old West outlaw, who boasted that he had killed more than forty men, was himself shot dead by the El Paso lawman John Selman in 1895? | John Wesley Harding |
| Tintamarre is the largest island in which French overseas collectivity that came into being in February 2007? | Saint Martin |
| 'Knifeboards' was a nickname for seats on what form of transport in the UK? | Trams |
| Known for championing unpopular people and causes, what was the hereditary title of Francis Aungier Pakenham (1905-2001)? | Lord Longford (7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham) |
| Which former British Prime Minister lost his seat in Manchester East just months after resigning as PM? | Arthur Balfour |
| Who was the first British Royal to visit the USSR, doing so in 1990? | Princess Anne |
| Which Scottish miners' leader and lifelong Communist was the vice-president of the NUM during the 1984-5 miner's strike? | Mick McGahey |
| Who was the last British PM to be PM whilst in the House of Lords? | Marquis of Salisbury |
| Who was British PM between the first stints of Wellington and Melbourne? | Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey |
| Who narrowly defeated Silvio Berlusconi in a 1996 election to become PM of Italy - a position he held until 1998, and then again from 2006 to 2008? | Romano Prodi |
| Who was PM of Australia from 1996 to 2007? | John Howard |
| How is the historical figure Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 1099) better known? | El Cid |
| The city of Guangzhou in China lies on which river? | Pearl River |
| Which two letters make up the Internet code of Serbia? | RS (.rs) |
| Which two letters make up the Internet code of Morocco? | MA (.ma) |
| Which Shakespeare character's last words before death are, "Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;. Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die"? | Richard II |
| Which Shakespeare character's last words before death are, "I killed not thee with half so good a will"? | Brutus |
| Which Shakespeare character's last words before death are, "The drink, the drink! I am poison'd"? | Gertrude (Hamlet) |
| Which Ben Jonson comedy takes place during a plague in London and features Face, Subtle and Dol trying to relieve the gullible of theircash? | The Alchemist |
| Which British town, on the Trent, between Newark and Scunthorpe, is believed to have been the inspiration for the fictional St Ogg's in "The Mill On The Floss"? | Gainsborough |
| In the novels of George R.R. Martin, the seven kingdoms are found on which continent? | Westeros |
| The city of Vasteras is the largest inland port in which country? | Sweden |
| Which Swedish actress was also a film director, making her debut with the explicit Älskande par (1964, "Loving Couples")? | Mai Zetterling |
| Which Scottish town is the mainland terminus of the ferry to Stornoway? | Ullapool |
| The Melian Dialogue is a famous passage in which work from classical times? | Thucydides' "A History Of The Peloponnesian War" |
| Give a year during the First Opium War. | 1839-42 (inclusive) |
| Who succeeded William Henry Harrison as US President? | John Tyler |
| Which treaty was signed on June 5, 1862, between representatives of the French Empire and the last precolonial emperor of the House of Nguyen, Emperor Tự Đức, and gave France its first foothold in Indochina? | Treaty of Saigon |
| Considered the pinnacle work of Chinese imperial garden and palace design, which building was destroyed by the British and French in 1860 at the end of the Second Opium War? | Old Summer Palace (Yuanming Yuan) |
| Which French composer and pianist wrote the piano suite Trois mouvements perpétuels (1919), the ballet Les biches (1923), the Concert champêtre (1928), the opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1957), and the Gloria (1959) for soprano, choir and orchestra? | Francis Poulenc |
| Which British ballet dancer and choreographer was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death in 1992? | Kenneth MacMillan |
| What is the first line and usual title of the Christian hymn also known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels? | Gloria in Excelsis Deo |
| Who composed the film score for the film "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962)? | Maurice Jarre |
| Who directed the films Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999) and There Will Be Blood (2007)? | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Which composer wrote the scores for A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America, all Giuseppe Tornatore films since Cinema Paradiso and The Untouchables? | Ennio Morricone |
| Born in County Sligo in 1819, which Irish physicist and mathematician's name is joined to that of Claude-Louis Navier to form some equations describing the motion of viscous fluid substances? | George Gabriel Stokes (Navier-Stokes Equations) |
| Which English poet (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889), on becoming a Jesuit priest, burned his poems, having sent copies to a friend for safe keeping? | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| Which German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for the 1972 Summer Olympics, won 2015's Pritzker Prize? | Frei Otto |
| Who wrote "Cities of the Interior" (1959), in five volumes, including "The Four-Chambered Heart"? | Anais Nin |
| Nicknamed "Old leather lungs" which singer's real name was Francesco Paolo LoVecchio? | Frankie Laine |
| Who wrote the music for the musicals Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008)? | Claude-Michel Schönberg |
| The tempranillo grape, used in wine production, is native to which country? | Spain |
| The drink Pimms number 2 was based on which spirit? | Whisky |
| The menorah, a symbol of Judaism, has how many arms? | Seven |
| Who were the Rolling Stones' record label from 1963 to 1970? | Decca |
| Which rabbinical product certification, qualifying items (usually foods) that conform to the requirements of halakha or kosher, is the Hebrew for "prior approval"? | Hechsher |
| The cervelat the national sausage of which European nation? | Switzerland |
| Who had UK hits with "Who's Sorry Now" (1957) and "Lipstick On Your Collar" (1959)? | Connie Francis |
| "Once" was an April 2010 UK number 1 for which former X Factor contestant? | Diana Vickers |
| In physics, what name is given to the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles? | Annihilation |
| What is a dryad's saddle? | Fungus/mushroom |
| What is the only endemic vertebrate in the UK? | Scottish Crossbill |
| Which bird, spinus spinus, is a finch with a brown-green back, black cap and yellow flashes? | (Common or Eurasian) Siskin |
| From 1902 until the 1950s, "Abdulla" was a make of what product, sold in the UK? | Cigarettes |
| In the UK, what does the acronym 'FIA' after a person's name signify? | Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries |
| What is the sum of the interior angles of a pentagon, in degrees? | 540 |
| The female equivalent of a testator, what name is sometimes given to a woman who makes a will? | Testatrix |
| Which popular toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in 1953, and is now owned by Mattel, Inc made so many toy cars that they said they "made more cars than Chrysler, Chevrolet and Buick combined"? | Matchbox |
| What name is given to an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch? | Smocking |
| What name is given to a female swan? | Pen |
| Which twin-engine monoplane aircraft was Amy Johnson flying when she went missing in 1941? | Airspeed Oxford |
| Which rapper, born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973 played Brother Sam in the Showtime drama series Dexter and Ford Prefect in 2005 film "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"? | Mos Def |
| In which film of 1986 did John Cleese play headmaster Brian Stimpson? | Clockwise |
| Which 1959 American courtroom drama crime film produced and directed by Otto Preminger starred James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden and George C. Scott? | Anatomy Of A Murder |
| The film "3:10 to Yuma" of 1957 was based on a short story by who? | Elmore Leonard |
| Who won consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscars in 1977 and 1978? | Jason Robards |
| Which horror film of 1976, directed by Richard Donner, was remade in 2006 by John Moore? | The Omen |
| Who played psychopath Hughie Warriner in 1989 film "Dead Calm"? | Billy Zane |
| Which famous name is used by John Cleese's character in "A Fish Called Wanda"? | Archie Leach |
| Which country or area is called by its native inhabitants "Kalaallit Nunaat"? | Greenland |
| What name was given to a type of open skin boat used by both Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland? | Umiak |
| Which animal, Ovibos moschatus, is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odour emitted during the seasonal rut by males? | Muskox |
| Which finch-like birds, in the genus Acanthis, have three species: Arctic, Common and Lesser? | Redpolls |
| Which country's parliament is called the Folketing? | Denmark |
| In which treaty, concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 was Heligoland ceded to the UK? | Treaty of Kiel |
| The uncommon mineral, cryolite, largely found in Greenland, was historically used as an ore of which metal? | Aluminium |
| In which French town or city is the Saint Benezet bridge (Pont Saint-Bénézet)? | Avignon |
| Fleet services lie on which British motorway? | M3 |
| In which US state is the Alamo? | Texas |
| Which South African golfer won his maiden, and only, major championship at the 2008 Masters Tournament? | Trevor Immelman |
| Which golfer, with a nickname that means "The Duck" because of his waddling gait won two majors - the U.S. Open in 2007 and the Masters in 2009? | Angel Cabrera |
| Snooker cues are nearly always made from which wood? | Ash |
| What is the short distance a horse may run over in British flat racing? | Five furlongs |
| How many rods are in a mile? | 320 |
| How many points is a 'J' worth in Scrabble? | Eight |
| In UK National Hunt racing, what is the shortest possible distance of a horse race if it involves fences or hurdles? | Two Miles |
| What single word term is used for a National Hunt horse race run over the flat as a training exercise? | Bumper |
| Yuriy Sedykh set a men's world record in which athletics event in 1986, that still stood some 30 years later? | Hammer throw |
| Which stadium was the home of Wigan RLFC before the club moved to the JJB Stadium in 1999? | Central Park |
| At which fictional school did Miss Jean Brodie teach, in the Muriel Spark novel? | Marcia Blaine School |
| Which playwright, author of 1920's "I'll Leave It To You", died in 1973? | Noel Coward |
| Which author, who died on 2 March 1930, had an elaborate headstone commissioned by Frieda Weekley, and has a memorial in Westminster Abbey that reads "Homo Sum! The Adventurer"? | DH Lawrence |
| Which western TV hero was created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way"? | The Cisco Kid |
| What were the fictional character Captain Hook's last words, in the play "Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" at least? | Floreat Etona |
| What did the capital letters stand for in the 1970s US TV series CHiPs? | California Highway Patrol |
| Which UK newspaper offered the £1000 prize won by Louis Bleriot for being the first man to fly across the Channel? | Daily Mail |
| Who sculpted the four lions around Nelson's Column in London? | Sir Edwin Landseer |
| Which Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I is best known for the poem "In Flanders Fields"? | John McCrae |
| Which 17th century poet wrote love-song "To His Coy Mistress"? | Andrew Marvell |
| To which tribe did the villain Magua belong in James Fenimore Cooper's novel "Last of the Mohicans"? | Huron |
| Which theatre style of the late 1950s, inspired by Camus, focused largely on the idea of existentialism and expressed what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down? | Theatre of the Absurd |
| Defined as the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge", what term links Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza? | Rationalists/rationalism |
| Noddy Boffin appears in which Charles Dickens? | Our Mutual Friend |
| Who is the blacksmith in 'Great Expectations'? | Joe Gargery |
| "My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains. My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk" are lines from which poem? | Ode To A Nightingale |
| A gamp is an alternative word for which common item? | Umbrella |
| The pasodoble dance originated in which country? | Spain |
| Founded in 1767, where is the Spode brand of pottery based? | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Swansea and Crown Derby are British varieties of what? | China/porcelain |
| What was the first manmade object to leave the Solar System? | Voyager 1 |
| What name is given to the steepest angle of descent or dip relative to the horizontal plane to which a material can be piled without slumping of a granular compound? It can range from 0° to 90°. | Angle of Repose |
| The 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa stood for the presidency of which country, his birthplace, in 1990? | Peru |
| First performed in 1958, which play by Shelagh Delaney concerns a working-class girl from Salford who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand? | A Taste of Honey |
| In geometric optics, what name is used for the angle that a ray or beam of radiation makes with a line perpendicular to the surface at the point of arrival? | Angle of Incidence |
| Which Greek painter who flourished during the 5th century BC apparently painted grapes so realistic that birds would peck at them? He is said to have died laughing at the humorous way he painted the goddess Aphrodite. | Zeuxis |
| Which character narrates the novel "Treasure Island"? | Jim Hawkins |
| Which English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era designed Castle Drogo? | Edwin Lutyens |
| In which English county is Castle Drogo? | Devon |
| Which Noel Coward play concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel? | Private Lives |
| Who wrote the children's novels "Sleepovers" and "Dustin Baby", both in 2001? | Jacqueline Wilson |
| In which real life town is the fictional Patricia Cornwell character, Kay Scarpetta, based, in her first seven novels? | Richmond, Virginia |
| Which type of mythological creature is "Buckbeak" in the Harry Potter series? | Hippogriff |
| Dale Arden and Princess Aura are characters in which comic books, later both TV and film series? | Flash Gordon |
| What is meant by 'third age' in the name of the international movement "University of the Third Age", or "U3A"? | Old Age |
| What is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs ("cartoons") drawn in Paris around 1500? They were brought to public attention by Prosper Merimee and George Sand. | The Lady and the Unicorn |
| The Wreck of the Deutschland is a 35-stanza ode bywhich poet, composed in 1875 and 1876? | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| In poetry, the study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known by what name? | Prosody |
| George's Secret Key to the Universe (2007) is a children's book written by who, in collaboration with his daughter Lucy? | Stephen Hawking |
| Whose unfinished works were "St Ives: Being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England" and "Weir of Hermiston"? | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Which actress married the British director Tom Ackerley in 2016? | Margot Robbie |
| Which Archimedean solid has exactly 8 triangular faces and 6 square faces? | Cuboctahedron |
| There are three national parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and which other? | Pembrokeshire Coast |
| Exmoor National Park lies predominantly within which English county? | Somerset |
| In 1838, John Sadleir founded a bank bearing the name of which large Irish county? He became an MP, embezzled more than £200,000 and in 1856, was found dead on Hampstead Heath next to a vial of prussic acid. | Tipperary |
| Originally meaning a shoot or twig, especially one cut to form a graft, what word has come to mean an heir or descendant, especially of a noble house? | Scion |
| How many electrons does an atom of halogen have in its outer p subshell? | Five |
| Which English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science (1794-866) contributed many familiar scientific words, such as electrode, ion, dielectric, anode, and cathode? | William Whewell |
| Who painted "Portrait of a Man In a Red Turban", now in the National Gallery? | Jan Van Eyck |
| Forty operas and oratorios and the overture known as the "Water Music" are among the works of which composer who was an influence on Handel? He was the music director of Hamburg's 5 main churches from 1721 until his 1767 death. | Georg Philipp Telemann |
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