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GK 39
Quiz
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who, in 2016, became the first English golfer in 20 years to win the US Masters? | Danny Willett |
| Which South Africa golfer had two U.S. Open wins (in 2001 and 2004)? | Retief Goosen |
| Which golfer was the first Asian-born man to have won a major championship when he came from behind to defeat Tiger Woods at the 2009 US PGA Tournament? | YE Yang (Yang Yong-eun) |
| Which US golfer, born 1979, is best known for winning the 2009 U.S. Open? | Lucas Glover |
| Which former Liverpool footballer helped to design the Adidas Predator boot? | Craig Johnston |
| The 1964 Rock Hudson film "Man's Favorite Sport?" featured which sport specifically? | Fishing |
| What is the name of the town in French Guiana, home to the Guiana Space Centre, from which the European Space Agency and CNES launch their satellites? | Kourou |
| Lítla Dímun is the only one of the eighteen large islands of which European island group to be uninhabited? | Faroe Islands |
| Named after an 18th Century British scientist, what name is given to the ratio of the tensile stress to the tensile strain in a material? | Young's Modulus |
| In May 1957 Britain's first Hydrogen Bomb was tested over which Pacific island? | Kiritimati |
| What is the translation of Latin phrase "facta, non verba"? | Deeds, Not Words |
| Which is the last of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales? | The Parson's Tale |
| What is the name of the lead "angry young man" in John Osborne's play "Look Back In Anger"? | Jimmy Porter |
| Who wrote 1945 novel "The Pursuit of Love"? | Nancy Mitford |
| Which entertainer was born as Daniel Patrick Carroll in 1927? | Danny La Rue |
| Meaning "one who speaks" what name was given to an Aztec leader? | Tlatoani |
| The term "basileus" is most often used for leaders of which historical empire? | Byzantine |
| In office 2006-15, who did Justin Trudeau replace as Canadian PM? | Stephen Harper |
| Replaced by Xi Jinping, which Chinese politician was the paramount leader of China from 2002 to 2012? | Hu Jintao |
| Which future national leader escaped from Lincoln Gaol in England in February 1919? | Eamon de Valera |
| Which Goddess of Greek myth was also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia, or Adrasteia or Adrestia, meaning "the inescapable"? | Nemesis |
| Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi and Skuld are three of the most important of which female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men in Norse myth? | Norns |
| Who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1961 to 1974, the 100th man to hold the post? | Michael Ramsey |
| Who is the patron saint of painters, surgeons, students and butchers? | St Luke |
| How are members of the Society of Jesus better known? | Jesuits |
| Whose 1970 cover of "Mama Told Me Not To Come" hit the top of the US charts, and number 3 on the UK charts? | Three Dog Night |
| Which musical note is the universal standard measure of pitch? | A (above middle C) |
| Which was the only one of the British Isles upon which Germany established concentration camps during World War II? | Alderney |
| Which Hungarian Prime Minister, famously an expert in geography and economics, committed suicide in April 1941 in protest at his country’s involvement in the German attack on Yugoslavia? | Pál Teleki |
| The 16th Century Stari Most bridge, from which the Bosnian city of Mostar takes its name, spans which river? | Neretva |
| Which 1993 American comedy film directed by Tamra Davis and starring Chris Rock (who also co-wrote and produced it) was named after the fictional rap group it depicted? | CB4 |
| In which EU member state did Margaret Thatcher sign the Single European Act in February 1986? | Luxembourg |
| Marking the first involvement by a Labour government in Europe for 18 years, Britain signed up to the EU Social Chapter at a 1997 conference in which city? | Amsterdam |
| Which London bridge links Chelsea to the north with Battersea Park to the south, and was named for a prominent 19th century figure? | Albert Bridge |
| In its broadest definition, what word refers to that part of the total repertoire of human action which is socially, as opposed to genetically, transmitted? | Culture |
| In the UK banking it is the 'base rate'; by what name is it known in the US? | Prime rate |
| In the film "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break" which comedian said "I was in love with a beautiful blonde once...she drove me to drink. That's one thing I'm indebted to her for."? | WC Fields |
| Who was the only legitimate daughter of Henry I? | (Empress) Matilda |
| How is the animal family Crotalinae better known? | Pit vipers |
| Who had a number 2 hit in 1983 in the UK with "A Winter's Tale"? | David Essex |
| Of the kings of England called Henry, three were sons of a King Henry - who were they? | Henry V, VI, VII |
| In Roman religion who was the god of commerce and merchants, sometimes depicted holding a purse? | Mercury |
| Who was the first British-born woman to enter the House of Commons as an MP in 1921? | Margaret Wintringham |
| Which Lincolnshire RAF base became the home of the Red Arrows in 1983? | RAF Scamton |
| At which castle in Kent did Vita Sackville-West develop a famous garden? | Sissinghurst |
| How many edges does an icosahedron have? | 30 |
| In 1762, James MacPherson issued the epic poem Fingal, followed by Temora the next year, both of which he alleged were translations from the Gaelic of which legendary poet? | Ossian |
| Three pages of revisions to a manuscript of which play, are thought to be Shakespeare's only surviving literary manuscript? | Sir Thomas More (written by Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle) |
| What can be defined as the magnitude of a force multiplied by the time tor which the force is applied? | Impulse |
| In which UK city did a branch of Woolworths first open in 1909? | Liverpool |
| In physics, what term is used for a hypothetical body that absorbs all the radiation falling on it? | Black body |
| Henry Bishop, born in 1786, was a prolific composer of operas, but is chiefly remembered for which 19th-century popular song, whose words, by JH Payne begin "Mid pleasures and places/Tho we may roam"? | Home, Sweet Home |
| Founded in Philadelphia in 1847, which US organisation was established to "Promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of public health"? | American Medical Association |
| Which US actor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Coming Home (1978) and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Nebraska (2013), aged 77? | Bruce Dern |
| Who was the oldest female performer to receive an honorary Academy Award statuette, presented on November 8, 2014, when she was 94 years old? | Maureen O'Hara |
| Winning in 1926 and 1927, who was the first non-American winner of the men's singles US Open in tennis? | René Lacoste |
| As of 2018, who are the only brother–sister tandem in tennis history who have both achieved No. 1 rankings? | Marat Safin and Dinara Safina |
| Which Australian tennis player won the 2011 US Open, defeating Serena Williams in the final and becoming the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament? | Samantha Stosur |
| Which retired tennis player became a Grand Slam singles champion by winning the US Open in 2015, defeating her childhood friend Roberta Vinci in the first all-Italian Grand Slam final? | Flavia Pennetta |
| Which twins and tennis doubles specialists became, in 2013, the first men's doubles team to hold all four Grand Slams and the Olympic titles at the same time? | Mike and Bob Bryan |
| Which right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner became captain of the New Zealand cricket team in 2016? | Kane Williamson |
| In which country was former England cricketer Colin Cowdrey born? | India (Bangalore) |
| Who was the first Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and ran the tournament for three years until 2010? He was banned for life from Indian cricket in 2013 because of financial irregularities. | Lalit Modi |
| Who sculpted the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa from 1647 to 1652? | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Which Spanish town, declared a World Heritage Site in 1985, is associated with Saint Teresa, a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun and author during the Counter Reformation? | Ávila |
| Social Consciousness, Liverpool Resurgent and Rush of Green are all sculptures by which artist? | Jacob Epstein |
| Which literary work inspired Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker"? | The Divine Comedy (Dante) |
| Which now-demolished block of 24 unified neoclassical terrace houses occupying the land between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, London, was designed by the Adam brothers and named from the Greek for "brothers"? | Adelphi |
| Which urban planner designed Brasilia's layout (often described as like an aeroplane or dragonfly)? | Lucio Costa |
| For which monarch was Brighton Pavilion built? | George IV |
| The Battle of Austerlitz in December 1805 was fought on a site in which modern-day country? | Czech Republic |
| In Greek myth, King Ixion of Thessaly was bound to an eternally-revolving fiery wheel as punishment for his attempted seduction of who? | Hera |
| In Muslim tradition, who was the wife of Potiphar? | Zuleika |
| In the Bible, Potiphar is named as the employer of which Israelite? | Joseph |
| Shortly before the Battle of Austerlitz, which Russian Emperor took overall control of the Russian and Austrian forces from General Kutuzov, and lost to a smaller French army? | Alexander I |
| In which book of the Bible did David bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, dancing "with al his might before the Lord", girded with a linen ephod? | Samuel II/second Book of Samuel |
| Which preserved standard-gauge passenger railway line was founded in Sussex in 1959, and runs between Sheffield Park Station and Kingscote? | The Bluebell Railway |
| Whose first serious dramatic film role, was as a nuclear physicist in "On The Beach" in 1959? | Fred Astaire |
| Who was the poet and friend of Alexander Pope, who became an enemy after a bitter quarrel in 1727 which led to venomous personal attacks in verse including "The Dunciad" and "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot"? | Lady Mary Wortley Montagu |
| What was the first WW2 Allied conference to which Stalin was invited? | Tehran |
| Which mythical Saxon brothers reputedly led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, and founded Kent? | Hengist and Horsa |
| Known chiefly for its supposed association with King Arthur, which battle is thought to have occurred between Celtic Britons and Anglo-Saxons in the late 5th/early 6th century and ended in a victory for Britons? | Battle of Mons Badonicus (Battle of Badon) |
| Which battle was fought in 633 or 634 between a Northumbrian army under Oswald of Bernicia and a Welsh army under Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, and resulted in a decisive Northumbrian victory? | Battle of Heavenfield |
| The 7th century king Oswald of Northumbria was killed by the Mercians at the Battle of Maserfield, a place generally identified with which modern town? | Oswestry |
| In what decade was the first petition for women's suffrage presented to the British Parliament? | 1860s (1866) |
| The Parts of Lindsey are a traditional division of which English county? | Lincolnshire |
| Bernicia and Deira combined in the 7th century to form which English county? | Northumbria |
| Which Welsh place-name term refers to a martyr? | Merthyr |
| Vortiporius or Vortipor was a 6th century king of which Welsh kingdom? | Dyfed |
| Fourth in the list of Bede's kings, which 7th-century king of East Anglia is associated with the Sutton Hoo find? | Raedwald |
| King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768, who was the first Carolingian king, and was the younger son of Charles Martel? | Pepin the Short |
| In Stevenson's story, what are the forenames of Jekyll and Hyde? | Henry and Edward, respectively |
| Captain Nemo commanded which submarine in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea"? | Nautilus |
| What are the forenames of the four children in CS Lewis's Narnia books? | Edward, Lucy, Peter and Susan |
| Who created the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling"? | Hans Christian Andersen |
| Which conflict features in the last two parts of Shakespeare's "Henry VI"? | Wars of the Roses |
| Who was the only heir apparent to the English throne to die in battle? | Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (at Tewkesbury) |
| The sardana is a circle dance native to which area in Europe? | Catalonia |
| Which Dickens novel is set in Coketown? | Hard Times |
| Which swimming gold medallist at the 1932 Olympics starred as Flash Gordon in a 1936 science fiction film serial? | Buster Crabbe |
| Who wrote the lines: "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn/At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We will remember them", in 1914? | Laurence Binyon |
| Whose hit songs included "Saturday Night Fish Fry" (one of the earliest contenders for the title of first rock and roll record),"Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens", "Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)", and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"? | Louis Jordan |
| Which poet (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was the first to turn down the offer of becoming Poet Laureate, doing so in 1757? | Thomas Gray |
| In 1768, France purchased the island of Corsica from which city state? | Genoa |
| Which former British MP served as Secretary-General of NATO from 1999 to 2003? | George Robertson |
| Which painter (22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) gave his name to a type of facial hair? | Anthony van Dyck |
| Max Liebermann, Max Slevogt and Lovis Corinth are all associated with which artistic movement? | (German) Impressionism (accept plein air) |
| What is the Spanish word for 'man', also the title of a 1961 novel by Elmore Leonard and a 1967 Paul Newman film? | Hombre |
| Bishop Proudie first appears in which Trollope work of 1857? | Barchester Towers |
| Which British television writer, who shared his name with a famous actor, wrote the 1979 play "Outside Edge"? | Richard Harris |
| The character of Sherlock Holmes first appeared in which work? | A Study In Scarlet |
| In Ruth Rendell's books, what is the name of Inspector Wexford's assistant, a DI? | Mike Burden |
| Which humourist wrote the book "One-Upmanship" in 1952, as a follow-up to "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating)" (1947), which also contained the term? | Stephen Potter |
| Which founding member of the 2nd Red Brigades, was sentenced to six life sentences for the murder of the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978, but was released after just 15 years in 1998? | Mario Moretti |
| Which 1850 novel's central character is Hester Prynne? | The Scarlet Letter |
| What was the real name of the soldier and author (28 September 1888 – 14 August 1937) who wrote under the name "Sapper"? | Herman Cyril McNeile/HC McNeile |
| What is the third highest mountain in the world? | Kanchenjunga |
| Which popular song composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion is the most popular song from the 1965 Broadway musical "Man of La Mancha" and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name starring Peter O'Toole? | The Impossible Dream |
| Which popular British artist, born in Surrey in 1926 but active in Plymouth from the 1960s until her 2008 death, was famous for her paintings of fat people? | Beryl Cook |
| The English doctor Sir Henry Howarth Bashford wrote which satirical work, with the subtitle 'Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man', that was first published anonymously in the UK in 1924? | Augustus Carp Esq, by himself |
| The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, in which country? | Iran |
| The three Punic wars took place between 264BCE and which year? | 146BCE |
| Mount Nyiragongo is located in which national park? | Virunga National Park (DRC) |
| The Dinosaur National Park lies in which state or province of Canada? | Alberta |
| Abu Mena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site declared in 1979, is in which country? | Egypt |
| Mbanza Kongo, the capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in which country? | Angola |
| Los Alerces National Park is a world heritage site in which country? | Argentina |
| The Valongo Wharf is an old dock, associated with the slave trade, located in the port area of which city? | Rio de Janeiro |
| Sambor Prei Kuk, in Cambodia was established by king Isanavarman I as a central royal sanctuary and capital known by what name? | Isanapura |
| Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, the "Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar" are located in Italy, Croatia and which other country? | Montenegro |
| Suur Munamägi is the highest point, Võhandu is the longest river and Peipus is the largest lake; which country? | Estonia |
| Which of Shakespeare's plays ends with the line, "Proceed, proceed. We'll so begin these rites as we do trust they'll end, in true delights"? | As You Like It |
| The largest battle in mediaeval Europe, at which battle of 1410 did the armies of Poland and Lithuania decisively defeat the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights? | Battle of Grunwald, (also First Battle of Tannenberg or Battle of Žalgiris) |
| Which treaty of 1814 transferred Malta, Tobago, St. Lucia and the Isle of France (now Mauritius) to Britain from France? | Treaty of Paris |
| The Prut River forms a natural border between which two Eastern European countries? | Romania and Moldova |
| In which TV detective series is the central character assisted by DS Hathaway? | Lewis |
| Which British TV presenter and singer, best known for being a close friend of Robbie Williams had a solitary single "Just Another Day" that went to No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart? | Jonathan Wilkes |
| Which 1964 Carry On film featured the characters, Horsa and Hengist Pod? | Carry On Cleo |
| Two teenage bikers named Tetsuo and Keneda are principal characters in which influential Japanese anime film of 1988? | Akira |
| The University Oval is a venue for Test-match cricket in which country? | New Zealand (Dunedin) |
| Puissance is a competition in which sport? | Show Jumping |
| In which sport does the scorer hold up lollipops at the end of each bout of play? | Bowls |
| The current Alpine skiing programme at the Winter Olympics consists of five events, slalom, downhill, super-G, combined and what else? | Giant Slalom |
| In 1992, who became the first non-American team to win the baseball World Series? | Toronto Blue Jays |
| In 1977, who became the first woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar? | Lina Wertmuller |
| In which year did the Soviet Union pull its last troops out of Afghanistan? | 1989 |
| The sweet fizzy wine called Lachryma Christi or Tears of Christ is produced from grapes grown on the slopes of which Italian volcanic peak? | Vesuvius |
| Which word derived from the Greek for "bad" means government by the worst people? | Kakistocracy |
| Dating from the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the White Tower is a symbol of Greek sovereignty over Macedonia and stands on the waterfront of which city? | Thessaloniki |
| Who was the leader of the Guelphs who, when disguised as a Franciscan monk, captured the Rock of Monaco on 8th January 1297, with descendants of his cousin still ruling Monaco to this day? | Francois Grimaldi |
| Although Podgorica is its de facto capital, which city is designated as Prijestonica, or the old royal capital, of Montenegro? | Cetinje |
| Which battle of June 17, 1775 is named after a geographical feature of Charlestown, Massachusetts? It was a Pyrrhic victory for the British. | Battle of Bunker Hill |
| What word derived from Sanskrit, via Portuguese, refers to a covered litter, usually for one passenger? | Palanquin |
| What did William Hyde Wollaston name the metal palladium after? | The asteroid Pallas, discovered the previous year |
| What name, also a style of car in the US, refers to a chair or windowed cabin suitable for a single occupant, carried by at least two porters in front and behind, using wooden rails that pass through brackets on the sides of the chair? | Sedan |
| Declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, what collective name has been given to the dams, sluices, locks, dikes and storm surge barriers built in the SW of the Netherlands between 1950 and 1997? | Delta Works |
| Who was Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916? | Admiral Jellicoe |
| The first major combat operation in NATO's history was a sustained air campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 30th August to 20th September 1995. What was the NATO codename given to the campaign? | Operation Deliberate Force |
| Which Italian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching, famous for his vedute of European cities (Dresden, Vienna, Turin and Warsaw), was the pupil and nephew of the famous Giovanni Antonio Canal Canaletto ? | Bernardo Bellotto |
| Who was the last King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and the last monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–95)? He remains a controversial figure in Polish history. | Stanislaus II |
| Night-writing - a code devised by the French Army captain Charles Babier in 1819 for passing secret messages - gave rise to which still-used form of communication? | Braille |
| What nickname is used for the Canadian city of Medicine Hat, due to a natural abundance of the material referenced in the name? | The Gas City |
| Sharing its name with a city in New England, which French city on the River Lez is home to the Musée Fabre and the 14th Century cathedral of Saint-Pierre? | Montpelier |
| The words "Mistah Kurtz - he dead" from Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" were used by TS Eliot as an epigraph to which of his works? | The Hollow Men |
| Based on Sean Flynn, an American photojournalist, who played an unnamed American photojournalist, a manic disciple of Kurtz who greets Willard in "Apocalypse Now" (1979)? He died in 2010. | Dennis Hopper |
| The Hungarian ballerina Romola de Pulszky married which dancer and choreographer in Buenos Aires in 1913? | Vaslav Nijinsky |
| In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which character does Alice encounter sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah? | Caterpillar |
| In seventeenth and eighteenth-century London, Garraways, Jonathan and Lloyd's were all famous what? | Coffee Houses |
| Which Arabic word meaning benefits or a source of improvement has come to be widely used in Indian cookery? | Masala |
| The last recorded words of which British monarch were reportedly "My dear boy, this is death"? | George IV |
| Delphi lies on the slopes of which mountain sacred to the Muses? | Mount Parnassus |
| Centred in Wyoming and Colorado which "formation" of the Western USA has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America? | Morrison Formation |
| Which British and European bird is buteo buteo? | Buzzard |
| Irene Adler outwits Sherlock Holmes in which work, the first Sherlock Holmes short story, and the third story overall, in which she is introduced? | A Scandal In Bohemia |
| Which body was created in 1995 to assume many of the roles and responsibilities formerly undertaken by the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, and the waste regulation authorities of England and Wales? | The Environment Agency |
| For what sort of event would an epithalamium be written? | A wedding |
| What was the subject of the traditional type of wall painting seen in medieval churches and known as a "Doom"? | Last Judgement |
| In English folklore, what sort of animal is a 'tod'? | A fox |
| In 1932, after Diaghilev's death, Colonel Wassily de Basil and his associate René Blum revived the Ballets Russes under the name Ballet Russes of... where? | Monte Carlo |
| Who managed Liverpool FC from 1974-83? | Bob Paisley |
| What is the first chronologically, but the last to be published, of James Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales"? | The Deerslayer |
| What was the first of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales to be published, in 1823? | The Pioneers |
| The third to be published, what is the last chronologically of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales? | The Prairie |
| In 1598, the Edict of Nantes finally defined freedom of worship for which French religious group, who had to suffer its revocation by Luois XIV in 1685? | Huguenots |
| According to Larkin's poem "Annus Mirabilis" in which year did sexual intercourse begin? | 1963 |
| Which British actor played both Lennie Price in "Two Way Stretch" in 1960 and Wilf Mott in "Dr Who" in the 21st century? | Bernard Cribbins |
| C5H9N3 is the formula for which chemical produced in the human body? | Histamine |
| What was King George VI's actual first name? | Albert (he took his father's name to restore a sens of stability after the abdication) |
| What traditional activity takes place in the Derbyshire villages of Tissington and Youlgreave among others, supposedly linked to the ancient worship of water deities? | Well dressing |
| In which French village outside Paris did Monet spend his later years painting waterlilies? | Giverny |
| Who is credited with inventing eau de cologne in the eighteenth century when he moved from Italy to Germany? | (Giovanni Maria) Farina |
| Which number Lord Lucan (eg 1st, 2nd) was Richard John Bingham, who disappeared in 1974 after probably killing Sandra Rivett? He was declared dead in 2016. | 7th |
| About which 1965 David Lean movie did a critic say it "does for snow what Lawrence of Arabia did for sand"? | Dr Zhivago |
| A cordwainer is an archaic term for someone who manufactured what type of goods? | Shoes, boots and other items in soft leather |
| Which international organisation, whose aims were the education and stimulation of retired members of the community, was founded in Toulouse in 1973? | U3A (University of the Third Age) |
| What name is given to a non-volatile computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed, which can be used on memory cards, memory sticks and the like? | Flash (memory) |
| Which nation introduced the ukulele to Hawaii in the 1870s? | Portuguese |
| Which Provencal puree is made from black olives, capers and anchovies bound together with olive oil? | Tapenade |
| About which classical piece does Marilyn Monroe's character in "The Seven Year Itch", Candy Kane, say "every time I hear it, I go to pieces"? | Rachmaninov's second piano concerto |
| Who was the father of Marie Antoinette, famously executed in the French Revolution? | Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| In which two different disciplines did Linus Pauling win Nobel Prizes? | Chemistry and Peace |
| While imprisoned for his part in a riot, which man invented the first modern toothbrush in the 18th century? | William Addis |
| Which WW2 army general was nicknamed "Ol' Blood And Guts"? | George S. Patton |
| The only time tanks have been deployed against the public in mainland Britain occurred in January 1919 in which city? | Glasgow (when a general strike was crushed) |
| The nickname "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street", for the Bank Of England, was coined in 1797 in a caption to a cartoon by which satirical artist and illustrator? | James Gillray |
| Which Roman historian wrote about the life of his father-in-law Agricola, the Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain? | Tacitus |
| Which confection is made from the Althaea officinalis plant? | Marshmallow |
| Known as the "Green City" because of its lush tropical foliage, which large Chinese city is the capital of the Guanxi Autonomous Region in China? | Nanning |
| In a phrase coined by the 18th century poet Edward Young, what do you do if you 'join the great majority'? | Die |
| In the 1930s Mahatma Gandhi led a symbolic protest march against the government's imposition of taxes on which commodity in India? | Salt |
| Which Russian filmmaker's (1932-86) films include Ivan's Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979)? The last 4 are regularly considered some of the best of all time. | Andrei Tarkovsky |
| In Exodus, what is built by Bezalel and Oholiab, but in Deuteronomy by Moses himself? | Ark of the Covenant |
| According to Josephus (37-100) which Jewish sect kept secret the names of the angels in their secret writings? | Essenes |
| The New Testament and the Quran both mention two angels - Gabriel is one. Who is the other? | Michael |
| Thought to represent a fravashi, which well-known symbol of Iran symbolizes Zoroastrianism and usually consists of a man with wings outspread? | Faravahar |
| What name is given to the Assyrian protective deity, often depicted as having a human's head, a body of a bull or a lion, and bird's wings? | Lamassu (accept also shedu) |
| Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741, which man put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy but introduced the 8th-century iconoclastic movement? | Leo III (the Isuarian) |
| Which prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature and wrote "Apologeticus pro Christianis" and "De Spectaculis"? | Tertullian |
| Which type of 18th- and early 19th-century lute, with six to nine courses of strings, was called a gallichon in Germany? | Mandora |
| Give a year in the life of Giotto (di Bondone). | 1267-1337 |
| Which English comedian was a backing singer on Kate Bush's 1993 album "The Red Shoes"? | Lenny Henry |
| Which was the first nation in the Muslim world to be a confirmed nuclear power? | Pakistan |
| Which singer and teen idol played "Smitty" in the 1960 film "The Alamo"? | Frankie Avalon |
| Who played the astronaut Kane in the 1979 film "Alien", out of whose chest the Alien memorably spawns? | John Hurt |
| Who played Col. William Barrett Travis in the 1960 film "The Alamo"? His performance in Room at the Top (1959)resulted in an Academy Award nomination. | Laurence Harvey |
| Which British bounty hunter was the child of Laurence Harvey, but died in 2005 of a drugs overdose? She was played by Keira Knightley in a film biopic the same year. | Domino Harvey |
| By what acronym is Radio Luxembourg mainly known in non-English speaking countries? | RTL |
| What was BBC Radio 2 called prior to 1967? | BBC Light Programme |
| "Arsenic and Old Lace", the 1944 film, was based on which US playwright's play? | Joseph Kesselring |
| Who played the lead character, Mortimer Brewster, in 1944 film "Arsenic and Old Lace"? | Cary Grant |
| According to "How To Be An Alien" by Hungarian-born writer George Mikes "Continental people have sex lives; the English have..." what? | Hot water bottles |
| What was the real name of socialite and writer Madame de Stael? | Anne-Louise Germaine Necker |
| Of which Lerner and Loewe musical did Noel Coward say "it's about as long as Parsifal | Camelot |
| In a famous speech to the US Congress in January 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined four basic freedoms: "freedom of speech and expression", "freedom of worship", "freedom from want" and which other? | Freedom from Fear |
| What was Ginger Rogers' real name? | Virginia Katherine McMath |
| Which real cocktail helps induce hallucinations of a purple zebra in those who overindulged in it, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side Of Paradise"? | Daiquiri |
| With chemical formula Fe2O3 what is the world's most important source of iron? | Haematite |
| The BBC Proms, founded in 1895, were held at which London venue until they were moved to the Royal Albert Hall? | Queen's Hall (destroyed in the Blitz of 1941) |
| Spring Temple Buddha, the world's tallest statue at 128m, is found in Lushan in which Chinese state? | Henan |
| Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21st April 1926 at number 17 of which street in London W1? | Bruton Street |
| To what ethnic group did Saladin, the first Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, belong? | Kurds |
| Who was the first US president not to have English as a first language? | Martin Van Buren |
| Named after a 19th Century Russian general, which is the closest living wild relative of the domestic horse? | Przewalski's Horse |
| Which subtropical fruit of Andean origin is the most popular flavouring for ice-cream in Peru, far exceeding the demand for more globally popular flavours such as vanilla and chocolate? | Lúcuma |
| Which singer starred as Kotzebue, a young woman of androgynous appearance who works as a male miner in Alaska, in the 1991 film 'Salmonberries', written and directed by Percy Adlon? | k.d. lang |
| What is the unit of the auxiliary magnetic field H in the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS) - named for a Danish scientist? | Oersted |
| Which type of cake, often with a figurine inside, is traditionally eaten during Mardi Gras/Carnival in New Orleans? | King cake |
| Give a year during the War of the Spanish Succession. | 1701-14 |
| Which British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis, was the United Kingdom's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, where he was a prisoner for more than five years? | John McCarthy |
| What is the name of the Northern Irish writer whose work includes the book An Evil Cradling, an account of the four and a half years he spent as a hostage in Beirut, Lebanon from 11 April 1986 to 24 August 1990? | Brian Keenan |
| In Greek myth, the Fates were Atropos, Clotho and who else? | Lachesis |
| Montélimar in France is particularly renowned for which food product? | Nougat |
| Which Verdi opera tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar? | Nabucco |
| What is the dessert that comprises pears, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce called? It was invented in 1864 by Auguste Escoffier. | Poire belle Hélène |
| In Greek myth, who were the parents of Astyanax? | Hector and Andromache |
| A 'barleycorn' is equivalent to how many inches? | One third |
| How many imperial gallons are in a barrel of oil? | 35 |
| Which well known brand first went on sale in June 1907, and contained sodium perbonate and silicate? | Persil |
| How many yards are there in a cable? | 240 |
| "Dictum Meum Pactum" is the motto of which UK institution? | London Stock Exchange |
| How many sides does a hendecagon possess? | 11 |
| What is syndactyly in humans? | Fused fingers or toes |
| Which law states that the black body radiation curve for different temperatures peaks at a wavelength inversely proportional to the temperature? | Wien's Displacement Law |
| The Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire is primarily concerned with what topic? | Genomics and genetics |
| Which part of the human body takes its name from the Greek for "all flesh"? | Pancreas |
| Possibly the most famous lost film of all time, which 1927 silent mystery/horror film, starring Lon Chaney as Inspector Burke who is called to investigate a suspicious murder, was destroyed in a fire in an MGM film vault in 1965? | London After Midnight |
| With approximately 400,000 casulaties, the War of the Triple Alliance was the bloodiest war in the history of the Americas. It was fought between an alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against which country? | Paraguay |
| With names deriving from the Old Norse for 'island in the stream' and 'swine island' respectively, which two Scottish islands are situated in the Pentland Firth between Caithness and the Orkneys? | Stroma and Swona |
| What three word term, referring to an animal, is a temporary recovery in share prices after a sharp fall? | Dead Cat Bounce |
| What was issued by London county council in 1903 to the second Earl Russell, who is reported to have queued for the entire night for it? | Car Registration A1 |
| According to legend, which religious item traditionally gave the robin its red breast? | Christ's Crown of Thorns |
| St. Anthony's fire may refer to two diseases - erysipelas and which form of long-term alkaloid poisoning? | Ergotism |
| Which East Pacific ocean weather phenomenon is Spanish for "little girl"? | La Niña |
| What is the Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course - they fill with water seasonally and are dry for a greater part of the year? | Billabong |
| What is the name of the boundary in the Earth's atmosphere between the troposphere and the stratosphere? | Tropopause |
| What does 'HB' stand for on a pencil? | Hard Black |
| In feet and inches, what is the standard gauge used on Britain's railways? | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in |
| In the UK, as of 2018, at what age do you become responsible for wearing your own seat belt? | 14 |
| Also known as St John's Bread, Ceratonia siliqua is an evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean. Its edible fruit was traditionally eaten on Tu Bishvat but is most commonly used as a healthy alternative to chocolate. What is its common name? | Carob |
| Found in Wiltshire and composed principally of chalk and standing 130ft high, what is the name of the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe? | Silbury Hill |
| In 1943, Luchino Visconti adapted the James M Cain novel of 1934 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" into which classic of Italian cinema? | Ossessione (Obsession) |
| What was the name of the estate of Charles Foster Kane in the classic movie "Citizen Kane", as well as the name of the 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly? | Xanadu |
| Who created the comic book character Hellboy, as well as Baltimore, The Amazing Screw-On Head and Joe Golem, Occult Detective? | Mike Mignola |
| Launched in 1798, what was the name of the Royal Navy ship that transported Napoleon Bonaparte to St Helena in 1815? | HMS Northumberland |
| Issued by Tsar Alexander II in 1876, the Ems Ukaz banned the use of which language in print, save those wishing to reprint existing documents? | Ukrainian |
| "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" a film that won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, was the first movie from which country to do so? | Thailand |
| The Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda has its headquarters in which city on the Jizera river? | Mladá Boleslav |
| The Deutsches Museum is the world's largest museum of technology and science and attracts well over 1 million visitors per year. In which city could you visit it? | Munich |
| This Bulgarian revolutionary and ideologist led the Bulgarian struggle for independence from Ottoman rule during the 19th Century before being hanged by the Ottoman authorities in Sofia on 19 February 1873. Who? | Vasil Levski |
| Which comic character and movie superhero has the real name Anang Un Rama? | Hellboy |
| Who did "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman marry in 1997? | William H. Macy |
| Jor-El and Lara-El are the parents of which fictitious character? | Superman |
| In Dennis Potter's TV play, with what medical condition was "The Singing Detective" hospitalised? | Psoriasis/psoriatic arthropathy |
| Which film of 1951 took its name from a line in Rudyard Kipling's "Gentlemen-Rankers"? | From Here To Eternity |
| William Claude were the first names of which comedian, born on January 29, 1880 in Darby, Pennsylvania? | WC Fields |
| Which British stylist and fashion designer designed Meghan Markle's wedding dress? | Clare Waight Keller |
| Which English fashion designer designed Catherine Middleton's wedding dress for her wedding to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in April 2011? | Sarah Burton |
| Who wrote the screenplays to the Helen Mirren series "Prime Suspect"? | Lynda La Plante |
| What is the surname of Sacha Baron-Cohen's character "Borat"? | Sagdiyev |
| Which TV chef wrote a 2006 autobiography called "Humble Pie"? | Gordon Ramsey |
| Who played female lead, Hannah Brown, in the 1948 film musical "Easter Parade"? | Judy Garland |
| Former RAF gunner Bill Wright devised which long-running BBC show? | Mastermind |
| Which 2006 Ridley Scott film was based on a Peter Mayle book? | A Good Year |
| Who hosted Countdown from 2007 to 2009, between the runs of Des Lynam and Jeff Stelling? | Des O'Connor |
| In "The Munsters" what was the name of Hermann Munster's wife? | Lily |
| Which 1941 film was based on the life of William Randolph Hearst? | Citizen Kane |
| Which film written and directed by Cristian Mungiu and starring Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu and Vlad Ivanov, set in Communist Romania in the final years of the Nicolae Ceaușescu era, won the 2007 Palme D'Or? | 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days |
| Which 1939 film won the very first ever Palme D'Or? | Union Pacific |
| Which Terence Malick film won the 2011 Palme D'Or? | The Tree of Life |
| Which country was "Shoplifters", a film about a family who rely on shoplifting to cope with a life of poverty, from? It won the 2018 Palme D'Or? | Japan |
| What is the name of the mythological snake, also sometimes called a cockatrice, an example of which is killed by Harry Potter in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"? | Basilisk |
| Which jazz trumpeter was the subject of the 1988 documentary "Let's Get Lost", released the year of his death? | Chet Baker |
| In 1844, the architects Eugene Viollet-le-Duc and Jean Baptistle-Lassus were given the job of restoring which famous building? | Notre Dame de Paris |
| What is the highest peak of the Atlas mountains? | Mount Toubkal |
| Which team sport, that can be played indoors or outdoors, was devised by William Morgan in 1895, supposedly for middle-aged men who found basketball too vigorous? | Volleyball |
| Which region of Greece, whose name is also familiar from classical times has as its capital Livadeia, with its largest city being Thebes? | Boeotia |
| The narrow Euripus Strait separates which island, Greece's second largest, from mainland Greece? | Euboea |
| In which English county is the prehistoric monument known as the Rollright Stones? | Oxfordshire |
| Many German princes were known as Electors - such as the Elector of Hanover - because they had which special privilege or duty? | To elect a Holy Roman Emperor |
| The rivers Simoeis and Scamander (now the Karamenderes River) have brought down so much silt that which major maritime city of ancient times is now more than 5km from the coast? | Troy |
| What type of organism is a terebinth? | A tree |
| Which public school-educated policeman, who made his debut on radio, also appeared in the Eagle comic in the 1950s? | PC 49 |
| A Mobius strip is a band or ribbon with only one face. What name is given to a bottle which is formed by passing the neck through a hole in the side to join a hole in the base, thus effectively creating a single side with neither an inside nor an outside? | Klein bottle |
| Which item of food is thought to have been first displayed in England in the London shop window of Thomas Johnson on 10th April 1633? | Bananas |
| Maud Gonne was a muse to which poet and visionary writer? | WB Yeats |
| Give a year in the period known as Egypt's Third Intermediate Period. | 1070-712BCE |
| Which city of the north-eastern Nile Delta became the seat of power of the pharaohs of the 21st Dynasty, and later of the 22nd Dynasty (along with Bubastis)? | Tanis |
| What is the modern term given to free-standing ancient Greek sculptures that first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and represent nude male youths? | Kouros (pl: Kouroi) |
| Gordium was the capital of which ancient region, now part of Anatolian Turkey? | Phrygia |
| The names of which two signatories are generally used to identify the manifesto issued in London in July 1955, calling for scientists of the world to address the problems of nuclear proliferation? | Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein |
| Which poet married Georgie Hyde-Lees in 1917? | WB Yeats |
| The mystical Greek word "abraxas" was associated with which number? | 365 |
| Which Vietnam War battle was also called Ap Bia Mountain? | Hamburger Hill |
| Which Admiral in the French Navy stopped at Rennes following a major battle to find out how he would be received by Napoleon - and hearing bad news, stabbed himself to death in his bath? | Admiral Villeneuve |
| Which cartoon character's name is Nijntje in their original language? | Miffy the Rabbit |
| Dominic Cork took a 1995 test cricket hat-trick against which nation? | West Indies |
| Which baseball star, born 1914 in Martinez, California, was nicknamed "The Yankee Clipper"? | Joe DiMaggio |
| Three years before his assassination in 1923, the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa ended his revolutionary activity after negotiating a peace deal with which Mexican President? | Adolfo de la Huerta |
| Designed by Antoni Gaudí, by what name (meaning 'the quarry' in Catalan) is the Casa Milà in Barcelona otherwise known? | La Pedrera |
| The Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built as a symbolic representation of which mythical mountain? | Mount Meru |
| Which Indian cricketer, active 1990-2008, was nicknamed "Jumbo"? | Anil Kumble |
| Twins Phil & Steve Mahre competed in which sport in the 1980s? | Skiing |
| Which nation came second in the men's 4x100m relay at the 2008 and 2016 Olympics? | Japan |
| Which great Australian bowler holds a unique record of picking a wicket of his last ball of Test career, last ball of ODI career and last ball of his last ODI in Australia? | Glenn McGrath |
| What first name did the medical student Jean Marc Gaspard Itard give to the 'The Wild Boy of Aveyron' who was found in the woods near Saint Sernin sur Rance in France in 1797 and who, it would seem, spent almost his whole childhood alone in the woods? | Victor |
| What was the home town of Dutch author, artist, illustrator and graphic designer Dick Bruna, where there is a statue of Miffy the Rabbit? | Utrecht |
| What kind of performer would be most likely to use a swazzle? | A Punch and Judy operator (it produces Mr Punch's distinctive voice) |
| Who wrote the 1896 novel "Quo Vadis"? | Henryk Sienkiewicz |
| In the binary system, what number is expressed as 1111? | Fifteen (8+4+2+1) |
| Which former journalist on the Atlanta Constitution in Georgia wrote the stories that provided the basis of the 1946 Disney film "Song of the South"? | Joel Chandler Harris |
| Which Habsburg king (1665-1700), is now best remembered for his physical disabilities, allegedly the result of inbreeding? His so-called Habsburg lip was so pronounced he spoke and ate only with difficulty, and he did not learn to walk until age 8. | Charles II |
| A clonal tree that has regenerated new trunks, branches and roots over millennia rather than an individual tree of great age, which Norway Spruce in Sweden has been claimed to be 9560 years old? | Old Tjikko |
| Considered the foremost Dutch lanscape painter, which 17th Century artist is remembered for 'Beintheim Castle' (1653) and 'Tower Mill at Wijk bij Duurstede'(1670) among other works? | Jacob van Ruisdael |
| MP for Rushcliffe since 1970, who became the House of Commons' Father of the House in 2017, upon the death of Gerald Kaufman? | Kenneth Clarke |
| Which National Gallery director (b 1903) was knighted in 1938 and bought Saltwood Castle, Kent in 1953? | Sir Kenneth Clark |
| Whose novels include The Eagle Has Landed, A Prayer for the Dying and Night of the Fox? | Jack Higgins |
| The Daily Telegraph is an Australian daily tabloid paper published in which city? | Sydney |
| In 1961, Ham became the first non-human hominid launched into in space. What species was he? | Chimpanzee |
| Which dog was first bred at Guisachan, the highland estate of Dudley Marjoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth? | Golden Retriever |
| Which British author reinterpreted the Pareto principle in his 1997 business book The 80/20 Principle? | Richard Koch |
| The La Tène culture of 500-1BCE is named after a site in which country? | Switzerland |
| Home to the frontline squadrons of the RAF’s Tornado Force, RAF Marham is in which county? | Norfolk |
| In 1987, Lynn Barton became the first woman to be employed by British Airways in what role? | As a main pilot |
| Nick Hornby adapted a memoir by celebrity interviewer Lynn Barber into which film starring Carey Mulligan? | An Education |
| Which reformulation of classical mechanics is named after the Irish mathematician who invented it? | Hamiltonian Mechanics |
| What name did 4th century BCE traveller Pytheas of Massalia give to a land of the far North, possibly Shetland or Iceland, where he said the sun shone for only two or three hours? | Thule |
| Which Iranian scholar and polymath (973-1050) authored a study of Indian culture after exploring Hinduism, and is called the father of both Indology and geodesy? | Al-Biruni |
| Which mathematician and engineer of 10-70CE published a well recognized description of a steam-powered device called an aeolipile, and invented a windwheel? | Hero of Alexandria |
| Which ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period described India in his book Indika, which is now lost, but contained the first Western account of the caste system? | Megasthenes |
| Which city was the ancient Greek inventor and proto-scientist Archimedes from? He died during a siege of the city, despite an instruction that he should not be harmed. | Syracuse |
| Who both published the first chronology of Greek history, naming the first Olympic winner as Koroibos of Elis, and, from his home in North Africa, calculated a remarkable accurate distance for the Earth's circumference in the 3rd century BCE? | Eratosthenes |
| The word 'eureka' is derived from the Greek for which phrase? | I Found It |
| According to Norse mythology, which lake was created when Gefjun removed the land that used to lie there and transported it to Denmark, thus creating the island of Zealand? | Lake Mälaren |
| Built in 1854, the Spanish Arch stands on the banks of which river that flows through Galway? | Corrib |
| Which country became the first all-amateur team to qualify for a Rugby World Cup since the start of the professional era when it appeared at the 2007 World Cup? | Portugal |
| What name is given to the series of wars and battles that took place in Holland between the bourgeoisie and the ruling nobility from 1350 to 1490? | Hook and Cod Wars |
| The Devil’s Peak Brewing Company is based in which South African city? | Cape Town |
| In British history, the Protectorate was a period in which 17th-century decade? | 1650s |
| Which common insect is known in French as a “bourdon”? | Bumblebee |
| After a vote of no confidence, who was replaced as Spanish prime minister by Pedro Sánchez in 2018? | Mariano Rajoy |
| Biskupin is an archaeological site (with a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement) that was excavated in 1934 and located in which European country? | Poland |
| Cyrene is an ancient site in which modern day country? | Libya |
| Chip Taylor, the composer of Wild Thing, is the brother of which 1970s best actor Oscar-winner? | Jon Voight |
| Which conductor said: “The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes”? | Thomas Beecham |
| Hari Kondabolu wrote the 2017 Simpsons-themed documentary The Problem with… whom? | Apu |
| In 1836, which French mathematician founded the Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées? | Joseph Liouville |
| The Sankt Hans bonfires take place in which Scandinavian country on June 23? | Denmark |
| Traditionally used in the Ethiopian flatbread injera, what is the smallest known grain in the world? | Teff |
| In 1988, GDR athlete Gabriele Reinsch set a world record of 76.80m in which event? | Women's Discus |
| Often considered to be the Polish national dish, what name is given to the cabbage and meat stew that is traditionally said to have been introduced to Poland by the Lithuanian prince Władysław II in the 14th Century? | Bigos |
| In which lake could you find the island and World Heritage site Kizhi (or Kizhi Pogost), home to a large number of wooden churches and houses? | Lake Onega (Russia) |
| The elaborate buildings originally constructed in London for the Franco-British exhibition of 1908 went by a collective name that is still in use, though the buildings are long gone. Which name, also the name of a former sporting venue? | White City |
| Which rock group had a 1972 album whose cover depicted the model Amanda Lear taking a black panther for a walk? | Roxy Music |
| In medicine, what is Naegele's Rule used for? | To work out a woman's Estimated Date of Delivery/Childbirth |
| The 991CE Battle of Maldon, where Viking invaders defeated Anglo-Saxons, took place in which English county? | Essex |
| The Junius Pamphlet was written by who, while imprisoned in 1916? | Rosa Luxemburg |
| What three Greek letter-names are given to the three stars in Orion's Belt, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka? | Delta, Epsilon, Zeta |
| Sometimes used in English sentences before a named individual or body, to indicate a respectful contradiction, which Latin word or four letters means 'in deference to' or 'with due respect'? | Pace |
| In Gulliver's Travels, which nation had a long-running dispute with Lilliput over which end to open a boiled egg? | Blefescu |
| What is the usual translation of the name of the Finnish epic Kalevala? | Land of heroes |
| Yo Yo Ma is renowned as a virtuoso on which instrument? | Cello |
| Who had her first hit in 1958 with "The Banana Boat Song" and a 2007 Top 40 hit with "The Living Tree"? | Shirley Bassey |
| Give a year in the life of Henry Purcell. | 1659-1695 |
| Which calendar is used by the Orthodox church? | Julian |
| Which CBE (born 10 April 1955) is known as "The Doncaster Diva"? | Lesley Garrett |
| Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans three weeks after the Treaty of Ghent ended which war? | War of 1812 |
| Which element is the most abundant metalloid on Earth? | Silicon |
| Which Japanese company’s motorbikes include the GSX-R1000R, SV650 and VanVan 125? | Suzuki |
| Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope, overlooks which volcanic crater lake? | Lake Albano |
| The village of Glendalough, founded by the 6th Century hermit priest St Kevin, is located in which Irish county? | Wicklow |
| Italian cheese pecorino comes from the milk of which animal? | Ewe/sheep |
| Which singer (born December 5, 1932) was nicknamed "The Georgia Peach" | Little Richard |
| Also the name of one of Leicester City's mascot, what is an alternate name for a hazelnut? | Filbert |
| Which wine growing region is centred on Côte-d'Or? | Burgundy |
| Give a year in the life of Johannes Brahms. | 1833-97 |
| Who was the first goalkeeper to win the Ballon D'Or? | Lev Yashin |
| Which moveable feast occurs between 17th May and 20th June, the first Sunday after Pentecost? | Trinity Sunday |
| What is the alternative name for the hickory nut? | Pecan |
| Who had a 1954 hit with "Gilly, Gilly, Ossenfeffer, Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea"? | Max Bygraves |
| What nationality was Sylvia, who sang the song, "Y Viva España" that reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1974? | Swedish |
| What name is given to the pillar of Islam that consists of the five ritual daily prayers? | Salat |
| How is the Jewish day of commemoration "Holocaust Day" known in Hebrew? | Yom HaShoah |
| How is singer Mark McLachlan, born 23 March 1965, better known? | Marti Pellow |
| Founded by Paul Morszeck, which luggage company became the LVMH Group’s first German maison in 2016? | Rimowa |
| Paris Bordone’s Fisherman Presenting a Ring to the Doge Gradenigo (1534) is in which city’s Gallerie dell’Accademia? | Venice |
| Who wrote the symphonic poem "Falstaff" in 1913? | Edward Elgar |
| What is the shortest book in the Old Testament? | Obadiah |
| Who played Laura Jesson in the David Lean film "Brief Encounter"? | Celia Johnson |
| "Tent stitch", a fine, usually diagonal stiching used in embroidery is also known by what French term? | Petit Point |
| Which cloaked-and-hatted crime fighter, popular on American radio and in comics in the 1930s, was played on air for a few months by Orson Welles and was associated with such lines as "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit"? | The Shadow |
| The 'Triumph of Galatea' is a fresco masterpiece completed in 1512 by the Italian painter Raphael for which Roman villa? | Villa Farnesina |
| Erki Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament in March 2007 having won gold medals at the European Championships in 1998 and the Summer Olympics in 2000. In which athletics event did he compete? | Decathlon |
| Shaped by the river of the same name that flows into the Baltic Sea, in which country would you find the Gauja National Park? | Latvia |
| Which Bombay-born CNN host wrote the books The Future of Freedom and The Post-American World? | Fareed Zakaria |
| Ceratopsian dinosaurs are so named because they had which physical feature? | Horns |
| On what date in the Hebrew calendar is Yom Kippur? | 10 Tishrei |
| The tripitaka is a series of canonical texts in which religion? | Buddhism |
| Which number Haydn symphony is the "Farewell Symphony"? | 45 |
| In the music hall song "Oh! Mr Porter", the lady who ended up in Crewe actually wanted to go where? | Birmingham |
| From Jerome Kern's song "I Won't Dance" - "But heaven rest us, I'm not..." - what? | Asbestos |
| In which decade did the Wonderbra first appear? | 1940s (1947) |
| In which British town or city has Bentley had its headquarters since WW2? | Crewe |
| Cancer, Pisces and which other sign are the water signs in astrology? | Scorpio |
| The small horse the falabella originated in which country? | Argentina |
| Taurus, Virgo and what else are the earth signs in astrology? | Capricorn |
| Charles Kay Ogden (1 June 1889 – 20 March 1957) was most famed for his work in which field? | Linguistics |
| Originating in antiquity, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. What name is given to a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall? | Oculus |
| What are crossjacks, spankers, royals and top-gallants? | Types of Sail |
| With up to 50 billion alive at any one time, what is the world's most abundant bird? | Domestic chicken |
| Which company was founded as Valley Falls Company in 1839? | Berkshire Hathaway |
| Which ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Wigham Richardson & Swan Hunter for the British Cunard Line, held the Blue Riband from 1907 to 1929? | RMS Mauretania |
| Adansonia or Monkey Bread is an edible fruit from which African tree? | Baobab |
| How is Anobium punctatum better known? | Woodworm (accept common furniture beetle) |
| What did a 'nob thatcher' or 'knob thatcher' do for a living? | Made wigs |
| It feeds primarily on seeds of annual grasses, but also causes extensive damage to cereal crops. Therefore, it is sometimes called "Africa's feathered locust". What is considered the most abundant non-domesticated bird in the world? | Red-billed Quelea |
| In WW2 what was an Airspeed Horsa? | Glider (for troop-carrying) |
| What name is given to a traditional Spanish lace or silk veil or shawl worn over the head and shoulders, often over a high comb called a peineta? | Mantilla |
| What is the name of the female part of a flower that comprises an ovary, a style and a stigma? | Pistil |
| In which year was the QE2 launched? | 1967 |
| Pallid, brown and bumblebee are all species of which animal? | Bat |
| Whose directorial debut was the critically panned "Ithaca" of 2015? | Meg Ryan |
| Who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky films? | Carl Weathers |
| In which European city are the graves of Igor Stravinsky, Ezra Pound and Sergei Diaghilev? | Venice |
| Which 1959 novel by Gunter Grass, which features Oscar Matzerath, a boy who refuses to grow up, is generally seen as a an allegory of Germany through its early 20th century history? | The Tin Drum |
| No 1 Carlton Gardens has been whose official residence in London since the 1940s? | The Foreign Secretary |
| Who once said to Anton Chekhov: "Shakespeare's plays are bad enough, but yours are even worse"? | Leo Tolstoy |
| Which Labour government white paper of 1969 was designed to harmonise labour relations and was issued by Barbara Castle as Secretary of State for Employment? | 'In Place of Strife' |
| In computing, what does CAPTCHA stand for? | Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart |
| Who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012, along with Shinya Yamanaka (the discovery that mature cells can be converted to stem cells) and is best known for his pioneering research in nuclear transplantation and cloning | John Gurdon |
| In 2007, which best selling writer was appointed President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, staying in post until 2012? | Bill Bryson |
| Which future PM was a life member of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, and talked at their first meeting in 1926? | Neville Chamberlain |
| Which actor, born Chesterfield in 1940 and dying in Jab 2017, may hold the record for most on-screen deaths with 40 of his characters meeting their end in his various roles? | John Hurt |
| In which 1952 film did Lee Van Cleef, later to achieve fame as the 'Bad' in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, play another villain - Jack Colby? | High Noon |
| Which royal personage was the subject of the 1792 James Gillray caricature "A Voluptuary Under The Horrors of Digestion"? | Prince Regent/Prince of Wales/future George IV |
| Which woman, a Nobel Laureate of 1964, and the second woman to be admitted to the Order of Merit, helped determine the structure of both penicillin and B12, and taught a young Margaret Roberts (later Thatcher) at Oxford University? | Dorothy Hodgkin |
| From which port did the Spanish Armada set sail in 1588? | Lisbon |
| Bluebell, Black Rock, Cuckoo Maran and Araucana are all hybrid varieties of which creature? | Domestic chicken |
| In the only outdoor statue of him in London, sculpted by Francis Bird, which monarch is represented above the north gate entrance to St Bart's Hospital, surmounted by reclining figures representing lameness and disease? | Henry VIII |
| Which royal palace in West Lothian was in 1542 the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots? | Linlithgow Palace |
| What type of mammal is a klipspringer? | Antelope (rock-dwelling of Southern Africa) |
| Cyril Ramaphosa became President of which country in 2018? | South Africa |
| Scientists Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton gave their name to which substance? | CS Gas |
| Prendergast was the original surname of which British composer of film music who died in 2011? | John Barry |
| The tincture known as gules indicates which colour in heraldry? | Red |
| Who was the Governor of the Falkland Islands at the time of the 1982 Argentinian invasion? | Rex Hunt |
| Who created Grange Hill, and later went on to create a soap opera? | Phil Redmond |
| Which British animated comedy horror television series featured a vegetarian vampire who shuns blood as he was resurrected with ketchup instead? | Count Duckula |
| One of Ralph Richardson's final films, which 1984 movie also starred Paul McCartney, Linda McCartey Bryan Brown and Ringo Starr? | Give My Regards to Broad Street |
| With traditional English folk song begins "Come here, my little Jacky, Dance to your Daddy, my little laddie. Now I've smoked my backey"? | When The Boat Comes In |
| Which European capital city provides the name of an award-winning play by Michael Frayn, that is based on a conversation of 1941 between Nils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg? | Copenhagen |
| In whose poem "The Anniversary" is the line "All other things to their destruction draw/Only our love hath no decay"? | John Donne |
| Which Puritan intellectual wrote the 1679 poem on the Creation "Order and Disorder"? She was the first person to translate the complete text of Lucretius's De rerum natura ("On the Nature of Things") from Latin into English. | Lucy Hutchinson |
| Who composed 1943's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings", a setting of a selection of six poems by British poets on the subject of night, including both its calm and its sinister aspects? | Benjamin Britten |
| In Norse myth, what was the primordial void, mentioned in the Gylfaginning, the Eddaic text recording Norse cosmogony? | Ginnungagap |
| What type of animal was Auðumbla, a primeval creature in Norse myth? | Cow |
| Þrimicemōnaþ (modern English: Three-Milkings Month) was the Anglo-Saxon name for which modern month? | May |
| Winterfylleth was the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English name for which month? | October |
| Stokesay Castle is a fortified manor house in which English county? | Shropshire |
| Matilda of Scotland was the first wife of which English monarch? | Henry I |
| Rievaulx Abbey lies within which national park in England? | North York Moors National Park |
| Coming from an acronym for the Russian for "self-defence without weapons", which martial art was invented in the early 1920s by Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov? | Sambo |
| Which sport is known locally as Yağlı güreş? | Oil wrestling/Turkish wrestling |
| Which two-word French term is the name of a character equivalent to the English 'Mister Punch' and was formerly the name of a Parisian theatre - the term now being applied to a sensational and horrific style of entertainment? | Grand Guignol |
| Which governess begins the last chapter of her story with the words "Reader, I married him"? | Jane Eyre |
| In April 1998, which footballer was the second foreign player to be voted 'player of the year' by his fellow professionals? | Dennis Bergkamp |
| Who is the patron saint of messengers, postal workers and those who work in telecommunications? | Gabriel |
| What name is given to the doctrine that the phenomenon of Christ, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality? | Docetism |
| Which church council of 451CE asserted the Jesus was "truly God and truly man"? | Chalcedon |
| Which figure from the Book of Judges, whose name means "rest" or "quiet" was the father of Samson? | Manoah |
| Which name for the devil means "adversary"? | Satan |
| Who was TUC General Secretary from 1973 to 1984? | Len Murray |
| Nineveh was the capital of which empire? | Neo-Assyrian |
| Owain Glyndŵr rebelled against which English King? | Henry IV |
| Who was on the British throne at the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rising? | George II |
| Why is Captain Paul Tibbets infamous in history? | He piloted the Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima |
| Which British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1968 to 1976, was born in Liverpool, fought for the International Brigade, and lived until 96? | Jack Jones |
| The Battle of Brunete occurred during which war? | Spanish Civil War |
| The Rye House Plot was a failed plot on the life of Charles II when he returned to London from where? In the end, he returned early, foiling the plot. | Newmarket |
| What name was given to the 1685 attempt by a group of largely Scottish exiles, led by Archibald Campbell to overthrow King James II and VII? | Argyll's rising (Campbell was the 9th Earl of Argyll) |
| Which university has the Brynmor Jones Library? | Hull |
| Who coined the term "Big Bang" although he was an opponent of the theory? | Fred Hoyle |
| Important indicators of cosmic benchmarks for scaling galactic/extragalactic distances, what name is given to a type of star that pulsates radially, producing changes in brightness with a well-defined stable period and amplitude? | Cepheid variable |
| Whose law states that the redshift of the galaxies receding from the Earth is approximately proportional to their distance from the Earth? | Hubble's Law |
| Which Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory (1857-1935) lived as a recluse and was considered an eccentric by the townfolk? | Konstantin Tsiolkovsky |
| In which year was Sputnik 1 launched? | 1957 |
| What was the first satellite of the United States, launched as part of its participation in the International Geophysical Year on 1st Feb 1958? | Explorer 1 |
| Who, in 1961 became the first American to travel into space? | Alan Shepard |
| Who was the first, and youngest, of the men who have walked on the moon to die - doing so in 1991 of a heart attack? | James Irwin |
| Also referred to as the Original Seven or Astronaut Group 1, what collective name was given to NASA's first announced group of astronauts on April 9, 1959? | Mercury Seven |
| What was the first manned spaceflight in history, and the one on which Yuri Gagarin was the first man into space? | Vostok 1 |
| Radhika Jones succeeded Graydon Carter as editor-in-chief of which US monthly magazine in 2017? | Vanity Fair |
| Which national personification of England originated as the satirical creation of John Arbuthnot? | John Bull |
| Which poem by Emma Lazarus begins: “Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame”? | The New Colossus (it appears on a plaque on the Statue of Liberty) |
| Which British classical composer, who wrote thirty two symphonies, many of them extremely long and ambitious works for massive orchestral forces, finished his Symphony No 1 in D minor (The Gothic) in 1927? | Havergal Brian |
| Which Australian tennis player won the 2011 US Open, defeating Serena Williams in the final and becoming the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament? | Samantha Stosur |
| The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran are also known by what informal name, meaning "guardian"? | Pasdaran |
| Who, in 1962, became the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times? | John Glenn |
| Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, which NASA human spaceflight programme started in 1961 and concluded in 1966 | Gemini |
| Who wrote “I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring” in "Memories of President Lincoln"? | Walt Whitman |
| In 1983, John Bloor bought which British motorcycle brand out of receivership? | Triumph |
| What term refers to a group of universities in the United Kingdom established or promoted to university status in the 1960s? Examples include Lancaster, Warwick and York. | Plate Glass Universities |
| Clear Light of Day, In Custody and Fasting, Feasting are Booker prize-shortlisted novels by which Indian? | Anita Desai |
| In 1924, which “crime of the century” perpetrators murdered the 14-year-old Bobby Franks? | [Nathan] Leopold and [Richard] Loeb |
| What is the Persian name for India, also a historical name for the country? | Hindustan |
| Which country is known as Hayastan to its inhabitants? | Armenia |
| Which British sitcom first broadcast on 19 January 2015 stars Sharon Horgan as Sharon Morris and Rob Delaney as Rob Norris, who become a couple after she becomes pregnant following a fling? | Catastrophe |
| Which comedian and writer is known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night (2004–2005) and Sky Atlantic comedies Hunderby (2012–15) and Camping (2016)? | Julia Davis |
| Which Irish TV writer is best known for creating or co-creating the sitcoms Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd and the first series of Big Train? | Graham Linehan |
| James Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was an artist from which country? | Belgian |
| Which Agatha Christie novel of 1967 has a title taken from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence - the two word title completing the line: "Some are born to sweet delight/Some are born to..."? | Endless Night |
| In "Gone With The Wind" Scarlett's father came from which country? | Ireland |
| Pawtucket Patriot Ale is most associated with which cartoon? | Family Guy |
| In Britain, a Marmite jar is made in the shape of what? | A cooking pot |
| What is the second-biggest island of the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall? | Tresco |
| Which pianist and composer, who wrote the opera 'Manru', served as the third Prime Minister of Poland in 1919? | Ignacy Jan Paderewski |
| "Flicker" was the 2017 debut album of which former One Direction member? | Niall Horan |
| What name is give to the grub of the crane fly? | Leatherjacket |
| Which Lin-Manuel Miranda musical takes place in the largely Hispanic-American neighbourhood of Washington Heights in New York City? | In The Heights |
| The fictional events of Dante's Divine Comedy take place over the course of which holiday? | Easter |
| Which Babylonian King ordered the construction of the Ishtar Gate in around 575BC? | Nebuchadnezzar II |
| In Beatrix Potter’s tale, what sort of animal is Mr Jeremy Fisher? | Frog |
| Who was banned from presenting at the Oscars for twenty years for making a speech protesting China's treatment of Tibet? | Richard Gere |
| Which Tom Clancy novel introduced the CIA analyst Jack Ryan? | The Hunt For Red October |
| Ruth Wilson plays the brilliant psychopath Alice Morgan in which TV crime drama? | Luther |
| Which division of General Motors produces the Silverado 1500 pick-up truck? | Chevrolet |
| Also known as The Halászbástya, what is the name of the neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style terrace designed by Frigyes Schulek in the late 19th Century that lies on the Buda bank of the Danube? | Fisherman's Bastion |
| Which Act of the Parliament of England, passed on 21 January 1549 established The Book of Common Prayer as the sole legal form of worship in England? | Act of Uniformity |
| What name is given to government of a Church by bishops? | Episcopacy |
| Which saint (c. 634 – 20 March 687) had a cult centred on Durham Cathedral and a hermitage located on Inner Farne Island? | Cuthbert |
| In Western Christianity, in which month is the Major Rogation Day? | April (25th) |
| Which Iranian-English actor, voice actor, and comedian is best known for co-creating and starring in the comedy series Fonejacker from 2006 to 2008? | Kayvan Novak |
| Which US singer had a 1979 hit with "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)"? | Rupert Holmes |
| Bella Notte is a romantic song from which 1955 Disney film? | Lady And The Tramp |
| 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester County, NY is the address of which fictional school? | [Charles] Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters — in the X-Men universe |
| Oskar Kokoschka’s painting The Bride of the Wind portrays the artist with which woman? | Alma Mahler |
| Which country did fashion designer Oscar de la Renta (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014) come from? | Dominican Republic |
| Which US nu-metal pioneers released the albums Life is Peachy (1996) and Follow the Leader (1998)? | Korn |
| Adapted from a story by Oscar Wilde, Der Zwerg is a 1922 opera by which Austrian composer? | Alexander Zemlinsky. (the story is The Birthday of the Infanta) |
| Which board game features a doubling cube, the Crawford Rule and the term “bear off”? | Backgammon |
| Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, what is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament, and the largest tennis stadium in the world, with a capacity of 23,771? | Arthur Ashe Stadium |
| From the Arabic for 'baths' or 'fountains' what is the oldest area of Lisbon? | Alfama |
| "Every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes" is a conjecture named for which German mathematician (1690-1764)? | Goldbach's conjecture |
| Who released the album "The 2nd Law" in 2012? | Muse |
| Who received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress aged 87 for playing the 101-year-old elder Rose Dawson Calvert in James Cameron's Titanic (1997)? | Gloria Stuart |
| A Roman memorial plaque ("Tabula Traiana"), 4 metres wide and 1.75 metres high, commemorating the building of a road and bridge over the Danube, located on the Serbian side facing Romania near Ogradina, is named for which emperor? | Trajan |
| Which type of fish, also called slime eels, are the only living animals with a skull but no vertebral column? | Hagfish |
| What was the two-word name of the craft, piloted by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, in the first ever round the world non-stop balloon flight? | Breitling Orbiter (3) |
| In March 1999, which Spaniard was installed as the Number 1 ranked player in the world of Men's Tennis? | Carlos Moyá |
| The Baluchistan pygmy jerboa, the joint smallest rodent in the world, is endemic to which country? | Pakistan |
| Which 89-year old playwright announced he planned to marry 34-year-old minimalist painter Agnes Barley in 2004, but died the following year before he could? | Arthur Miller |
| Which German rock and roll band founded in Berlin in 2007 became popular with 1950s style rock cover versions of modern hits such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles & "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen? | The Baseballs |
| The songs "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" and "Darlin'" were just two of many 1960s hits for which US group? | The Beach Boys |
| The United Team of Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany used what national anthem? | Ode to Joy |
| What is the English translation of the name of the song used by East Germany as its national anthem during its existence from 1949 to 1990? | Risen from Ruins ("Auferstanden aus Ruinen") |
| Which German politician, novelist, and poet was the culture minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1954 to 1958? | Johannes R. Becher |
| Which German philosopher and historian wrote 1918's The Decline of the West (German: Der Untergang des Abendlandes), or The Downfall of the Occident? | Oswald Spengler |
| In which year did Paul Gauguin die? | 1903 |
| Judas betrayed Jesus Christ to the Jewish authorities for a payment of what? | Thirty Pieces of Silver |
| Dating from the 13th Century, what is the oldest city in Finland that served as the nation's capital between 1809 and 1812? | Turku |
| Which Christmas carol, with lyrics by Father Josef Mohr and a melody composed by Franz X. Gruber, was first performed in the Nicola-Kirche in Oberndorf in Austria on Christmas Day in 1818? | Silent Night |
| Made from Glera grapes, which Italian white wine can be spumante, frizzante or tranquillo, depending on the perlage? | Prosecco |
| First conjectured by Edward Witten in 1995, by what one-letter name is the theory in theoretical physics that unifies all consistent versions of super string theory known? | M-theory |
| Once thought simply to be a product of folklore, Lluvia de Peces or Rain of Fish is an annual phenomenon, in which hundreds of living freshwater fish are found on land after heavy rainfall, taking place between May and June in which country? | Honduras |
| The first recorded theory for the existence of what is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle who believed that it was caused by the collision of clouds? | Thunder |
| Named for its scent, what do we call the reddish-pink snow, caused by the presence of Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of algae, that is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions? | Watermelon Snow |
| Which Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (1862-1951) who did much to found the modern practice of weather forecasting wrote the book ‘On the Dynamics of the Circular Vortex with Applications to the Atmosphere and to Atmospheric cows and Wave Motion’? | Vilhelm Bjerknes |
| At the 2018 Winter Olympics, which sport had two- and four- men events for men but just a two-person event from women? | Bobsleigh |
| What was the host city of the 2018 Winter Olympics? | Pyeongchang (South Korea) |
| What was the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics? | Sochi |
| The three most populous first-level country subdivisions in the world are all in which country? | India |
| How many symphonies were written and completed by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75)? | Fifteen |
| One of the world's best universities, the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics university in which city? Einstein was based there from 1912-14. | Zurich |
| The bullseye-shaped rash erythema migrans is a characteristic early sign of which illness? | Lyme Disease |
| What is the name of the fictional political party of the totalitarian government of Oceania in George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four? | English Socialist Party/ Ingsoc |
| In the novel "1984" by Orwell, what name was given to the controlled language, of restricted grammar and limited vocabulary, meant to limit the freedom of thought that ideologically threatens the régime of Big Brother? | Newspeak |
| The Defence of the Seven Sacraments (in Latin: Assertio Septem Sacramentorum) is a theological treatise published in 1521 by who? | Henry VIII |
| he method of logarithms was publicly propounded by who in 1614, in a book titled Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio (Description of the Wonderful Rule of Logarithms)? | John Napier |
| Named for a 19th century German philologist, Bekker numbers are used to catalogue the works of which philosopher? | Aristotle |
| Influenced by Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Suspiria de Profundis, which 1860 book by Charles Baudelaire discusses the effects of hashish and opium? | Les Paradis Artificiels (Artificial Paradises) |
| The film that popularised the dissolve to signal flashbacks, Le Jour se Lève (Daybreak) was a 1939 film which is, perhaps, the second-most famous work of which director of the French masterpiece Les Enfants du Paradis? | Marcel Carné |
| Which Greek philosopher and pupil of Socrates founded the Cynic philosophy school? | Antisthenes |
| Which ancient philosopher, born in Sinope, became notorious for his philosophical stunts, such as carrying a lamp during the day, claiming to be looking for an honest man? | Diogenes |
| Which season runs from the vernal equinox to the midyear solstice? | Spring |
| Which solar system planet has an axial tilt of just 3.13 degrees? | Jupiter |
| The Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song "Blurred Lines" was found, in a court case, to have plagiarised "Got to Give It Up", by which artist? | Marvin Gaye |
| Which song, a worldwide hit in 1993, was found to have plagiarised "The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies? | Creep by Radiohead |
| "Surfin' U.S.A." is a song with lyrics by Brian Wilson set to the music of which Chuck Berry song? | Sweet Little Sixteen |
| What is the largest island belonging to Venezuela? | Margarita Island |
| "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" is a 2004 novel by which author? | Umberto Eco |
| The Wordsworth poem that begins "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is also commonly known by what one-word title? | Daffodils |
| What are legong and Oleg Tambulilingan? | (Balinese) Dances |
| From the ancient Greek for "seven islands" by what alternative name are the Ionian islands known? | Heptanese |
| By what Italian name, meaning "hard rocks", is the decorative art of parchin kari, an inlay technique using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stones to create images, also known? | Pietra Dura |
| Carl David Anderson was a US physicist best known for his discovery in 1932 of which antiparticle, an achievement for which he received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics? | Positron |
| Discovered by Carl David Anderson in 1936, which lepton is named for a Greek letter? | Muon |
| The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two people "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict". Name either. | Denis Mukwege/ Nadia Murad |
| How many dice are usually used to play Yahtzee? | Five |
| Which man (16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) added the title "Divina" to the "Divine Comedy", which was originally simply titled "La Commedia"? | Giovanni Boccaccio |
| Beethoven referred to which of his symphonies as "my little symphony in F"? | Eighth |
| The soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli is best-remembered today for being the first person to take the role of which courtesan - the central character in Verdi's La Traviata? | Violetta Valéry |
| Anekantavada, that states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects, is a doctrine of which ancient religion? | Jainism |
| Which approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy, possibly pseudo-scientific, was created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in California, United States in the 1970s? | NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) |
| What is the surname of the three Bulgarian tennis players of the 1980s and 1990s, Manuela, Katerina, and Magdalena, each of whom became WTA top ten players? | Maleeva |
| Venezuela's Angel Falls are along a fork of the Rio Kerepacupai Meru which flows into the Churun River, a tributary of the Carrao River, itself a tributary of which river? | Orinoco |
| Andrija Mohorovičić famously gives his name to the discontinuity forming the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle, but which German geophysicist gives his name to the discontinuity between the lower mantle and the outer core? | Beno Gutenberg |
| Who painted the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci on show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC? | Leonardo Da Vinci |
| Islamic State has a political ideology based on which ultra-conservative movement within Sunni Islam with a name derived, from the Arabic for 'pious forefathers'? Although sometimes considered synonymous with Wahhabism, IS considers Wahhabism derogatory. | Salafism |
| Name the 1887 play by the French playwright Victorien Sardou, set in 1800 in Italy during Napoleon's invasion, which was adapted into a 1900 opera? | La Tosca (the opera was, of course, Tosca) |
| Operational in 1924, an astrophysical observatory in Potsdam, Germany built by architect Erich Mendelsohn is named after which famous scientist? | Einstein (Einstein Tower) |
| Who painted the homage to Manet's 1865 painting "Olynpia" entitled "A Modern Olympia" in 1873/4? | Paul Cezanne |
| Which US actor, who first rose to fame in the US TV show Saturday Night Live, provided the voice of the cat Garfield in the 2004 and its subsequent sequel? | Bill Murray |
| Which MP was Father of the House from 1992 to 2001? | Edward Heath |
| In 2017, who replaced the late Gerald Kaufman as Father of the House of Commons? | Kenneth Clarke |
| Who released the 1970 album "Deja Vu"? | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |
| Who had UK hits in the period 2009-10 with "Pass Out", "Frisky" and "Written In The Stars"? | Tinie Tempah |
| Courgettes are known by what name in the US? | Zucchini |
| Which Beatles song features the lyric "I sat on a rug biding my time/Drinking her wine/We talked until two and then she said/"It's time for bed""? | Norwegian Wood |
| Who, Biblically, anointed Solomon as King of Israel? | Zadok (the Priest) |
| Himbeergeist is a type of schnaps made from which fruit? | Raspberries |
| Which sweets have been produced by Wm Santus & Co. Ltd. in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England since 1898? | Uncle Joe's Mint Balls |
| What was ABBA's only number 1 hit in the USA? | Dancing Queen |
| In song, who jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge on the Third of June? | Billie Joe (in Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe") |
| Which day of the week is named after the god of single combat, and law and justice, in Norse mythology? | Tuesday (Tiw or Týr) |
| Which Mozart opera features heroines Dorabella and Fiordiligi? | Cosi Fan Tutte |
| Which composer's Symphony number 96 is called the "Miracle" Symphony, because at its premiere a chandelier fell, just missing the audience? | Haydn |
| How was Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers better known in English-speaking countries? | The Singing Nun |
| Who was the Norse goddess and personification of the realm of the dead, of whom she receives a portion? | Hel |
| Biblically, how many stones did David pick up before facing Goliath? | Five |
| Selling over 60m records since the release of his debut album in 1985, which Italian singer-songwriter has recorded duets with Cher, Tina Turner, Andrea Bocelli, Patsy Kensit, Anastacia, Joe Cocker, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicole Scherzinger, and Ricky Martin? | Eros Ramazzotti |
| Which 1941 Glenn Miller recording was the first to receive a gold disc? | Chattanooga Choo Choo |
| Who had a 1977 UK Number 2 hit with "Red Light Spells Danger"? | Billy Ocean |
| Who played psychologist Cal Lightman in the US TV series "Lie To Me"? | Tim Roth |
| Which British boxer, who held the WBO middleweight title in 1990, and the WBC super-middleweight title from 1992 to 1996, was nicknamed "The Dark Destroyer"? | Nigel Benn |
| Which US President was Lyndon Johnson describing when he said "he can't talk and chew gum at the same time"? | Gerald Ford |
| Who was British Prime Minister when Queen Elizabeth II became queen? | Winston Churchill |
| Which pattern of fabric is also the name of a type of synthetic athletics track made of polyurethane and made by 3M? | Tartan |
| What is the square root of 289? | 17 |
| Who won the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, becoming the first Manxman to do so? | Mark Cavendish |
| In which year did William Shakespeare die? | 1616 |
| Which designer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, succeeded Alexander McQueen as the chief designer at Givenchy? | Julien Macdonald |
| What name was given to the student mass paramilitary social movement mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution? | Red Guards |
| Meaning "one who speaks, ruler", what Nahautl term was used to denote the ruler of an āltepētl, a pre-Hispanic state? | Tlatoani |
| A large amount of specie provided by Spain to finance the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745 is still rumoured to be hidden in which loch in Lochaber, Scotland? | Loch Arkaig |
| Walter Clopton Wingfield's 1873 game of sphairistikè was a predecessor of which modern sport? | Tennis |
| The coolabah tree, mentioned in the song "Waltzing Matilda" belongs to which genus of plants? | Eucalyptus |
| In Australia, what type of animal is a "jumbuck"? | Sheep |
| Madonna with the Long Neck, also known as Madonna and Child with Angels and St. Jerome, is a 1535-40 painting by who? | Parmigianino |
| On the evening of 27 April 1993, the international football squad of which nation all perished in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon? | Zambia |
| Which US poet published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror? | John Ashbery |
| In a Glass Darkly (1872), a collection of five short stories in the horror and mystery genres, presented as the posthumous papers of the occult detective Dr Hesselius, was by which writer? | Sheridan Le Fanu |
| Who wrote the poem "On The Death of Dookie, the Royal Corgi"? | John Betjeman |
| Which magazine was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991? | The Big Issue |
| Dying in October 2018, what was the name of Queen Elizabeth II's final corgi? | Whisper |
| Who wrote the famous phrase "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains"? | Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
| In the novel "David Copperfield", who is the vicious head of Salem House School? | Mr Creakle |
| From the Greek for "significant", what term refers to the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics? | Semantics |
| Living 1720-78, who was the Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons"? | Giovanni Battista Piranesi |
| What was the first major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe? | Gutenberg Bible |
| Whose first novel was "Last Exit To Brooklyn"? | Hubert Selby Jr. |
| Whose memorial stone reads "Homo sum! the adventurer."? | DH Lawrence |
| Which man, dying 2 December 1985, reportedly declined the role of Poet Laureate? | Philip Larkin |
| In which city was novelist William Makepeace Thackeray born? | Kolkata |
| Who wrote the play The Hotel in Amsterdam (1968)? | John Osborne |
| Who was editor of The Daily Telegraph from 2009-14, and appointed editor of The Sun in 2015? | Tony Gallagher |
| Which poet was Enoch Powell quoting when he made his "Rivers of Blood" speech? | Virgil |
| Which poet wrote crime novels under the name Nicholas Blake? | Cecil Day-Lewis |
| Which letter immediately preceded omega in the Greek alphabet? | Psi |
| Dadaism possibly took its name from the colloquial French for what? | Rocking horse |
| Which "star" architect designed the Millennium Dome? | Richard Rogers |
| Which Chinese statesman, who served with distinction during the Qing Empire's civil war against the Taiping Rebellion, has given his name to a popular deep fried chicken dish commonly served in Chinese-themed American restaurants? | General Tso (or Zuo Zongtang) |
| "Plough Your Own Furrow" was the tile of the first episode of which UK sitcom? | The Good Life |
| The floor plan of St Paul's Cathedral once appeared on which Bank of England note? | £50 |
| What Hawaiian word, defined as a respectful man who has moral authority in society "a prime person, a minister, or an expert in any profession", is used to describe a brilliant surfer? | Kahuna |
| Who had a UK number 1 with "We Can't Stop"? | Miley Cyrus |
| Bainbridge's was a major department store, now a John Lewis, in which English city? | Newcastle |
| St Albans stands on which river? | River Ver |
| Financial, Mission, Japantown and Richmond are districts of which US city? | San Francisco |
| Which city was called Vindobona in Roman times? | Vienna |
| Who choreographed Germany's gold-winning pairs skating couple at the 2018 Winter Olympics? | Christopher Dean |
| How was the city Amman known during Greek and Roman times? | Philadelphia |
| From which football club did Everton sign Bob Latchford, in 1974? | Birmingham City |
| At what weight division did Audley Harrison win Olympic boxing gold in 2000? | Super Heavyweight |
| From which club did Liverpool sign Emlyn Hughes in 1967? | Blackpool |
| In which event did Jason Queally win gold for GB at the 2000 Olympics? | Cycling |
| In which year was the first FA Cup Final? | 1872 |
| Which electrical engineer and physicist, most notable for inventing holography, won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics? | Dennis Gabor |
| Named after someone instrumental in its founding, what is the nickname given to the area centred on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, that contains a large number of educational and cultural sites? | Albertopolis |
| Which footballer, on 15th December 2001, scored the 10,000th Premiership goal? | Les Ferdinand |
| Who was the first heavyweight boxer to regain the heavyweight title after losing it? | Floyd Patterson |
| In which year was the "Festival of Britain"? | 1951 |
| The largest news agency in terms of correspondents worldwide, what is the official state-run press agency of the People's Republic of China? | Xinhua News Agency |
| What is the state-owned electric utility monopoly of China, the largest utility company in the world, and as of 2018, the world's second largest company overall by revenue? | State Grid Corporation |
| The earliest predecessor of chess probably originated in which country? | India |
| In which city was Cliff Richard born in 1940? | Lucknow |
| Which space trading video game, written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and released in 1984, is one of the most influential in video game history? | Elite |
| One of the defining films of the French New Wave, which Francois Truffaut film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his rebellious behaviour? | The 400 Blows |
| Which Francois Truffaut film won the 1974 BAFTA Award for Best Film and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film? | Day For Night |
| Which British architect is known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales? | Clough Williams-Ellis |
| Which actor played Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street in 2009? | Andrew Sachs |
| Which foodstuff is derived from the plant Armoracia rusticana? | Horseradish |
| Which British film director and artist, in 2008 staged a one-night performance 'remixing' da Vinci's The Last Supper in Milan. The performance consisted of superimposing digital imagery and projections onto the painting with music? | Peter Greenaway |
| Which 1979 anthology contains ten stories: "The Bloody Chamber", "The Courtship of Mr Lyon", "The Tiger's Bride", "Puss-in-Boots", "The Erl-King", "The Snow Child", "The Lady of the House of Love", "The Werewolf", "The Company of Wolves" and "Wolf-Alice"? | The Bloody Chamber (by Angela Carter) |
| Willemstad is the capital of which of the Dutch Antilles? | Curaçao |
| Which island located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, is said to be the burial place of 20,000 Saints? | Bardsey |
| What is the only name to be shared by four islands, one off the coast of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, respectively? | Holy Island |
| Who won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for playing the titular role of a high school senior in Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age film Lady Bird (2017)? | Saoirse Ronan |
| Which are the three Green properties in Monopoly? | Regent Street, Oxford Street, Bond Street |
| What does a tegestologist collect? | Beer mats |
| What was the name of the production company of Powell and Pressburger? | The Archers |
| In the BBC version of "Wolf Hall", who played Thomas Cromwell? | Mark Rylance |
| In the BBC version of "Wolf Hall", who played Henry VIII? | Damian Lewis |
| Which US TV series is loosely based on the activities of Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his legal battles with hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors? | Billions |
| Hayling Island is part of which English county? | Hampshire |
| Which of the official languages of South Africa employs 18 separate clicking noises? | Xhosa |
| De Montfort Hall is a music and performance venue in which UK city? | Leicester |
| Which Welsh city was awarded city status in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee? | Newport |
| What, as of 2018, is the only former city in England? (i.e. a settlement that no longer has official city status) | Rochester |
| What, as of 2018, is the only former city in Scotland? (i.e. a settlement that no longer has official city status) | Elgin |
| What is the value of all four stations in Monopoly? | £200 |
| Which Scottish city was awarded city status in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee? | Stirling |
| On 6 February 1840, Hone Heke became the first person to sign which agreement? | Treaty of Waitingi |
| The so-called 'Golden Day' occurred in 66 AD when this Armenian king arrived in Rome in order to be crowned by Nero. This is which man - the founder of the Arsacid dynasty - who features as a central character in Handel's opera Radamisto? | Tiridates I |
| Winner of an International Emmy award for Best Drama Series, which Danish TV crime series (2000-04) starred Charlotte Finch, Mads Mikkleson & Lars Brygmann as members of the titular elite police task force that travels around Denmark helping solve crimes? | Unit One (or Rejseholdet) |
| The younger brother of a future Israeli Prime Minister, which Israeli commander was the only Israeli soldier to be killed in action during Operation Entebbe in 1976? | Yonatan Netanyahu |
| Inspiring the title of a 1970 French gangster film, which Italian hat manufacturer is best-known for its fedoras made from Belgian rabbit fur at its factory in Piedmont? | Borsalino |
| The capital city of which country has a name that means "The Place of 1000 Warriors"? | Madagascar |
| First used in 1935, which film company used the "Gongman" as a logo? | The Rank Organisation |
| Which kingdom dominated Madagascar from approximately 1540–1897? | Imerina/Merina |
| Which composer first came to prominence with his cantata The Whale, premiered in 1968? Then aged 24, he was described by The Guardian as "the musical discovery of the year. | John Tavener |
| Colston Hall is a concert hall and Grade II listed building in which UK city? | Bristol |
| In which month of 1940 did Germany invade Norway and Denmark? | April |
| The Statute of Anne, an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1710, was the first statute to provide for what in law? | Copyright |
| In which year was the Short Parliament? | 1640 |
| According to Aubrey's Brief Lives the Earl of where went into exile for 7 years after accidentally farting when bowing to Queen Elizabeth I? Sadly, it's probably apocryphal although the man, Edward de Vere (1550-1604) was quite real. | Oxford |
| Which battle fought on 15 April 1450, was a major battle of the Hundred Years' War between England and France? The destruction of England's last army in Normandy paved the way for the capture of the remaining English strongholds in Normandy. | Formigny |
| In which city did Benjamin Franklin die, aged 84, on 17th April 1790? | Philadelphia |
| Which king of England dissolved the 'Short Parliament'? | Charles I |
| Which Scots king died at Dundonald Castle in 1390, and was the first monarch of the House of Stewart? | Robert II |
| Which English feminist and suffragist, born Southampton in 1830, was the co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge? | Emily Davies |
| Which forest - lying at the northwest base of Mount Fuji - is known colloquially as the Suicide Forest because of the huge number of people who go there in order to kill themselves? | Aokigahara |
| In which fictional town is Australian soap "Home and Away" set? | Summer Bay |
| Which actress is best known for starring as the title character in the legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal (1997–2002) and started a long relationship in 2002 with Harrison Ford, adopting a child together? | Calista Flockhart |
| Which former Blue Peter presenter kayaked the entire length of the River Amazon for Sport Relief 2010 and became the first person to reach the South Pole using a bicycle in 2012? | Helen Skelton |
| The fictional location of Smallville, the early home of Superman, is in which state? | Kansas |
| Which American television producer and the former President of HBO Documentary Films was the first person to win over 30 individual Primetime Emmy Awards? | Sheila Nevins |
| Who directed the 2009 film version of "The Lovely Bones"? | Peter Jackson |
| Who was the first person to complete the EGOT by winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony? | Richard Rodgers |
| Which American composer and conductor (1944-2012) was the second person to complete the PEGOT of a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony? | Marvin Hamlisch |
| In 1953, who was the first actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting - a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories? | Helen Hayes |
| Who completed the acting Triple Crown when she won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in a revival of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women? | Glenda Jackson |
| Referencing his birthplace, what was the nickname of John Metcalf (15 August 1717–26 April 1810), the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution? | Blind Jack of Knaresborough |
| From which ship did Captain Cook set foot on Botany Bay in Australia in 1770? | Endeavour |
| What was the nickname of the skirmish that took place in the High Street of Edinburgh, Scotland, on 30 April 1520, between rivals James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, chief of Clan Hamilton, and Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, chief of Clan Douglas? | Cleanse the Causeway |
| Lewes and Evesham were battles in which war? | Second Barons' War |
| Which Haitian President, Haiti's first democratically elected president, was ousted in a 2004 coup? | Jean-Bertrand Aristide |
| Who served as Lord Chancellor to King Charles II from 1658, two years before the Restoration of the Monarchy, until 1667, when he was sent into exile after the Dutch raid on the Medway? | Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (accept Clarendon) |
| Which British ship was sunk on 17 June 1940, with between 3000-5800 fatalities, more lives than the combined losses of the RMS Titanic (1,517 passengers and crew) and RMS Lusitania (1,198 passengers)? | RMS Lancastria |
| The French Fleet was scuttled on 27 November 1942 to avoid capture by Nazi German forces in which port? | Toulon |
| Mers El Kébir, famous for a British attack on the French fleet in 1940, in the Second World War, is near which Algerian city? | Oran |
| In which year was the Mutiny on the Bounty? | 1789 |
| Boerum Hill is a district in which major city? | New York City |
| Which photographer's 1986 solo exhibition "Black Males" and the subsequent book The Black Book sparked controversy for their depiction of black men? | Robert Mapplethorpe |
| What is the common name of Ovibos moschatus, an Arctic hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae? | Musk ox |
| Which very popular Ancient Roman ballgame - seen played here in an ancient fresco - has a name deriving, ultimately, from the Greek word meaning 'to seize'? | Harpastum |
| Sung by Rosalinde in Strauss' operetta Die Fledermaus, Klänge der Heimat (Sounds from Home) is probably the best-known example of which style of Hungarian folk dance and music? | Csárdás |
| We was a close friend, trusted lieutenant and the son-in-law of Augustus (Octavian); who commissioned the building of the Pantheon in Rome? Hadrian's later Pantheon now stands on that same site. | (Marcus Vipsanius) Agrippa |
| Aeschylus's famous tragedy The Persians is set during, and in the immediate aftermath of, which battle? | Battle of Salamis |
| Regarded as a symbol of democracy in much the same way as George Washington is in the USA, which politician founded the state of Czechoslovakia and became its first president in 1918? | Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk |
| Which King of Iraq was assassinated in a military coup in 1958? | Faisal II |
| Which of the four gospels in the New Testament is the shortest, and also the earliest dated? | Mark |
| In which town or city, now in Turkey, was Galen born? | Pergamon |
| Supposedly created by, and named after, a King of Pontus, which semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, was used as an antidote for poisoning? | Mithridate |
| His use of opiates noted by his physician Galen, which Roman Emperor is often called one of the first documented drug addicts? | Marcus Aurelius |
| Which Han Emperor, ruling from 141–87 BC, saw a massive territorial expansion during his long reign? | Emperor Wu |
| The ancient site of Merv, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, is in which country? | Turkmenistan |
| Which desert is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan (ancient Mount Imeon) to the west and north, and the Gobi Desert to the east? | Taklamakan Desert |
| Which rabbi (1135-1204) was, for a time, the personal physician to Saladin, the first Sultan of Egypt? | Moses Maimonides |
| In October 2014, which former Google executive temporarily broke Felix Baumgartner's free-fall jumping world record when he jumped from an altitude of over 135,000 feet? | Alan Eustace |
| For what did the letters 'LG' originally stand in the name of the South Korean electronics/telecom/chemicals multinational LG Corporation? | Lucky Goldstar |
| With a two-word name meaning "Good Goddess", which divinity in ancient Roman religion was associated with chastity and fertility in Roman women, healing, and the protection of the state and people of Rome? | Bona Dea |
| In Monopoly, what is the most expensive yellow property? | Piccadilly |
| Which team did Tottenham Hotspur beat on penalties to win the 1984 UEFA Cup Final? | Anderlecht |
| Which rugby union side signed Jonathan Davies in 1995, when he returned to the code from rugby league? | Cardiff RFC |
| Who was the youngest footballer to play for the England national team in the 20th century? | Michael Owen |
| Although technically a semi-desert, it is the closest thing Europe has to a true desert. Located in the Spanish province of Almería in Andalusia, this is which desert in which the films A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly were shot? | Tabernas Desert |
| Bridgeport is the most populous city in which US state? | Connecticut |
| Which island lies four miles NW of John O'Groats and is the most southerly of the islands in the Pentland Firth? | Stroma |
| Walney is an island in Britain that is part of which town? | Barrow-in-Furness |
| Columbia is the capital of which US state? | South Carolina |
| Which country is the first you would land on if you sailed due east of Rio de Janeiro? | Namibia |
| Flatholm and Steepholm are islands that lie in which body of water? | Bristol Channel |
| Which four US states are known as Commonwealths? | Kentucky, Massachussetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia |
| Which annual weekend hike for young people in early May, on Dartmoor, southwest England is organised by the British Army and first started in 1960? | Ten Tors |
| The Anderton boat lift is in which English county? | Cheshire |
| Germany's Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is based in which city? | Karlsruhe |
| Which gulf is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea? | Gulf of Genoa |
| Home to Biggin Hill, which is the largest borough in Greater London? | Bromley |
| What colour is the star on the flag of Somalia? | White |
| Which Ordnance Survey map range has a 1:50,000 scale? | Landranger |
| Which Ordnance Survey map range has a 1:25,000 scale? | Explorer |
| Who represented the UK at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with "Long Live Love"? | Olivia Newton John |
| Which Irish folk band had UK hits with "Seven Drunken Nights" and "Black Velvet Band" (both 1967)? | The Dubliners |
| What was the name of the posthumous UK number 1 achieved by Aaliyah in 2002? | More Than A Woman |
| In Greek myth, who was the father of Cassandra the prophetess? | Priam |
| What do the British call what the Danes call "wienerbrød" (Vienna bread)? | Danish pastries |
| What is found in the middle of a Sussex Pond pudding? | Lemon |
| Who released five albums between 2002 and 2010, all subtitled "The Great American Songbook"? | Rod Stewart |
| Which group had a UK hit in 1968 with an instrumental rearrangement of Leonard Bernstein's "America"? They were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band. | The Nice |
| In which 2009 film does Jeff Bridges play country singer Otis "Bad" Blake? | Crazy Heart |
| "The Last Station" was a 2009 film about which author's final years? | Tolstoy |
| Directed by Jack Nicholson, what was the 1990 sequel to "Chinatown"? | The Two Jakes |
| Who did comedian Adrian Edmondson marry in 1985? | Jennifer Saunders |
| What is the job of a 'gaffer' in movies? | Electrician |
| Malcolm Arnold won an Oscar for which 1957 film's music? | The Bridge On The River Kwai |
| Which British TV crime drama centred on HM Customs and Excise starred David Morrissey (in Series 1) and was broadcast 1994-2000? | The Knock |
| Which Czech-born British film and television actor was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, Inspector Clouseau's long-suffering superior in several of Blake Edwards' Pink Panther films? | Herbert Lom |
| Which eponymous TV detective was a detective sergeant in Le Bureau des Étrangers? | Bergerac |
| Who played male lead George M. Cohan in the 1942 film "Yankee Doodle Dandy"? | James Cagney |
| Which 1991 comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams was mainly a parody of Top Gun? | Hot Shots! |
| Which American color science-fiction TV series, written around a theme of time travel adventure and starring James Darren and Robert Colbert ran for 30 episodes between 1966-67? | The Time Tunnel |
| In the 1947 ICAO alphabet, which predated the NATO alphabet, which word represented the letter 'B'? | Baker |
| Who was the first English cricketer to score a century in their first and last Test matches? | Alastair Cook |
| Who was the principal architect of New Delhi? | Edwin Lutyens |
| Rhinoceros (1959) and The Chairs (1952) were plays by who? | Eugène Ionesco |
| Nicholas Salmanovitch Rubashov is the main character in which novel? | Darkness at Noon |
| Which biochemist famously accompanied Che Guevara on his 1952 motorcycle tour of Latin America? His memoirs served as the reference for the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries. | Alberto Granado |
| Famous for the extreme demands which it places on the technical ability of the performer, Giuseppe Tartini's Violin Sonata in G minor is better known by what nickname? | Devil's Trill |
| Which Soviet nuclear physicist who is known for his discovery of spontaneous fission had element number 114 named for him? | Georgy Flyorov (flerovium) |
| Known in Japan by the original name Mighty Atom, the manga series Astro Boy is, perhaps, the most famous work of which Japanese cartoonist and animator often referred to as 'Japan's Walt Disney'? | Osamu Tezuka |
| Who was Speedway World Champion in 1997, 2011, 2014 and 2016? | Greg Hancock |
| The WW2 Battle of Arnhem was part of which unsuccessful World War II military operation fought in the Netherlands? | Operation Market Garden |
| Which holiday company, started in 1950 by Belgian entrepreneur Gérard Blitz, once described itself as "the antidote to civilisation"? | Club Med |
| In the film "Rise of the Planet Of The Apes" a substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee named what? | Caesar |
| How is singer Sannie Charlotte Carlson better known? | Whigfield |
| Which actor achieved fame as the scheming Paul Merroney in "The Brothers" and later played a Time Lord? | Colin Baker |
| Who was the architect of the Guggenheim Museum in New York? | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Who designed both the coronation dress and wedding dress for Queen Elizabeth II? | Norman Hartnell |
| Harewood House is situated eight miles north of which city? | Leeds |
| Which artist was the shortest-serving President of the Royal Academy of Arts, dying after six months in the post in 1896? | John Everett Millais |
| How many playing pieces are there at the start of a game of backgammon? | 30 (15 each) |
| Which Welsh snooker player did Steve Davis defeat to win his first World Snooker Championship title in 1981? | Doug Mountjoy |
| Who was the first Briton to win the Nobel Peace Prize? | (William) Randal Cremer (in 1903) |
| In which country is the headland Cape Horn? | Chile |
| Who, in 1971, was the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia? | Neville Bonner |
| Where would a toque be worn? | Head (chef's hat) |
| Which 1985 American romantic fantasy comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen sees Jeff Daniels break the fourth wall by escaping from a black and white film to romance a waitress? | The Purple Rose of Cairo |
| Where on a horse is the fetlock? | On the leg |
| What was the name of the TV series featuring Mountie Constable Benton Fraser's adventures in Chicago? | Due South |
| Which Duke's seat is at Floors Castle? | Duke of RoxburgheThe |
| Which spice is made from the outer covering of nutmeg seeds? | Mace |
| Which Indian power that dominated much of the Indian subcontinent in the 17th and 18th century formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji and ended in 1818 with the defeat of Peshwa Bajirao II? | Maratha Empire |
| Which politician was created 1st Earl of Orford? | Robert Walpole |
| The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, and the Battle of Quiberon Bay were both in which year? | 1759 |
| The title of which Powell and Pressburger film part comes from a satirical comic strip by David Low, although the story itself is original? | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp |
| Which Hellenistic state existed from 312 BC to 63 BC and the height of its power, included central Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan? | Seleucid Empire |
| Which assistant surgeon during the First Anglo-Afghan War, was famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accompanying civilians, to reach safety in Jalalabad at the end of the long retreat from Kabul? | William Brydon |
| Who was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973? | Mohammed Zahir Shah |
| The Camp Chapman attack of 2009 in which seven American CIA officers and contractors, an officer of Jordan's intelligence service, and an Afghan working for the CIA were killed, took place near which city? | Khost |
| Which Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front in July/August 1943 was history's biggest tank battle? | Battle of Kursk |
| Which battle fought in waters near the Philippines from 23–26 October 1944 is generally considered to be the biggest naval battle in history? | Battle of Leyte Gulf |
| What is half of a crotchet in musical notation? | Quaver |
| In the modern orchestra, there are three woodwind instruments with a double reed - the oboe, the bassoon and what else? | Cor anglais |
| Which Irish distilled beverage can only be made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes? | Poitín/potcheen |
| What name is given to a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower? | Contrabassoon |
| Which French term refers to the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument? | Embouchure |
| Performed in order to exorcise sins and uncleanness, harae are the purification rituals central to which religion? | Shinto |
| Which Brazilian aviation pioneer built - and flew - the world's first practical dirigible and became world famous in 1901 when he flew his craft around the Eiffel Tower? | Alberto Santos-Dumont |
| Which traditional barbecued dish serves as the national dish of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay? The term is also used to refer to the barbecue - and attendant social gathering - itself. | Asado |
| His mannerisms and best-known jokes have informed Italian popular culture to an extent unmatched by any other performer. By what stage-name is the Italian comedian Antonio Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno De Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi better known? | Totò |
| The Tunisian tourist complex of Port El Kantaoui - the site of the 2015 attacks which left 39 people dead - lies 10 km north of which city, best-known for its medina, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988? | Sousse |
| Nicolai Poliakoff (1900-74) was best known for creating which character? | Coco the Clown |
| In which year was the British newspaper The Sun first published? | 1964 |
| Which prolific Scottish author (1909-2000) wrote the 1995 novel "Honours Even"? | Nigel Tranter |
| Who created the character of Desperate Dan? | Dudley D Watkins |
| In which city is Der Spiegel based? | Hamburg |
| What is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Church and the world? | L'Osservatore Romano |
| Who wrote "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" in 2000? | Dave Eggers |
| Which Russian wrote the 1926 novel "The White Guard"? | Mikhail Bulgakov |
| Which a Danish painter, one of the best known artists from the Golden Age of Danish Painting, painted "Frederiksborg Slot ved Aftenbelysning" ("Frederiksborg Palace in the Evening Light") but died of pneumonia aged 37 in 1848? | Christen Købke |
| Who wrote the novel "The Adevntures of Augie March"? | Saul Bellow |
| Which author (1867-1916) is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness? | Natsume Soseki |
| What common name does the species Turritopsis dohrnii have due to its ability to transform itself back into a polyp? | Immortal Jellyfish |
| Which three species of pines, in the genus subsection Balfourianae, are among the longest-living organisms on Earth, with some believed to be 5000 years old? | Bristlecone Pines |
| Which small, fresh-water organisms of the phylum Cnidaria and class Hydrozoa are native to the temperate and tropical regions and have marked regenerative ability — they do not appear to die of old age, or indeed to age at all? | Hydra |
| From the Greek for "more way" what term refers to the situation which occurs when one gene influences two or more seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits? | Pleiotropy |
| Which group of London-based male poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys met at the London pub ‘Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese’ in Fleet Street and in the 'Domino Room' of the Café Royal? | Rhymers' Club |
| In 1994, she portrayed the Doctor Who companion Susan Foreman in a BBC Radio 4 comedy drama Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? Who married illustrator Gerald Scarfe in 1981? | Jane Asher |
| In which WB Yeats poem do the final lines match those on the poet's own gravestone: "Cast a cold eye/ On life. on death/Horseman, pass by!" | Under Ben Bulben |
| The phrases "days of wine and roses" and "gone with the wind" - the latter adopted by Margaret Mitchell for her famous book - first appeared in the poetry of which member of the Decadent Movement (1867-1900)? | Ernest Dowson |
| Which poet and novelist's wife Antonietta (nee Portulano) was placed into an asylum in 1919? | Luigi Pirandello |
| Which county is the location od Pevensey, where William the Conqueror landed in 1066? | East Sussex |
| In which year is Halley's Comet next predicted to be at perihelion and thus visible from Earth? | 2061 |
| Halley's Comet is visible from Earth every how many years? | 75-76years |
| Which battle fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 saw the Byzantines decisively defeated and paved the way for the Turks to take over Anatolia? | Battle of Manzikert |
| "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; / Or close the wall up with our English dead...." comes from which Shakespeare play? | Henry V |
| In which century was Russian hero Alexander Nevsky alive? | 13th |
| Which English screenwriter, film director, novelist and actor was the writer and director of Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992) as well the collage film Of Time and the City (2008)? | Terence Davies |
| Which historic GB Shaw play was first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans? | Caesar and Cleopatra |
| Graham or North Island in the north and Moresby Island in the south are the two main islands of which group? | Haida Gwaii |
| What was originally commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup? | Stanley Cup |
| Which French-Swiss woman of letters wrote the 1809 novel "Corinne"? | Madame de Stael or Germaine de Stael |
| Which Brothers Grimm fairy tale is known as Dornröschen, or Little Briar Rose in German? | Sleeping Beauty |
| Rebecca West's travelogue "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" is about which former country? | Yugoslavia |
| What nationality is violinist André Rieu? | Dutch |
| Which Charlotte Bronte novel ends with the titular character marrying the tutor Louis Moore? | Shirley |
| In which 1977 hit single do four singers introduce themselves with their star sign and a description of what they want from a woman? | Float On (The Floaters) |
| In 1922, who enlisted in the RAF under the name John Hume Ross? | TE Lawrence/Lawrence of Arabia |
| Novelist Peter Carey described which art critic (1938 – 2012), born in Sydney, as "Australia's Dante"? | Robert Hughes |
| The Duchess of Gloucester, who was the daughter-in-law of George V, and who lived to be 102 years old, was generally known by what name? | Princess Alice |
| By what name was Peter Carl Mackay (1881-1965) better known as a British racing tipster, whose catchphrase was "I Gotta Horse? | Prince Monolulu |
| Which US novelist wrote "Housekeeping", "Gilead" and "Home"? | Marilynn Robinson |
| What was the 1898 sequel to the Anthony Hope novel "The Prisoner of Zenda"? | Rupert of Hentzau |
| Which British PM died in 1827 after 119 days in office? | George Canning |
| Captain Harold Dobey was a character in which TV police show? | Starsky & Hutch |
| The prison known as the "Hanoi Hilton" is properly known by what name? | Hỏa Lò Prison |
| Redblush is a variety of which fruit, known in Spanish as toronja? | Grapefruit |
| Kelpers or Bennies are nicknames for which islanders? | Falkland Islanders |
| Which English sportsman and administrator created the FA Cup, was one of those responsible for the first ever international soccer match and arranged the first cricket Test match to be played in England, England against Australia at the Oval in 1880? | Charles Alcock |
| The Rogers Commission Report investigated which disaster? | Challenger space shuttle disaster |
| Christopher Marlowe wrote about the "troublesome reign and lamentable death of" which king? | Edward II |
| What general name is given to short-lived aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera? | Mayflies |
| What was the name of the reed boat with which Thor Heyerdahl proved that trade was possible between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilisation? | Tigris |
| Named for the inventor of gabardine, which fashion house was founded in Basingstoke in 1856? | Burberry |
| Both André Cassagnes and Arthur Granjean have been credited with the invention of which device, originally called "The Magic Screen"? | Etch-A-Sketch |
| The Mariel Boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans to the USA in which year? | 1980 |
| What is defined as the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion? It involves the study of friction and rubbing objects. | Tribology |
| What name is given to a tie worn around the neck of equestrians dressed formally for a hunt or certain competitive events? | Stock |
| Which bone of the human body was formerly called "the holy bone", its name coming from a translation of the Greek also meaning that? | Sacrum (from os sacrum) |
| What name is given to a refining process in metallurgy, where ores or alloyed metals are treated under very high temperatures and have controlled operations to separate noble metals, like gold and silver, from base metals like lead or zinc? | Cupellation |
| Which subatomic particles are the lightest mesons and, more generally, the lightest hadrons? | Pions |
| A 'binky' is a twisting jump made by which animal being joyful? | Rabbit |
| When, in 2011, the album Joined At The Hip was awarded the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album, it made which 97 year old blues pianist the oldest ever winner of a Grammy Award? | Pinetop Perkins |
| Dying August 29, 2011, which Delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi was the last "original" Delta blues musician to die? He was present the night Robert Johnson drank the poisoned whiskey that killed him. | David "Honeyboy" Edwards |
| In which play does Martin Dysart evaluate the boy Alan Strang? | Equus (Peter Shaffer) |
| Which species of penguin is second in size only to emperor penguin? | King Penguin |
| JS Kabylie and ES Sétif are two of the top professional football teams from which country? | Algeria |
| Which Italian Tunisian film actress and sex symbol who appeared in some of the most acclaimed European films of the 1960s and 1970s played Jill McBain in "Once Upon a Time in the West"? | Claudia Cardinale |
| Which controversial German actor (1926-1991) was renowned for his tantrums on set, some being portrayed in Herzog's documentary My Best Fiend? | Klaus Kinski |
| Which amphibian and "aquatic panda" (Andrias davidianus) is called the wawa yu, or crying baby fish by locals in China? | Chinese Giant Salamander |
| How is musician Michael Peter Balzary (born 16 October 1962) better known? | Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) |
| Alasdair Milne (1982-87) and Sir Michael Checkland (1987-92) were among the holders of which position? | Director-General of the BBC |
| Whose most famous roles were as the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series Boon and later Harry Slater in BBC's EastEnders? | Michael Elphick |
| Which 2017 American period drama film written and directed by Woody Allen starred Jim Belushi, Kate Winslet, Juno Temple, and Justin Timberlake and was set in the early 1950s at an amusement park on Coney Island? | Wonder Wheel |
| Played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on TV, which fictional character featured on both the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke and served as the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas? | Matt Dillon |
| Gilbert and Joyce Chivers were played by Michael Palin and Maggie Smith in which 1984 film? | A Private Function |
| What is the name of the Potts' family dog in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"? | Edison |
| Bruce Willis plays Harry S. Stamper in which 1998 film directed by Michael Bay? | Armageddon |
| The 1962 Basil Dearden film "All Night Long" was an updated version of which Shakespeare play? | Othello |
| "Underneath the Arches" is a 1932 popular song by which duo - one of the duo wrote it? | Flanagan and Allen (written by Bud Flanagan) |
| Which 2019 Netflix original series follows a woman who repeatedly dies and relives the same night in an ongoing loop? | Russian Doll |
| The strangulation of Mrs Boyle at the end of Act 1 is a major feature of which play, first performed in 1952? | The Mousetrap |
| Which American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter that aired from 2008 to 2014 followed the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's Central Valley? | Sons of Anarchy |
| Which Japanese structure, completed in 2012, is the world's second tallest structure as of 2019? | Tokyo Skytree |
| How did Chang and Eng Bunker achieve fame in the 19th Century? | As the original "Siamese Twins" |
| Released in 2015, Divers was the fourth studio album by which American multi-instrumentalist, harpist, singer-songwriter, and actress? | Joanna Newsom |
| Which country plays the All Blacks in rugby union for the Freedom Cup? | South Africa |
| Giacomo Meyerbeer's last opera, L'Africaine, is about which Portuguese explorer? | Vasco da Gama |
| Zest from the Femminello St. Teresa or Sorrento lemon is traditionally used to make which liqueur? | Limoncello |
| Featured stewed beef, which Cuban dish's name means "old clothes"? | Ropa Vieja |
| Which animal's meat is used in the dish of "muktuk"? | Whale (it is blubber and skin) |
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garyegrant
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