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GK 42
Quiz
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ahmedabad is the largest city and former capital of which Indian state? | Gujarat |
| Which island, part of the city of Munakata, Fukuoka, Japan, is considered sacred land, and has a population of a single Shinto priest, one of 10 who take it in turn to spend 10-day intervals on the island, praying and guarding against intruders? | Okinoshawa |
| The Historic Mine in Tarnowskie Góry, Poland, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, is with the neighbouring Black Trout Adit, remnants of the mining of what substance? | Silver |
| What is the largest city of the West Bank of Palestine? | Hebron |
| What is the largest city in the Palestinian Territories? | Gaza |
| The Wanganui Campaign and the first Taranaki War were features of which larger conflict that took place between 1845 and 1872? | Maori Wars |
| Whose last words in 1793 were supposedly an apology to her executioner for stepping on his foot? | Marie Antoinette |
| What type of play takes its name from the French for 'stuffing'? | Farce |
| Bill Mason is the central character of which 1951 science fiction novel? | Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham) |
| Who won a 2000 Best Supporting Actor Oscar despite delivering most of his lines in Spanish? | Benicio del Toro (Traffic) |
| In 2009, Dorothy Hughes and Winifred Phillips became the first women to join which previously male-only British institution? | Chelsea Pensioners |
| Which woodland north of Perth in Scotland is the setting for the climax of Shakespeare's MacBeth - in which the witches' prophecy is fulfilled, that the trees should march upon the castle of Dunsinane? | Birnam Wood |
| Acknowledged as one of the world's most pre-eminent members of her profession, what position did Pauline Kael hold on the New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991? | Film critic |
| "No Way Home" is the title of the 2007 autobiography of which ballet dancer, who began life as one of eight children living in poverty in the back streets of Havana? | Carlos Acosta |
| The name of which household fixture comes from an old French word meaning a pony or small horse? | Bidet |
| Which word, sometimes poetically used to refer to the female sex, was given to a cleft stick measuring about three feet long, around which flax was wound, in thedays before mechanised spinning? | Distaff |
| What is Lady GaGa's real name? | Stefani Germanotta |
| What was the name of Lady Gaga's fifth studio album, released in 2016, that bore the forename of her recently deceased aunt - the name also being one of Gaga's real middle names? | Joanne |
| Alec Jeffreys developed DNA profiling/genetic fingerprinting while working at which university in England in 1984? | University of Leicester |
| Of the eight Kings of England called Henry, which had the longest reign? | Henry III (1216-1272) |
| Which US singer and flapper (1904-66) whose signature song was "I Want To Be Loved By You" was supposedly used by Max Fleischer as inspiration in creating Betty Boop? | Helen Kane |
| The standard unit of magnetic flux density is named after which physicist? | Tesla |
| Which French-born US designer and celebrity couturier (1913-2006) was credited with creating the 'Jackie Look' when Jacqueline Kennedy was the US First Lady? | Oleg Cassini |
| Which ascetic sub-order of Cistercian monks was founded in Normandy in 1664 by the Abbott de Rancé? | Trappists |
| In which city is the cricket test match venue, the Basin Reserve, often simply called the Basin? | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Which British statesman published a book entitled "Painting as a Pastime"? | Sir Winston Churchill |
| In Christian tradition, if angels are the lowest rank of the nine-fold celestial hierarchy, which group of beings are the highest? | Seraphim |
| What is the correct term for the pastoral staff carried by a bishop, fashioned in the form of a shepherd's crook? | Crosier |
| Which building was the subject of a real time film by Andy Warho llasting over eight hours, the only action in the picture being the lights of the building going on and off? | Empire State Building (film was Empire) |
| In physics, which elementary particle has a name derived from the Greek word for light, and was first used by the physical chemist Gilbert Lewis in 1926? | Photon |
| Which part of the British Isles has a parliament called the Court of Chief Pleas? | Sark |
| Which type of theatre takes its name from the Latin for "a player of many parts"? | Pantomime |
| Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. What is the second largest? | Ullswater |
| What does the name Apatosaurus, now used instead of Brontosaurus mean? | Deceptive lizard |
| In Morse code, which letter is a single dot? | E |
| In Morse code, which letter is a single dash? | T |
| Which pioneering jazz pianist, born in North Carolina in 1917, had the unusual middle name "Sphere"? | Thelonious Monk |
| In the care labels for clothes, what is indicated by a square with a circle inside it, crossed out? | Do Not Tumble Dry |
| In an early printed book, where would you find the 'explicit'? | At the end - it is the last words of a text |
| Which French Jesuit philosopher wrote 'The Practice of Everyday Life' where he drew a distinction between "strategies", linked to institutions of power, and "tactics",utilised by people to create space for themselves in environments defined by strategies? | Michel de Certeau |
| Which island was independent from 1898 to 1908, first under High Commissioner Prince George of Greece then Alexandros Zaimis? | Crete |
| Frank Calvert, a British amateur archaeologist, excavated which site seven years before a more famous name did - which site? | Troy (and Schliemann, of course) |
| Which people of the ancient Near East controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC? | Kassites |
| Boğazkale is a town in Turkey on or near the site of which ancient Hittite capital? | Hattusa |
| Named after the place where they were found, what name is given to the archive, written on clay tablets, consisting of diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom? | Amarna Letters |
| Which German artist and writer (1858-1925), who synthesised Impressionism and Expressionism painted 1896's "Self Portrait with a Skeleton" and was condemned as degenerate by the Nazis? | Lovis Corinth |
| Whose graphic work was 1933's "Minotaurmachie"? | Pablo Picasso |
| What is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, as well as the fourth largest city in Greece? | Heraklion |
| Which lost epic poem of ancient Greek literature, which has been attributed to Stasinus and was quite well known in classical antiquity, came before the Iliad in the 'Epic Cycle'? | Cypria |
| Achilles' death is recounted in which lost Greek epic of the "Epic Cycle" that directly followed the Iliad? | Aethiopis |
| How is the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern better known in English? | Mecklenburg-West Pomerania |
| Arica is the northernmost city in which country? | Chile |
| In which English county are both the Rivers Lugg and Teme? | Herefordshire |
| The Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash crosses which river? | Tamar |
| Which Romanian castle is heavily marketed as "Dracula's Castle"? | Bran Castle |
| Who played Ray Charles in the film "Ray"? | Jamie Foxx |
| Which English actress and former glamour model is best known for playing Candice Stowe in the television soap opera Coronation Street, Dawn Bellamy in Heartbeat and Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks? | Nikki Sanderson |
| Which American singer-songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer and business tycoon who gained fame as a singing cowboy had a horse called 'Champion'? | Gene Autry |
| Who played Hoover in the 2011 film biopic "J. Edgar"? | Leonardo Di Caprio |
| Who played Chico, the young, hot-blooded shootist, in the 1960 film "The Magnificent Seven"? | Horst Buchholz |
| Which late Bronze Age culture of central Europe takes its name from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in containers which were then buried? | Urnfield Culture |
| Which people are believed to have originally come from the Peleset, mercenaries garrisoned by the ancient Egyptians in the Levant? | Philistines |
| Who was the fourth king of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible - a son of and the successor to Solomon? | Rehoboam |
| Who was Moses' assistant and the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses, who led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan? | Joshua |
| Which elevated ridge in Jordan, approximately 710 metres (2,330 ft) above sea level, is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land? | Mount Nebo |
| Who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama in 2008 and again in 2016, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2015, for playing Don Draper in "Mad Men"? | Jon Hamm |
| According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, it was conquered by the Israelites on their second attempt. The ruins of which city, consisting of two letters, are popularly thought to be in the modern-day archaeological site Et-Tell? | Ai |
| Give a year during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. | 911-609BCE |
| Which Prince of Moldavia (1457-1504), remembered as an ardent defender of Christianity and sanctified by the Romanian Orthodox Church, was voted the 'Greatest Ever Romanian' in a television poll? | Stephen III of Moldavia (known as Stephen the Great or Ștefan cel Mare) |
| The 17th Century German-born scientist Franciscus Sylvius is usually credited with the invention of which spirit? | Gin |
| Which naval figure, who commanded the vessel the "Glatton" at the Battle of Copenhagen under Nelson in 1801, is better known to posterity for his part in an event that took place more than ten years earlier? | Captain William Bligh |
| A silhouette of an American bison (or buffalo) appears on the flag of which of the United States? | Wyoming |
| What name was given to any of the shanty towns built by the unemployed and destitute during the American depression of the 1930s, a famous example having been in New York's Central Park? | Hooverville |
| Its name derived from the third wife of the Emperor Claudius, the 'Messalina complex' is better known how? | Nymphomania |
| At the court of King George I, who or what were nicknamed 'the Maypole' and 'the Elephant and Castle'? | The King's Mistresses (Ehrengard Melusina von Schonberg and Charlotte Sophia Kelmans respectively) |
| In which capital city was Andre Previn born in 1929? | Berlin |
| In botany, what term is used for a variety of plants all of whom share the feature of their leaves being permanently orientated in a north-south direction, to take advantage of early and late sun, while avoiding the stronger midday sunlight? | Compass plants |
| For which London bank was TS Eliot working in 1922, when he published "The Waste Land"? | Lloyds |
| In the classic Morecambe and Wise sketch featuring the conductor Andre Previn, what piece was Eric Morecambe playing with "all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order"? | Grieg's Piano Concerto |
| What is the zoological name for the Plains bison? | Bison Bison Bison |
| "The Hostage" and "The Quare Fellow" are plays by which irreverent Irish playwright who died in 1964? | Brendan Behan |
| Which South African became only the third cricketer ever to hit six sixes from one over in first-class cricket at the 2007 World Cup against the Netherlands? | Herschelle Gibbs |
| Which Indian became only the fourth cricketer ever to hit six sixes from one over in first-class cricket at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 against England? | Yuvraj Singh |
| What was the stage-name of the Canadian-born American actress Ellen Evangeline Hovick, the younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, whose last film role was as Aunt Clara in the 1987 movie 'A Return to Salem's Lot'? | June Havoc |
| Which musician was nicknamed - among other names - "Dippermouth"? | Louis Armstrong |
| Who was the first British golfer to win the US Masters? | Sandy Lyle (1988) |
| When Sir Alistair Pilkington developed the so-called "Float Process" for the manufacture of glass, he used a molten bath or river of which metal to float the glass on? | Tin |
| Which city was proclaimed the first capital of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861? | Turin/Torino |
| The bestockinged leg that appeared on the famous poster for the 1967 film "The Graduate" was not that of Anne Bancroft, but which model and actress who later played Sue Ellen in "Dallas"? | Linda Gray |
| A compound of the Greek word for 'solid' and the Latin word for 'ray' or 'beam', what name is given to the SI unit of solid angle? | Steradian |
| In which country was 1980-85's Log Revolution? | Croatia |
| In which country was 2000's Bulldozer Revolution? | Yugoslavia/Serbia |
| In which country was 2003'S Rose Revolution? | Georgia |
| The islands of Ischia, Procida, Vivara, and Nisida are known by what collective name? | Phlegraean Islands |
| Which Australian had pop hits with Got to be Certain (1988) and Wouldn’t Change a Thing (1989)? | Kylie Minogue |
| What was the sequel to "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves? | Claudius the God |
| What is England's largest reservoir by surface area? | Rutland Water |
| Which torture instrument was given the name "The Duke of Exeter's Daughter"? | The rack |
| What name is given to vehicles manufactured at any time up to 31st December 1904? | Veteran |
| What name is given to vehicles manufactured between 1st January 1905 and 31st December 1918? | Edwardian |
| In legend, Leodegrance, King of Cameliard, is the father of which queen, whose marital infidelity is said to have brought her a life of penitence at an Amesbury nunnery? | Guinevere |
| In which country was 2005's "Tulip Dynasty"? | Kyrgystan |
| The conductor Bernard Haitink, a former music director at the Glyndebourne Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, was born in which country? | The Netherlands |
| Which city in Eastern Europe, older than Rome, Athens or Carthage, was renamed Philippopolis by Philip of Macedon and known to the Romans as Trimontium and described by the satirist Lucian as "The largest and most beautiful of all cities"? | Plovdiv |
| Who was the fascist politician who became the first President of the Slovak State in 1939, a post that he kept until April 1945? He was hanged by the Czechoslovak authorities in April 1947. | Josef Tizo |
| Which European city stands between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs? | Barcelona |
| Which Roman Stoic philosopher is credited with writing the satirical work 'The Pumpkinification of Claudius', probably in reaction to Claudius' decision to banish him to Corsica? | Seneca The Younger |
| 'Catechismus' and 'Abecedarium' were two books published by the Protestant reformer Primož Trubar in 1550. They are notable as they were the first books to be printed in which language? | Slovenian |
| In 1768, which king passed a personal act to found the Royal Academy of Arts? | George III |
| Evelyn Waugh’s novel A Handful of Dust takes its title from which modernist poem? | The Waste Land |
| Who released the album "Fate For Breakfast" in 1979? | Simon & Garfunkel |
| Who was the Swiss football pioneer, who was club captain at FC Basel and also played rugby for Athletique Union in Lyon, who led the group that founded Barcelona Football Club in 1899? | Joan Gamper (or Hans Gamper) |
| Founded by King Alfonso IX in 1218, which is the oldest university in Spain? | University of Salamanca |
| Which well-known Irish song takes its lyrics from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh entitled 'Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away', that was first published in the Irish Press in October 1946? | On Raglan Road |
| How are Lough Leane, Muckross Lake and Upper Lake collectively known? | Lakes of Killarney |
| Which capital (240-63BC) of the Seleucid Empire was named after the father of Seleucus I Nicator? | Antioch |
| Which Islay whisky distillery derives its name from the Gaelic for “hollow by the mill”? | Lagavulin |
| Which American socialite (1896-1986) reputedly said: “You can never be too rich or too thin”? | Wallis Simpson |
| Which Italian fashion house was the first to adopt one symbol — its greyhound logo — to identify its products? | Trussardi |
| Charles Goodyear, who invented the vulcanisation process of rubber, hailed from which country? | USA |
| What is the name of the "Woman In White" in Wilkie Collins' novel of that name? | Anne Catherick |
| What is the largest city on the River Guadiana on the Iberian Peninsula? | Badajoz |
| Which German film director and playwright directed the 1999 documentary 'Buena Vista Social Club'? | Wim Wenders |
| Who is the Tunisian-born librettist who worked with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg to create the musicals 'Les Misérables' (1980), 'Miss Saigon' (1989) and 'The Pirate Queen' (2006)? | Alain Boublil |
| What was the name of the satirical novel by Jaroslav Hašek, that was left unfinished at his death in 1923 and illustrated by Josef Lada, that tells the story of a Czech army veteran? | The Good Soldier Švejk |
| What was the name of the device used by German U-Boats from 1944, that enabled them to run on diesel and recharge their batteries while remaining submerged? The basic idea came from the captured Dutch navy in 1940. | (Submarine) snorkel |
| Nobel Laureates Czesław Miłosz (Literature, 1980), Andrew V. Schally (Physiology or Medicine, 1977) and Aaron Klug (Chemistry, 1982) were all born within the territory of which modern-day nation? | Lithuania |
| Galápagos syndrome is a term of Japanese origin, which refers to an isolated development branch of a globally available product, & was originally coined to refer to which kind of devices that had a number of specialised features, unsuccessful abroad? | Mobile phones |
| What name is given in Japanese cuisine to the class of cooking stock that forms the basis for soups like miso soup or noodle broth? | Dashi |
| Which 1999 Mike Leigh film concerned the famed theatrical partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan? | Topsy-Turvy |
| In which Spanish city are the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe? | Valencia |
| Which 1920 treaty created the current size of the country of Hungary? | Treaty of Trianon |
| Which golden liquid is the blood of the gods and immortals in Greek mythology? | Ichor |
| Which Caribbean island contains the highest point of the Netherlands? | Saba |
| What is both the highest point in both the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and, since the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, the highest point in the Netherlands proper? | Mount Scenery (on Saba) |
| Which Irish cyclist won the green jersey in the Tour de France four times in the 1980s (1982,1983,1985 and 1989)? | Sean Kelly |
| Which Slovakian cyclist won his sixth green jersey in the Tour de France in 2018? | Peter Sagan |
| Which German cyclist won the green jersey in the Tour De France six times in consecutive years from 1996 to 2001? | Erik Zabel |
| Dubbed the 'Napoleon of the Indians', in 1877, which chief of the tiny Nez Perce tribe led his tribe in a celebrated 1,500 mile wilderness campaign, pursued by the US army before he and his people were finally overpowered close to the Canadian border? | Chief Joseph (or Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it) |
| Trischa Zorn, blind since birth, won 55 Paralympic medals in which sport? | Swimming |
| In which modern-day country was Marc Chagall born in 1887? | Belarus |
| Which Welsh actor and film producer played Bennett in 1953's "The Cruel Sea" and Lt. John Chard in 1964's "Zulu"? He co-produced "Zulu" and "The Italian Job". | Stanley Baker |
| Which 1978 British adventure film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen about a group of mercenaries in Africa starred Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger? | The Wild Geese |
| In 2011, who became Europe's second openly gay government leader when he served as the 50th Prime Minister of Belgium from 6 December 2011 to 11 October 2014? | Elio Di Rupo |
| Who became Ireland's first openly-gay Taoiseach in 2017? | Leo Varadkar |
| Who became Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly lesbian head of government on 1 February 2009? | Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir |
| Xavier Bettel became the third openly gay leader of a country in 2013 when he became Prime Minister of which country? | Luxembourg |
| Which brother of a famous female singer wrote the novel 'Cowboys and Indians' that was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize in 1991? | Joseph O'Connor |
| Taking its name from the Dutch for 'eel lake', which town in the Netherlands is home to the world's largest flower auction and is thus sometimes described as the flower capital of the world? | Aalsmeer |
| In 1530, which island did Pope Clement VIII grant to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem? | Malta |
| Which 20th Century philosopher, known for his oft-quoted witty remarks, declared in Volume III of 'The Life of Reason' that "Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit"? | George Santayana |
| Although it is sometimes called the flying lemur it is not a lemur nor can it fly. This large tree-dwelling mammal of the family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera is thought to be mankind's closest extant non-primate relative. What is it called? | Colugo |
| The Grand Canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world. It flows for approximately 1800 kilometres from Beijing into which eastern Chinese province? | Zhejiang |
| Also known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, which naval battle of 1944 was the largest in history in terms of tonnage of ships and in terms of the area in which the battle took place? | Battle of Leyte Gulf |
| In Chinese it literally means 'Blue Sea Lake'. It is the largest lake in China. In English, it is known by the same name as the central Chinese province in which it lies. How is it known in English? | Qinghai Lake |
| Soldiers from which country were the first to plant their flag in the ruins of the Benedictine abbey when the Allies won the WW2 Battle of Monte Cassino? | Poland |
| Who is the father of singer Norah Jones? | Ravi Shankar |
| Whose recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" hit No. 1 in the U.S. charts during Christmas 1949? | Gene Autry |
| Which hymn with words by John Greenleaf Whittier ends "Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm"? | Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind |
| Which Biblical character, the 3rd son of David, had hair that yielded 200 shekels in weight annually? | Absalom |
| Who, in 1895, was the first actor to be knighted? | Henry Irving |
| Of what animal is the female called a "dam" and her young called a "cria"? | Llama/alpaca |
| Who, in 1970 was the first actor to be made a life peer? | Laurence Olivier |
| In which prison was Adolf Hitler incarcerated in 1924? | Landsberg |
| Muhamed Konjić was the first footballer of which nationality to play in the English Premier League? | Bosnian |
| "One For The Radio" was a UK top five hit for which group in July 2008? | McFly |
| Living in Central America, what is the most aquatic living marsupial, and is also the only living marsupial in which both sexes have a pouch? | Water opossum or Yapok |
| Former Norwich and Newcastle footballer Ruel Fox represented which team at international level? | Montserrat |
| Found exclusively in the Galapagos Islands, what is the name of the world's only lizard that hunts and forages in the sea? | Marine Iguana |
| Which 1678 work was written in Bedford Prison? | The Pilgrim's Progress |
| The highest peak in the Balkans, Musala, lies in which mountain range, also the name of the National Park in which it is situated? | Rila |
| The phrase "everything is in everything" is associated with which Ancient Greek philosopher, who also introduced the concept of Nous (Cosmic Mind) as an ordering force? | Anaxagoras |
| Which Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily, is chiefly associated with creating the idea of the four Classical Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water? | Empedocles |
| What is the name of the parasitic volcano of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador that erupted almost continuously from its formation in 1770 until 1958 and, in 1926, killed 56 people when an eruption buried the village of Matazano? | Izalco |
| An example of which breed of dog, named after its city of origin and often compared to an Ewok from 'Star Wars', can be seen between the two human figures in Jan van Eyck's 1434 masterpiece 'The Arnolfini Portrait'? | Brussels Griffon |
| Tom and Maggie Tulliver are central characters in which novel? | The Mill On The Floss |
| Who sang the theme tune to the BBC TV series "Dad's Army"? | Bud Flanagan |
| What is the capital of the Spanish autonomous region of Cantabria? | Santander |
| Adam Trask and his twin sons Caleb and Aron feature in which 20th century novel? | East of Eden (Steinbeck) |
| Paul Goodison won a gold medal for Team GB at the 2008 Summer Olympics when competing in which sport? | Sailing (Laser Class) |
| What was the name of the Italian PM assassinated by the Red Brigades in 1978? | Aldo Moro |
| What was the name of the Spanish PM assassinated by the Basque group ETA in 1978? | Luis Carrero Blanco |
| What is the opposite of halal, in that it is a word that denotes non permissible foodstuffs in Islam? | Haram |
| What is the opposite of kosher, in that it is a word that denotes non permissible foodstuffs in Judaism? | Treif |
| To which European country does Bouvet Island belong? | Norway |
| To which country do the Juan Fernández Islands belong? | Chile |
| Which early Renaissance artist is reputed to have drawn a perfect circle freehand for the Pope? | Giotto |
| War and Peace (1946) and The Fiery Angel (1955) were operas by which composer? | Sergei Prokofiev |
| Which country was established on 1 January 1804—the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, and the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave revolt? | Haiti |
| In which city was the fashion designer Gianni Versace murdered in 1997? | Miami |
| In theory, their nephews and nieces share approximately what percentage of a person's genes? | 25% |
| The Peru Current is a cold, low salinity ocean current that extends along the West Coast of South America from Northern Peru to the southern tip of Chile. By what name is it better known? | Humboldt Current |
| Serenus Sammonicus is believed to have coined which word in the 2nd century Liber Medicinalis, as part of a cure for fever and ague? | Abracadabra |
| The MJO is an equatorial travelling pattern of anomalous rainfall, observed primarily in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, that is the subject of large-scale on-going study as it is, as yet, not well understood. For what do the letters MJO stand? | Madden-Julian Oscillation |
| Sung by Mathilde, a princess of the Habsburg house, as she waits in the forest on the heights of Rütli for her lover, Arnold Melchthal, "Sombre Foret" is a soprano aria from which opera? | William Tell (Rossini) |
| In 1939 which derogatory nickname did Andre Breton conceive for Salvador Dali - an anagram of the latter's name - because of Dali's supposed love of money? | Avida Dollars |
| Named after a region of southern Ghana, what is the name of the Akan empire that existed between 1701 and 1957 on Ghanaian territory? | Ashanti (Empire) |
| Often occurring in deserts and other places of flat terrain it is a rotating updraft, that can range in size from half a meter across to over ten meters wide and over one thousand meters high. What is this phenomenon, called a willy in willy in Australia? | Dust devil |
| What name is given to the instrument that is used to measure the drop size and velocity of hydrometeors, thus enabling it to distinguish between different types of precipitation such as rain and hail? | Disdrometer |
| The Abel Prize in mathematics is awarded annually by the government of which country? | Norway |
| El Alamein, of WW2 fame, is a coastal town in which country? | Egypt |
| Which was the first English football team to lose in the final of a European Cup? | Leeds United |
| The 1908 Summer Olympics were due to be held in Rome - but what event of 1906 caused them to be moved to London? | Eruption of Mount Vesuvius |
| In which year was the Battle of Britain fought? | 1940 |
| What was the codename for the German invasion of the USSR in WW2? | Operation Barbarossa |
| Named for the 1st Marquess of Pombal, who was instrumental in rebuilding the city in the mid 18th century, Baixa Pombalina is the name given to the famous planned central district of which European city? | Lisbon |
| Which US general (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was nicknamed "Old Blood and Guts"? | George S. Patton |
| Who had a UK number 1 hit in 1965 with "Make It Easy On Yourself"? | Walker Brothers |
| Who was the US President at the start of the 20th Century? | William McKinley |
| In the US television series The Mentalist, the titular character is attempting to track down the killer of his wife and children. The serial killer is eventually revealed to be Thomas McAllister, but is referred to throughout the show by what nickname? | Red John |
| In which year was Charles I executed? | 1649 |
| On 5 November 1688, William III landed at which southern English port with his army? | Brixham |
| In which year was the Battle of the Boyne? | 1690 |
| Named for a French engineer, which law states that the rate at which a fluid flows through a permeable medium is directly proportional to the drop in elevation between two places in the medium & inversely proportional to the distance between them? | Darcy's Law |
| Literally meaning 'raised' or 'lifted', what term is used in ballet to describe a movement in which the heels are raised off the floor, either to a pointe or demi-pointe? | Relevé |
| In which European country did hyperinflation peak in 1923, with its currency standing at 4.2 trillion to the dollar? | Germany |
| Which major country's period from 1839 to 1949 is sometimes described as the 'century of humiliation'? | China |
| Which French city sees the "Fête des lumières" festival occur every December 8th? | Lyon |
| Also called "Serpentine", this particular metamorphic rock comes from Italy's Apennines and was historically quarried around Figline di Prato. Used in the baptistery and cathedral at Florence what colour is this distinctive marble? | Green |
| In Arthurian legend which Knight of the Round Table supposedly had an affair with Queen Guinevere? | Lancelot |
| Connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, what is the name of the strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa? | Bab-el-Mandeb |
| Which ancient Iranian civilization that at different times included territory located in present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan had a name that became synonymous with 'merchant'? Alexander the Great's wife Roxana belonged to these people. | Sogdian |
| The intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire, with ruins south of Shahabad, a village in the present-day province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, which city perhaps had the world's first medical school? | Gundeshapur |
| Which mythological figure of Greater Iranian culture and tradition, described as the fourth and greatest king of the epigraphically unattested Pishdadian Dynasty, is said to have introduced medicine to the world, flying on a jewel-bedecked throne? | Jamshid |
| In which year is the Prophet Muhammad said to have died? | 632CE |
| What name is given by Wikipedia to the practice of using multiple accounts to edit articles? | Sock-puppetry |
| Their authority as a source for religious law and moral guidance ranking second only to that of the Qur'an, what name is given to the record of the words, actions, and the silent approval, of the Islamic prophet Muhammad? | Hadith |
| Which battle was fought in 711 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate, composed of Arabs and Berbers under the commander Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad? | Battle of Guadalete |
| What type of animal is a saluki? | Dog |
| Which city was once known as Madīnat as-Salām? | Baghdad |
| Which branch of logic is employed to handle the concept of partial truth, where the truth value may range between completely true and completely false? | Fuzzy Logic |
| Named after a UK general what name is given to a wide belt, usually leather, supported by a narrower strap passing diagonally over the right shoulder, usually worn as part of a military or police uniform? | Sam Browne Belt |
| Mazarine is a shade or hue of which colour? | Blue |
| Which two men created what is widely held to be the first motorcycle, the Reitwagen, in 1885? | Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach |
| Edwin Holmes is often credited with which invention, first sold and used in Boston in 1858? | Burglar alarm |
| What was the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warship, built for the Navy in 1860? | HMS Warrior |
| Which letter designates atomic orbitals that are filled by electrons immediately after the single s-orbital is full? | p |
| Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the Earth's oceans, is to be found within the ocean territory of which country? | Federated States of Micronesia |
| As well as appearing in films such as Blue Velvet, The Hidden, and Dune, which US actor portrayed Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, Trey MacDougal in Sex and the City, Orson Hodge in Desperate Housewives, and Calvin Zabo in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? | Kyle MacLachlan |
| Which former manager of the pop group ABBA founded the Polar Music Prize in 1989? | Stig Anderson |
| What are mobile numbers from 07700 900000 to 07700 900999 reserved for in the UK? | Use in TV and film |
| Ivory, Border and Gloster are varieties of which pet bird? | Canary |
| A US size 0 dress is what size in the UK? | Size 4 |
| Which plant, viola tricolor, is sometimes called Johnny Jump Up? | Wild pansy/heartsease |
| The Caterpillar Club is an informal association of people who have successfully done what? | Used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft |
| "Here Hungry Little Beggar Boys Catch Newts Or Fish" is a mnemonic used for what? | The first few chemical elements |
| Four elements end in 'um', not 'ium'. Name any three. | Platinum, Molybdenum, Lanthanum, Tantalum |
| The term refers to any large sheath knife with a crossguard and a clip point - which knife is named after a man who had become famous for his use of a large knife at a duel known as the Sandbar Fight. | Bowie knife |
| Which organisation, founded in 1905 and male only until 1991, has the motto Indocilis Privata Loqui ("not apt to disclose secrets")? | The Magic Circle |
| Whose name is given to the supposed law that "bad money drives out good"? | Gresham |
| Which supertanker ran aground off the Cornish coast in 1967, causing a major oil spill? | Torrey Canyon |
| Which Russian-American aviation pioneer, born in Kiev in 1889, is widely credited with inventing the modern helicopter? | Igor Sikorsky |
| From the seed of which fruit does the bitter almond flavour of Disaronno come? | Apricot |
| In November 2018, which US actor released an album entitled "The Capital Studios Sessions", backed by the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, a group of session musicians named after a family friend? | Jeff Goldblum |
| Which scientist (1791-1867) refused to help the British government develop chemical weapons for use in the Crimean War on ethical grounds? | Michael Faraday |
| In which Australian city do the Brumbies Super Rugby team play their home fixtures? | Canberra |
| Made in 1927, what was Laurel and Hardy's first "official" film together as a team? It involved Laurel as Philip, a Scot recently arrived in the US. | Putting Pants on Philip |
| What name is given to a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño used for seasoning in Mexican food? | Chipotle |
| Carrying over 70,000 passengers every day, what is the name of the ferry service that links Hong Kong Island to Kowloon across Victoria Harbour? | Star Ferry |
| The comet Swift-Tuttle is the parent body of which meteor shower that peaks in August each year? | Perseid |
| An example being the part of a nutmeg seed that produces mace, what name is given to a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed? | Aril |
| Which former UN Special Envoy on Climate Change and Director General of the WHO was also the first female PM of Norway? | Gro Harlem Brundtland |
| Ed Sheeran released three versions of his song "Perfect" - the original and two remixes entitled "Duet" and "Symphony". Name either of the artists with whom he recorded these remixes. | Beyoncé, Andrea Bocelli (respectively) |
| In which city did Franz Schubert die in 1828, aged 31? | Vienna |
| The modern art movement neo-concretism, whose exponents included Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica, developed during the 1950s in which country? | Brazil |
| Which Ivy League University awards the Pulitzer Prizes each year? | Columbia University |
| Which Indian state has a capital at Lucknow? | Uttar Pradesh |
| In Dec 2018 Ray Kelvin, the founder and CEO of which British luxury fashion company announced that he was taking leave of absence in response to an online petition about his inappropriate behaviour? | Ted Baker |
| Who succeeded Ban Ki-Moon as UN Secretary General on 1st January 2017? | Antonio Guterres |
| Who became the 13th Secretary General of NATO in 2014, replacing Anders Fogh Rasmussen? | Jens Stoltenberg |
| How is the German rapper Julian Otto, born in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1989, better known? | Bausa |
| By what name were Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone collectively known in Graeco-Roman mythology? | Erinyes or Furies |
| Eliud Kipchoge broke the previous men's marathon record by 1 minute, 18 seconds, the greatest improvement since 1967, in 2018 in which capital city? | Berlin |
| What is the largest lake and lowest point of elevation in Oceania? | Lake Eyre |
| What was the name of the rock from which traitors were thrown to their deaths in Ancient Rome? | Tarpeian Rock |
| Often attributed to Ambrose Bierce, according to the famous quotation what "...is God's way of teaching Americans geography"? | War |
| The Saale, Havel, Mulde and Ohře are all tributaries of which major European river? | Elbe |
| Which early 20th century US President's face is found on the seldom-seen $100,000 bill? | Woodrow Wilson |
| Pernilla Lindberg, Ariya Jutanugarn, Angela Stanford, Georgia Hall and Park Sung-Hyun are all players of which sport? | Golf |
| What name is given to the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers? | Benthic zone |
| Gerald "Jerry" Baldwin is an American businessman, who along with Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl founded which company in 1971? | Starbucks |
| In written Modern Greek, which punctuation mark is used - instead of a question mark - to indicate that a question has been asked? | Semi-colon |
| The American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson was founded in - and is still headquartered in - which city? | Milwaukee |
| According to the American Psychological Association, the 5 most cited psychologists of the 20th century were Skinner, Piaget, Freud, Bandura, and which American social psychologist best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance? | Leon Festinger |
| In terms of road vehicles, what does SUV stand for? | Sport Utility Vehicle |
| In chess notation, what does 0-0, or 0-0-0 indicate? | Castling |
| The Joseon Dynasty (also translated as Choson or Chosun), that ruled for over 500 years, was the final ruling house of which Asian empire? | Korean |
| Which artist's work "Nu couché" sold at auction in New York for over $157,000,000 in May 2018? | Amedeo Modigliani |
| In November 1811, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 5 in E-flat major was premiered for the first time in Leipzig. By what byname do we know this work? | Emperor Concerto |
| Immediately prior to gaining independence from France, Mali (then known as French Sudan) joined a short-lived federation (the Mali Federation of 1959-60) with which other African nation? | Senegal |
| Which Japanese sportswear and sports equipment company has an acronymic name formed from a Latin phrase meaning 'a healthy mind is a healthy body'? | ASICS |
| The Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev is best-remembered today for having given his name to a well-known scale measuring… what? | A civilization's level of technological advancement (accept similar) |
| Puffins, guillemots, murres and razorbills are all members of Alcidae family in the order Charadriiformes. By what name is this family better known? | Auks |
| Known as la Città Sotterranea ("the Underground City"), it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its historical centre Sassi has World Heritage Site status. Which Italian city? | Matera |
| Who directed, co-wrote the screenplay, and wrote the music for the 1978 horror film "Halloween"? | John Carpenter |
| Which Roman Catholic garment suspended from the shoulders comes in "devotional" and "monastic" forms? | Scapular |
| As of 2019 the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving for over 31 years, who was Pope from 1846 to 1878? | Pius IX |
| Duane Lee Chapman was the titular star of which US show that ran from 2004 to 2012? | Dog The Bounty Hunter |
| Named for a 19th century German explorer, which species of vulture of the Sahel region of central Africa is considered to be the world's highest flying bird, reaching a maximum altitude of around 11,300 metres? | Rüppell's vulture |
| Which three-word term used in economics dates back to 1985 when the Financial Times reported a brief market rise in Malaysian and Singaporean stocks after a recession? | Dead cat bounce |
| What are chemical elements with atomic numbers 57-71 called? | Lanthanides |
| What are chemical elements with atomic numbers 89-103 called? | Actinides |
| Which endangered New Zealand species is the world's largest parrot? | Kakapo |
| Which animal, Gymnogyps californianus, became extinct in the wild in 1987 but was successfully reintroduced in 1991? | Californian condor |
| What did the 'CB' of CB radio stand for? | Citizens' Band |
| Hippocrates, considered the 'father of medicine' hailed from which island? | Kos |
| Which two flavours of quark have the lowest mass? | Up and Down |
| What, in economics, is FDI? | Foreign Direct Investment |
| The falabella horse originated in which country? | Argentina |
| What colour is the beret worn by members of the SAS? | Beige/Sand |
| The brother of the actress Jane Asher achieved fame in the 1960s as part of which musical act? | Peter and Gordon |
| Which Iranian city on the Caspian Sea coast gives its name to a 1971 international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands? | Ramsar |
| "Sailing to Byzantium" is a 1928 poem about old age by who? | WB Yeats |
| Which American publisher, entrepreneur and business magnate (1873-1942) bought Vogue and Vanity Fair and turned them into hugely successful magazines? | Condé Nast |
| Which band had two 1960s US Billboard Hot 100 No.1s with "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (originally sung by Tom Courtenay in a 1963 British TV play) and "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"? | Herman's Hermits |
| "L'Esclusa" or "The Excluded Woman" - first published with the title "Marja Ajala" was whose first, 1901, novel? | Luigi Pirandello |
| "Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" are the opening lines to which poem of 1921? | The Second Coming (WB Yeats) |
| Give a year in the life of Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki. | 1867-1916 |
| Celeste Albaret (1891-1984) was the housekeeper and secretary who at times was the sole companion of which reclusive writer? | Marcel Proust |
| Portrait of a Man is a well-known work - and possible self-portrait - of which Sicilian painter (c. 1430 - 1479) who Giorgio Vasari credited with bringing oil painting to Italy? | Antonello da Messina |
| The Battle of Messines was itself a prelude to which set-piece British attack (July-Nov 1917) on the Western Front in WW1? | Passchendaele |
| Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) was born into a family from which originally Zoroastrian community? | Parsis |
| In which year was Napoleon Bonaparte born? | 1769 |
| Which singer-songwriter exhibited his own extensive photography collection at the Tate Modern in 2016 and 2017 and included 25 works by Man Ray, the iconic "Migrant Mother" image and a portrait of Salvador Dali by Irving Penn? | Elton John |
| The prominent economists Léon Walras and Vilfredo Pareto are both associated with which school of economic thought - named for a European city - most closely associated with the development of general equilibrium theory? | Lausanne School |
| Who was the father of Harold, the King of England killed at the Battle of Hastings? | Godwin of Wessex |
| Which Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson was exiled by his brother and died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge? | Tostig |
| Name either of Harold Godwinson's brothers who were also killed at the Battle of Hastings? | Gyrth, Leofwine |
| Harald Hardrada succeeded who as King of Norway in 1046? | Magnus I (the Good) |
| Give a year when Harthacnut was King of England. | 1040-42 |
| The The Torre Glòries, formerly known as Torre Agbar, is located in which major city? | Barcelona |
| Which French fashion house was founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion? | Chloe |
| What was designated as the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956? | Gower Peninsula |
| Car designer George Carwardine (1887 - 1947) is most famous for which non-car invention, still used today, in 1932? | Anglepoise Lamp |
| Which two US Presidents both died on July 4th 1826? | Thomas Jefferson, John Adams |
| What is the smallest member state of the United Arab Emirates? | Ajman |
| Who composed the 1846 opera Attila? | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Which 1813 battle was Europe's largest prior to World War One? | Battle of Leipzig, Battle of the Nations |
| The Mond Process extracts and purifies which transition metal? | Nickel |
| Which Book of the Old Testament is named after the son of Nun? | Joshua |
| The Sublime Porte was a metnoym for the government of which empire? | Ottoman Empire |
| Sick of violence, which emperor constructed the Great Stupa at Sanchi after he converted to Buddhism in 262CE? | Ashoka |
| The Pratzen Heights was a vital area of high ground in which 19th century battle? | Battle of Austerlitz |
| Which string of German states meant to serve as a buffer between France and Prussia was created by Napoleon in 1806? | Confederation of the Rhine |
| The 2008 novel "The Private Patient" was the last to feature which iconic detective? | Adam Dalgleish |
| Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse was a major figure in which of the Crusades? | First |
| Between 1095 and 1291, how many Crusades were there? | Nine |
| Who won the first Stanley Cup, in 1893? | Montreal Hockey Club |
| Who won the first Stanley Cup of the NHL era in 1927? | Ottawa Senators |
| Which team won their first Stanley Cup in 2018, defeating the inaugural-season Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals? | Washington Capitals |
| Which trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP) during the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs? | Conn Smythe Trophy |
| Leading the record in NHL season goal scoring a record seven times, which Russian ice hockey player, nicknamed the Great Eight, was voted the MVP at the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals? | Alexander Ovechkin |
| His birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India every year. Which field hockey player (1905-79) scored 570 goals in 185 international matches according to his autobiography, Goal, and earned three Olympic medals? | Dhyan Chand |
| Scoring 215 goals in 326 games for Australia between 2001 and 2016, which male Australian field hockey player, a 2004 Olympic gold medallist, is often described as one of the best ever? | Jamie Dwyer |
| The only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times, she is considered as the best female hockey player of all time. Which Argentine played 376 times for her country, scoring 162 goals? | Luciana Aymar |
| He won two Olympic golds, one World Cup medal and three FIH Player of the Year awards - who is this Dutch field hockey player, born in 1976, and who wore the number 14 in honour of Johan Cruyff? | Teun de Hooijer |
| William III's top general, Frederick Herman, Duke of Schomberg, was killed at which battle? | Battle of the Boyne |
| Who broke Roy Emerson's record of six when he won his seventh Australian Open men's singles tennis title in 2019? | Novak Djokovic |
| Which actor played trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky movies? | Buster Meredith |
| Which Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress and writer, one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume, instead of the then-accepted pantaloons, was the subject of the Esther Williams film "Million Dollar Mermaid"? | Annette Kellermann |
| Which 1818 painting by Caspar David Friedrich of a man standing on a mountain top has come to symbolise the whole Romantic movement? | Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer) |
| Which liqueur is found in a Cosmopolitan cocktail? | Cointreau |
| Which island, geographically part of the Comoros group, voted to become a département of France in 2009 and part of the EU in 2014? | Mayotte |
| Which woman's name, in France, is also a national symbol of the French Republic, a personification of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty? | Marianne |
| Which former motorway in England was downgraded to become a part of the A414 in 2009? | M10 |
| What is the biggest lake in the Balkans? | Lake Skadar (also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra) |
| The city of Springfield, population 153,000 and thus around the 4th biggest in New England, is in which US state? | Massachussetts |
| Winston Churchill attended which public school? | Harrow |
| From 1910-58, what was the capital of French Equatorial Africa? | Brazzaville |
| The city of Fukuoka is the largest on which island? | Kyushu (Japan) |
| Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes created which item by accident when they were attempting to make a 3D wallpaper? | Bubble wrap |
| Sir Thomas Beecham called which London venue, on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the Borough of Lambeth, "a giant chicken coop"? | Royal Festival Hall |
| Craster in Northumberland is renowned for which seafood? | Kippers |
| Who was the oldest member of the pop group The Jackson 5? | (Sigmund Esco) Jackie Jackson |
| Sometimes referred to as the "suicide disease", due to the intensity of the pain experienced, and the lack of effective treatment, what is the most painful condition known, ranking higher on the McGill pain index than childbirth, amputation or cancer? | CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) |
| Which country's national epic is called the Kalevala? | Finland |
| What is the highest mountain in Albania? | Mount Korab |
| In which city was former PM Neville Chamberlain born? | Birmingham |
| Which imperial unit is equivalent to 453.592g? | One pound |
| Which British actress (b. 1947) appeared in all of Bad Girls, coronation Street and Dynasty? | Stephanie Beacham |
| Who had a 1999 hit with "It's Not Right but It's Okay"? | Whitney Houston |
| After whom is Tirana's airport named? | Mother Teresa |
| The government of which country moved to Washington DC during WW2 due to military occupation? | Philippines |
| Which UK girl group, active 1998-2001, was made up of the three Higgins sisters? | Cleopatra |
| Ancient Nineveh stood on which river? | Tigris |
| Which two actors played Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller)'s parents in "Meet the Fockers"? | Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand |
| What is the name of the cat in the film "Meet the Parents"? | Jinx |
| The Curiosity rover landed on a crater on Mars named after which author? | Ray Bradbury |
| What, as of 2019, is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world - in 2012 it replaced Great Paul at St Paul's Cathedral as the largest bell in the British Isles? | Olympic Bell |
| Before 1920, what was the capital of Albania? | Durrës |
| What is the name of University Challenge's theme tune, composed by Derek New? | College Boy |
| The TV show "Outlander", that premiered in 2014 was based on novels by which US author? | Diana Gabaldon |
| The flop TV show of Eldorado, that showed on UK TV from 1992-93, was set in which fictional fishing village? | Los Barcos |
| How were Danny Wilde and Lord Brett Sinclair known in the title of a 1970s TV show? | The Persuaders! |
| The 1944 ballet "Fancy Free" featured a score by which US composer? | Leonard Bernstein |
| Which baron married Maria Kutschera in Austria on November 26th 1927? | Georg von Trapp |
| Who was the last Norman king of England, dying in 1154? | Stephen |
| Who played Hawkeye Pierce in the hit TV show M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1983? | Alan Alda |
| Aged 18, Fiona Butler posed for which iconic poster in 1976? | "Tennis Girl" |
| Who wrote and directed the 2001 BBC TV series "Perfect Strangers"? | Stephen Poliakoff |
| What is the name for a male falcon, especially one used in falconry? | Tercel |
| The red Budget box was created for which Chancellor in 1859? | William Ewart Gladstone |
| The US sitcom (1971-79) "All In The Family" was based on which UK TV series? | Till Death Us Do Part |
| Which 2012 UK TV series was based on the Shakespeare plays Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V? | The Hollow Crown |
| What surgical first was performed by Argentine cardiologist Dr Rene Favaloro in 1967? | Cardiac bypass |
| Named after the city in which the shogunate was established by Japan's first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, in 1192, which period of Japanese history ended in 1333 with the short re-establishment of imperial rule under Emperor Go-Daigo? | Kamakur |
| Published in 1890, The Principles of Psychology was a ground-breaking text in the history of psychology, and was written by whom? | William James |
| Released in 2014, Calm After the Storm is perhaps the best-known hit of which Dutch country-pop band named for the birds with the Latin binomial Linaria cannabina? | The Common Linnets |
| Which Basque Country city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, Spain's smallest province? | Donostia-San Sebastian |
| Which Cuban cigar brand derives its name from the Taino word for tobacco? | Cohiba |
| Which actress, married to Orson Welles from 1943 to 1947, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease aged just 61 in 1980 - her diagnosis contributing much to public understanding of the disease? | Rita Hayworth |
| There were sequels to which 1968 film with the prefixes: Beneath the; Escape from the; Conquest of the; Battle for the; Rise of the; and Dawn of the? | Planet of the Apes |
| Glenn Chandler created which TV detective, who first appeared in 1983? | Taggart |
| In which film of 1967 did Trini Lopez play Puerto Rican Pedro Jiminez? | The Dirty Dozen |
| Who presented Blue Peter from 1962 to 1972 and The Money Programme from 1980 to 1988? | Valerie Singleton |
| The actress Merle Oberon was born in which modern-day country in 1911? | India |
| Who won a Best Director Academy Award for "A Beautiful Mind" (2001)? | Ron Howard |
| The NFL franchise Tennessee Titans started life in 1960 as what team? | Houston Oilers |
| Who took up the post of Director-General of the BBC on 2 April 2013? | Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead |
| Which movie of 1930 was marketed with the slogan "Garbo Talks!"? | Anna Christie |
| The German composer Otto Nicolai founded which Orchestra in 1842? | Vienna Philharmonic |
| Mount Pilatus and its summits Tomlishorn and Esel overlook which Swiss city? | Lucerne |
| Which city in Heilongjiang province, China, is famous for its annual ice festival? | Harbin |
| What name is given by Russians to the river known to the Chinese as "Heilong Jiang"? It forms part of the Chinese-Russian border. | Amur |
| Although not as well known as Botticelli's version, the 1879 painting The Birth of Venus is one of the best-known works of which French academic painter? | William-Adolphe Bouguereau |
| Which esoteric word of mystic meaning in early Gnostic teaching served as the title of Santana's critically-acclaimed second album, released in 1970? | Abraxas |
| Published in 1959, Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium is, perhaps, the most famous work of which French economist awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Economics? | Gerard Debreu |
| The Afro-Brazilian mystic Sebastiao and the blond bandit Corisco are the titular characters in which 1964 Brazilian film directed by Glauber Rocha? | Black God, White Devil (Deus E O Diabo Na Terra Do Sol) |
| Which fictional heroine is the daughter of Lord Henshingley? | Lara Croft |
| What was the Beatles' best-selling UK single? | She Loves You |
| What name is given to people from Sydney? | Sydneysider |
| Three cities in the United Arab Emirates have a population of over 1 million, and each of the cities shares its name with the emirate in which it is to be found. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two, but which city is the third? | Sharjah |
| The annual Bilderberg conference - at which many of the world's most powerful politicians and business leaders gather - is named after the hotel in which country at which the conference was first held in 1954? | Netherlands |
| Ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", which American musician scored the soundtrack to Wim Wenders' Palme d'Or-winning 1984 film Paris, Texas? | Ry Cooder |
| Nike suffered embarrassment when which basketball player, dubbed the 'next LeBron James', suffered injury in 2019 when his shoe fell apart when Duke University played local rivals North Carolina? | Zion Williamson |
| Since 1997, Jeff Koons' famous work Puppy - a topiary sculpture of a West Highland White Terrier - has stood on a terrace outside which famous museum? | Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao |
| When Nelson Mandela became president of the African National Congress in 1991, he replaced which man who had held the post since 1967? | Oliver Tambo |
| For which 2010 novel, in which the author is himself murdered by the protagonist, did Michel Houellebecq win the Prix Goncourt in 2010? | La carte et le territoire (or The Map and the Territory) |
| With a daily circulation of over 10 million, which Japanese broadsheet has the highest circulation of any newspaper anywhere in the world? | Yomiuri Shimbun |
| Which notoriously difficult set of equations describes the motion of fluids by applying Newton's second law of motion to fluids? | Navier-Stokes equations |
| Which of the Millennium problems is a major unsolved problem in the field of algebraic geometry that relates the algebraic topology of a non-singular complex algebraic variety to its subvarieties? | Hodge Conjecture |
| Who, in 1883, reputedly said "last words are for fools", then died? | Karl Marx |
| The Almanach de Gotha is a directory of what? | European nobility |
| Which Channel 4 sitcom produced the catchphrase "Yes I can hear you, Clem Fandango"? | Toast of London |
| Named after a capital city, what is the last element in the lanthanide series? | Lutetium |
| Forming the same function as the Western handshake, which traditional Maori greeting is performed by pressing one's nose and forehead to another person at an encounter? | Hongi |
| Stars of their own 2015 film, who were Dave, Stuart, Jerry, Jorge, Tim, Phil, Mark, Kevin and Bob? | Minions |
| The Koutoubia Mosque is a prominent landmark in which city? | Marrakech |
| In 1901, the British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth invented the first powered what? | Vacuum Cleaner |
| "We are running on line north and south" was the last received radio transmission of which aviatrix? | Amelia Earhart |
| The world's first professional standing army was introduced in the 8th century BC by which king of Assyria who conquered almost all of the known world prior to his death in 727 BC? | Tiglath-Pileser III |
| Known for her albums Traslocando and Carioca, which Italian singer married the tennis star Bjorn Borg in 1989? | Loredana Berte |
| Which badminton trophy is named after a two-time chess champion? | Thomas Cup |
| Luigi Boccherini composed "Night Music of the Streets of..." which capital city? | Madrid |
| Although he is probably not now best remembered as an architect, which man's (1511-1574) best-known architectural work is the Uffizi Gallery in Florence? | Giorgio Vasari |
| Which December 1941 battle is sometimes called "the Alamo of the Pacific"? | Battle of Wake Island |
| Which Italian painter was described by Vasari as "the greatest female painter of the Renaissance"? | Sofonisba Anguissola |
| Aris Kindt appears in which famous 1632 painting? | The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp (he is the body) |
| A Sambuca served "con mosca" (with flies) has what added to it? | Three coffee beans floating in the glass |
| Which ancient Hindu text is the most famous work of Vatsyayana? | The Kama Sutra |
| Which poem by Rainer Marie Rilke concludes "you must change your life"? | Archaic Torso of Apollo |
| Which dark nebula in Orion is also known as Barnard 33 or B33? | Horsehead Nebula |
| Traditionally made of silver, a bombilla is both used as a straw and a sieve when drinking what? | Mate or Yerba Mate |
| Which Cuban author created the Havana cop Mario Conde? | Leonardo Padura |
| Which race is held on the first Sunday of March between the village of Sälen and the town of Mora? | Vasaloppet |
| "Juditha Triumphans" (1716) is the only surviving oratorio of which composer? | Antonio Vivaldi |
| Which cathedral is home to the Hedda stone and Catherine of Aragon's tomb? | Peterborough Cathedral |
| Which Pacific country is the first to enter the New Year? | Kiribati |
| Thomas Lawrence's 1794 portrait of Sarah Barrett Moulton has what colourful nickname? | Pinkie |
| Who took the famous photo that portrays a U.S. Navy sailor grabbing and kissing a stranger—a woman in a white dress—on Victory over Japan Day ("V-J Day") in New York City's Times Square on August 14, 1945? | Alfred Eisenstaedt |
| Which American photographer is responsible for the iconic 1984 work Afghan Girl depicting a young girl, later identified as Sharbat Gula? | Steve McCurry |
| At which naval air station in New Jersey did the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship burst into flames in 1937, killing thirty-six people? | Lakehurst |
| Which Danish cyclist won the 1996 Tour de France but later admitted that he was using banned substances at the time? | Bjarne Riis |
| The 23rd and 24th largest deserts in the world respectively, the Dasht-e-Kavir and Dasht-e-Lut are large salt deserts to be found in which country? | Iran |
| In 1957, which drug was first sold in West Germany under the brand name Contergan? | Thalidomide |
| Which Turner Prize-nominee designed Partick Thistle's terrifying mascot Kingsley? | David Shrigley |
| Which British artist and film-maker who works with "moving image, printed image, sculpture and writing", and created films including Stoneymollan Trail (2015) and Bridgit (2016) won the 2018 Turner Prize? | Charlotte Prodger |
| In 1968, who was the first Kenyan to win the Olympic 3000m steeplechase? | Amos Biwott |
| Which famous musical instrument is held at Buckland Abbey and is said to be heard at times when England is at war or significant national events take place? | Drake's Drum |
| Which UFO-based religion was founded by Claude Vorilhon in 1974? | Raëlism |
| Who saw 18 visions of the Virgin Mary in the Grotte de Massabielle? | Bernadette Soubirous |
| Which Hindu god also comes in the form of Nataraja, the lord of the Dance? | Shiva |
| Orongo was the ceremonial centre of which Easter Island cult? | Birdman cult |
| Which city on the river Pegnitz is home to Germany's largest museum of cultural history? | Nuremberg |
| Pencak Silat is the general term for martial arts created in which country? | Indonesia |
| Which traditional Japanese string instrument is the only one played with a bow? | Kokyū |
| Thought to have been the inspiration for the phoenix in Greek mythology, which ancient Egyptian deity - who takes the form of a grey heron - is said to have let out the cry that shattered the eternal silence and ushered light and life into the world? | Bennu |
| Which tonic and patent medicine created about 1863 by a French chemist from the island of Corsica contained cocaine, was drunk by Pope Leo XIII, and was an inspiration for Coca-Cola? | Vin Mariani |
| Approximately 15,000 of them have been found, mostly in eastern Japan. These are which small clay humanoid and animal figurines made during Japan’s late Jōmon period (14,000 – 400 BC)? | Dogu |
| Attended by Al Gore, which university in Nashville, Tennessee is named in honour of the famous shipping and railroad magnate who provided the university with its initial endowment? | Vanderbilt University |
| Auguste Deter (1850-1906) was the first person to be formally diagnosed with which disease? | Alzheimer's Disease |
| The drink Dr Pepper was created in 1885, in Waco, Texas, by which man? | Charles Alderton |
| Who was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt? | Nectanebo II(360-342BCE) |
| Which species of fly has the Latin name Calliphora vomitoria? | Blue bottle |
| Which Frenchman said "England has 42 religions and 2 sauces"? | Voltaire |
| Mojo (1995) and Jerusalem (2009) are plays by which English dramatist? | Jez Butterworth |
| Who acceded to the Japanese throne in 2019, succeeding Akihito? | Naruhito |
| "Building Better Worlds", Weyland-Yutani Corp features in which film series? | Alien |
| Salvador Dali called which French city's train station "the centre of the world"? | Perpignan |
| Which Caribbean country's flag features an open Bible? | Dominican Republic |
| What two word term denotes the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun once with respect to the fixed stars? | Sidereal year |
| What name is given to sacred stone heaps used as altars or shrines in Mongolian folk religious practice and in the religion of other Mongolic peoples? | Ovoo |
| The Jurassic Coast of southern England has stretches in Dorset and which other county? | Devon |
| The Argentinian sportsman and model Nacho Figueras is one of the world's most famous players of which sport? | Polo |
| What is the most sparsely populated US state east of the Mississippi? | Maine |
| Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), Germany, Year Zero (1948), and General Della Rovere (1959) are all films by which Italian director? | Roberto Rossellini |
| The metabolic pathway known as GNG occurs mainly in the liver - for what do these letters stand? | Gluconeogenesis |
| Which two blood vessels provide the main blood supply to the liver? | Portal vein, hepatic artery |
| Which Russian tsar's reign spanned the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson? They died when John Quincy Adams was in office. | Alexander I |
| Ascending the throne after the assassination of his father, King Carlos I, and his elder brother, Luís Filipe, in 1908, who was the last king of Portugal whose reign ended with the dissolution of the monarchy in the revolution of October 1910? | Manuel II |
| Starring Tom Cruise, which 2014 film is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel "All You Need Is Kill"? | Edge of Tomorrow |
| What name was given to the state barge of the doges of Venice? | Bucentaur |
| What is the largest airline in Latin America? | LATAM |
| Now one of the 60 most visited museums in the world, the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City is named after Soumaya Domit, the wife of the museum's founder. Which man founded the museum in 1994? | Carlos Slim |
| Which PM of Australia founded the country's Liberal party? | Robert Menzies |
| Which US President did Gore Vidal call "a triumph of the embalmer's art"? | Ronald Reagan |
| Queen Victoria saw which Irish playwright's drama "The Colleen Bawm" three times? | Dion Boucicault |
| Arguing over the "reckyninge" (bill), Ingram Frizer stabbed which man to Deptford home or victuallising house of the widow Eleanor Bull? | Christopher Marlowe |
| Flight Lieutenant Herbert Carmichael Irwin was captain of which aircraft when it crashed? | R101 |
| Which is the largest landlocked Italian region that does not border a foreign country? | Umbria |
| Euphoniums are members of which family of musical instruments? | Brass |
| How many valves are there on a trumpet? | Three |
| What name is given to any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane? | Membranophone |
| Including all percussion instruments bar drums, what name is given to musical instruments that produce their sounds by means of the actual body of the instrument vibrating, rather than a string, membrane, or column of air? | Idiophones |
| Which Italian maker of musical instruments (1655-1731) is famous for inventing the piano? | Bartolomeo Cristofori |
| In standard European pianos, with two pedals, what name is given to the left pedal? | Soft pedal/una corda |
| In standard European pianos, with two pedals, what name is given to the right pedal? | Sustain pedal |
| In 1723, which composer apparently threatened to throw Italian soprano Francesca Cuzzoni out of an upstairs window? | George Friedric Handel |
| What name is given to a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a large room? | Chamber music |
| "The Dead March", played at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill, is taken from Act 3 of which Handel oratorio? | Saul |
| Who, in 1961, was the first non-American golfer to win the US Masters? | Gary Player |
| Which football team won the FA Cup in 1976 while in the second division - it was their first major trophy? | Southampton |
| Which Welsh swimmer was an eleven-time Paralympic gold medallist between 2000 and 2008? | Dave Roberts |
| Which Brazilian was British flat racing champion jockey in 2015, 2017 and 2018? | Silvestre de Sousa |
| Which American was British flat racing champion jockey three times in the 1980s? | Steve Cauthen |
| Before Tony McCoy's run of 20 consecutive wins, which man was British Jump Racing Champion jockey three times between 1992 and 1995? | Richard Dunwoody |
| Meaning "goat pulling" in Persian, in which Central Asian sport do horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal? | Buzkashi |
| Which jockey rode the horse Aldaniti to Grand National victory in 1981? | Bob Champion |
| The only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica, what is sometimes called "the holiday home of cricket"? | Sabina Park |
| Which English cricketer made the first triple century in Test cricket history in 1930 against the West Indies? | Andy Sandham |
| Which English jockey became the first women to ride 100 UK Flat race winners during a calendar year, when winning on 'Mullitovermaurice' at Wolverhampton on 30 December 2008? | Hayley Turner |
| Which event, named after a famous 18th century racehorse, is a Group 1 horse race held at Surrey's Sandown Park every July? | Eclipse Stakes |
| Which 21st century season of the NHL was completely cancelled due to a labour dispute? | 2004-05 |
| As of 2019, which franchise has won the most championships in the NBA with 17, accounting for 23.9 percent of all NBA championships since the league's founding? | Boston Celtics |
| The Plaza de Toros, built in 1946, is the world's largest bullfighting venue and is in which city? | Mexico City |
| What term is used to describe the ice hockey infraction which occurs when a player shoots the puck from behind the centre red line, across the opposing team's goal line, and the puck remains untouched? | Icing |
| The elite army, the "Sardaukar", features in which fictional literary universe? | Frank Herbert's "Dune" |
| Which Philip Larkin poem ends "what will survive of us is love"? | An Arundel Tomb |
| The Nome King is a major villain in which series of books? | Oz books by L. Frank Baum |
| Which German mathematician illustrated the problems of treating infinity as a number with his "infinite hotel"? | David Hilbert |
| The lantern that Guy Fawkes carried upon his arrest is in which museum? | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
| Who performed the song "Get Happy" in her last MGM film "Summer Stock" (1950)? | Judy Garland |
| Lampris guttatus, which fish - also called the moonfish - is regionally warm-blooded? | Opah |
| Which 1976 110m hurdles Olympic champion became France's Minister for Youth and Sport in 1995? | Guy Drut |
| Which Labour politician was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1947 to 1950? | Stafford Cripps |
| The real life sinking of which ship in 1941 inspired the book "Whisky Galore" by Compton Mackenzie? | SS Politician |
| What colour is oxygen in its solid phase? | (Sky) Blue |
| Used as a skin exfoliant, what name is given to a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals? It is smaller than the similar scoria. | Pumice |
| Also called a biocoensis, what name is given in ecology to a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area and in a particular time? | Community |
| What name is given to the specialized subunits within a cell that have a specific function, and which are present in eukaryotic cells but not prokaryotes? | Organelles |
| In the usual groupings of organisms in ecology, what comes between "family" and "class"? | Order |
| In the usual groupings of organisms in ecology, what comes between "class" and "kingdom"? | Phylum |
| What was discovered in 1913 by Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson? | Ozone Layer |
| Robert Gallo is renowned as one of the first men to discover the causative agent behind which infectious disease? | HIV |
| Which creature has the scientific name ursus americanus? | (American) Black Bear |
| In taxonomy, what are the three domains of life of Earth? | Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya |
| What was Charles Darwin's middle name? | Robert |
| In which decade did Charles Darwin visit the Galapagos Islands? | 1830s (1835) |
| The word "science" is derived from the Latin for which verb? | To know |
| What is erythrophobia the fear of? | Blushing |
| Which capital city lies on the Manzanares river? | Madrid |
| Melbourne stands on which river? | Yarra |
| Which of the Ivy League universities is based in New Jersey? | Princeton |
| Which Ivy League university is based in New York City? | Columbia |
| St Martin and which other Caribbean island is divided between two nations? | Hispaniola |
| There were five original Cinque ports - Dover and Hythe were two. What were the other three? | Sandwich, Hastings and New Romney |
| In which city are the headquarters of both the International Olympic Committee and the Swiss Supreme Court located? | Lausanne |
| What is the smallest of Japan's four main islands? | Shikoku |
| In which city would you find the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund? | Washington DC |
| Chad's flag is virtually identical to that of which European country? | Romania |
| Who wrote the novel "Cry The Beloved Country"? | Alan Paton |
| Which mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism was founded by Thomas Cole? | Hudson River School |
| Millefiore is a technique for making objects out of what? | Glass |
| What is the name of Sebastian Flyte's teddy bear in "Brideshead Revisited"? | Aloysius |
| Which ancient Greek sculptor in bronze of the 5th century BCE sculpted a famous bronze male nude known as the Doryphoros ("Spear-carrier") and wrote a treatise called the "Canon"? | Polykleitos |
| Who wrote the 1957 novel "On The Beach"? | Nevil Shute |
| What was the profession of Sydney Carton in Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale Of Two Cities"? | Barrister |
| Henry Luce and Briton Hadden founded which magazine in 1923? | Time |
| What was the amount on the price tag on the Mad Hatter's Top Hat in Alice In Wonderland? | 10/6 |
| From which John Milton work did Aldous Huxley take the title "Eyeless in Gaza" for his 1936 novel? | Samson Agonistes |
| Who wrote the 1963 musical play "Oh, What a Lovely War!"? | Joan Littlewood |
| The 1997 novel "Killing Floor" is the first to feature which hero, formerly a major in the US military police? | Jack Reacher (Lee Child) |
| Who wrote the poem beginning "'Good-morning; good-morning!' the General said. When we met him last week on our way to the line. Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead."? | Siegfried Sassoon (The General) |
| Which WW1 poet said "My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity"? | Wilfred Owen |
| Which is the only Ivy League university in New Hampshire? | Dartmouth College |
| Which is the only US state to possess two Ivy League universities? | New York (Columbia and Cornell) |
| Who wrote "The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy" (1848–50)? | William Makepeace Thackeray |
| Which architect designed Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum in London? | Alfred Waterhouse |
| Which actor's autobiographies include "Blessing in Disguise" and "A Positively Final Appearance"? | Alec Guinness |
| Which poet won a 1993 Whitbread Prize for a biography of Philip Larkin? | Andrew Motion |
| Who led the second Polish Republic, as the Minister of Military Affairs, between 1926 and 1935? | Józef Piłsudski |
| Which US state capital has a name that means "of the monks"? | Des Moines |
| Which British former spy, who worked for GCHQ, was jailed in 1982 for releasing information to the Soviet Union and child sexual abuse? | Geoffrey Prime |
| Who was MI5's Director General from 1956 to 1956, and long suspected of being a mole? | Roger Hollis |
| Known as the "Man of a Hundred Faces," which British MI6 officer and author (1889-1967) was the first, and thus far only, man to be knighted solely on the basis of exploits in espionage? | Paul Dukes |
| The DGSE is the external (foreign) intelligence agency of which major nation? | France |
| For which man was the US pilot Gary Powers, as depicted in the film "Bridge of Spies", where he was played by Mark Rylance? | Rudolf Abel |
| Hiroo Onada and Teruo Nakamura were the last two known Japanese WW2 soldiers to surrender after they held out when hostilities stopped in 1945. In which year did they stop fighting? | 1974 |
| The Folketing is the unicameral parliament of which country? | Denmark |
| What is the name of Germany's lower parliament, the Bundesrat being the upper? | Bundestag |
| Alexander the Great died at what age? | 32 |
| Taken from the Greek for "successors" what name was given to the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC? | Diadochi |
| Which South African anti-apartheid activist, who wrote under the pen name Frank Talk, was murdered in police custody in 1977? A 1978 biography by his friend Donald Woods formed the basis for the 1987 film Cry Freedom. | Steve Biko |
| The Bureau for State Security (given the acronym BOSS by journalists) was the national intelligence agency of which nation from 1969 to 1980? | South Africa |
| What is the name of Iceland's national parliament? | Althing |
| What is the name of the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament? | Lok Sabha |
| What is the name of the upper house of India's bicameral Parliament? | Rajya Sabha |
| Which German theoretical physicist and atomic spy (1911-88)was, in 1950, convicted of supplying information from the American, British, and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly after the Second World War? | Klaus Fuchs |
| The USSR's counter-intelligence agency SMERSH was named by Stalin as a portmanteau of the Russian words for what phrase? | Death To Spies |
| Which German journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer, active before and during WW2, with the codename "Ramsay", was most famous for his service in Japan in 1940 and 1941, when he provided information about Hitler's plan to attack the USSR? | Richard Sorge |
| In which British city is the Laing Art Gallery? | Newcastle-Upon-Tyne |
| Born 1931, which Scottish painter and printmaker, the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy, is known for her pictures of her cats and flowers? | Elizabeth Blackadder |
| In which country are there several megalithic temple sites built by people known simply as "Temple Builders" at Skorba, Mnajdra and Tarxien, constructed circa 4100 to 2500BCE? | Malta |
| At which 1057 battle did Malcolm III "Canmore" of Scotland defeat and kill MacBeth? | Lumphanan |
| Who painted the 1870s work "Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge"? | James Abbott McNeill Whistler |
| Described as one of the 'most forgettable US Presidents' who became president upon the death of President James Garfield in September 1881? | Chester A. Arthur |
| Which engineer designed armed towers in the Thames and Mersey estuaries in WW2 named after him? They were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for pirate radio broadcasting. | Guy Maunsell (Maunsell Forts) |
| A single company of jewellers has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception - which one? | Hancocks of London |
| All donning the same kind of mask and using pseudonyms that refer to deceased female artists, which group formed in New York City in 1985 is devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world, usually through the method of "culture jamming"? | Guerrilla Girls |
| What was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence? It occurred 4-7 August 1995 when the Croatian Army attacked on a 630km front against the Republic of Serbian Krajina. | Operation Storm |
| At the conclusion of a performance of the original form of the dance in an exhibit at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, an enormous cake was awarded to the winning couple. Which dance? | Cakewalk |
| An icosahedron has how many identical faces? | Twenty |
| In gardening, what does HRP stand for? | Hardy rocky perennial |
| For which invention did Dennis Gabor win 1971's Nobel Prize for Physics? | Holography |
| Which unit is comprised of 22 yards? | A chain |
| As well as referring to an alloy of gold and silver, the word 'electrum' referred to which substance in ancient Greece? | Amber |
| What is the chemical name of Epsom salts? | Hydrated Magnesium Sulphate |
| Which measure of grain quantity is equal to four pecks, or eight gallons? | A bushel |
| Wyandottes and Buff Orpingtons are breeds of which animal? | Chickens |
| Titanium was discovered in 1791 by which clergyman and amateur geologis as an inclusion of a mineral in Cornwall, Great Britain? | William Gregor |
| In the 2005 film, who played the titular "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"? | Steve Carell |
| Who directed the 2000 satirical comedy-drama film "Bamboozled"? | Spike Lee |
| What do the initials AAVE stand for in the name of a dialect also known as "Ebonics"? | African-American Vernacular English |
| Which cyclist, nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, twice broke the world hour record, in 1993 and1994, and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995? He was known for his Old Faithful bicycle he built with parts from a washing machine. | Graeme Obree |
| Audrey Hepburn, as Nicole Bonnet, hires a thief played by Peter O'Toole in which 1966 film? | How To Steal A Million |
| Who played the lead, head pilot Geoff Carter, in the 1939 film "Only Angels Have Wings"? | Cary Grant |
| Who directed 1939 film "Only Angels Have Wings"? | Howard Hawks |
| Who became a matinee idol via 1954's film "Doctor In The House", where he played Simon Sparrow? | Dirk Bogarde |
| Who famously played irascible chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt in the 1954 film "Doctor In The House" and its sequels? | James Robertson Justice |
| Jay Robinson played which Roman Emperor in 1953 Biblical epic "The Robe"? | Caligula |
| Which actress is best known for her role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita (1960), who famously cavorts in the Trevi Fountain? | Anita Ekberg |
| Which football team do the crew of the submarine support in the 1981 "Das Boot"? | FC Schalke 04 |
| Which Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners: Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2005)? | Paul Haggis |
| Which English comedy writer is best known for creating the sitcoms Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances, Open All Hours and its sequel series, Still Open All Hours? | Roy Clarke |
| Who played the interviewed vampire Louis in the 1994 film "Interview With The Vampire"? | Brad Pitt |
| Now berthed at Navy Pier in San Diego, and functioning as a museum, which aircraft carrier - once the largest ship in the world - was the only aircraft carrier to serve the entire length of the Cold War, having been in operation between 1945 and 1992? | USS Midway |
| Jacques Anquetil was famously the first person to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling but, with a 1968 win at the Vuelta a España, which Italian rider - nicknamed 'The Phoenix' - became the second to achieve this feat? | Felice Gimondi |
| An Italian senator at her death at the age of 103 in 2012, which neurobiologist - winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of nerve growth factor - was the first Nobel Laureate to reach 100 years of age? | Rita Levi-Montalcini |
| Home to the only legume to have Appellation d'origine contrôlée status, which French town - on the Loire River - gives its name to a type of green lentil popular with gastronomes? | Le Puy |
| Which world-famous artist played the frail dying bandit in Luis Buñuel’s 1930 film L’Âge D’Or? | Max Ernst |
| Which then protectorate, now part of Germany, competed as a separate entity at the 1952 Olympics? | Saarland |
| Which man, the lead singer of Talking Heads, released the solo album "Grown Backwards" in 2004? | David Byrne |
| Which singer's studio albums include Poses (2001), Want One(2003), Want Two (2004), Release the Stars (2007) and Prima Donna (2015)? | Rufus Wainwright |
| "Au fond du temple saint" is a duet from which 1863 opera? | The Pearl Fishers |
| What role did the men known as Somatophylakes perform for Alexander the Great? | Bodyguard |
| Whose first novel featuring his character Roy Grace was 2005's "Dead Simple"? | Peter James |
| Translating literally as "second in excellence", what title is given to the deputy PM of Ireland? | Tánaiste |
| What is the currency of Azerbaijan? | Manat |
| Who released the albums Stranded (1973), Country Life (1974), Siren (1975), Manifesto (1979) and Flesh and Blood (1980)? | Roxy Music |
| Which entomologist (1896-1991), an expert on the dragonfly and an explorer, was called "Madame Dragonfly" for her extensive work? | Cynthia Longfield |
| André Rieu is best known for playing which instrument? | Violins |
| Whose single "Yeh Yeh" was the first new Number 1 single in the UK charts in 1965? | Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames |
| At which place in Italy did Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV appear as a penitent and beg the forgiveness of Pope Gregory VII? | Canossa |
| The first husband of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary was which French king? | Louis XII |
| The kneecap has the medical name patella, from the Latin from 'dish'. Because of their shape, which family of molluscs has the Latin name Patellidae? | Limpets |
| The Black Corsair series and the Tigers of Malaysia series (also known as Pirates of Malaysia) are among the best-known works by which Italian author of swashbuckling adventure? | Emilio Salgari |
| An enduringly popular tourist attraction (so much so that large groups of foreigners have been banned from entering as they were angering the locals), La Boqueria is a large public market in which European city? | Barcelona |
| Which US state is nicknamed the Natural State and the Bear State? | Arkansas |
| Martin Luther's "95 Theses" were written while he was professor of Moral Theology at which university? | Wittenberg |
| The Battle of Lepanto of 1517 took place in which gulf? | Gulf of Patras |
| What was the nickname of the US gangster born Charles Arthur Floyd on February 3rd 1904? | Pretty Boy Floyd |
| During which man's Presidency did the USA reach the Pacific Ocean? | James K. Polk |
| Which famous leader was born Temüjin c. 1162? | Genghis Khan |
| Meaning "turned-thumb", which French artist painted the 1872 work "Pollice Verso" that inspired the film Gladiator? | Jean-Léon Gérôme |
| In Greek myth, what was the name of the serpent-like, 100-headed dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides? Hercules had to defeat it to complete one of his 12 Labours. | Ladon |
| Vladivostok lies at the head of which bay? | Golden Horn Bay (Zolotoy Rog) |
| The Sulabh International Museum in New Delhi is entirely dedicated to which commonplace object? | Toilet |
| What does the M stand for in the name of the G–M tube, the sensing element of the Geiger counter instrument used for the detection of ionizing radiation? | Müller |
| "The Ego and Its Own" is the main work of which German philosopher (1805-56), a proponent of nihilism, existentialism and anarchism? | Max Stirner |
| Which 1654 painting could perhaps be more accurately known as Carduelis carduelis? | The Goldfinch (by Carel Fabritius) |
| Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and who else played most of the roles in "The League of Gentlemen"? | Reece Shearsmith |
| Who was Marilyn Monroe's first husband, to whom she was married from 1942 to 1946? | Jim Dougherty |
| Who wrote the Chief Inspector Barnaby novels, upon which the TV show Midsomer Murders were based? | Caroline Graham |
| For which 1973 film did Glenda Jackson win an Academy Award for Best Actress? | A Touch of Class |
| Which Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner was born to Baroness Ella van Heemstra and Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston in 1929? | Audrey Hepburn |
| Who read the stories a record 114 times on the BBC TV programme "Jackanory"? | Bernard Cribbens |
| Which US actress is known for her portrayals of Sara in Runaway Train (1985), Thelma in The Trip to Bountiful (1985), Helen McCaffrey in Backdraft (1991), and Peyton Flanders in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)? | Rebecca de Mornay |
| Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's final film together was which film noir of 1948? | Key Largo |
| The TV show The Bill evolved from which TV play of August 1983? | Woodentop |
| Which was the first direct spin off series from "CSI"? | CSI: Miami |
| Which post did Winston Churchill hold at the outbreak of WW2? He was appointed on the same day that war broke out. | First Lord of the Admiralty |
| Which American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient, was, with 26 aerial victories, America's most successful fighter ace in the war? He was also a racing driver. | Eddie Rickenbacker |
| His proper name was Wahunsenacawh, but how was Pocahontas' father better known? | Powhatan |
| Henry Kissinger was US Secretary of State under which two Presidents? | Nixon and Ford |
| What name was given to the series of trials started at Winchester on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England? | Bloody Assizes |
| In which year was National Service abolished in the UK? | 1960 |
| Ten made up a legion - which unit of the ancient Roman military comprised between 380 and 600 men, and is equivalent to the modern battalion? | Cohort |
| Which British diver vanished during a reconnaissance mission around a Soviet cruiser berthed at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1956? | Lionel "Buster" Crabb |
| Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender was the private secretary for, and then the political secretary and head of political office to which British PM? | Harold Wilson |
| Who (1807-82) was known as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in Brazil, Uruguay, and Europe? | Giuseppe Garibaldi |
| What name is given to Japan's bicameral legislature? | National Diet |
| Che Guevara was killed in which year? | 1967 |
| What name is given to the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway? It is Norway's unicameral parliament. | Storting |
| In which city was Florence Nightingale born? | Florence |
| Which woman famously helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after the Battle of Culloden? | Flora MacDonald |
| Who (1906-67) was the 12th and last emperor of the Qing dynasty? | Pu Yi |
| Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was crowned king of which country in 2008? | Bhutan |
| Which Austrian diplomat was at the centre of European affairs for four decades as the Austrian Empire's foreign minister from 1809 and Chancellor from 1821 until the liberal Revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation? | Klemens von Metternich |
| Who reigned as the King of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013? | Albert II |
| Who became King of the Belgians on 21 July 2013, following his father's abdication? | Philippe |
| Which trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season? | Art Ross Trophy |
| What is the oldest international sporting trophy, first awarded in 1851? | America's Cup |
| Who was the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500? | Janet Guthrie |
| Before famously losing to Billie Jean King on Thursday, September 20, 1973, Bobby Riggs had defeated which female tennis player in straight sets on May 13, Mother's Day - a match called the "Mother's Day Massacre"? | Margaret Court |
| Actor Jason Statham competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in which sport? | Diving |
| The ancient pentathlon consisted of the foot race (stadion), wrestling, and which three athletics events? | Long jump, javelin and discus throwing |
| Which retired Swedish motorcycle speedway rider equalled Ivan Mauger's record of six Speedway World Championship titles in 15 attempts? | Tony Rickardsson |
| What is the name of Philadelphia's NHL team? | Flyers |
| Because of the paper it was printed on, what was the nickname of the weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing, The Sporting Times (1865-1932)? | The Pink 'Un |
| Which trophy is awarded annually to the "player judged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League (NHL)? | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| What nationality was the Symbolist painter Elihu Vedder (1836-1923)? | American |
| In Greek myth, what was the name of the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical girdle that was given to her by her father, Ares, the god of war? | Hippolyte/Hippolyta |
| In the Bible, who was renamed Israel after he had wrestled with God? | Jacob |
| In Christianity, which term refers to an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ? | Christophany |
| In Norse myth, what kind of creatures were Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher (Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr), who pulled Thor's chariot? | Goats |
| Which Titaness of Greek myth shares her name (minus an acute accent) with members of ethnic groups native to Canada and parts of the United States that trace their descent to both indigenous North Americans and European settlers? | Metis |
| Huginn and Muninn who sat on Odin's shoulders in Norse myth, were which type of creatures? | Ravens |
| From the Greek for ‘up stage’, this stage in both meiosis and mitosis sees the chromosomes split and the sister chromatids move to opposite poles of the cell. Which stage of cell division is succeeded by telophase? | Anaphase |
| Released in 2002, Mensch is one of the best-selling albums of all time in Germany. Which singer, who also starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Petersen's movie Das Boot, recorded it? | Herbert Grönemeyer |
| Constantine II, the last King of Greece, from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, had previously won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in which sport? | Sailing |
| How was musician Tim Bergling better known? | Avicii |
| Which film composer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score for American Beauty, Finding Nemo and Bridge of Spies, three of 14 unsuccessful nominations as of 2019? | Thomas Newman |
| Which American composer (1910-91) best known for his many film scores, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata!, Spartacus, Cleopatra, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was 15 times nominated for an Academy Award, but never won? | Alex North |
| DCI Jane Tennison is a character created by which writer? | Lynda La Plante (in Prime Suspect) |
| On converting to Islam in 2018, which singer changed their name to Shuhada' Davitt? | Sinead O'Connor |
| For her portrayal of Valerie in the 1997 film Nil by Mouth, who won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role? | Kathy Burke |
| Which film was adapted from a Sydney Schanberg story in The New York Times Magazine entitled "The Death and Life of Dith Pran"? | The Killing Fields |
| Which US film actor made his debut in 1946's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers"? | Kirk Douglas |
| Which film star was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in 1904? | Joan Crawford |
| Which actress is known for her role as Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2005-14); Eve Polastri in BBC America's murder-mystery series Killing Eve; and for her supporting role as Rita Wu on the HBO sitcom Arliss? | Sandra Oh |
| The 2017 follow-up to Blade Runner added which year to the title? | 2049 (i.e. it was 'Blade Runner 2049') |
| Which large building in Paris’s Latin Quarter now also houses the Paris Descartes University, the École Nationale des Chartes, and the École pratique des hautes études, among others? | Sorbonne |
| Which eccentric Frenchman teamed up with the equally flamboyant Yannick Noah to win the 1984 men’s doubles title at the French Open? His greatest achievement in singles came at the French Open four years later when he lost in the final to Mats Wilander. | Henri Leconte |
| Its historical city centre a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which European capital is widely regarded as having the world’s largest collection of art nouveau buildings? Many stand on Albert(a) Street, where most were designed by architect Mikhail Eisenstein. | Riga |
| Which German pacifist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935 four years after being convicted of high treason for publishing details of Germany's violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force? | Carl von Ossietsky |
| In the RAF, which rank comes between Wing Commander and Flight Lieutenant? | Squadron Leader |
| What is the name of the road that crosses the Aintree Grand National race course? | Melling Road |
| Who played Detective Inspector Kate Fleming in the TV series "Line of Duty"? | Vicky McClure |
| Which actress is known for her portrayal of Peggy Carter in various films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the lead role in the ABC action-adventure series Agent Carter? | Hayley Atwell |
| Who launched the controversial Skytrain Transatlantic flights in the 1970s? | Freddie Laker |
| The past participle of the French verb for 'to reach' what word describes a relative newcomer to a socioeconomic class? | Parvenu |
| The lake stage (Seebühne). with an audience capacity of around 7,000, stages opera performances and is located on the shores of which European lake? | Lake Constance/Bodensee (it is in Bregenz, Austria) |
| According to the Guinness Book of Records, which city of around 3,500,000 inhabitants in China has earned a place as the most remote city from any sea in the world? | Ürümqi |
| Which is the only EU capital city to be named after someone French? | Valletta |
| Best known for his works of Modern architecture, including the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, who won the inaugural Pritzker Prize? | Philip Johnson |
| The Art Tower in Mito, Ibaraki and LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art are among the works of which architect, awarded the 2019 Pritzker Prize? | Arata Isozaki |
| Name two of the "Big Three" credit rating agencies? | Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's, Fitch Group |
| Which strait lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman? | Strait of Hormuz |
| Which Russian economist (1892-1938) is best known for proposing the theory that Western capitalist economies have long term (50 to 60 years) cycles of boom followed by depression? These 'waves' are now named after him. | Nikolai Kondratiev (Kondratiev waves) |
| The flag of which pre-colonial African empire may have been a naked man decapitating another? Such a flag was certainly brought back from a punitive 1897 expedition. | Benin |
| From 2 to 4 December 1966, which ship hosted talks between Prime Ministers Harold Wilson (UK) and Ian Smith of Rhodesia? | HMS Tiger |
| Since 1721, every head of the Sovereign's government in the UK has been First Lord of the Treasury bar two. Name either. | William Pitt the Elder; Lord Salisbury |
| Which splinter group of the Jewish Zealots committed mass suicide in the Siege of Masada in 73-74CE, and were one of the first 'cloak and dagger' assassination groups? | Sicarii |
| Which battle of August 1388 saw the Scots defeat the English, who were led by Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, in Northumberland? | Otterburn |
| How is the English ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad 162, better known? | Ballad of Chevy Chase |
| Which breakaway republic styles itself as the State of Alania? | South Ossetia |
| To whom did George IV illegally contract a marriage in 1785? | Maria Fitzherbert |
| Irish terrorists murdered four sitting MPs between 1970 and 2010. Name two. | Airey Neave; Robert Bradford; Ian Gow; Anthony Berry |
| Which officer in the army of the early Roman Republic famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Etruscan King Lars Porsena of Clusium in the late 6th century BC? | Horatius Cocles |
| Which one of the Diadochi inherited the Eastern part of Alexander's Empire and founded Antioch in 300BCE? | Seleucus I Nicator |
| Who wrote the early 18th century picaresque novel "Gil Blas"? | Alain-René Lesage |
| Who created the literary blind detective Max Carrados? His stories appeared alongside those of Sherlock Holmes in the Strand. | Ernest Bramah |
| Which word means misappropriation of funds by a person trusted with its charge? The term is more specifically used by the United States Bankruptcy Code to describe acts that taint a particular debt such that it cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. | Defalcation |
| In he novel by Baroness Orczy, what is the real name of the "Scarlet Pimpernel"? | Sir Percy Blakeney |
| The English sailor John Blackthorne is a hero of which novel of 1975? | Shogun (James Clavell) |
| Winston Churchill's political career was nearly ruined by his heavy-handed handling of which 1911 London siege? | Siege of Sidney Street |
| In which year was Adolf Eichmann executed? | 1962 |
| Which 1521 formal deliberative assembly of the whole Holy Roman Empire conducted from 28 January to 25 May 1521, with the Emperor Charles V presiding, denounced Luther? | Diet of Worms |
| Famous still today, who was the king of Lydia who, according to Herodotus, reigned for 14 years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC? | Croesus |
| The Sejm and Senat are the two houses of which country's parliament? | Poland |
| Which innovator of the free jazz movement of the 1960s recorded the 1961 album "The Shape of Jazz To Come"? | Ornette Coleman |
| Which author, who died in 2008 wrote the 1996 collection of essays "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"? | David Foster Wallace |
| Elvis Presley gave his last ever public concert on June 26th 1977 in the now demolished Market Square Arena in which city? | Indianapolis |
| A work by which Swedish photographer featured on the cover of Tom Waits' 1985 album "Rain Dogs"? | Anders Petersen |
| What two-word common name - with a monetary connection - is given to flattened, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida? | Sand Dollar |
| A musical starring Charles King and Anita Page, what was the title of the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture? | Broadway Melody |
| Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" is said to have been heavily influenced by which Brazilian writer's 1981 novel "Max and the Cats", the story of a young German who finds himself stranded in a dinghy with a jaguar? | Moacyr Scliar |
| Having also played the title character in the 2011 film "Conan the Barbarian", which US actor played Khal Drogo in "Game of Thrones"? In 2018, he played "Aquaman"? | Jason Momoa |
| "Cotton Blossom" appears in which musical of 1927 that was based on an Edna Ferber novel? | Show Boat |
| The works of which 19th century composer provided the music for Oscar Hammerstein’s Broadway musical Carmen Jones? | Georges Bizet |
| Koplik's spots are an early manifestation of which common infection? | Measles |
| The final home of Charlie Chaplin, which Swiss town is home to the HQ of Nestle, and was - aptly - the place where Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate in 1875? | Vevey |
| Headquartered in Golden Valley, a suburb of Minneapolis, which US multinational owns brands such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Green Giant, Haagen-Dazs, Cheerios, Old El Paso and Lucky Charms? | General Mills |
| Which Polish city is known for its so-called "dwarfs", small figurines that first appeared there in 2005? It is the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. | Wroclaw |
| In Algonquin folklore, what is the name of the evil cannibal monster native to the northern forests of the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes regions of the USA and Canada? | Wendigo |
| Played on both television and film by Brent Spiner, which android serves as the second officer and chief operations officer aboard the starships USS Enterprise-D and USS Enterprise-E in the Star Trek universe? | Lieutenant Commander Data |
| Which Italian inventor, and personal friend of Garibaldi, is sometimes described as the ‘real’ inventor of the telephone because of his submission to the U.S. Patent Office in 1871, five years before Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent? | Antonio Meucci |
| Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature, which 14th century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong dramatises the lives of feudal lords and their retainers at the end of the Han Dynasty? | Romance of the Three Kingdoms |
| This kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland from 948 AD until 1911. With its capital at Igbo-Ukwu in modern-day Nigeria, this is which kingdom with a three letter name? | Nri |
| In Puccini’s La Boheme, what is the name of the poet with whom Mimi falls in love? | Rodolfo |
| The Minnesota Timberwolves play which sport? | Basketball |
| What was the nickname given to Gene Tunney's successful 1917 heavyweight boxing title defence against Jack Dempsey after Dempsey failed to retreat to a neutral corner after knocking down Tunney in time? | The Long Count Fight |
| Which boxer (1914-81) was nicknamed "The Brown Bomber"? | Joe Louis |
| Which former world number 1 golfer's only Major win was at the 2001 Open? | David Duval |
| She represented Switzerland, but in which country was tennis player Martina Hingis born? | Czechoslovakia (accept Slovakia) - she was however born in 1980 |
| What name is shared by the third brightest star in Orion and the first name of the character played by Helena Bonham Carter in the Harry Potter films? | Bellatrix |
| Pirahã is sometimes claimed to be the world’s most phonologically simple language with as few as 10 to 12 phonemes. Indeed, it is so simple that the language can be hummed or whistled. Pirahã is an isolate language spoken in which country? | Brazil |
| The face of the Great Sphinx of Giza is believed to represent which pharaoh of the 4th dynasty during the Old Kingdom during whose reign the monument was built? | Khafra/Khafre/Chephren |
| According to Islamic tradition, what type of creature is Al-Burāq, upon which the Prophet Mohammed flew to Jerusalem during the Night Journey? | (Winged) horse |
| What sporting feat was first achieved by George Lohmann, Johnny Briggs, John Ferris, Charles Turner, Sammy Woods and Bobby Peel in 1889? | Winning Wisden Cricketer Of The Year |
| Which mythical creature appeared on the badge of the car company Armstrong Siddeley, and was used on some models as a bonnet ornament? | Sphynx |
| What is the name of the bonnet ornament on Rolls-Royce cars? | Spirit of Ecstasy |
| Which British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955 made the Black Shadow and Black Prince models? | Vincent |
| Painter's and Glazing Putty are made using which oil? | Linseed oil |
| Which number 'B' vitamin in Niacin? | B3 |
| In food labelling, what does RDA stand for? | Recommended Daily Allowance |
| Seen on a £1 coin, how does "Decus et Tutamen" usually get translated from Latin? | An ornament and a safeguard |
| What is the name of the structure under an airship that holds the passenger and crew? | Gondola |
| What is the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit? | 212 °F |
| The most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust, comprising up to 60%, is which rock-forming tectosilicate mineral occurring principally in igneous, plutonic, and some metamorphic rocks, and consisting of silicates of aluminum? | Feldspar |
| Elliot Carver is the villain in which Bond film? | Tomorrow Never Dies |
| To whom does the following quotation, attributed to Joe Pasternak, refer, "Wet she was a star - dry she ain't"? | Esther Williams |
| Which book in the New Testament precedes Revelations? | Jude |
| Who became the British Prime Minister in 1894, following the last term in office of William Gladstone? | Earl of Rosebury (Archibald Primrose) |
| Which book in the Old Testament follows Joshua? | Judges |
| “I’ve known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart,” is the first line of which hit record of 1999? | "That Don't Impress Me Much" (Shania Twain) |
| Who was the British Prime Minister in 1827, immediately after the Earl of Liverpool? | George Canning |
| Which famous shoe designer opened a shop called “Cobblers To the World," on Kings Road in 1972? | Terry de Havilland |
| Which famous fashion designer originally had the surname, Lifshitz? | Ralph Lauren |
| In the opera, Carmen, what is the profession of the character, Escamillo? | Bullfighter |
| Which Harold Pinter play is set at Petey and Meg Boles' seaside guesthouse? | The Birthday Party |
| Which US designer introduced her knitted jersey wrap dress in '73? | Diane von Furstenberg |
| Philematology is the science of which physical act? | Kissing |
| In a nineteen-eighty-four novel by John Updike, who are the Rhode Island natives Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart and Sukie Rougemont? | The Witches of Eastwick |
| The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed the Casa de Musica in which city? | Porto |
| Which John Adams opera centres on the hijack of the Achille Lauro cruise ship? | The Death of Klinghoffer |
| Which French company developed the AGV train? | Alstom |
| H.R. Giger created the cover for which Emerson, Lake and Palmer album of '73? | Brain Salad Surgery |
| Which Italian building is adorned with three thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine statues, more than any other building in existence? | Milan Cathedral |
| Aged 15, which Chelmsford-born swimmer won Olympic silver and bronze in nineteen eighty-four? | Sarah Hardcastle |
| In nineteen ninety-five, who became the first actor to win a Tony Award for playing Hamlet? | Ralph Fiennes |
| Which literary heroine made a secret marriage to Rawdon Crawley, son of Sir Pitt Crawley, to whose children she had been a governess? | Becky Sharp - in Vanity Fair |
| The villainous governess Miss Slighcarp appears in which novel by Joan Aiken, where England under James III in the eighteen-thirties is overrun by a certain species that have strayed through the newly opened Channel Tunnel? | The Wolves of Willoughby Chase |
| Voltaire said "It is one of the superstitions of the human mind that" - what - "could be virtue"? | Virginity |
| Complete the definition of murder in the UK with three words "The unlawful killing of a reasonable creature under the Queen's peace..."? | With Malice Aforethought |
| The US railway engineer Casey Jones was popularised by a nineteen-hundred-and-nine vaudeville song written by two men. Name either. | Lawrence Siebert, Eddie Newton |
| Which Italian word, meaning "detached", is used in music to indicate a method of playing a note so that it is shortened, and is signified by a dot over the note? | Staccato |
| Which contemporary of Shakespeare wrote "The Masque of Queens"? | Ben Jonson |
| Inspired by George Pullman, what was the name of the company founded by the Belgian Georges Nagelmackers in eighteen-seventy-six, to provide luxury dining and sleeping accommodation on trains? | Wagon-lits |
| Who, as commander of Allied forces during the closing months of WW1, received the surrender of German forces in a train wagon? | Marshal Ferdinand Foch |
| Which three-letter word is the short form of a term that means "power to which a fixed number of base must be raised to produce a given number"? | Log |
| What term can mean both varying an electromagnetic wave in order to impress a signal on it, and a change of key in a piece of music? | Modulation |
| What is the forename of the girl for whom the title character in Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" has an unrequited love? | Charlotte |
| Who directed the 1970s television plays Nuts in May and Abigail's Party? | Mike Leigh |
| Which unbeaten horse, the winner of the 2000 Guineas in 2011, is rated byTimeform as the best horse ever to race and is the father of 2019 Oaks winner Anapurna? | Frankel |
| Which actor is the father of Uma Thurman’s 21-year old daughter Maya? | Ethan Hawke |
| Which Poet Laureate wrote crime fiction under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake? | Cecil Day-Lewis |
| What word for the home of a rabbit is also the middle name of jazz great Dave Brubeck? | Warren |
| Which major North American river passes through or along the borders of ten US states, more than any other? | Mississippi |
| Travelling by train on the East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, the last English station is Berwick-upon-Tweed. Which small town 30 miles over the border is the first station passed in Scotland? | Dunbar |
| What is the two-word name for the military rank in the RAF that is equivalent to a major in the British army? | Squadron Leader |
| Which word of French origin is used for the outdoor athletic activity related to freerunning, in which participants use running, jumping, climbing & other movements in order to traverse obstacles and move as quickly as possible from one point to another? | Parkour |
| What is the name of the character from whom players have to remove objects in the game "Operation"? | Cavity Sam |
| Derived from a Greek word meaning ‘to aim’ or ‘guess’, which word is used in maths for a process, variable or model that is essentially random? | Stochastic |
| Three of the four Galilean moo?ns of Jupiter are named after female mythological characters. Which one is named for a male character? | Ganymede |
| Which fictional character was elected MP for Haltemprice in 1987 at the age of 31 with the largest majority in the House of Commons? | Alan B'Stard |
| Taking its name from an incident in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which film version of the TV trope 'jumping the shark', was defined by TIME magazine in 2008 as "to exhaust a Hollywood franchise with disappointing sequels"? | Nuke the Fridge |
| Named after an Italian physicist, what is the SI unit of electric potential? | Volt |
| Which opera by Philip Glass is based on the life of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the same name? | Akhnaten |
| The three-letter name of which type of fish is both a cape on the East coast of the USA and the acronym for a popular series of computer games? | Cod |
| Adamstown is the capital of which Pacific island, famous as the refuge of a groupof 18th century mutineers? | Pitcairn |
| Which wife of Peter the Great succeeded him on the throne, reigning until her own death in 1727, two years after his, and becoming the first Empress Regnant of Russia? | Catherine I or Yekaterina (do not accept Catherine the Great) |
| Cathy Lee Crosby, Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot have all portrayed which DC comics' superhero on screen? | Wonder Woman |
| Competing in his fifth Games, which swimmer was the British flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? | Mark Foster |
| In which West Yorkshire town was Harry Ramsden's founded? | Guiseley |
| Which Booker prize winning novelist has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh? | Julian Barnes |
| Which major European river passes through or along the borders of ten different countries, more than any other in the world? | Danube |
| In twenty-nineteen, which woman reached the third round of the World Darts Championship, the first woman to do so? | Fallon Sherrock |
| Which former international sportsman in 2018 became President of Liberia? | George Weah |
| Who directed the 1960s television plays Up the Junction and Cathy Come Home? | Ken Loach |
| The legendary horse Frankel is the son of which horse who won the 2001 Epsom Derby, has been British Champion Sire every year since 2010, and shares his name with a famous scientist? | Galileo |
| Which actor is the father of Kate Beckinsale’s 20-year old daughter Lily? | Michael Sheen |
| Which portmanteau word is used for the outdoor recreational activity in which participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to find and hide containers at specific locations marked by coordinates? | Geocaching |
| In which children’s board game do players attempt to collect balls using four plastic animals called Happy, Henry, Homer and Harry? | Hungry Hungry Hippos |
| Which is the fourth and last of the four gospels in the New Testament? | John |
| Named after a Russian mathematician, which type of stochastic process describes a sequence where the probability of each event depends only on the outcome of the previous event? | Markov process |
| Travelling by train on the West Coast Main Line from Euston to Glasgow, the last English station is Carlisle. Which small town 20 miles over the border is the first station passed in Scotland? | Lockerbie |
| What is the two-word name for the military rank in the RAF that is the equivalent to a colonel in the British army? | Group Captain |
| Which UK number one hit single by Westlife was a cover of a song that had earlier been a hit for Barry Manilow? | Mandy |
| Which pair of British aviators with the first names John and Arthur made the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919? | Alcock and Brown |
| Originally used by Ice Cube in the 1995 film Friday, which girl’s name follows “Bye…” in a phrase that has become a generic dismissive send-off? | Felicia |
| Which architect and co-designer of the Pompidou Centre in Paris has, but for a small difference in spelling, the same name as a composer known for his collaborations with the lyricists Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart? | Richard Rogers |
| Written while St Paul was in prison, the shortest of his extant letters is an appeal to whom, begging him to be merciful to the runaway slave Onsimus? | Philemon |
| What is the name of the light-emitting organ present in fireflies, and certain other bioluminescent creatures, such as the lantern-fish? | Photophore |
| Which expert in baby care died in March nineteen-ninety-eight at the age of ninety-four? His book Baby and Child Care (1946) is one of the best-selling volumes in history. | Benjamin Spock |
| The title of poems by Voltaire and Chapelain, who was "La Pucelle"? | Joan of Arc |
| Who was the first female regular presenter of the Radio One Breakfast show? She hosted the programme from 1997-2000, succeeding Chris Evans. | Zoe Ball |
| Which East German track athlete set the world record for the women's 400m at 47.6 seconds in October 1985, a record still standing today? | Marita Koch |
| “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” is the opening line of which 1878 novel? | Anna Karenina |
| Helen Mirren, Samantha Bond, Claire Foy and Olivia Colman have all played which British monarch on screen? | Queen Elizabeth II |
| In which decade of the 20th century were the lie detector, Elastoplast, bubble gum and the commercially-manufactured car radio invented? | 1920s |
| Which poem contains the lines "The lark's on the wing/The snail's on the thorn/God's in his Heaven/All's right with the world"? | Pippa's Song (Robert Browning) |
| Following defeat at Hexham which English monarch was living in secret at Waddington Hall in the Forest of Bowland when he was betrayed and taken into custody? | Henry VI |
| Originally the name of a political club founded in 1659 by James Harrington, what term for a list of names and duties is taken from the Latin for "wheel"? | Rota |
| The observer group UNOGIL was deployed in 1958 to which country? In 1978, the UN interim force UNIFIL was also deployed there. | Lebanon |
| Which element has atomic number 13? | Aluminium |
| In eighteen sixty-two, Friedrich Woehler discovered that calcium carbide reacted with water to produce which colourless hydrocarbon gas, formula C2H2? | Acetylene/ethyene |
| In which major city would one find the following districts: Santa Cruz, Cotton Green, Aarey Milk Colony, Seven Bungalows and Film City? | Mumbai |
| A reworking of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra", "All For Love" is a work by which Restoration author? | John Dryden |
| In sixteen-eleven, the Civic Guard of Antwerp commissioned which Flemish artist to create the "Descent From The Cross" triptych for their altar in the city's cathedral? | Peter Paul Rubens |
| Bryson DeChambeau is best known for playing which sport? | Golf |
| Which Swedish actress played Jenny Lind in the 2017 film "The Greatest Showman"? | Rebecca Ferguson |
| In which century did Vlad the Impaler live? | Fifteenth |
| In Buddhism, how many marks of existence are there? | Three |
| Who had a 2003 UK number 1 with "You Said No"? | Busted |
| Crocuses are members of which family? | Iris |
| In which English county is Runnymede? | Surrey |
| Which Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death in 2020, commander of its Quds Force, was assassinated by the USA in 2020? | Qasem Soleimani |
| Which car manufacturer makes the Kona model? | Hyundai |
| Slider shoes are worn by competitors in which Olympic sport? | Curling |
| Which Geordie comedian born in South Shields in 1975 married fellow comedian Gary Delaney in 2008 and wrote the book How to Be Champion? | Sarah Millican |
| Which group from Edinburgh won the 2014 Mercury Music Prize for their album "Dead"? | Young Fathers |
| Which British rider won gold in the cycling team pursuit in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and the World Championships in 2007, 2008 and 2012? | Geraint Thomas |
| Which creature features in the 1991 artwork The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst? | Shark |
| Who voiced the character of Dr Nefario in the Despicable Me films? | Russell Brand |
| Between 1822 and 1889, what title did the Head of State of Brazil hold? | Emperor |
| Which location gave its name to the NBA team the Lakers before their 1960 move to Los Angeles? | Minneapolis |
| Which English word, meaning 'forbidden', was taken from the language of the indigenous peoples of Tonga? | Taboo |
| Both sharing the same name - the father of which Oscar-winning actor was a member of the New York soul band The Main Ingredient? | Cuba Gooding Jr. |
| Which public building, opened by the Queen in 1998, is at 96 Euston Road in London? | The British Library |
| Based in Yeovil, as of 2020, which is the UK’s largest multi-channel retailer of trade tools, accessories and hardware products? It is owned by Kingfisher, which also owns B&Q. | Screwfix |
| What is the capital city of Malawi? | Lilongwe |
| In which town is Prince’s golf course which held the Open Championship in 1932 - another course in the town holds the record for the most Opens hosted by an English course with 14? | Sandwich |
| Who co-wrote Fawlty Towers with John Cleese? | Connie Booth |
| Which element is No. 113 on the Periodic Table and has the symbol Nh? | Nihonium |
| The Esk Valley Railway line connects Middlesbrough with which Yorkshire coastal resort? | Whitby |
| Better known as an actor, who won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People, his directorial debut? | Robert Redford |
| Alongside the US dollar, what is the other official currency of Panama – it is named after an explorer associated with the region? | Balboa |
| Akin to Lamarckism, the pseudoscientific theories of which Soviet biologist, who denied the existence of genes and natural selection, probably exacerbated the Stalin-era famines? | Trofim Lysenko |
| Who was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from about 604 to 619? | Laurence |
| Who was the first British Asian to hold one of the four Great Offices of State? | Sajid Javid |
| Which designer lingerie brand was founded in Glasgow in 1996 by Michelle Mone? | Ultimo |
| What is the common name for the currencies of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, and India? | Rupee |
| Which adjective describes a mixture of substances where the melting temperature of the mixture is lower than that of either of the components? | Eutectic |
| Which American social psychologist is best known for his controversial namesake experiment on obedience to authority figures conducted by Yale University in the 1960s? | Stanley Milgram |
| Which archaeologist led the excavation of Maiden Castle in Dorset during the 1930s and later became a media personality? | Mortimer Wheeler |
| Who, in 2019, stood down as the host of Desert Island Discs after 13 years at the helm? | Kirsty Young |
| Which liqueur made from Scotch whisky, honey, herbs and spices is said to be made to Bonnie Prince Charlie's secret recipe and has a name possibly deriving from the Gaelic for ‘the drink that satisfies’? | Drambuie |
| Coro di Zingari, which is also known as The Anvil Chorus, is a chorus from which Giuseppe Verdi opera? | Il Trovatore |
| What name is given to the physical quantity which describes a fluid's resistance to flow? | Viscosity |
| Die Zwillinge is the German for which sign of the Zodiac? | Gemini |
| Which river, that empties into the Indian Ocean, has the Victoria Falls as its most noted feature? | Zambezi |
| Thomas Cranmer was tried and executed during the reign of which monarch? | Mary I |
| Using subtitles including Box Office Smash and Lights Camera Action, what is the 2-word punning name of the series of film quiz computer games developed by Krome Studios and released on the Xbox 360? | Scene It |
| Which 1931 'gangster' film ends with a shot and dying title character, played by Edward G Robinson, pleading "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" | Little Caesar |
| "Drive Your Ambition" is a slogan that has been used by which Japanese car manufacturer? | Mitsubishi |
| Which lingerie company was founded in London in 1994 by Serena Rees with her then husband, Joseph Corré, the son of Vivienne Westwood? | Agent Provocateur |
| In The Simpsons, which fictional organisation is a parody of a secret society and responsible for, amongst other things, controlling the British crown, keeping the metric system down, holding back the electric car, and making Steve Guttenberg a star? | The Stonecutters |
| What is the common name for the currencies of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay and Mexico? | Peso |
| What name is given to a mixture of substances which cannot be separated by simple distillation as the compositions of the liquid and vapour phases are identical? | Azeotrope |
| Who had a 1964 UK hit with "My Boy Lollipop"? | Millie Small |
| What word, inspired by Dickens, refers to a humorous expression that is not taken literally? | Pickwickian |
| What does the F stand for in the name of the rugby governing body the RFU? | Football |
| Who appeared in a scene in the film "The Naked Gun 2 1/2" that lampooned her 1989 conviction for assaulting a policeman? | Zsa Zsa Gabor |
| The mythical Hippocrene Fountain was on what mountain? | Helicon |
| In which 1981 film did Liza Minelli play Linda Marolla? | Arthur |
| Which company bought Skype in 2011? | Microsoft |
| In the saying "One man's meat is another man's..." what? | Poison |
| Which BBC sitcom starred Greg Davies and Helen Baxendale as married couple Ken and Lorna Thompson? | Cuckoo |
| What is the name of the Italian cupola-shaped cake, traditionally eaten at Christmas? | Panettone |
| In the film "Awakenings" of 1990, Robin Williams played Dr Malcolm Sayer, who revived victims of the great "sleeping sickness" of the 1920s; which real life doctor, also the author of "Musicophilia", wrote the book on which the film was based? | Oliver Sacks |
| Which epic poem by Keats, about Jove's defeat of Saturn and the Titans, did he abandon because he felt the writing was "too Miltonic"? | Hyperion |
| In the Bible, the Hexameron is an account of what? | The six days of creation |
| Also known as rutile, which chemical is also used in the cosmetics industry in its crystal form, because its light scattering properties helps to hide facial imperfections? | Titanium dioxide |
| Frederick Soddy also worked alongside Sir William Ramsay in showing that which noble gas is a product of radioactive decay? | Helium |
| On whose death, in Shakespeare's Henry VIII, does Griffith remark "men's evil manners live in brass: their virtues we write in water"? | Cardinal Thomas Wolsey |
| Born in 1660, which journalist, satirist and novelist carried out several spying missions for the government in a varied career that included several prison terms? | Daniel Defoe |
| Which play by Neil Simon was successfully adapted for the screen and has as its central characters the ageing vaudeville performers Al Lewis and Willie Clarke? | The Sunshine Boys |
| Which life-size mechanical tiger, named after an 18th century Sultan of Mysore for whom it was made, is exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it is seen to be devouring a prostrate European? | Tippoo's Tiger |
| The names of the three westernmost of the nine provinces in South Africa contain which word? | Cape |
| Reputed for its chocolate, which commune of around 30,000 people in SW France is located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers? | Bayonne |
| Spanish for ‘fair’, what name is given to an annual local festival in Spain and southern France, characterized by bullfights, bull running in the streets, bodegas (outdoor bars or cellars with festive music) and bandas? | Feria |
| Dying in 1328, who was the last king of the French Capetian dynasty? | Charles IV |
| Starting his reign in 1328, who was the first king of the French house of Valois? | Philip VI |
| Which infant French king reigned for just 5 days in 1316 from his birth to his death? | John I |
| Created by the ancient Franks, which law prevented females from dynastic succession? | Salic law |
| Also called Guyenne, which historical fiefdom in western, central and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the Loire River was an English possession that helped trigger the Hundred Years’ War? | Duchy of Aquitaine |
| Which short war fought between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France in 1324, a clear defeat for the English, and led indirectly to the overthrowing of Edward II of England? | War of Saint-Sardos |
| Give a year in the Avignon Papacy, when Popes resided in Avignon and not Rome. | 1309-76 |
| Established in 1965, which national park in Gujarat is renowned for its population of Asiatic lions? | Gir National Park |
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garyegrant
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