Quiz 38 Flashcards

1
Q

In the 1960s, what name was well known both as that of Eliza Doolittle’s elecution instructor in the musical My Fair Lady and of a British bullfighter in Spain?

A

Henry Higgins

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

The Dutch-born anatomist Eugene Dubois discovered the first known fossil of which early species of man, in the 1890s?

A

Homo Erectus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

The daughter of Asclepius, who was the goddess of Health in Greek mythology?

A

Hygieia

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Which cartoon character, created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appeared in the comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1929, and was later portrayed in a 1980 live-action film by Robin Williams?

A

Popeye

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Which limestone formation is believed to be the northern promontory of what were known in the ancient world as the Pillars of Hercules?

A

Rock of Gibralter

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What name, also that of an opera by Verdi, is given to the revolt against Charles I of Naples and Sicily which began with the riot that took place on Easter Monday 1283 in a church outside Palermo?

A

Sicilian Vespers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Who was the last US President to die in office of natural causes?

A

Franklin D Roosevelt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Sir Charles Isham, a 19th century horticulturalist, is thought to be the first person to introduce which controversial feature to British gardens?

A

Gnomes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is the meaning of the name of the Irish political party Fianna Fail?

A

Soldiers of Destiny

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Who are the only parent and child to have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award on seperatre occassions?

A

Princess Anne and Zara Phillips

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Which English poet, who died in 1861, is commemorated with blue plaques at Beacon Hill in Torqhay and at 50 Wimpole Stree, London W1?

A

Elizabeth Barratt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the name of the swivelling rod that is attached to a motorbike or cycle to support the vehicle in an upright position when stationary?

A

Kickstand

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

At around 4,500km long, the Trans-Sahara Highway begins in Algeria - and ends in which country?

A

Nigeria

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Which British no 1 hit single of the 1970s is about a girl called Brenda Ann Spencer?

A

I Don’t Like Mondays

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Which mountain range, extending for around 225 miles on both sides of the French-Swiss border, lends it’s name to the geological period that dates from around 200 to 144 million years ago?

A

Jura

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Which recipe, created in 1953 and especially familiar as a sandwich filling, is usually credited to Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume?

A

Coronation Chicken

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Which conquered territory became Rome’s first province in 241BC?

A

Sicily

18
Q

The director of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz was also accredited director of Gone With The Wind the same year, for which he won an Academy Award. Who was he?

A

Victor Fleming

19
Q

PET scanning is commonly used in medicine to detect the location of a tumour. What do the letters PET stand for?

A

Positron Emission Tomography

20
Q

A sculpture by Maggie Hambling entitled Scallop, bearing words from Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, stands on the beach at which British coastal town?

A

Aldeburgh

21
Q

What relation was King Edward the Confessor to his successor Harold Godwinson?

A

Brothers-in-law

22
Q

Which fictional character - in a novel of 1759 - is born on the 5th November 1718 at his family home, his nose crushed by the forceps of Dr Slop during the course of his delivery?

A

Tristram Shandy

23
Q

Which word did Ambrose Pierce define in his Devil’s Dictionary as a temporary insanity curable by marriage?

A

Love

24
Q

Which historic even took place in the French town of Annonay on the 4th June 1783?

A

First balloon flight

25
Q

The main character in the film of Len Deighton’s novel The Ipcress File and its sequels is called Harry Palmer. What was his name in the the original novels?

A

It’s never given

26
Q

Which German astronomer, who lived between 1758 and 1840, discovered the minor planets Pallas and Vesta and has a paradox named after him?

A

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers

27
Q

Which liake, located south-west of Budapest, is the largest lake in central Europe

A

Lake Balaton

28
Q

Who was the British Prime Minister during the years of the American Civil War?

A

Lord Palmerston

29
Q

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, which doubled as the fictional Downton Abbey in the globally successful TV series, was build to a design by which 19th century British architect?

A

Sir Charles Barry

30
Q

What colour is the live wire in a standard UK three pin electrical plug?

A

Brown

31
Q

The poem which begins - My heart leaps up when I behold/A rainbow in the sky - which also includes the line The Child is the father of the Man - is by which poet?

A

Wordsworth

32
Q

Whar sort of animal is a Sergeant Baker?

A

Fish

33
Q

In which play by Christopher Marlowe, first published in 2594, does the title character refer to Helen of Troy with the words, Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/and burnt the topless towers of Illium?

A

Doctor Faustus

34
Q

Which actress, who gained fame in a number of iconic British film, TV and radio comedies, was married to the actor John le Mesurier between 1949 and 1965?

A

Hattie Jacques

35
Q

The title character of Puccini’s opera Turandot is a bloodthirsty princess in which city?

A

Old Peking

36
Q

Since 1916, the annual eating contest for what fast food item has been held at Nathan’s Diner at Coney Island?

A

Hot dogs

37
Q

The Seven Years’ War, as its name suggests, took place across a period of seven years, between Britain’ declaration of war on France and the Treaty of Pairs, which brough it to an end. Name any one of the eight calendar years during which it was being fought?

A

1756-1763

38
Q

The wisent is another name for the European species of which grazing mammal?

A

Bison

39
Q

In 1966, during a famous - or indeed infamous - televised interview with Japanese journalists during the Vietnam Conflich, how was the American prisoner-of-war Commander Jeremiah Denton able to indicate to the viewing publich that he’d been tortured?

A

Blinking

40
Q

Cave of the Heart, Errand into the Maze and Night Journey are among the works of which American choreographer, who died in 1991?

A

Martha Graham