Set 03 Flashcards
1
Q
Who is the current president of India, the first woman to hold the post?
A
Pratiba Patil
2
Q
Which musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe consists largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations? It developed in the United States among Jewish immigrants.
A
Klezmer
3
Q
Chaand Raat is a Hindi term meaning ‘Night of the Moon’ and is the rough equivalent to Christmas Eve in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is the eve of which festival?
A
Eid al-Fitr
4
Q
What is the largest and oldest film studio in Europe, which is Russian?
A
Mosfilm
5
Q
In 2007, the Vatican City became the world’s first carbon neutral state by planting a forest in which country?
A
Hungary
6
Q
Which city? It is the capital and largest city in the country. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which it is connected by a bridge.
A
N’Djamena
7
Q
Which Japanese artist, whose work shows an obsession with repetition, is most famous for her polka-dot motifs, lives in a mental hospital in Tokyo, and currently holds the record for most expensive work by a living female artist?
A
Yayoi Kusama
8
Q
What is the name of the arts prize awarded by the imperial family of Japan that is also known as the World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu?
A
Praemium Imperiale
9
Q
What is the best-selling debut by legal thriller writer Scott Turow?
A
Presumed Innocent
10
Q
In 2010, Solo by Rana Dasgupta won which prize?
A
Commonwealth Writers Prize
11
Q
What is the name of the comedic oratorio that Eric Idle has written based on Life of Brian?
A
Not The Messiah
12
Q
Werner Herzog’s film Bad Lieutenant is set in the aftermath of which real-life event?
A
Hurricane Katrina
13
Q
Who appeared on British television on December 15, 2009, and said that rumours that she would be singing at an O2 concert in 2010 were not true. Instead, she said she will be doing a form of “speak singing”. Her subsequent performance was panned by critics?
A
Julie Andrews
14
Q
Hugh Masekela is a singer from South Africa famous also for playing which other instrument?
A
Trumpet
15
Q
Who now plays in a Polish quintet and transformed the South Bank into a ‘mini-Poland’ for his Polish weekend in May 2010?
A
Nigel Kennedy
16
Q
Who was editor of Puffin Books between 1961 and 1979, and in 1967 founded the Puffin Club, which she ran until 1981? She was married three times, including to Ronald Searle.
A
Kaye Webb
17
Q
Turner Contemporary is an arts centre in which seaside town due to open in 2011?
A
Margate
18
Q
Anders Sparrman was a Swedish naturalist who accompanied which more famous man on his voyages of discovery?
A
Captain Cook
19
Q
The MAC in Birmingham is a new visitor atraction. It is an acronym. What does MAC stand for?
A
Midlands Arts Centre
20
Q
Who was the captain of the Mary Rose when it sank?
A
Sir George Carew
21
Q
A famous quote from Nazi playwright Hanns Johst’s ‘Schlageter’ is ‘Whenever I hear of _____________… I release the safety catch of my Browning’?
A
Culture
22
Q
Which member of the violin family is usually played pizzicato in a jazz context?
A
Double bass
23
Q
Which adjective, from the Greek for ‘to hide away’ describes a story about somebody that may be of doubtful authenticity?
A
Apocryphal
24
Q
What is the largest of the flatfishes?
A
Halibut
25
The H bone is a British cut of which meat?
Beef
26
Which poet is being quoted: 'Milton, thou shouldst be alive at this hour'?
Wordsworth
27
Two islands in the Caribbean became independent from Spain in 1898. Cuba was one, which was the other?
Puerto Rico
28
Sir Norman Fumble is a scandal-prone MP in which comedy series?
Little Britain
29
Which man, known as 'The Magnificent', was the ruler of Florence during the renaissance?
Lorenzo de Medici
30
What is the name of the island on which Venice's cemetery lies?
San Michele
31
Tungsten and which other metal are alloyed in the best quality darts?
Nickel
32
What is the Russian word for 'self-boiling'?
Samovar
33
Whose last film was the 1966 'Walk, don't run'?
Cary Grant
34
The word siesta is derived from the Latin word meaning what?
Sixth
35
What Latin word means a forecourt but now means an internal space between the outside door and the inside of a building?
Vestibule
36
Who played the Reverend Cleofus James in the Blues Brothers?
James Brown
37
Which plant related to the nasturtium has a similar peppery taste and grows in water?
Watercress
38
Which Greek philosopher wrote the Nicomachean Epics?
Aristotle
39
Myspace has acquired which online service that allows users to download and share music, founded by Ali and Hadi Partovi?
iLike
40
Michael and Xochi Birch founded which social networking site?
Bebo
41
What do the letters BEBO stand for?
Blog Early, Blog Often
42
Who became Secretary General of the Commonwealth in 2008?
Kamalesh Sharma
43
Which Canadian singer-songwriter is also known as a photographer?
Bryan Adams
44
Which French scientist, born in the c18, postulated the existence of black holes and gives his name to a differential equation in physics?
Pierre Laplace
45
Which character in the Canterbury Tales is associated with bagpipes?
The Miller
46
The Egoist and Diana of the Crossways are novels by which c19 author?
George Meredith
47
The Miracle of the Flowers and the Lady of the Rose are novels by which writer, born 1910?
Jean Genet
48
What was the Velvet Underground's debut album called?
The Velvet Underground and Nico
49
A 2009 study by Oxford University showed that playing which computer game was effective in the treatment of PTSD?
Tetris
50
When Einstein learnt that his work had been used to create the atom bomb, he said that if he'd known that, he would have become a.....what?
Watch-maker
51
What is known as the Disease of Naples by the French?
Syphillis
52
What's the name of the female protagonist of A Streetcar Named Desire?
Blanche Dubois
53
Which man, born in Black Notley, Essex, in 1627, is called the Father of English Natural History?
John Ray
54
Iron pyrites or 'fool's gold' is a compound of iron and which non-metal?
Sulphur
55
Which organ links the endocrine system with the nervous system?
Hypothalamus
56
Three elements have two-letter abbreviations where the letters are consecutive in the alphabet. Cd (cadmium) and Mn (manganese) are two. Which is the third?
No (Nobellium)
57
Which 1973 novel by William Goldman tells of a farm hand named Westley's relationship with a beautiful woman called Buttercup?
The Princess Bride
58
Who coined the phrase 'Ulster will fight- Ulster will be right'?
Randolph Churchill
59
Which South Pacific nation switched to driving on the left in September 2009?
Samoa
60
Which are the only two South American countries that drive on the left?
Guyana and Surinam
61
The Dunlap Broadside and the Goddard Broadside were early versions of which document?
The US Declaration of Independence
62
Which former director of the Royal Ballet died of a heart attack in 1992 while backstage at Covent Garden during a production of Mayerling?
Sir Kenneth MacMillan
63
From the Latin 'to listen', what word means medical diagnosis based on listening to the sounds of the body, usually through a stethoscope?
Auscultation
64
In early 2010, L'Homme Qui Marche broke all records for a sculpute price when it was sold at auction for over £65m. Who did it?
Giacometti
65
Corrine Bailey Rae's album The Sea was recorded in memory of her late husband, but what was his name?
Jason Rae
66
Most Fado songs express it in some way. What Portuguese and Galician word for a feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return?
Saudade
67
Which Czech band played a crucial role in ending Communism there in 1989 and are the subject of Tom Stoppard's 'Rock 'n' Roll'?
The Plastic People of The Universe
68
Which Dutchman has played to millions with his 'Johann Strauss Orchestra'?
Andre Rieu
69
A three-mile high column of cloud - visible from up to 100km away - will be projected from where in 2012 for 18 months. It's one of twelve Arts Council commissions across the UK as part of the Cultural Olympiad?
Birkenhead
70
Which German composer is known for his political convictions. He left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his leftist politics and homosexuality and has produced compositions honoring Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara?
Hans Werner Henze
71
Which British writer is director of the charity Kids in Museums?
Dea Birkett
72
2009's ...And Another Thing, by Eoin Colfer, is the sixth book in which series that was originally started by someone else?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
73
What is the name of Peter Biskind's notorious biography of Warren Beatty?
Star
74
Mystery writer Walter Mosley created which black detective from Watts in Los Angeles, real first name 'Ezekiel'?
Easy Rawlins
75
Who wrote the play of Enron?
Lucy Prebble
76
Which classical musical group is made up of three Catholic pastors, all from Northern Ireland. Fr Eugene and his brother Fr Martin O'Hagan. and Fr David Delargy have been singing together since they boarded as students?
The Priests
77
Which man, born in Rochester, NY, in 1927, is often described as 'America's greatest living poet'?
John Ashbery
78
Which two men, sentenced in Chicago in 1924 and defended by Clarence Darrow, attempted to commit the 'perfect murder' and their story is told in Patrick Hamilton's 'Rope', also made into a Hitchcock film?
Leopold and Loeb
79
In Avatar, what is the name of the native species of Pandora?
Na'vi
80
Running in Heels was a US reality show in 2009 follwing three interns working at which magazine?
Marie Claire
81
Which man borrowed a first edition of Beckett's work from Bermondsey library in 1950, and it was only returned, with a fine of £2000, after his death in 2009?
Harold Pinter
82
Which man, called 'the Disney of computer games', created Super Mario?
Shigeru Miyamoto
83
Joe McElderry was given 'The Climb' to sing at Christmas 2009, famously only getting to number two. Whose song was it originally?
Miley Cyrus
84
Which 2007 X-Factor runner up has released two classical crossover albums, under Simon Cowell's tutelage?
Rhydian Roberts
85
Who directed the cult hit Donnie Darko?
Richard Kelly
86
Which terrible TV sitcom in 2009 about a travelling circus starred Amanda Holden and Tony Robinson?
Big Top
87
Who played Freddy Krueger?
Robert Englund
88
In the Catholic church, what is the first of the four stages to sainthood?
Servant of God
89
In the Catholic church, what is the second of the four stages to sainthood?
Venerable
90
In the Catholic church, what is the third of the four stages to sainthood?
Blessed
91
In Chile, ALMA is made up of 80 high-precision antennas that will transform our understanding of the physics of the 'cold universe'. The cold universe is made up of regions that are optically dark to us but shine brightly in the millimetre portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. What does ALMA stand for?
Atacama Large Millimetre Array
92
Which Chinese breed of dog, once very rare but now more common, is known for its distinctive features of deep wrinkles and a blue-black tongue?
Shar Pei
93
Accurate to one second in about 3.7 billion years and developed by researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), what is the world's most accurate clock?
Aluminium Ion Clock
94
4 billion years ago, the Sun was far dimmer than it is now, but all the geological evidence is that the world was no colder then than now. What is the name of this paradox, first posed by Carl Sagan?
The Faint Young Sun Paradox
95
In early 2010, it was announced that massive extinct volcanoes had been found on the Pacific floor off Santa Barbara, CA. What are they made of?
Asphalt
96
Traditionally light can only be controlled on length scales down to a little below the wavelength of light, a few hundred nanometres, hence the usual resolution limit of optical microscopes and telescopes. However, a new paradigmis emerging, to control light below its wavelength limit. What's the name of this new branch of physics?
Plasmonics
97
Which is the only SI unit that is still defined by an artifact rather than a fundamental physical property that can be reproduced in different laboratories?
Kilogram (based on the one in Sevres)
98
Which famous website started life as X.com?
PayPal
99
Which South African man co-founded PayPal and designed Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit?
Elon Musk
100
Which famous actor's screen debut was in Criss Cross, in 1949?
Tony Curtis
101
Who played Lily Munster in the Munsters?
Yvonne de Carlo
102
Which noun and adjective is given to materials, including paper, that have a negative Poisson's ratio. When stretched, they become thicker. This occurs due to their hinge-like structures?
Auxetic
103
Satellite measurements have shown that which geographical feature of Antarctica, nicknamed PIG, has a greater net contribution of ice to the sea than any other ice drainage basin in the world and its rate of melt is accelerating unusually fast?
Pine Island Glacier
104
Caught off Iceland in 2007, what nickname has been given to a clam thought to be the world's oldest animal, at 405-410 years old?
Ming (after the Chinese dynasty it was born during)
105
Scientists are trying to reduce the cost of photovoltaic cells by researching ones made of plastic, instead of which relatively expensive material that they have hitherto been made from?
Silicon
106
Which European Space Agency unmanned space mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere using four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation survived the loss of the first four in the Ariane 5 flight failure in1996, leading to the construction of four new spacecraft and their successful launching in 2000 on Soyuz-Fregat rockets?
The Cluster Mission
107
In a medical context, what does SCID stand for?
Severe Combined Immune Deficiency
108
Starting in Brookside, who is now more famous as Sam Ryan and Police Commander Claire Blake?
Amanda Burton
109
Who won three RL Grand finals in a row 2007-9?
Leeds Rhinos
110
What is the name of Vaughan Williams' first symphony?
Sea Symphony
111
Which goddess is the mother of Zeus?
Rhea
112
Elvis Costello performs which Charles Aznavour song on the soundtrack of Notting Hill?
She
113
How many feet in diameter is the circle used to throw a hammer?
Seven
114
How many pounds is the steel ball in the hammer event?
Sixteen
115
In Ancient Greece, what name was given to the chief magistrate in ancient city-states?
Archon
116
In angling, what name is given to any freshwater fish that are not members of the salmon family?
Course fish
117
Who was the first artistic director of the National Theatre?
Lawrence Olivier
118
Who joined the Cabinet in 2004 as SoS for Education and left in 2008 as SoS for Transport?
Ruth Kelly
119
Which was the first town in England to owe its existence to the railway- it was built to ship coal from the Stockton and Darlington line?
Middlesbrough
120
By which of his wives was Claudius poisoned so that his son Nero would succeed?
Agrippina
121
What is the longest river entirely in Spain?
Ebro
122
Which British writer was nicknamed 'Plum'?
P G Wodehouse
123
Doyenne de Commis is a variety of which fruit?
Pear
124
What name did Amy Williams give to her sledge?
Arthur
125
Which famous song was originally just the B-side to the single 'Reason to Believe'?
Maggie Mae by Rod Stewart
126
Veronese's real surname is also another Italian city- what?
Cagliari
127
Who directed Cathy Come Home?
Ken Loach
128
Who resigned as Chancellor following the 1967 devaluation?
Callaghan
129
Blue John mine in Derbyshire is near which village?
Castleton
130
Who broke the world records for the 1500m, 2000m and the mile in 1985?
Steve Cram
131
The name of which butterfly comes from the Latin for 'dice box' because of their spotted markings?
Fritillary
132
What section does a military band have that a brass band usually does not?
Woodwind
133
The Priest and the Angel of the Agony feature in which Elgar work, which he himself called 'the best of me'?
Dream of Gerontius
134
Which Indian city was founded by Ram Das and has a name meaning 'pool of immortality'?
Amritsar
135
What was the name of the operation ordered by Indira Gandhi to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which itself triggered Gandhi's own death at the hands of Sikh bodyguards?
Operation Blue Star
136
Which butterfly is known as a Mourning Cloak in America?
Camberwell Beauty
137
Baby-faced 35-year-old Andry Rajoelina became leader of which country in 2010?
Madagascar
138
The Devil's Garden, so called by the Desert Rats, is still littered with unexploded ordnance that makes daily life a hazard for inhabitants. From which battle is this ordnance left over?
El Alamein
139
In which far-right community was Eugene Terreblanche killed in 2010?
Ventersdorp
140
What is the meaning of the Bantu word 'ubuntu'?
Brotherhood
141
The Kristo Asafo, or Christ Reformed Church, founded by Apostle Asafo in 1971, is renowned for its investment in agriculture, manufacturing and industry in which African country?
Ghana
142
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene starts at the Bedford hotel, a thinly disguised version of The City hotel in which African capital?
Freetown
143
Which rather corrupt ex-leader of Zambia was cleared of all corruption charges against him in 2009?
Frederick Chiluba
144
The Boricua People's Army is a guerilla organisation fighting with machetes for the independence of which territory?
Puerto Rico
145
The panga or tapanga in Southern Africa is what?
A machete
146
As of 2010, who is the president of Algeria?
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
147
Which famous sporting event took place at the Tata Raphael Stadium, then called the 20th May Stadium?
The 'Rumble in the Jungle'
148
Chinese investment in which country is bringing back to life the Benguela railway, one of Africa's great rail routes?
Angola
149
A civil war in the north of which African country during the 2000s saw the Acoli people driven off their land?
Uganda
150
Before assuming power, Dmitri Medvedev was CEO of which huge company?
Gazprom
151
Which German socialist and co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany is best known for his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919?
Karl Liebknecht
152
Velasquez's most famous Papal portraits were of which pope?
Innocent X
153
Monsignor James Horan is most associated with which Catholic location?
Knock (he built the airport and basilica)
154
In 2001, the government of which EU member state decriminalised recreational drugs including heroin and cocaine in an attempt to reduce the number of hard drug users in the country?
Portugal
155
In 2009, the Elgin Marbles debate reignited with the opening of which new museum?
Acropolis Museum, Athens
156
How is 9 Rue Git-le-Couer, immortalised in Harold Chapman's photos, known?
The Beat Hotel
157
Oleg Deripaska, the notorious owner of the Queen K yacht, made his fortune from the trade in which element of the Periodic Table?
Aluminium
158
Ramzan Kadyrov is a 32-year old warlord appointed by Moscow to control which territory?
Chechnya
159
Mutri, or 'thick-necks' are the local mafia in which EU Member State?
Bulgaria
160
He has the shaved head, thick neck and massive shoulders of a wrestler, which is what he was, long ago. He was also a fireman, karate coach, bodyguard and top policeman. What is the name of the Bulgariam PM elected in 2009 on a promise to clean up corruption?
Boiko Borisov
161
Kuupik Kleist is the PM of which self-governing territory?
Greenland
162
Jobbik is a far-right anti-gypsy party in which EU member state?
Hungary
163
What is the capital of the Russian province of Tuva, reknowned for its throat-singers?
Kyzyl
164
What is the name of the self-built refugee camp at Calais that Afghans have created to replace Sangatte?
The Jungle
165
Which man won more chess championships (seven) than any other man?
Emanuel Lasker
166
What is the capital of Ingushetia?
Magas
167
Lange Anna is a guano-clad pillar of rock that is the main geographical feature of which European island?
Heligoland
168
Saborna Cathedral is the equivalent of St Peter's Basilica for which branch of Christianity?
Serbian Orthodox Church
169
Which famous British poet's wife was called Emily Sellwood?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
170
Who was the first man to call Britain 'Great Britain'?
Dr John Dee
171
What was Tennyson's last word, although other sources say it was 'Oh that press will have me now'?
Hallam'
172
In 2005, soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in which Uzbek city, killing hundreds?
Andijan
173
What is the name of Sarkozy's center-right party?
UMP
174
Gunter Demnig lays 'Stolpersteine', or 'stumbling blocks' in Berlin- small gold-coloured plaques. What do they each commemorate?
A Jew at the address murdered by Nazis
175
In 1998 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sent to jail for doing what in public?
Reciting an Islamic poem
176
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission started touring which country in 2009 to heal the scars of the 'residential schools system'?
Canada
177
In Greek mythology, which wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa, gives his name to an adjective meaning 'strictly and uncompromisingly just'?
Rhadamanthus (rhadamanthine)
178
Principle Voices is a campaign among residents of a certain US state for the Federal government to change the law and allow what?
Polygamy
179
Which American actor, first names John Leslie, began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. In the interim, he sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers?
Jackie Coogan
180
In 2009, which company became the biggest industrial bankruptcy in the history of the US?
General Motors
181
Who was the influential President of GM in the 1920s?
Alfred P Sloan
182
In the USA, what name is given to a mixture of popcorn and peanut coated in toffee which is the baseball fan's snack of choice?
Cracker Jack
183
What is the US equivalent of the British car boot sale?
A yard sale
184
What is the name of the salt flats in Bolivia, the world's largest, which hold vast supplies of lithium below their surface?
Salar de Uyuni
185
Loved by right-wing Americans, and worn on a t-shirt by Timothy McVeigh, what is the end of Thomas Jefferson's famous quote: 'From time to time the tree of liberty must be....'?
Refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants
186
What is the name of the abandoned urban elevated rail line in NYC that has been converted to a new park?
The High Line
187
Why is Coromoto's in Merida, Venezuela, in the Guinness Book of Records?
Ice-cream parlour selling 860 flavours
188
Which country is the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs?
USA
189
Which factory in Cuba produces the world's most expensive and refined brand of cigar?
Cohiba
190
What is the name of the state-run cigar supplier in Cuba?
Habanos
191
Which indigenous women in South America wear bowler hats as part of their traditional dress because, it is said, that a quick-witted salesman from Manchester sold them to them in the c19?
Aymara
192
Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald was played by Klaus Kinski, who was directed by Werner Herzog in which film about an Irishman who wanted to build an opera-house in Iquitos?
Fitzcarraldo
193
Gornik & Drucker are a long-established Beverley Hills company providing what service to the Hollywood stars?
Barbers
194
What was Hollywood's first daily entertainment industry trade paper. It began as a daily film publication, then added television coverage in the 1950s. Its founder William Wilkerson was famous for his outspoken, outrageous views?
The Hollywood Reporter
195
What honourific title, similar to 'Sir', is given by Shia Muslims to the descendents of Mohammed through Fatima?
Sayyid
196
Which city south west of Tehran is sacred to Shias as it is the site of Fatima's shrine and is the largest centre for Shia scholarship in the world?
Qom
197
What is the name of the largest faction of Shia muslims, taken from the number of Imams they believe to have existed?
Twelvers
198
When Stephen Fry fled the production of Cell Mates in a 'fit of pique' in 1995, which real-life man had he been playing in the film?
George Blake
199
What is the name of the Alan Bennett play about the relationship between Benjamin Britten and W H Auden?
The Habit of Art
200
Marli Renfro was whose body double in a particularly famous film scene?
Janet Leigh
201
Which Japanese cookery show has been described as 'Masterchef meets Gladiators'?
Iron Chef
202
Which 2010 film was set in 4th Century Alexandria - and tells the story of the brilliant astronomer, Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) resisting the religious extremists who want to destroy the city's famous library?
Agora
203
American stand-up comic and actor Daniel Lawrence Whitney is better known by which four-word moniker?
Larry The Cable Guy
204
Which famous woman's birth surname was Stassinopoulou?
Arianna Huffington
205
Which Cream bassist is/was famous for his legendary fall-outs with Ginger Baker?
Jack Bruce
206
Which man starred in Avatar?
Sam Worthington
207
David Byrne and Fatboy Slim co-wrote 'Here Lies Love', a 2010 song cycle based around the life of which controversial real-life figure?
Imelda Marcos
208
The Million's poet is a Middle Eastern, poetry version of the X Factor. It is broadcast weekly to the Arab world from which city?
Abu Dhabi
209
Who starred as Rembrandt in Peter Greenaway's film about The Night Watch?
Martin Freeman
210
A campaign was launched in March 2010 to get which song to Number 1, as it only got to Number 2 in 1981?
Vienna by Ultravox
211
Russians began queueing for tickets a whole year before the performance. Author Olga Grushin has written a novel, The Concert Ticket, inspired by this event, and she describes the complex social system that evolved in the queue, with people working together to hold their places overnight. Whose 'Back in the USSR' concert in Leningrad in 1962?
Stravinsky
212
The notorious Boston art robbery that led to Rembrandt's only seascape vanishing also meant the disappearance of works by which other two artists?
Manet and Vermeer
213
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's controversial play Behzti was dropped by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre following riots. What does Behzti mean?
Shame
214
At 106, Alice Herz-Sommer still practises the piano for two and a half hours every day. Earlier in her life, she gave 100 performances in which unusual venue?
Theresienstadt concentration camp
215
Which virtuoso performed at the premiere of Elgar's Violin Concerto?
Fritz Kreisler
216
What three word phrase is an Internet meme involving a video of a high school student from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, wielding a golf ball retriever like a lightsaber?
Star Wars Kid
217
Who wrote a story called the Kreutzer Sonata after hearing the eponymous Beethoven piece? However, the story is so violent that it was banned for many years.
Leo Tolstoy
218
Which English actor's 2010 feature film directorial debut Don't Worry About Me, is set in his home town of Liverpool?
David Morrissey
219
Which ancient city in southwestern Nigeria, centre of an important kingdom from 700AD, is regarded as the world capital of the Yoruba people?
Ife
220
In Yoruba culture, what people, called ibeji, are particularly revered, which is good news, as the people have the world's highest rate of them?
Twins
221
Chris Norman, Alan Silson, Terry Uttley and Ron Kelly was the original line-up of which 1970s band?
Smokie
222
Which American-born journalist, writer, and freedom of information activist is best known as one of the leading figures exposing the House of Commons resistance to disclosing MP's expenses?
Heather Brooke
223
How is Thomas Stockmann described in the title of an Ibsen play?
An Enemy of the People
224
The Mystery Writers of America give what annual award for Best Novel?
The Edgar
225
Vostanik Manoog Adoyan (1904–1948) was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He is better known by his pseudonyum. What is it?
Arshile Gorky
226
Which restaurant in Paris was founded in 1582, and said to have been frequented by Henri IV? Duck, especially the pressed duck, is the specialty. Diners who order it receive a postcard with the bird's serial number. Its wine cellar, guarded around the clock, contains more than 450,000 bottles?
La Tour D'Argent
227
Which Canadian company is their equivalent of Mills and Boon but is the largest in the sector of romantic fiction in the world?
Harlequin (Enterprises)
228
Which otherwise very useful plant would also be edible if it were not for the antibacterial compound gossypol, which genetic engineers are trying to remove in order to convert it to a food source?
Cotton
229
In which sovereign state is the famous Caribbean island of Mustique?
St Vincent and the Grenadines
230
Which Royal Navy submarine carries the unopened 'last instructions' of the current British PM that are to be used posthumously in the event of a national catastrophe or nuclear strike?
HMS Vengeance
231
HMS Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance make up with which other submarine the RN's eponymous class of such vessels?
Vanguard
232
What is the name of the torpedoes that these RN vessels use?
Spearfish
233
Which new submarine, launched in 2010, had her keel laid on 31 January 2001, 100 years to the day since the keel was laid on the first submarine, Holland One?
HMS Astute
234
In which British overseas territory is the famous Carribean Island of Necker?
British Virgin Islands
235
Robert the Bruce was born in/near which English county town in 1274?
Chelmsford
236
Because of the ginger-brown colour of the pines after they died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl accident, what name was given to the most polluted area of trees in the immediate vicinity?
The Red Forest
237
The recurve is a competition in which Olympic sport?
Archery
238
In equestrianism, which disciple involves gymnastic and dance elements performed to music on a cantering horse?
Vaulting
239
Which Test cricket side are called the Tigers?
Bangladesh
240
On a darts board, what number is directly opposite No. 1 ?
No. 19
241
What is the craft of making arrows called ?
Fletching
242
In Cycle Racing, what is a sag wagon ?
One of the last vehicles following road events and picking up riders who have dropped out
243
The apparatus used by male gymnasts consists of vaulting horse, pommel horse, horizontal bars, rings and floor. Which of these pices of apparatus do women use ?
Vaulting Horse and Floor
244
Essential equipment for a boxer comprises gloves, hand tape, protector below the waist, boots and what else ?
Gumshield
245
Why do American footballers paint black marks across their cheeks ?
It helps to protect against the suns glare
246
In Ice-Hockey what are puck-stoppers ?
Pads protecting knees and shins
247
In hot air ballooning, how is the manoeuvring or cooling valve used ?
Descending (releases hot air)
248
Starting blocks are used on athletic tracks. Runners push their feet against them to get the fastest possible start. What else can they be used for ?
To detect false starts
249
Which is the heaviest of the three modern fencing weapons?
Epee
250
All the hoops in croquet are painted white, except the last one, called the rover, which has a different colour on the crown. Which colour is it ?
Red
251
What animal nickname is given to officials in NFL games?
Zebras
252
Soccer boots have interchangeable studs. The studs for wet and slippery surfaces are made from aluminium. What studs are used for playing on hard ground ?
Rubber Studs
253
Which Italian pasta is often found in soups and has a name literally meaning 'barley'?
Orzo
254
Jan Garbarek is a famous jazz saxophonist from which country?
Norway
255
Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand trades'?
Birmingham
256
Which city is known as the 'city of a hundred (or a thousand) spires'?
Prague
257
Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand minarets'?
Cairo
258
Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand fires'?
Gelsenkirchen
259
Which city is known as the 'city of a hundred names'?
Istanbul
260
Which move in ice-skating was invented by Cecilia Colledge of Great Britain, who also invented the camel spin?
Layback spin
261
At 2001 feet (610 metres) what is the world's second tallest concrete tower after the Burj Khalifa?
Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower
262
Player William A Spinks was the co-inventor of which innovation in carom billards?
Billiard chalk
263
What is the capital of Ontario?
Toronto
264
Which garden plant, a variety of Viola, is also called Heartsease?
Pansy
265
In Peter Pan, which character gets her name because she mends pots and pans?
Tinkerbell
266
Which ballet star who worked with Diaghalev retired from the stage after being diagnosed with schizophrenia?
Nijinsky
267
What name is given to baby birds that have wing feathers only just long enough for flight?
Fledgling
268
Who became leader of the Liberal party from 1926 to 1931, having formerly been PM?
David Lloyd George
269
Which Christmas song did Terry Wogan and Aled Jones release for Children in Need?
Silver Bells
270
Which human hormone has a name deriving from the Greek for 'frenzy'?
Oestrogen
271
Which Yorkshire town is home to the Stinking Spaw?
Harrogate
272
Whose first starring role was in 1958's The Blob?
Steve McQueen
273
Which was the first inter-city mainline railway station to be built in London?
Euston
274
Which event, held since the c13, has taken place every 20 years in Corby, Northamptonshire?
Pole Fair
275
Which hardwood tree has the Latin name Tectona Grandis?
Teak
276
In the Pirates of the Caribbean, who is the ship's captain played by Bill Nighy?
Davy Jones
277
In Australian English, what is an 'esky'?
An ice box
278
Norodom Sihamoni is king of which country?
Cambodia
279
What is the name of the national hero of Kyrgyzstan?
Manas
280
One of the most beautiful sights in Asia are the green and silver contours of the Jati Luwih rice terraces on which island?
Bali
281
Which sacred mountain in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is also the abode of Lord Brahma and the Demi-Gods (Devas)?
Mount Meru
282
In Hinduism, which princess was kidnapped, but her husband Rama used Hanuman, the monkey god, to find her and return her to him?
Sita
283
Pithecanthropus erectus is better known as what?
Java man
284
Which country switched reluctantly from driving on the right (a legacy of 15 years as a German colony before World War I) to the left, like most of its Pacific neighbours, in 2009?
Samoa
285
Controversy has been stirred in the South Pacific. From 2009 Aitutaki got flights on a Sunday for the first time, to the disgust of fundamentalist Christian residents. In which group of islands?
Cook Islands
286
The world's largest building in the Chinese classical style is the Grand Hotel, a 16-story hotel looking like a classical Asian temple in which city?
Taipei
287
What name is given to show villages in Communist countries?
Potemkin villages
288
BYD is a car-makers from which country?
China
289
Which empire, which ruled Persia from from 224 to 651, succeeded the Parthian empire and was the last pre-Islamic empire of the country?
Sassanid
290
Which dynasty ruled Iran from 1501 to 1722 and played a key role in making Shia Islam the state religion?
Safavid
291
One of the greatest Safavid rulers was Shah Abbas, responsible for which stunning blue mosque in Isfahan?
Imam Mosque
292
The Aliyev dynasty controls which country?
Azerbaijan
293
Which sheikh, the head of Hamas, was assassinated in an Israeli air strike in 2003?
Ahmed Yassin
294
Najaf and which other city are the world's most important for Shia Islam?
Qom
295
Falkland Road is the infamous red-light district in which Asian City?
Mumbai
296
The Rozabal shrine, where locals bizarrely believe Jesus to be buried, is in the back streets of which provicial capital in South Asia?
Srinagar
297
Which group of Muslims in Pakistan follow the teachings of their c19 leader and are discriminated against and attacked by mainstream Sunnis, with the Pakistani constitution writing them out of citizenship?
Ahmadis
298
The new Ahmadi mosque in Morden, Baitul Futuh, is the second largest in Europe. Where is the largest?
Rome
299
Dave Eggars adapted and Spike Jonze directed in 2009 an adaptation of which classic children's story?
Where the Wild Things Are
300
Originally serialised in the periodical All The Year Round, it triggered a craze for cloaks and bonnets, waltzes and quadrilles and it was even parodied in Punch magazine. Which classic novel?
The Woman in White
301
Which ghost horror film, shot in seven days, Blair Witch-style, on a hand-held camera, in director Oren Peli's own home, was a hit in 2009, with a 2010 sequel?
Paranormal Activity
302
In 2009, which UK band promoted their A-Z singles collection with 26 gigs in cities in alphabetical sequence from Aldershot to Zennor?
Ash
303
The Original of Laura was which writer's posthumous last work, which he asked to be burned but was published anyway in 2009?
Vladimir Nabokov
304
Which now 87-year old director caused controversy with his adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses in 1967 and his version of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was banned in the UK. In 1971 he won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary for Interviews with My Lai Veterans?
Joseph Strick
305
Which writer claimed that 'if you live to be 90 in England and can still eat a boiled egg, then they think you deserve a major honour'?
Alan Bennett
306
Which daughter of Johnny Cash released an album called The List based on cover versions her dad recommended?
Rosanne
307
Indian director Mira Nair came to prominence in 1988 with which famous film?
Salaam Bombay
308
Complete the Mexican guitar duo- Rodrigo y?
Gabriela
309
Which 2009 Steven Soderburgh film stars Matt Damon as a whistleblower in an agri-industrial company?
The Informant!
310
Which former pop star is, as of 2009, the CEO of UK Music?
Fergal Sharkey
311
Raymond Scott wrote the music for many cartoons produced by which studio?
Warner Brothers
312
Live at the Olympia, recorded in Dublin in 2007, was a live album by which band?
R.E.M.
313
In 2009, Les Johnson's new statue for the Fourth Plinth was unveiled. It depicts which Battle of Britain hero?
Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park
314
The Men Who Stare At Goats was a film adaptation of Jon Ronson's book about which part of the US Army that deals with the paranormal?
First Earth Battalion
315
US university students Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin wrote a book retelling 75 classics of literature through what medium?
Twitter
316
What was the sequel to the Churchill drama The Gathering Storm?
Into the Storm
317
Which famous record producer was responsible for the sound of Frankie Goes to Hollywood?
Trevor Horn
318
The silent 1922 film Dr Mabuse the Gambler, followed by The Testament of Dr Mabuse in 1933 and ending with The 1,000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse, which was his final film. Which director?
Fritz Lang
319
Which choreographer was working with Michael Jackson at the time of his death, arranged his memorial service, and also did the choreography for High School Musical?
Kenny Ortega
320
What's the name of the Jane Campion film about Keats and Fanny Brawn?
Bright Star
321
Which British architect led the ten-year reconstruction of the Neues Museum in Berlin, destroyed by bombs during the Second World War and subjected to decades of neglect?
David Chipperfield
322
In Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr Fox, who voices Mr Fox?
George Clooney
323
Johnny Mad Dog, based on the novel by Emmanuel Dongola, and directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, is about child soldiers in which African country?
Liberia
324
Who was Wimbledon women's champion in 1972?
Billie Jean King
325
Where do Munster play their home RU games?
Thomond Park, Limerick
326
Munster had an unbeaten run at home in the Heineken Cup for 12 years until 2007, when which team beat them there?
Leicester Tigers
327
In boxing, what does RSF stand for?
Referee Stopped Fight
328
At which course is the Hennessy Gold Cup run, without exception?
Newbury
329
Which Australian from Kurri Kurri, NSW, won the MotoGP in 2007?
Casey Stoner
330
Who won the 2006 Tour de France after Floyd Landis was disqualified?
Oscar Pereiro
331
Which familiar warbler, Phylloscopus collybita, gets its name from its simple, repetitive cheerful song, rather than anything it eats?
Chiffchaff
332
Collectively, Group 2 of the Periodic Table (Beryllium, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium and Radium) are known as what?
Alkaline Earth Metals
333
What is the largest bat in Europe, that can sometimes take small birds?
Greater Noctule
334
In evolutionary biology, name the process whereby organisms not closely related independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches?
Convergence
335
Which edible plant has the Latin name Armorica Rusticana?
Horseradish
336
The largest tributary of the Ganges in Northern India, it joins that river at Allahabad. Which river?
Yamuna
337
Baby echidnas and duck-billed platypuses are called what cute name?
Puggles
338
What do almost all cars have that the De Lorean cars did not?
Body paint
339
Which international movement, with the logo of a snail, was founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986?
Slow food
340
Which US trademarked name for a cooker that has an integral heating element is often used generically to mean 'slow cooker'?
Crock Pot
341
Sulfhemoglobinaemia is a rare condition in which there is excess sulfhemoglobin in the blood, causing the skin to take on what colour hue?
Blue
342
In 1971, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton started which chain of restaurants, their first being in Mayfair?
Hard Rock Cafes
343
Which comic met his Iranian-born wife Shari Eftekhari at a football roadshow in Staines?
Nick Hancock
344
The 6th Lord Somers was the second ever what in Great Britain, the third being the 2nd Baron Rowallan?
Chief Scout
345
Which car company manufactures the Roomster?
Skoda
346
Which dish consisting of egg yolks on a sweet base made of sugar and rosewater was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Eggs in Moonshine
347
n Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia is mentioned in various ancient texts. What is its name?
Shambhala
348
What is the name of Tuscan kale, which is also known as black cabbage?
Cavolo nero
349
Born in 1950, which Irish actor married and divorced the American actress Ellen Barkin, with whom he had two children?
Gabriel Byrne
350
Captain Hoseason of the ship The Covenant features in which novel, made into a Michael Caine film?
Kidnapped
351
Which is the largest lake by surface area entirely within one country?
Lake Michigan
352
In which year was the Euro introduced on January 1st?
2002
353
The Comstock Lode silver rush was in which US state?
Nevada
354
What is the highest ordinal number to appear in a Shakespeare play title?
Twelfth
355
Diane de Poitiers was a mistress of which French king, almost 20 years her junior?
Henri II
356
In 1934, Diego Rivera's mural for the Rockefeller Centre was destroyed as he refused to remove which figure from it?
Lenin
357
King Kong, Citizen Kane and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films were all by which film studios, bought by Howard Hughes in 1948?
RKO
358
What is the name of Boris Johnson's sister who won the 2008 Bad Sex in Literature award?
Rachel
359
Under what name did Sir Alec Douglas-Home play first-class cricket?
Lord Dunglass
360
With which king is the phrase 'Apres moi, la deluge' associated?
Louis XV
361
Sally Rhubarb and German Sausage are among the names given to which plant?
Japanese Knotweed
362
Which Greek letter represents chemical potential and also of the co-efficient of friction?
Mu
363
Muons and electrons are both what kind of particle?
Leptons
364
Who sculpted the Venus de Milo?
Alexandros of Antioch
365
Which Hardy novel was greeted with such outrage that Hardy said it put him off novel-writing, and from then on wrote poetry instead?
Jude the Obscure
366
In which modern day country was Sir Isaiah Berlin born?
Latvia
367
Beppe (who plays a harlequin), Silvio, Neddo and Canio are all characters in which opera?
I Pagliacci
368
Which Greek god was the son of Poseidon and is the subject of a Bernini fountain in Rome?
Triton
369
Which artist is noted for life-size sculptures of himself as Che Guevara and Sid Vicious?
Gavin Turk
370
Originally a Catholic priest, which Protestant reformer was chaplain to Edward VI?
John Knox
371
Powdered calcium sulphate hemi-hydrate is commonly known by what three-word name?
Plaster of Paris
372
Martin Shaw played on TV in the 2000s Judge John Deed and which Inspector?
George Gently
373
American painter Don Bachardy lived for many years with which British writer?
Christopher Isherwood
374
Which famous American author was born John Wallace Blunt, Jr?
John Irving
375
Which fisherman recorded country and western songs for his close friends on the Shetland Isles - and to critical acclaim in Nashville?
Thomas Fraser
376
The Blaze of Obscurity: The TV Years is an installment of whose memoirs?
Clive James
377
Which animated film from Pixar was the first to feature an Asian American boy hero?
Up
378
The name of which man completes the title of this Tristram Hunt book: 'The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of ________?
Friedrich Engels
379
Who created the classical ballet, Mayerling - a tale of death, sex, debauchery and drugs. He was a man who broke the bounds of classical ballet by insisting that no subject was too dark or too brutal to tackle?
Kenneth MacMillan
380
A Matter Of Life And Death is abook about going for a year without football by which comedic duo and real life husband and (ex)-wife?
Alastair MacGowan and Ronni Ancona
381
What was Ricky Gervais's Hollywood directorial debut?
The Invention of Lying
382
One woman's attempt to make a living doing business during the Thirty Years' War is the subject of which Brecht play?
Mother Courage
383
Who wrote the biography of Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears?
John Lahr
384
Who directed the 1998 George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez film Out of Sight?
Stephen Soderbergh
385
Out of Sight was based on a book by which US writer?
Elmore Leonard
386
Which Nicholas Roeg film features an infamous scene of cunnilingus, highly risque in 1973?
Don't Look Now
387
In which city is Don't Look Now set in?
Venice
388
Who is the love scene between?
Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie
389
Following 18 years of research which artist unveiled in 2009 his latest design, a chair made from extruded polished aluminium which will eventually be 100 metres long?
Thomas Heatherwick
390
What were the name of the Olympic-style games that Nero started?
The Neronia
391
Which language's name is the Arabic for coast?
Swahili
392
By what name is the actor, playwright and composer born David Igor Davies in Cardiff better know?
Ivor Novello
393
Which other drink can be mixed with beer to make shandy as well as lemonade?
Ginger beer
394
Which famous violinist was born in Genoa and was said by some during his lifetime to be in league with the Devil?
Paganini
395
With which song did Bob Dylan first enter the UK singles chart in 1965?
The Times They Are A Changin
396
Common and Darwin's are the two species of which New World birds?
Rheas
397
Who wrote Love on the Dole in 1933?
Walter Greenwood
398
Which Anglo-Saxon knight has been played on television by Roger Moore, Eric Flynn and Stephen Waddington?
Ivanhoe
399
Which was the first James Bond film in which John Cleese played Q?
Die Another Day
400
Skirlie is a Scottish dish of onions fried with what?
Oatmeal
401
Which style of art, from the Italian for 'style' is given to the Italian school of painting from 1520 to about 1590, notable for its elongated figures?
Mannerism
402
Upon which chair are new Archbishops of Canterbury crowned?
St Augustine's
403
Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann's Earth Band originally appeared on an album by whom?
Bruce Springsteen
404
Who wrote Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure, both set in South Africa?
Tom Sharpe
405
What is the name of the measure that a backbench MP may introduce before public business on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and takes its name from the time its sponsor can speak for?
Ten Minute Rule Bill
406
Kettlewell and Grassington are scenic villages in which of the Yorkshire Dales?
Wharfedale
407
In the Ryder Cup, the winner is the first side to reach how many points?
14.5
408
Which Greek philosopher created logic, the science of reasoning?
Aristotle
409
In which opera does Canio sing Vesti La Giubba (put on the costume)?
I Pagliaci
410
Which word for a minor dispute comes from a fencing term for a thrust at the wrong moment?
Contretemps
411
Which Babylonian king helped to negotiate a truce between Media and Lydia, fixing their boundary at the river Helis?
Nebuchadnezzar II
412
The Design Council's Designer's Prize is awarded in the name of which member of the Roayl Family?
Prince Phillip
413
Which poet was awarded the OBE ten years after her collection Standing Female Nude?
Carol Ann Duffy
414
Which father and son composers were innovators in Neopolitan opera and keyboard techniques respectively?
Scarlatti
415
Which friend of Handel, born in Magdeburg in 1681, wrote the Water Music, or Hamburg Ebb and Flow?
Telemann
416
Why was Vivaldi called the Red Priest?
His hair colour
417
Which word, meaning to think carefully before coming to a decision, is etymologically related to 'consulting the stars'?
Consider
418
Which satirical newspaper appeared during revolutionary periods of the nineteenth century in France? It borrowed its title from the original work of the same name published by Jacques Hébert during the French Revolution.
Le Père Duchene
419
Also called a Maltese Cross, which gear mechanism translates a continuous rotation into an intermittent rotary motion?
Geneva Drive
420
Brownian motion was successfully explained by which physicist of the c20?
Einstein
421
Which US president was born in Denison, Texas and was baptised a Presbyterian while in office?
Eisenhower
422
To which Oscar-winning actress was Jack Hawkins married?
Jessica Tandy
423
Which trophy is awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between Great Britain and New Zealand?
Baskerville Shield
424
In 2002, Great Britain suffered their worst ever Rugby League defeat, 64-10 to which country?
Australia
425
Probably the most successful domestic club in Australia, especially since the merger in 1998, which club used to be two clubs, explaining their two home grounds in both Wollongong and the Sydney suburb of Kogarah?
St George Illawara Dragons
426
What's the name of the most successful rugby league club in Melbourne, who traditionally recruit players from the Brisbane area as Melbourne is all AFL?
Melbourne Storm
427
In the famous RL 'State of Origin' competition between Queensland and New South Wales, how does the competition get its name?
Players are selected to represent the state in which they played their first senior rugby league
428
Which once great British institution was founded on 6th June 1859 at the Willis's Rooms on St James Street London and dissolved itself in 1988?
The Liberal Party
429
Which British actor's autobiography was called Fading Into the Limelight?
Peter Sallis
430
In botany, how is the composite family of plants better known?
Thistle family
431
Which Irving Berlin number of 1929 has been performed on screen by Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and Gene Wilder with Frankenstein's monster?
Puttin' On The Ritz
432
The eulachon fish becomes so fat during spawning that its body can be dried and used as what?
A candle
433
Tchiakovsky produced three major works based on Shakespeare. One was Romeo and Juliet- name the two others.
The Tempest and Hamlet
434
Which two-world phrase summarises Planet Earth in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?
Mostly Armless
435
According to tradition, Jason slayed a dragon on its site and then founded a city there. This is which capital city?
Ljubljana
436
Whose principle, derived from the study of Cebus monekeys, states that more probable behaviours will reinforce less probable behaviours?
Premack's Principle
437
In cookery, which term comes from the Latin for seawater?
Marinade
438
What is the name of the Indian presidential palace?
The Rashtra-Pati Bhavan
439
The Rad-Waniyah palace complex was the principle resident of which c20 statesman?
Saddam Hussein
440
Which historical figure was played by Maria Falconetti in a film of 1928 that was formerly banned in Britain for its depiction of English soldiers?
Joan of Arc
441
Which famous Danish director directed The Passion of Joan of Arc?
Carl Theodor Dreyer
442
Which 1987 Danish film directed by Gabriel Axel was based on a story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), and was the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story?
Babette's Feast
443
In second-hand book catalogues, what does WAF stand for?
With All Faults
444
Which historian recently wrote The Ascent of Money?
Niall Ferguson
445
Anthony Beevor's 2009 book, like Stalingrad about the Second World War, was about which event?
The D-Day Landings
446
S-Block elements belong to which two groups in the periodic table?
1 and 2
447
What was the name of the giant sun placed by Olafur Eliasson in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern?
The Weather Project
448
What name is given to a particular blend of wines used by a champagne maker to produce a consistent style?
Cuvee
449
Adding sugar and yeast to the cuvee immediately before bottling is a process known by what two-word name?
Secondary fermentation
450
Riddling and disgorgement, both intended to remove dead yeast cells from champagne, were both invented in the c19 by which champagne maker?
Madame Clicquot
451
Justus von Liebig invented Extractum Carnis, which was the forerunner of today's what?
Oxo cube
452
Which cocktail shares its name with an opponent of the Red Army?
White Russian
453
Condensation, or step-growth, and addition, or chain-growth, are two basic types of what reaction?
Polymerisation
454
Which c4 Alexandrian priest taught that Christ was not consubstantial with God, a doctrine declared a heresy by the Council of Nicaea?
Arian
455
Parian is a fine-textured pure white variety of what stone?
Marble
456
The Darian calendar has been proposed for putative human settlers of what planet?
Mars
457
The Latin for 'a thousand paces' is the derivation of which English word?
Mile
458
As well as Portuguese, which is the other official language of East Timor?
Tetum
459
Mandarin, English, Malay and which fourth are all official languages of Singapore?
Tamil
460
Which English king was born in Lincolnshire and betrothed at a young age to Mary de Bohun?
Henry IV
461
Who was the last English monarch to marry a first cousin?
Victoria
462
In which city was Marlon Brando born?
Omaha
463
Who played Blanche Dubois opposite Brando in the stage version of A Streetcar Named Desire?
Jessica Tandy
464
What was the name of Superman's father who Brando played in 1975?
Jor-El
465
Which cyclist spent a record 111 days wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France?
Eddy Mercx
466
In a stage of the 2009 Tour De France, all of Mark Cavendish's points were deducted after a protest by which Norwegian cyclist?
Thor Hushovd
467
Which was the only cyclist to have won the Tour de France before and after WW2, with the longest ever gap between victories, and did the same thing in the Giro D'Italia?
Gino Bartali
468
Which French painter was known as Le Douanier or the Tax Collector?
Rousseau
469
In the series Kingdom, what was the profession of Stephen Fry's title character?
Lawyer
470
In a song, who had size nine feet and had shoes made from 'herring boxes without topses'?
Clementine
471
Which street in Manhattan famous for its theatres has a film and a Broadway stage show named after it?
42nd Street
472
The title of which children's TV series of the 1960s means Doctor in Swahili?
Daktari
473
Men At Arms, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender make up the Sword of Honour trilogy by whom?
Evelyn Waugh
474
After whose death was Bob Crow elected head of the RMT?
Jimmy Knapp
475
What is the name of the black brocade cloth covering the Ka'aba in Islam?
Kiswah
476
What is the Arabic name of the Great Mosque at Mecca?
Masjid al-Haram
477
Which ritual of Islamic pilgrimage consists of circling the Ka'aba seven times?
Tawaf
478
Frederick Lanchester patented which type of brake for cars?
Disc brake
479
The woody root of which plant native to Corsica and the South of France was traditionally used to make tobacco pipes ?
Briar
480
Which two word French phrase means 'not wanted' or 'in the way'?
De trop
481
Traditionally, Cerberus had what for a tail?
Snake
482
How many people in the Thompson Twins?
Three
483
Which of the alcohols is sometimes known as grain alcohol?
Ethanol
484
Which is the French equivalent of the English Regency style?
Empire
485
Who is called the father of English hymns?
Isaac Watts
486
What word for a brightly coloured hankerchief worn around the head or neck comes from a Hindi word meaning tye-dying?
Bandanna
487
Which poem, which tends to be a serious reflection on something, has a name from the Greek for 'lament'?
Elegy
488
In the Highway Code, what does a red circle, red x and blue background mean?
Clearway
489
Which part of the brain helps maintain balance?
Cerebellum
490
What was Homer's 'sequel' to the Iliad?
Odyssey
491
Which major battle between Muslim Arab forces and the armies of the East Roman-Byzantine Empire in 636, near what is today the border between Syria and Jordan was a complete Muslim victory which permanently ended Byzantine rule south of Anatolia?
Battle of Yarmuk
492
Which European discovered Easter Island?
Jacob Roggeveen
493
Which 216BC battle was the Roman Empire's greatest ever defeat, with 16 legions crushed by Hannibal's Carthiginian forces?
Cannae
494
Which country's name comes from the Arabic for Land of the Blacks and was originally applied to all of sub-Saharan Africa?
Sudan
495
In 1667, the Dutch swapped New York with the British for this country. Its population is made up of Maroons?
Suriname
496
What is the capital of Sikkim?
Gangtok
497
Which city was the first in mainland Europe to open an underground railway system?
Budapest
498
Who was the world's first female space tourist, first female Muslim and first Iranian in space, in 2006?
Anousheh Ansari
499
Ordoney de Montaldo used it to describe his land of plenty in the 1510 book Las Sergas Esplandian. What name?
California
500
Pancho is a shortened form of which forename in Latin America?
Francisco
