Set 12 Flashcards
1
Q
What was the name of Priam’s father in Greek mythology?
A
Laomedon
2
Q
Greater than’ in arithmetic, ‘adjacent to’ in graph theory and ‘congruent to’ in geometry are all examples of which mathematical concept, defined as a set of ordered pairs?
A
Relation
3
Q
Anthony Hopkins’ film August and Woody Allen’s film September were both inspired by which Chekhov play?
A
Uncle Vanya
4
Q
The North American butterfly Danaus Plexippus, which migrates from the northern US and Canada to Mexico every year, has what name?
A
Monarch butterfly
5
Q
Which fin do eels lack?
A
Pelvic fin
6
Q
The epigraph for the Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock was taken from which other poet?
A
Dante
7
Q
Which German-Jewish intellectual (philosopher, sociologist, literary critic, translator, essayist) occasionally associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory, wrote famous essays on Charles Baudelaire (1821–67).
His turn to Marxism in the 1930s resulted from the influence of playwright and friend Bertolt Brecht, and he died at Portbou in Catalonia after trying to escape the Nazis?
A
Walter Benjamin
8
Q
Which Hugarian philosopher’s 1923 work History and Class Consciousness turned Benjamin on to Marxism?
A
Gyorgy Lukacs
9
Q
The US architect Donal McLoughlin designed the emblem on which flag adopted in 1947?
A
United Nations
10
Q
Arsene Heitz is credited with the design of which flag?
A
European Union
11
Q
Thirteen Munros are on islands, with 12 on the Isle of Skye. Where is the other, Ben More?
A
Mull
12
Q
The Mantoux test is used for which disease?
A
Tuberculosis
13
Q
King John Albert of Poland, who came to the throne in 1492, was a member of which dynasty?
A
Jagiellons
14
Q
In Greek mythology, who was Jason’s father?
A
King Aeson
15
Q
In a watch, what kind of escapement invented by Robert Hooke gets its name from its resemblance to a piece of nautical equipment?
A
Anchor
16
Q
Which kind of escapement, invented by John Harrison, gets its name from its resemblance to an insect?
A
Grasshopper
17
Q
Cartridge, cartography and cartoon all derive from the Latin word for what?
A
Paper
18
Q
Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the three whats?
A
Macronutrients
19
Q
Amylase in saliva breaks down which of the macronutrients?
A
Carbohydrate
20
Q
Which law prevents a process whose sole result is the transfer of heat from a cooler to a hotter body?
A
The second law of thermodynamics
21
Q
What is the hypothetically maximally efficient engine operating between two temperatures?
A
The Carnot heat engine
22
Q
Which temperature scale is independent of the properties of any physical material?
A
Kelvin
23
Q
Siupper at Emmaus by Titian, The Dance by Matisse and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon all have how many figures in them?
A
Five
24
Q
Which German composer wrote such roles as Rodelinda and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare for Francesca Cuzzoni, who died in poverty in 1778?
A
Handel
25
Which Catholic Poet Laureate was dismissed when he refused to swear allegience to William III?
John Dryden
26
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks is a carol written by which Poet Laureate?
Nahum Tate
27
Which Poet Laureate created a fictional detective modelled on W H Auden?
Cecil Day Lewis
28
Which adjective, used to indicate the number of syllables in a word is autoreflexive- that is, it denotes the number of syllables it contains itself?
Pentasyllabic
29
In Heart of Darkness, what is the name of the protagonist, who gets a job as a ferry captain and goes to Africa?
Charles Marlow
30
Whose third book is called Lights Out in Wonderland, about the 2008-2010 recession?
DBC Pierre
31
Super Sad True Love Story is a tale of Lenny Abramov, the only book loving 'real human being' left in an America that is over-sexualised and under-empathised, and where books are dismissed in favour of digital absorption. When he falls for the young and beautiful but damaged Eunice Park, he must convince her that despite not being a HNWI (high new worth individual) he still has something to offer her. Who is the Jewish American author?
Gary Shteyngrt
32
In the Islamic world, and particularly in Egypt, Ramadan is associated with what in TV scheduling terms?
Soap operas
33
She isn't your average singer/songwriter. In fact if you believe everything she says, she's also a time traveller, who's DNA has been cloned in order to create a cyborg alter-ego called Cindy Mayweather. Whether or not you do, it is impossible to deny the current buzz around this Kansas born performer. What's her name?
Janelle Monae
34
Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies are a British musical duo. Influenced by American blues and English folk, their music is characterized by interweaving guitar picking and vocal harmonies, described by Mojo magazine as 'dark, lustful blues-folk'. The band's name, which is what, alludes to the summer mist that collects in the hedgerows of Sussex’s narrow country lanes?
Smoke Fairies
35
Which newcomer plays the lead in Winter's Bone and is already being tipped for Oscar success?
Jennifer Lawrence
36
The annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases' is named for which female Australian novelist who sounds like a man?
Miles Franklin
37
Which postmodern art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, is influenced by manga and anime? It is in part an allusion to the shallowness of Japanese consumer culture.
Superflat
38
Which Japanese term, typical of the country, means art or culture devoted to the sexualisation of teenage girls and is derived from a Nabokov character?
Rorikon (from Lolita complex)
39
Most often used for Japanese manga, what portmanteau word means the (usually illegal) copying of comic books into another language?
Scanlation
40
Boy and World's Fastest Indian are successful, arthouse movies from which country?
New Zealand
41
Which German author of Measuring the World is the biggest selling novelist in the German language since Patrick Süskind's Perfume was released in 1985. His works are heavily influenced by Latin American magical realism.
Daniel Kehlmann
42
Daniel Kehlmann states that in his work he is trying to move away from the goals of which group of writers that have dominated postwar literature in Germany and are named for the year of their founding?
Group 47
43
Name the American photographer: famous for his "Kiss", iconic shots of Marilyn Monroe, Che Guevara, and Marlon Brando; and also his more political coverage of the racial segregation in the US in the 1950s.
Elliot Erwitt
44
Who was the A in the famous record label A&M records?
Herb Alpert
45
Director of World's Greatest Dad with Robin Williams, Robert Francis Goldthwait usually goes by which forename, which he shares with a member of the felidae family?
Bobcat
46
Which modern dance company based in New York was founded in 1958 by the eponymous choreographer and dancer and a few of his black male friends? It's become famous as a pioneer of African American choreography.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
47
Which HBO series, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era, stars Steve Buscemi? The first episode was directed by Martin Scorsese. The show's theme music is "Straight Up and Down" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Boardwalk Empire
48
Ben Folds teamed up with who to write the album Lonely Avenue?
Ben Folds
49
Who is the Swedish author behind the hugely successful Let The Right One In?
John Ajvide Lindqvist
50
Which gay French film director and screenwriter, whose films are usually characterized by sharp satirical wit and a freewheeling view on human sexuality, is noted for his films 8 femmes (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003)?
Francois Ozon
51
Which Argentinian-born French filmmaker has directed films featuring the character of a nameless butcher played by Philippe Nahon: Carne, I Stand Alone and (in a cameo) Irréversible?
Gaspar Noe
52
Both Noe and Ozon are part of which movement in French cinema, so named because of the youthfulness of its directors and the graphic nature of their films?
New French Extremity
53
Italian contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan is causing controversy. His new sculpture, a middle finger stuck up, stands outside which building?
Milan Stock Exchange
54
The second most famous Mexican mural artist, which man was commissioned in 1932 to create a mural for the city of LA, titled America Tropical, but his finished piece was eventually whitewashed as the civic authorities found its theme of indigenous struggle too controversial?
David Alfaro Siqueiros
55
Together with Jose Clemente Orozco and Rivera, Siqueiros was part of which three-word artistic movement?
Mexican Mural Renaissance
56
Which line 'protected' (it didn't) Hong Kong against Japanese invasion in WW2?
Gin Drinkers Line
57
What was the name of Inspector Wexford's sidekick?
Burden
58
Which Soviet statesman and ideologist became the most prominent intellectual in the Soviet leadership under Joseph Stalin and held considerable sway over political decision making in the Soviet Union and beyond during the post-Stalin era? He was known both as the Soviet "Red Eminence" for his loyalty to hard-line communism and as the Soviet "Grey Eminence" for his behind-the-scenes importance and asceticism.
Mikhail Suslov
59
Which American crime writer's mother was murdered when he was 10, in a still unsolved crime that has strongly influenced the author's world-view and writing?
James Ellroy
60
Which American guitarist was involved in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings in the 1990s?
Ry Cooder
61
Tacheles (Yiddish for 'straight-talking) House is/was a squat, and then an art gallery, in which city?
Berlin
62
Which best-selling author and forensic anthropologist writes the Temperance Brennan series of thrillers?
Kathy Reichs
63
Which city is the site of the world's largest marine sculpture museum? Four hundred life-size figures have been sunk into the ocean floor - visually exciting in their own right, nature may eventually transform them into a brand new coral reef.
Cancun
64
Since it was painted in 1432, which work by the Van Eyck brothers has been involved in 13 different art crimes, making it the world's most coveted masterpiece?
The Ghent Altarpiece (Adoration of the Mystic Lamb)
65
At the beginning of 2010, this Dutch singer was just another session singer, but her debut album Deleted Scenes from The Cutting Room Floor has made her a record breaker - she's been #1 in Holland's charts for 28 weeks beating the previous holder - Thriller by Michael Jackson. What's her name?
Caro Emerald
66
What is the oldest and best-known Dutch music award, named for a famous American?
Edison
67
Which 2010 film, touted as the Slumdog Millionaire of Africa, is about is about three Rwandan children who embark on a journey across seven African countries to attend the opening ceremony of the football World Cup in Johannesburg?
Africa United
68
In 2010, which was the first country to ban a (copycat) exhibition along the lines of Gunther von Hagens' Bodyworlds?
France
69
Who directed An American Werewolf in London and Coming to America?
John Landis
70
Which Anglo-Pakistani feamle singer became much hyped in Britain in the second half of 2010?
Rumer
71
In 1970, trumpeter and sonic experimenter Miles Davis recorded the album that brought to public attention a new genre of jazz: jazz rock. It was heavy and noisy and created using the capabilities of the recording studio as a fundamnetal addition to the creative process. What was it called?
Bitches Brew
72
What is the name of the world's largest rubbish dump, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro?
Jardim Gramacho
73
The first Portuguese Olympic marathon runner, at the 1912 Summer Olympics, in Stockholm, he was the first athlete to die during an Olympic event, after collapsing at the 29 kilometer mark of the marathon. The cause of death was thought to be severe dehydration; later it was discovered he covered large portions of his body with wax to prevent sunburns, but eventually the wax impermeability restricted the athlete's natural perspiration. What was his name?
Francisco Lazaro
74
Which sufi rock band from Lahore was formed in 1990 by guitarist and songwriter Salman Ahmad, keyboardist Nusrat Hussain and vocalist Ali Azmat? They are Pakistan's most successful band; Q magazine regarded them as "One of the biggest bands in the world" whereas The New York Times called them "the U2 of Pakistan"? Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of seventeen albums, selling 30 million units.
Junoon
75
What is the name of the Arab Muslim medieval town located about 5 kilometers from Córdoba, Spain? Its ruins were excavated starting from the 1910s. Only about 10 percent of the 112 sites have been excavated. It was built by caliph Abd ar-Rahman III of Córdoba and is the largest known city built from scratch in Western Europe.
Medina Azahara
76
Which photographer is best known for his iconic shots of rock and roll legends such as Queen, David Bowie, Syd Barrett, and Lou Reed? Often referred to as The Man Who Shot the Seventies, most of the memorable images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust were shot by him in his capacity as the official Bowie photographer.
Mick Rock
77
The subject of the biography "A Tall story", what is the name of one of France's most charismatic and intriguing literary figures? Born in Vilnius, he managed to win the supposedly once-in-a-lifetime Prix Goncourt twice, once under his name and once under the name of a fictitious author Emily Ajar. He was married to Jean Seberg and committed suicide himself after she did.
Romain Gary
78
Which British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper was born in London in 1978 to a Barbadian father, who is a playwright, and British-Jamaican mother, who is an actress? He shares his forename with an African town.
Soweto Kinch
79
What is the name of the 2010 documentary following the fortunes of the Afghan cricket team?
Out of the Ashes
80
Which Nobel laureate's memoirs are called The Box? The controversial volume one of his memoir was called 'Peeling the Onion', in which he revealed he had been a member of the elite Nazi fighting force, the Waffen SS.
Gunter Grass
81
Thanks to a new constitution, which country is now called the Plurinational State of......?
Bolivia
82
Oscar-winning director, Fernando Trueba, and Spain's most successful designer, Javier Mariscal, have created an animated love story set in the 1940s and 50s, in which a gifted songwriter and beautiful singer chase their dreams - and each other - from Havana to New York to Las Vegas. What's the name of this 'adult animation'?
Chico and Rita
83
Which man became President of Kazakhstan at independence in 1991 and as of 2010 is still in the job?
Nursultan Nazarbayev
84
She became famous fifty years after her death when people started reading her book about the Nazi occupation of France, Suite Francaise. The book was never finished as she was deported to Auschwitz in 1942 where she died of typhoid. It was published posthumously in 2004 and became an international bestseller. What was her name?
Irene Nemirovsky
85
Which Jewish Polish writer, Jonathan Safran Foer's favourite, wrote The Street of Crocodiles and was executed by a Nazi in his hometown of Drohobycz in 1942?
Bruno Schultz
86
Published in 2010, Mary Ann in Autmn is the most recent in which acclaimed cycle of novels?
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
87
Born in Lebanon, now living in Paris, which trumpeter has developed a distinctive, unique sound. He plays a specially adapted quarter tone trumpet that his father invented so that he could use the instrument to play Arabic scales and classical Arab music?
Ibrahim Maalouf
88
It's being hailed as one of the most powerful dramas of the year, won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and is the French entry to the Oscars. Based on a true story, it's about a group of French Cistercian monks who live in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria until their faith is tested in a most terrifying way. What's its name?
Of Gods and Men
89
Which Trinidadiad hip-hop artist was born Onika Tanya Maraj?
Nicki Minaj
90
Called the Olympics of the contemporary art world, which art festival takes place ever year in two venues- the Swiss city where it started and in Miami Beach?
Art Basel
91
Which composer and band leader is nicknamed 'Hansi'?
James Last
92
Which famous Scottish photographer is famous for many images throughout his 40 year career, none more so than the famous photoshoot of Alfred Hitchcock with a goose?
Albert Watson
93
Whose production company/agency is called Dene Jesmond Enterprises?
Bryan Ferry
94
What was the shared surname of novellist father Ernest-Aime and son Georges, a comic French playwright of the Belle Époque remembered for his many lively farces, including A Flea In Her Ear?
Feydeau
95
Which Italian mezzo-soprano opera singer is best-known for her interpretation of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and classical music. She is known for having the versatility to play both soprano and mezzo roles, and is sometimes considered a soprano with a low tessitura. Her coloratura skill has earned her the title the Queen of Agility?
Cecilia Bartoli
96
Name both Clint Eastwood-directed films about the US experience in the war against Japan?
Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima
97
Flame is a rock musical based on the songs of which band?
Slade
98
Who directed Women in Love and Tommy?
Ken Russell
99
Which grandson of Emeric Pressburger directed State of Play, Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland?
Kevin MacDonald
100
Which American prodigy from New Orleans, who died aged 47 when he got into a cold bath on a hot day, was the best chess player in the world (despite his youth) from 1857 to 1863?
Paul Morphy
101
In chess, which Prague-born man first described how to avoid weaknesses in one's own position and how to create and exploit such weaknesses in the opponent's position? His scientific approach and positional understanding revolutionized the game.
Wilhelm Steinitz
102
When Stienitz became the world's first chess champion, who did he defeat for that honour?
Johannes Zukertort
103
Steinitz was world chess champion until losing to which much younger German mathematician?
Emmanuel Lasker
104
What is notable about Lasker's tenure as World Chess Champion?
Longest ever (27 years)
105
Who defeated Lasker finally after 27 years in 1921?
Jose Capablanca
106
Which Russian-Frenchman died as World Chess Champion, having briefly lost his title to Max Euwe of the Netherlands?
Alexander Alekhine
107
Between the world wars, chess was revolutionised by which school of thought, its proponents including Nimzowitsch and Reti, who advocated controlling the center of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, inviting opponents to occupy the center with pawns which become objects of attack?
Hypermodernism
108
Who was the first ever women's World Chess Champion?
Vera Menchik
109
The winner of the 1948 World Chess Championship initiated the period of Soviet dominance after WW2. What was his name?
Mikhail Botvinnik
110
Which brillant Latvian chess player, nicknamed The Magician from Riga, was very briefly World Champion from 1960-61 but died of kidney problems aged just 55?
Mikhail Tal
111
Who was the first Armenian to become World Chess Champion, 1963-1969?
Tigran Petrosian
112
How is the 1972 Chess championship between Spassky and Fischer known?
The Match of the Century
113
Which London company, who also make table tennis bats, tiddlywinks and boardgames, became famous when Bobby Fischer insisted on their board and pieces being used in the Match of the Century?
Jaques of London
114
Who got the World Chess Championship by default after Fischer refused to defend his title?
Anatoly Karpov
115
Who was World Chess Champion 2000-2007?
Vladimir Kramnik
116
A Game At Chesse is a comic satirical play of 1624 by which man?
Thomas Middleton
117
The Royal Game (Or Chess Story; Schachnovelle in the original German) is a novella by which Austrian author first published in 1942, after his death by suicide? Driven to mental anguish as the result of total isolation by the National Socialists, Dr B maintains his sanity only through the theft of a book of master games which he plays endlessly, voraciously learning each one until he becomes consumed by chess.
Stefan Zweig
118
In which country did Zweig commit suicide after fleeing from Nazi Germany?
Brazil
119
In Harry Potter, what is played with pieces and a board like real chess, except that the pieces are animated and they literally destroy each other if they land on an opponent's square?
Wizard's chess
120
Bobby Fischer belonged at the height of his chess powers to the evangelical Worldwide Church of God, founded by which family, the youngest of whom, Garner Ted, was rocked by allegations of adultery and gambling?
Armstrong
121
What two-word phrase can be defined as 'the art of creating chess problems'?
Chess composition
122
What name is given to someone who sets such problems?
Chess composer
123
As of 2010, who is the reigning woman's chess champion?
Alexandra Kosteniuk
124
The world's highest rated female player prefers to play with men. What is her name?
Judit Polgar
125
The Corus tournament in chess is held in which country?
Netherlands
126
Usually played at the end of February, which Spanish chess tournament has been described as the Wimbledon of Chess?
Linares
127
What is the name of the chess tournament held in Monte Carlo that combines blindfold and speed chess and is named after the founder's daughter?
Amber
128
The Sparkassen is one of the four annual chess 'majors' and is held in which German city?
Dortmund
129
Dortmund, Corus and Linares are three of the four annual chess majors. Which is the fourth, held in and named for an EU capital city?
Sofia
130
Which country won gold at the 2010 Chess Olympiad?
Ukraine
131
In chess, what is the WCSC?
World Chess Solving Championship
132
In chess, what is the ranking below a Grandmaster?
International Master
133
How many ranking points do you have to reach to be considered a chess grandmaster?
2500
134
Who was the first ever female grandmaster in chess, born in Zugdidi, Georgia, in 1941?
Nona Gaprindashvili
135
Which Hungarian born chess player gives his name to the calculation of ranking points used for FIDE competitions?
Arpad Elo
136
What is a chess engine?
A computer programme for playing chess
137
10 to the power of 120 is the game-tree complexity of chess, and is a number known as what, after the first man to calculate it?
Shannon number
138
Which Spanish machine was the first ever chess-playing 'computer' and was built in 1912 by Leonardo Torres y Quevedo?
El Ajedrecista
139
The Turk, Mephisto and Ajeeb were all purported to be examples of what in chess?
Automatons (in fact, pseudo-automatons)
140
What was the name of the controversy in the 2006 World Chess Championship match between Kramnik and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria?
Bathroom controversy
141
What name is given to unorthodox chess pieces used in some variants of chess but not in FIDE tournaments? They include the archbishop, chancellor, grasshopper and knightrider.
Fairy pieces
142
If the Chinese version of chess is xiangqi, what is the Japanese version?
Shogi
143
If the Chinese version of chess is xiangqi, what is the Korean version?
Janggi
144
Which chess variant invented by former World Champion Bobby Fischer? It uses the same board and pieces as standard chess but the starting position of the main pieces is chosen at random and takes its name from the number of possible starting positions.
Chess960
145
Who wrote Fast Food Nation?
Eric Schlosser
146
Which famous person was born as Karoline Blamauer to working class Roman Catholic parents in Vienna?
Lotte Lenya
147
The Venetian painter Giacobo and his sons Gentile and Giovanni shared what surname?
Bellini
148
Which other famous artist was Giacobo Bellini's son in law?
Andrea Mantegna
149
What name is given to the glow that some substances display after exposure to radiation?
Phosphorescence
150
Who directed Whistle Down The Wind and The Stepford Wives and is married to Nanette Newman?
Bryan Forbes
151
Ramiform means what shape?
Branch-shaped
152
Bryan Forbes has two daughters. One is Emma Forbes- the other one is Sarah, who is married to which famous actor?
John Standing
153
Which Persian king conquered Lydia in Asia Minor under Croesus?
Cyrus the Great
154
In the Bible, who was Methuselah's father?
Enoch
155
Which 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis, starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy tells the story of an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler whose lives cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet. The storyline has been commented upon as a modern take on Mark Twain's classic 19th century novel The Prince and the Pauper?
Trading Places
156
A hero of Tarantino's, which man was invited to be executive producer of Reservoir Dogs but is most famous for directing the existentialist early 1970s road movie Two-Lane Blacktop?
Monte Hellmann
157
In architecture, what Greek term describes the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that curve slightly as their diameter is decreased from the bottom upwards?
Entasis
158
What weas the nickname of Graeme Obree's bike on which he twice broke the world hour record in the early 1990s and which was made from bits of old washing machines?
Flying Scotsman
159
Which British film production company, based at Shepperton, produced films similar to those of Hammer, including the Doctor Who films, Dr Terror's House of Horrors and Tales From the Crypt?
Amicus
160
Respighi's The Birds Prelude was used as the theme for which TV programme hosted by Max Robertson and with Arthur Negus as the resident expert?
Going for a Song
161
The flower Rafflesia was first discovered on which island of modern Indonesia?
Sumatra
162
The second American film of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) starred which two Britons in the leading roles?
Trevor Howard and Richard Harris
163
What name is given to the mangrove forest, the world's largest, covering the deltas of the Ganges? It's a UNESCO world heritage site.
The Sundarbans
164
Which controversial Dirk Bogarde film was the first to mention the word 'homosexual' but paved the way towards decriminalisation of gay activity?
Victim
165
Which Elvis Presley film was set in New Orleans and was directed by Michael Curtiz?
King Creole
166
Who was Elvis' co-star in Viva Las Vegas, with whom Elvis also had a steamy relationship off-screen?
Ann-Margret
167
Which writer coined the phrase 'radical chic' in 1970, describing the tendency of well-off members of society to mingle with socialists and revolutionaries?
Tom Wolfe
168
Which British animal is Cetorhynus Maximus?
Basking Shark
169
Which soluble protein was discovered in the 1950s by Alec Isaacs and Jean Lindeman? It inhibits the growth of attacking viruses and is therefore a crucial part of immunity?
Interferon
170
What was the name of Hannibal's brother?
Hasdrual
171
Which Brazilian won the 1972 and 1974 GPs?
Emerson Fittipaldi
172
Which two countries fought the Queen Anne's War in the early c18?
England and France
173
In 2010, which poet's 'last letter' to another was published for the first time?
Ted Hughes (to Sylvia Plath)
174
In medicine, Nagel's rule provides an estimate of timescale in relation to which natural process?
Childbirth
175
Nagyagite, calavarite and silbarite are all minor ores of which precious element?
Gold
176
The actor Robert Baddeley left a bequest so that actors could enjoy cake and ale every tweflth night at which London theatre?
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
177
Where in London did Napoleon III die?
Chislehurst
178
As opposed to plankton, which are drifting animals, which classification of marine animals means those that swim by their own efforts?
Nekton
179
What is the governing body of world pigeon racing, in Brussels?
FCI (Federation Colombophile International)
180
Which sword did Beowulf use?
Hrunting
181
Pellucida is a subterranean continent at the Earth's core in novels by which Chicago-born writer?
Edgar Rice Burroughs
182
David Warren, a scientist working in Melbourne, developed which major contribution to aviation in the 1950s?
Black box recorder
183
The Birkland-Eyde process results in the production of which acid?
Nitric
184
He was known for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, The Four Just Men, The Ringer, and for creating the Green Archer character?
Edgar Wallace
185
His debut as an independent director was Crime and Punishment (1983), Dostoyevsky's famous crime story set in modern-day Helsinki. He gained worldwide notice with his movie Leningrad Cowboys Go America. His style relies on low-key acting and simple cinematic storytelling to get his message(s) across. Which Finnish director?
Aki Kaurismaki
186
Who directed The Untouchables and Ratatouille?
Brad Bird
187
Who directed Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Creepshow?
George A Romero
188
Who killed the man who killed Jesse James?
Edward O'Kelley
189
Who directed the unconventional Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There?
Todd Haynes
190
Which American film editor was Michael Powell's last wife and has worked with Martin Scorsese for over thirty-five years? She has edited all of Scorsese's films since Raging Bull. She has received six Academy Award nominations for best editing, and has won three times (for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed).
Thelma Schoonmaker
191
Which Winchester-born actor, who played Ben Carrington in Dynasty, coincidentally died in 2010 only six days after John Forsythe, who had played his brother Blake?
Christopher Cazenove
192
Which film actor's maternal great-grandfather was Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott? He played Doctor Parnassus in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?
Christopher Plummer
193
Who directed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Charlie Wilson's War and Closer?
Mike Nichols
194
The undulating outer shell of the 118 foot tall Henderson Waves footbridge is striking, and the inside is shaped into benches where tourists can sit and gaze at nature or the nearby skyline. In which city is this striking bridge located?
Singapore
195
Europe's tallest lift bridge, with 282 foot pylons, crosses the Seine and is named for which French writer?
Gustave Flaubert
196
At 22 miles long, it's the world's longest ocean-crossing bridge. What is this Chinese bridge's name?
Hangzhou Bay Bridge
197
Leonardo Da Vinci sketched plans for this bridge in 1502, but it wasn't until 500 years later that the design was brought to life by Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand. The pedestrian bridge opened in 2001 and crosses the E18 highway. In which city?
Istanbul
198
In which European capital is the new Python Bridge?
Amsterdam
199
Evergreen Point Bridge in Washington State between Seattle to Medina is unique in being the world's longest of what type of bridge?
Floating
200
The Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge, a mammoth, x-shaped, cable-stayed construction, was completed in 2008 over the Pinheiros River. The peak of its pylon is 452 feet high, while the bridge's total length is just shy of a mile. In which city?
Sao Paulo
201
Familiar from car adverts, it has a dizzying 48 hairpin turns. The road, which hosts one of the more gruelling stages of the Giro d'Italia bicycle race, has a 7.4 percent grade--"huge" by American standards. What's the name of the road?
The Stelvio Pass
202
What was originally called The County Islands Ring Junction?
The Magic Roundabout in Swindon
203
In basketball, what is the name of the foul when a player catches the ball between dribbles?
Double dribbling
204
In basketball, what is the name of the foul when a player puts his hand beneath a dribbling ball?
Carrying
205
In international and NBA basketball, a shot must not be attempted until after which period has elapsed from the ball crossing the halfway line?
Eight seconds
206
In basketball, what name is given to the foul of reaching up through the basket to touch the ball?
Basket interference
207
Who is usually the fastest player on a basketball team?
Point guard
208
What's the missing basketball position- point guard, centre, shooting guard, small forward?
Power forward
209
What are the two most common shots in basketball?
Set shot and jump shot
210
In basketball, what name is given to a low-percentage shot that is flipped, heaved, scooped, or flung toward the hoop while the shooter is off-balance, airborne, falling down, and/or facing away from the basket?
Circus shot
211
In basketball, what name is given to a shot that completely misses the rim or the backboard?
Air ball
212
In basketball, what name is given to a really bad shot that only hits the backboard?
A brick
213
The staple 'vanilla' pass in basketball shares its name with which part of the body, for obvious reasons?
Chest
214
What name is given to illegally touching a basketball when it is on the downward part of its curved arc?
Goaltending
215
Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan share which NBA distinction?
Tallest ever players (7 foot 7 inches)
216
Who was the shortest ever player to play in the NBA, at 5 feet three inches?
Muggsy Bogues
217
What name is given to basketball played on horseback?
Horseball
218
Phillip Bryant invented which variant of basketball?
Beach basketball
219
Which sport is being described? It's full-contact basketball, with trampolines. Points are scored by playing the ball through the net, as in basketball, though the point-scoring rules are modified. The main differences from the parent sport is the court; below the padded basketball rim and backboard are four trampolines set into the floor which serve to propel players to great heights for slam dunks?
Slamball
220
In unicycle basketball, the pedals are made of what material?
Plastic
221
In which Eastern European capital city is there a monument to basketball?
Vilnius
222
Which basketball initiative to curb inner-city crime in the United States and elsewhere by keeping urban youth off the streets engages them with sports alternatives to drugs and crime?
Midnight basketball
223
What is the term used to describe the avid Native American following of basketball and, in some areas, the style of play of Native American teams?
Rezball
224
Rutgers played which Ivy League university in the first ever American football game?
Princeton
225
Tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone in American football is called what?
A safety
226
If the soccer league in Japan is the J-League, what is the American football league there called?
X-League
227
The rule changes instituted to rugby in the USA by which man means he is called The Father of American Football?
Walter Camp
228
Professional football in the USA stems from which man's $500 contract to play for the Allegheny Athletic Association?
William 'Pudge' Heffelfinger
229
Which was the first professional American Football league, in 1903, with its first game between the Buffalo Prospects and the Canton Bulldogs?
Ohio League
230
In 1920, which first incarnation of the NFL was formed?
American Professional Football Association
231
In American Football, what nickname is given to the 1958 NFL Championship Game?
The Greatest Game Ever Played
232
The Super Bowl was created in the 1960s when the NFL merged with which rival?
AFL
233
What are the dimensions of an American football gridiron?
360 by 160 feet
234
Two rows of short lines run at 1-yard (91.4 cm) intervals perpendicular to the sidelines near the middle of a gridiron. All plays start with the ball on or between them. What are they called?
Hash lines
235
How far apart are the verticals on a gridiron?
5 yards
236
Eleven on the field, but how many active at any one time in an NFL squad?
Forty five
237
These 45 men are split into three roles- the offense, the defense and which other?
Special roles
238
How many downs does the offense get in American Football to gain 10 yards?
Four
239
Which action always puts the ball into play in American football?
A snap
240
In American football, what name is given to the position on the field where play starts?
Line of scrimmage
241
In a snap, which player passes the ball back to the quarterback?
Centre
242
The Latin Rule was created in the early 12th Century by Hugues de Payens and Bernard of Clairvaux as the code of conduct for which Christian military order?
Knights Templar
243
Salou Djibo became the de facto leader of which African country following the overthrow of President Tandja Mamadou in February 2010?
ANS: Niger
244
Relatives of the Arawakan people of South America and traditional enemies of the neighbouring Caribs, Christopher Columbus said of them, 'They are very gentle and without knowledge of what is evil; nor do they murder or steal... there can be no better people'. What name was given to these seafaring pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles who were enslaved by the Spanish following European conquest?
Taínos
245
Which verb means to run with the ball in American Football?
Rushing
246
In American football, what alternative name is given to a down?
A play
247
The team fails to get a first down— i.e., in four downs they fail to move the ball past a line 10 yards ahead of where they got their last first down. The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the 4th-down play ends. In American football, what is this eventuality called?
Turnover on downs
248
How does the game restart in American football if one team scores a touchdown?
A kickoff
249
In American football, what name is given to a defensive player catching a forward pass by a member of the opposing team?
Interception
250
A defensive player picking a ball up on the ground from a misplaced pass by the opposition is called a lost fumble. What name is given collectively in American football to lost fumbles and interceptions?
Turnovers
251
In American Football, how many points for a touchdown?
Six
252
The equivalent of a conversion in rugby, what does PAT stand for in American football?
Point after touchdown
253
As well as a PAT, another method of conversion in American football is to run or pass it into the end zone for what reward?
A two-point conversion
254
How many points for a field goal in American football?
Three
255
In terms of field goals, what is so unusual that it has taken place only twice in NFL history?
Drop kick to score
256
In American football, if a penalty occurs during a down, after a play has started, then an official throws what item onto the field on the site of the penalty?
A yellow flag
257
Between 1987 and 2008, the AFL played indoor American football with a smaller gridiron and only 8 players per team. What does AFL stand for?
Arena Football League
258
In an offensive formation in American football, the fullback is only the second deepest player. Who is the deepest?
Tailback
259
In American football, what position is being described? They line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes, though they also block for running plays or downfield after another receiver makes a catch.
Wide recievers
260
Which American football positions are being described? They line up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners)?
Tight ends
261
What is the minimum number of players that must line up in the line of scrimmage in American football?
Seven
262
In American football, what name is given to all the players behind the defensive line in a defensive formation?
Linebackers
263
Composed of either cornerbacks or safeties, what name is given to the three players comprising the secondary line of defence in American football?
Defensive backs
264
In American football, what name is given to the units of players who handle kicking plays?
Special teams
265
In American football, what name is given to players allowed to receive a forward pass?
Eligible recievers
266
What name is given in American football to the collection of dozens to hundreds of strategies that each team uses?
Playbook
267
What name is given in American football to charging the quarterback with linebacks or defensive backs?
Blitz
268
Which illegal tackle in American football means to lead with your helmet as you crash into an opposing player?
Spearing
269
Quarterbacks are regularly hit by defenders coming on full speed from outside the quarterback's field of vision. This is known as what?
A blindside
270
Which typically American-sounding word means when a baseball game is cancelled because it's raining?
A rainout
271
Which is the traditional season for American football?
Autumn
272
Eligible college football players are selected by NFL teams, the order of selection determined by the teams' final regular season records, in the NFL draft, which is in which month?
April
273
It is a long-standing tradition in the USA that high-school American football, college games and then professional games are played on which successive evenings?
Friday-Saturday-Sunday
274
How is American football known in Australia and New Zealand?
Gridiron football
275
Which American football league, with teams in various European cities, was closed down in 2007?
NFL Europa
276
In American football, the BritBowl is currently held at which rugby stadium?
Worcester Sixways
277
In Japan, the national college American football champions win the Koshien Bowl. The Koshien holders then go on to face the professional champions in which match?
The Rice Bowl
278
What's the name of Oslo's American Football team?
The Vikings
279
What is the equivalent of the Champions League in American football in Europe?
The EFAF Cup
280
What is the international governing body for American football?
IFAF
281
The American Football World Cup is held every 4 years. Which country won the first two, in 1999 and 2003?
Japan
282
In October 2005, the Arizona Cardinals and SF Giants played the first ever NFL game outside the USA- in which city?
Mexico City
283
At which Olympic games was American football a demonstration sport?
Los Angeles 1932
284
Which country has hosted the Winter Olympics three times?
France
285
Which was the first multi-sport event for winter sports, held in Sweden in 1901?
Nordic Games
286
Which Swede founded the Nordic games and was a friend of de Coubertin? His surname is an anagram of a colour on the Olympic flag.
Victor Balck
287
1908 London was the first Olympics to feature winter events- who won the men's skating?
Ulrich Salchow
288
Athletes from which two countries won more medals at 1924 Chamonix than all the other countries combined?
Norway and Finland
289
Who won the gold medal for figure skating in St Moritz 1928 aged 15- the youngest gold medallist ever and a record standing for 74 years?
Sonja Henje
290
Which was the last Winter Olympics to be held in the same country as the Summer hosts?
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
291
Why did Austrian and Swiss skiers boycott the 1936 Winter Olympics?
Ski teachers were seen as professionals, thus excluded
292
The 1940 Winter Olympics were due to be held where, later being awarded to St Moritz for political reasons?
Sapporo
293
Which town became the first to host a Winter Olympics twice, in 1948?
St Moritz
294
At the 1948 Winter Olympics, two different US teams arrived, each claiming to be the official one, in which sport?
Ice hockey
295
For the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics, the Olympic flame was lit in the fireplace of which ski pioneer?
Sondre Nordheim
296
Which sport was a demonstration sport at the Oslo Winter Olympics, with only Norway, Sweden and Finland fielding teams?
Bandy
297
Which Norwegian won three gold medals out of four in the speed skating at the 1952 Oslo Games?
Hjalmar Andersen
298
At the opening ceremonies of which Winter Olympics did the final torch bearer enter the stadium on ice skates. As he skated around the stadium rink, his skate caught on a cable and he fell, nearly extinguishing the flame. He was able to recover and lit the cauldron?
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo
299
Which country made its Winter Olympics debut in 1956, immediately winning more medals than any other country?
Soviet Union
300
Who produced the opening and closing ceremonies at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics?
Walt Disney
301
Which was the first Olympics to have an athlete's village and computer tabulation of the scores?
Squaw Valley 1960
302
Why were bobsled events absent from the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics?
Considered too expensive to organise
303
Which Soviet speed skater made history by sweeping all four speed-skating events at Innsbruck 1964? Her career total of six gold medals set a record for the most gold medals won by a Winter Olympics athlete
Lidia Skoblikova
304
Austrian Karl Schranz was banned from which Winter Olympics because he earned so much money?
Sapporo 1972
305
In Sapporo 1972, who became the only ever Spaniard to win a Winter Olympics gold medal when he triumphed in the slalom?
Francisco Ochoa
306
A taxpayers revolt where meant that Innsbruck hosted the 1976 Olympics?
Denver
307
At which Olympics did Hanni Wenzel win her gold medals for Liechtenstein?
1980 Lake Placid
308
Which country became the only one in world history ever to boycott an Olympic Games in 1980?
Taiwan
309
What name was given to the gold medal match at Lake Placid 1980 in the men's hockey, where the Americans beat the Soviets?
Miracle on Ice
310
Jure Franko won a first Olympic medal for which country at the Winter Olympics?
Yugoslavia
311
What was unusual about the speed skating at the Calgary Winter Olympics, 1988?
Indoors for the first time
312
Which Dutch skater won three gold medals, and set two world records in speed skating, beating skaters from the favoured East German team in every race at Calgary 1988?
Yvonne van Gennip
313
Which ski jumper won golds in all three events at Calgary 1988?
Matti Nykanen
314
Which East German won the women's 1,000 metre speed skating event at Calgary 1988- Seven months later, she would earn a silver in track cycling at the Summer Games in Seoul. She became the first and only athlete to win medals in both a Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year.
Christa Rothenburger
315
Aged 16, which Finn made Olympic history in Albertville in 1992 as the youngest male Olympic gold medallist?
Tony Nieminen
316
Which New Zealander became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the Southern hemisphere in the women's slalom, Albertville 1992?
Annelise Coberger
317
Both Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics, but in fact Oksana Baiul won the gold, in a first ever triumph for which country?
Ukraine
318
Which Norwegian won three gold medals and swept the distance speed skating events at Lillehammer, 1994?
Johann Olav Koss
319
In Nagano 1998, the ice hockey was open to professionals for the first time, leading many to believe that Canada or the US would triumph. Instead, who won gold?
Czech Republic
320
At Nagano, he won three gold medals in Nordic skiing. He became the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete with eight gold medals and twelve medals overall. Which Norwegian?
Bjorn Daehlie
321
For which country did Hermann Maier compete?
Austria
322
At Nagano 1998, a wave of new world records were set in speed skating because of the introduction of which innovation?
Clap skate
323
Salt Lake City 2002- the first athlete in Olympic history to medal in the same individual event in five consecutive Olympics. Who?
Georg Hackl
324
At Salt Lake City, which was the first country ever to win golds in both the men's and women's ice hockey?
Canada
325
Which Canadian pair were given the silver in controversial circumstances in Salt Lake City's figure skating competition? An investigation later awarded them a joint gold.
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier
326
As well as the circumstances in which it was won, what else was notable about Steven Bradbury's triumph in the speed skating at Salt Lake City 2002?
First ever southern hemisphere Gold Medal
327
At Turin 2006, athletes from which country won 10 medals, including 6 gold in the short-track speed skating events?
South Korea
328
In which event in Turin 2006 did Canadian Sara Renner break one of her poles? When he saw her dilemma, Norwegian coach Bjørnar Håkensmoen decided to lend her a pole. In so doing she was able to help her team win a silver medal in the event at the expense of the Norwegian team, who finished fourth.
Women's cross-country ski pursuit
329
In Turin 2006, which German became the first speed skater to win nine career medals but was later banned for doping offences?
Claudia Pechstein
330
Which Norwegian cross-country skier won five medals in the six cross-country events on the women's programme in Vancouver 2010? She finished the Olympics with three golds, a silver and a bronze.
Marit Bjørgen
331
In 2018, which city is bidding to become the first ever to host a Winter and a Summer Olympics?
Munich
332
Which Winter Olympics first is held by West German hockey player Alois Schloder at Grenoble, 1968?
First to test positive for banned substance
333
The Italian police raided the HQ of which country's cross-country ski team at Turin 2006 and found doping equipment?
Austria
334
Who was awarded the Order of Lenin after her figure skating victory in Montreal, 1976?
Irina Rodnina
335
What anthem is played if Taiwan win a gold medal at the Olympics?
The anthem of the Taiwan IOC committee
336
Name the three disciplines of slalom contested at the Winter Olympics?
Slalom, Giant Slalom and Super G(iant Slalom)
337
Which is the only non-Olympic bobsleigh discipline?
Four woman
338
Men's sprint, team sprint, 30 km pursuit, 15 km, 50 km and 4x10 km relay; women's sprint, team sprint, 15 km pursuit, 10 km, 30 km (women) and 4x5 km relay are the disciplines in which Winter Olympic sport?
Cross-country skiing
339
What are the three Olympic disciplines in freestyle skiing?
Moguls, Aerials and Ski cross
340
Which is the only non-Olympic luge discipline?
Two-woman
341
What is the collective name for a men's 10km individual normal hill skiing, 10km large hill and team?
Nordic combined
342
What is the shortest distance in short-track speed skating?
500 metres
343
What is the longest distance in short track speed skating?
1500 metres (individual), 5000m (relay)
344
Half-pipe, snowboard cross and which other are the three disciplines of Olympic snowboarding?
Parallel Giant Slalom
345
For men only- what's the longest distance in speed skating at the Olympics?
10,000m
346
Which sport was the precursor to the biathlon and was a demonstration sport at many Winter Olympics?
Military patrol
347
Which kind of figure skating was only contested at the 1908 Summer Olympics?
Special figures
348
Which German variation of curling is not a Winter Olympic sport, but was a demonstration sport in 1936 and 1964?
Ice Stock Sport
349
Later known as ski acro, which sport was a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics?
Ski ballet
350
What was the demonstration sport at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1932, and no others?
Sled dog racing
351
What name is given to the Norwegian sport of skiing behind dogs?
Skijoring
352
A winter pentathlon has, like a normal pentathlon, shooting, fencing and horseriding- but which two other sports?
Cross country and downhill skiing
353
Where were the cancelled 1944 Winter Olympics to be held?
Cortina d'Ampezzo
354
In cards, if suits are diamonds, clubs etc, what are the numbers and picture cards collectively called?
Ranks
355
Which is the most popular card game in which a joker can be used?
Poker
356
How is a 32-card deck known?
A piquet deck
357
In a piquet deck, ranks below what number are missing?
Six
358
A piquet deck is used for which card game, the most popular in France but less played in England?
Belote
359
Along with close relatives such as Doppelkopf, what is the national (and most popular) card game of Germany?
Skat
360
What is the name of the 48-card deck popular in Japan, having been introduced by the Portuguese?
Hanafuda
361
The four German card suits are leaves, hearts, bells and what?
Acorns
362
For pinochle and which of its parent games is a single deck two poker decks with 2-8 removed?
Bezique
363
How does someone who has been nominated to cut the cards by the dealer indicate that he trusts the pack was fairly shuffled and that cutting is no longer necessary?
Raps the card with his knuckles
364
In card games, what is the talon, scat or stock?
Pile of cards left over in the centre
365
The player who recieves the first card from the dealer is called what, a term also used in tennis?
Forehand (or eldest hand)
366
Which card game was played according to Portland Club rules?
Whist
367
Which organisation now owns the rights to the Hoyle name and has published rule books of card games in an attempt to standardise play?
US Playing Card Company
368
In England, the EBU governs the rules of which game?
Contract bridge
369
In which country is Tarot played competitively, rather than as a fortune telling game?
France
370
Bridge, Five Hundred, Whist, Euchre, Spades, Hearts, and the various Tarot card games are all games in which genre?
Trick-taking games
371
What verb is the process of accumulating matching sets in rummy, or the name given to the genre of card games including rummy?
Melding
372
In which genre of card game do players start with a hand of cards, and the object of the game is to be the first player to discard all cards from one's hand?
Shedding games
373
In which genre of card game is the object to get as many cards as possible?
Accumulating games
374
In which genre of card game are cards played against cards in a layout on the table?
Fishing
375
What is the only fishing game to be played widely in English-speaking countries?
Cassino
376
Not to be confused with a similarly-named Nobel Prize-winning physicist, which German-American musicologist is perhaps best known for Mozart: His Character, His Work?
Alfred Einstein
377
Which genre of card games, where hand values are compared to determine the winner, are also known as "vying" or "showdown" games? Poker, blackjack, and baccarat are examples.
Comparing games
378
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: the Gathering and PK Cards are all examples of what?
Collectible card games (CCGs)
379
What is the name of the fictional card game in Battlestar Galactica?
Pyramid
380
What is the name of the fictional card game in Harry Potter?
Exploding snap
381
Discovered in ancient Egypt, what is one of the world's oldest board games?
Senet
382
Which board game was played by the ancient Aztecs?
Patolli
383
Which board game was played in Ancient Egypt with lion-shaped game pieces and marbles?
Mehen
384
What is another name for the ancient Indian board game of Chaturaji?
Pachisi
385
What is another name for the board game Go?
Wei Chi
386
In the 3rd century AD, which game entered China, then known as Tshu Pu?
Backgammon
387
What game was played on an uncheckered 8 x 8 board called Ashtapada?
Chaturanga
388
What is the name of the wooden playing piece in Carcassone that has become a symbol of European gaming?
Meeple
389
Which German-style board game, similar to the Settlers of Catan, shares its name with a US state capital?
Carson City
390
Which German-style board game, similar to the Settlers of Catan, shares its name with a US overseas territory?
Puerto Rico
391
Complete the name of this educational board game: Cleopatra and the Society of..........?
Architects
392
Etymologically, what was the name of the game that was the intermediate stage between chaturanga and chess?
Shatranj
393
Who was the first official D Chess Champion in 1886?
William Steinitz
394
What name is given to the world team chess championships?
Chess Olympiad
395
What's the names of rows and columns on chess boards?
Ranks and files
396
At the start of a chess game, which piece is on its own colour?
Queen
397
In chess, what is the name of the move where a pawn can become a queen?
Promotion
398
What a pawn is promoted, it is usually to a Queen, but chess players also have the option of conversion to a rook, knight, or castle. If they choose any of these three, what term is used to denote the promotion?
Underpromotion
399
The laws of chess state that only three pieces may legally be placed between the king and an opposing piece that has placed him in check. What are they?
Queen, Rook, Bishop
400
In chess, under what circumstances is castling illegal?
When the king is in check
401
What variant of chess is played in 30 minutes to 1 hour per player?
Rapid Chess
402
What version of chess is played in three to fifteen minutes per player?
Blitz chess
403
What is the version of chess even shorter than rapid or blitz, so under three minutes?
Bullet chess
404
In chess notation, what is the only chess piece name that is usually omitted?
Pawn
405
In chess notation, which letter means 'capture'?
X
406
In chess notation, which symbol means 'puts in check'?
Plus sign
407
In chess notation, what does 1-0 mean?
White won
408
In chess notation, which punctuation mark means a 'dubious move'?
?
409
Working backwards, chess has an endgame, a middlegame and what?
An opening
410
In chess, a forced variation that involves a sacrifice and usually results in a tangible gain is called what?
A combination
411
In chess, the assumed value difference in points between a rook and a bishop or knight is called what?
The exchange
412
In practical terms, which chess piece is regarded as most valuable in an endgame, more so even than a king?
Rook
413
In chess, what pieces can be isolated, doubled or backward?
Pawns
414
Chess is believed to have originated in India under which empire?
Gupta
415
What game is called Chinese Chess?
Xiangqi
416
Which piece in chess was originally called Vizier?
Queen
417
Cafe de la Regence in Paris and Simpson's Divan in London were important venues in the development of which sport?
Chess
418
In 1843 von der Lasa and Bilguer published which first ever comprehensive book of chess theory?
Handbook of Chess
419
What name is given to the giant figure of a Pitjantjatjara warrior that mysteriously appeared in Southern Australia in 1998?
Marree Man
420
What name is given to the classified military plan drawn up by the Americans in the 1920s for an attack on Britain and its Empire, including cross-border invasions of major Canadian cities?
War Plan Red
421
The Aroostock War between the US under van Buren and England was over the border of Maine and New Brunswick and is sometimes given what food related name?
Pork and Beans war
422
Who or what was the only casualty of a war between Britain and the US over the San Juan Islands in Washington State?
A pig (The Pig War)
423
What name is given to the incident in which a USAF B47 accidentally lost a nuclear bomb off the coast of Georgia (USA) in 1958? It has never been recovered.
Tybee Island Crash
424
In which country do portable domestic fans come with a timer switch due to a persistent urban legend that if left on all night in a room, they will asphyxiate the occupants?
South Korea
425
In terms of urban legends, what does FOAF stand for?
Friend of a Friend
426
Which company was the victim of a recurring rumor that its c19 trademark logo was associated with Satan worshippers? The legend interrupted the company's business to the point it stopped using the trademark.
Procter and Gamble
427
What is the name of the crash test dummy used in the series MythBusters?
Buster
428
The Goatman is a hominid cryptid associated with which state in the USA? It is described as a hybrid creature; part man and part goat. Some claim it is a relative of Bigfoot. Its appearance is similar to the satyrs or the god Pan of Greek mythology, or to the Devil.
Maryland
429
A 'blob' and which other word is used to refer to an unidentified organic mass that washes up on the shoreline of an ocean or other body of water? The term was coined by Ivan T. Sanderson in 1962 to describe the Tasmanian carcass of 1960, which was said to have "no visible eyes, no defined head, and no apparent bone structure".
Globster
430
The Afanc is the Welsh equivalent of what in Scotland?
Loch Ness Monster
431
What name was given to man-eating wolf-like animals alleged to have terrorized a former province of France (modern day département of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire) from 1764 to 1767 The beasts were described as having formidable teeth and immense tails. Their fur had a reddish tinge, and was said to have emitted an unbearable odour?
Beasts of Gevaudan
432
An elusive and possibly extinct subspecies of leopard was endemic to Unguja Island in which African archipelago? Increasing conflict between people and leopards in the 20th century led to their demonization and determined attempts to exterminate them. Efforts to develop a leopard conservation programme in the mid-1990s were shelved when wildlife researchers concluded that there was little prospect for the animal's long-term survival.
Zanzibar
433
What was the nickname for an animal or globster reportedly sighted in Margate, South Africa, on October 25, 1924? The animal was reputedly first seen off the coast battling two killer whales, which fought the unusual creature for three hours. It used its tail to attack the whales and reportedly lifted itself out of the water by about 20 feet.
Trunko
434
What was the name given to two strange-looking carcasses that washed up in Essex in 1954 and 1955 that were much later identified as probable anglerfish by the Natural History Museum?
The Canvey Island Monster
435
What is the term for an unidentified hominid reputed to lurk in the Australian wilderness. It is an Australian cryptid similar to the Himalayan Yeti and the North American Bigfoot?
Yowie
436
What name is given to the carcass of a ray or a skate which has been modified and subsequently dried, resulting in a grotesque preserved specimen resembling a person?
Jenny Haniver
437
What's the name of the local monster reputed to live in Loch Morar?
Morag
438
With sightings centred around the village of Mawnan, Cornwall, in the 1970s, what is the closest British equivalent to Mothman?
Owlman
439
Which cryptozoological animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany has a body comprised from various animal parts — generally wings, antlers, tails and fangs, all attached to the body of a small mammal. The most widespread description is that of a horned rabbit or a horned squirrel?
The Wolpertinger
440
An unidentified wild animal which killed at least three people and severely injured 16 others in the central Dowa district of which African country in 2003? The fatal attacks were against two elderly women and a three-year-old baby. The beast crushed their skulls and ate their intestines and genitals. Surviving victims of the beast sustained serious disfiguring injuries, with some of them losing both legs and hands while two lost both ears and eyes.
Malawi (The Malawi Terror Beast)
441
Two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III stand in the Theban necropolis across the Nile from Luxor- one of the statues is reputed by locals and tourists to 'sing'. What are the names of these statues?
The Colossi of Memnon
442
What was the name of the elephant at Karaganda Zoo, Kazakhstan, who could 'talk'?
Batyr
443
What name is given to the as yet unidentified ultra-low frequency and extremely powerful underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1997 in the South Pacific Ocean?
Bloop
444
What generic name is given to a series of phenomena involving a persistent and invasive low-frequency noise not audible to all people? They have been reported in various places, including the Big Island of Hawaii, Auckland, Taos, Bondi and Bristol?
The Hum
445
The Guns of Barisal in Bangladesh are an example of what kind of auditory phenomenon heard near water in various locations across the world?
Mistpouffers
446
What mysterious sounds, similar to frog noises, were widely reported by the crews of Soviet Navy submarines from various parts of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans during the peak of the Cold War? They then died away. No explanation has been forthcoming.
Quakers
447
Which bill is customarily the first bill on the agenda of the United Kingdom's House of Commons at the start of each session of Parliament? It is introduced after the Queen's Speech, after the Commons have returned to their chamber, but before any debate on the contents of the Speech. No Member of Parliament presents it, nor has it ever been ordered to be printed, and it is not intended to make any further progress. However, it bears symbolic import; by not discussing the contents of the Queen's speech immediately, the Commons is demonstrating that it can debate on whatever it chooses, and set its own business?
Outlawries Bill
448
What nickname was given to Raymond Robinson, a Pennsylvania man so badly facially disfigured in a childhood electrical accident that he had to go for walks at night, wher he was frequently mistaken for a faceless ghost and became an urban legend?
The Green Man
449
What scale, proposed by a Russian astronomer, is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement? The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective
Kardashev Scale
450
Which hypothetical megastructure proposed by Robert Bradbury, based on the Dyson sphere, of immense computational capacity, is an example of a Class B stellar engine, employing the entire energy output of a star to drive computer systems. This concept derives its name from Russians dolls?
Matrioshka Brain
451
What hypothetical event occurs when technological progress becomes so rapid that it makes the future after its occurence qualitatively different and harder to predict. Many define the concept in terms of the technological creation of superintelligence?
Technological singularity
452
Lawrence Walters, nicknamed "Lawnchair Larry" (1949 – 1993) was an American truck driver. Why is he famous?
Launched his lawnchair to 15,000 feet with helium weather balloons
453
The most global of GSK's gastrointestinal products, these fast-acting effervescent fruit salts, used as an antacid and reliever of bloatedness, was invented in the 1850s?
Eno's
454
Modern-day exponents have transformed Larry Walters' exploits into a sport called what?
Cluster ballooning
455
The self-proclaimed Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States" and subsequently "Protector of Mexico". What was his real full name?
Joshua Norton
456
Born Ian Brackenbury Channell in London, he is an English-born New Zealand educator, comedian, magician and politician, who has become something of a national icon of New Zealand. By what name is this eccentric who regularly appears at national events known?
The Wizard of New Zealand
457
Tsang Tsou Choi (1921 – July 15, 2007) was a Hong Kong citizen known for his calligraphy graffiti, which regularly appeared across Hong Kong during his lifetime. What nickname was given to this eccentric?
The King of Kowloon
458
What name is given to the decorative engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically engraved into an underlying material with fine detail. Specifically, it involves a technique of engine turning?
Guilloche
459
Which Japanese man in 1981 murdered and cannibalized a Dutch woman named Renée Hartevelt? After his release, he became a minor celebrity in Japan and made a living through the public's interest in his crime.
Issei Sagawa
460
Michael Larson won over $100,000 in cash on which US gameshow in 1984 in a scandal where he had memorised winning combinations on the board?
Press Your Luck
461
Bedbugs reproduce this way. Also known as hypodermic insemination, it is a mating practice in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his penis and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal cavity. The process is detrimental to the female's health. It creates an open wound which impairs the female until it heals?
Traumatic insemination
462
What name is given to the process seen in some species, e.g. Black Widow spiders, in which the female eats the male after copulation?
Sexual cannibalism
463
James Joseph Dresnok, Charles Jenkins and Larry Abshier are famous as American defectors to which country?
North Korea
464
Ostensibly to gauge the rate and severity of rickets, scoliosis, and lordosis in the population, what was done to incoming freshmen at Ivy League universities from the 1940s to the 1970s by William Herbert Sheldon?
Nude photographs taken
465
Which British hunter, conservationist and naturalist, famous for slaying a large number of man-eating tigers and leopards in India? He was frequently called upon by the government of the United Provinces, now the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, to slay man-eating tigers and leopards who had killed people in the villages of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions.
Jim Corbett
466
What name is given to a hypothetical chimpanzee/human hybrid?
Humanzee
467
What name is given to a 30-foot (9.1 m) tall tree stump, most likely a hemlock, which has been bobbing vertically in Oregon's Crater Lake since at least 1896?
The Old Man of the Lake
468
What taxonomic name has been suggested by British biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham for the last common ancestor of humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). This species is supposed, on the basis of DNA reconstruction (no fossil remains have been found), to have existed prior to six million years ago, when the human and chimpanzee lines are thought to have diverged?
Pan Prior
469
In the Hokusai woodcut 'The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife', the woman in question is being sexually attended to by which animals?
Two octopuses
470
What name is given to the movement to create legal recognition of bonobos, common chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans as bona fide persons?
Great Ape Personhood
471
Also known as the graffito blasfemo because it shows a donkey-like character on a cross, what name is given to an inscription carved in plaster on a wall near the Palatine Hill in Rome, now in the Palatine Antiquarium Museum. It is among the earliest known pictorial representations of the Crucifixion of Jesus?
Alexamenos graffito
472
The Alexamenos graffito has been variously interpreted; some believe it to be donkey-worship. What name is given to donkey-worship?
Onolatry
473
Which Italian lawyer and amateur photographer is best known for taking the first photographs of the Shroud of Turin on May 28, 1898. The image he obtained from the shroud has been approved by the Roman Catholic Church as part of the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus?
Secondo Pia
474
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity it is called the Holy Mandylion. According to Christian legend, which artifact was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus was imprinted — the first icon?
Image of Edessa
475
What Latin name is given to the Veil of Veronica, meaning literally 'sweat-cloth'?
Sudarium
476
In which Spanish cathedral city is the cloth that it ws claimed was wrapped around the head of Jesus after he died?
Oveido
477
Who was Queen Victoria's version of Michael Fagan? In 1838, aged approximately 15, he entered Buckingham Palace, apparently through a hole in the Marble Arch, disguised as a sweep. He was caught by a porter in the Marble Hall and, after a chase, captured by the police in St James's Street.
Edward Jones (or 'The Boy Jones')
478
What does Lorem ipsum literally mean?
Pain itself
479
Who originally wrote the Lorem ipsum text?
Cicero
480
Which computer and typewriter keyboard layout is mostly used in Central and Eastern Europe. The name comes from the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard?
QWERTZ
481
Which typewriter layout is used by French speakers based in Europe, though France and Belgium each have their own national variations on the basic layout?
AZERTY
482
Which much-parodied four word phrase was adapted from the slogan of Dupont from the 1930s to 1982?
Better Living Through Chemistry
483
The name of which small Spanish fishing village gives its name to the 1966 B52 crash where four hydrogen bombs were jettisoned?
Palomares
484
The USAF's northernmost base, in NW Greenland, gives its name to an incident similar to the Palomares crash that happened in 1968. What's it called?
Thule
485
This musical piece was composed by John Cage and is the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. The current organ performance of the piece at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, began in 2001 and is scheduled to have a duration of 639 years, ending in 2640?
As Slow As Possible
486
Known as Swami Deva Pramada or simply Pramada, which English cellist and music teacher and sometime member of Electric Light Orchestra was killed in September 2010 when a hay bale rolled into his van?
Mike Edwards
487
After the death of Vladimir Ladyzhensky in 2010, which championships will never be held again?
World Sauna Championships
488
Which 19-year old Canadian folk singer became in 2009 the only known person to be killed by coyotes?
Taylor Mitchell
489
What was the name of the Werner Herzog documentary about Timothy Treadwell, an environmentalist who lived with bears in Alaska until one of them killed him?
Grizzly Man
490
Explosive decompression on a flight operated by which airline in 1988 led to the death of flight ayttendant C B Lansing when he was sucked out of the plane?
Aloha Airlines
491
Which American model and actor died as a result of a firearms accident on the set of the CBS television series Cover Up, on which he played the male lead? He was messing around with an (unbeknownst to him) loaded revolver.
John- Erik Hexum
492
Which author died when he choked on an eyedrop bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York? He would routinely place the cap in his mouth, lean back, and place his eyedrops in each eye. His lack of gag response may have been due to the effects of drugs and alcohol abuse.
Tennessee Williams
493
Robert Williams, who died in 1979, and Kenji Urada, who died in 1981, both chieved posthumous fame as the first men to be killed by what?
Robots
494
Who directed The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and the Elvis Presely film Girl Happy, but died when he accidentally walked into the rotor blades of a helicopter in 1981?
Boris Sagal
495
Which Austrian/American mathematician died of starvation when his wife was hospitalized? He suffered from extreme paranoia and refused to eat food prepared by anyone else.
Kurt Goedel
496
Janet Parker was the last person ever to die of smallpox, even after it was eradicated in the wild. She was a lab worker who was exposed to the virus in the laboratory of which university in 1978?
Birmingham
497
How did Bando Mitsugoro VIII, the kabuki actor, die in 1975?
Deliberately ate four fugu livers as he thought ge was immune to the poison
498
Which former Yardbirds singer was electrocuted by his electric guitar?
Keith Relf
499
Which American TV news reporter committed suicide live on air in 1974?
Christine Chubbuck
500
It was a launch pad accident that occurred on 24 October 1960, at Baikonur Cosmodrome during the development of the Soviet R-16 ICBM. As a prototype of the missile was being prepared for a test flight, it exploded on the launch pad when its second stage motors ignited prematurely, killing many military personnel, engineers, and technicians working on the project. The official death toll was 78, but estimates are as high as 150, with 120 being the generally accepted figure. News of it was covered up for many years and the Soviet government did not acknowledge the event until 1989. What is this incident called, after the most senior military officer killed?
Nedelin catastrophe
