Mastermind Club

General Question Archive 1

“I’d climb the highest mountain” is based on a work by which classical composer ?      Humoresque, Opus 101, number 7 by Dvorak
Who is Yvette Cooper’s former politician husband ?     Ed Balls
What is the 4th sign of the zodiac ?      Cancer the Crab
What is an infinity pool ?
A swimming pool which, by an optical illusion appears to blend into the sea beyond
What is the common name for calcium oxide ?     Quicklime
Which American President was assasinated in 1881 ?      James Garfield
In which seaside resort is he “Golden Mile” ?     Blackpool
What is the trademark colour of Yves Klien ?    Blue
What does Schwarzwald mean in English ?     Black Forest
What is the chemical symbol for molybdenum ?     MO
In a ‘bear’ market, share prices (a) rise or (b) fall or (c) remain stable ?     Fall
If nicknamed ‘Bluey’ in Australia, what characteristic would you have ?     Red Hair
How many people were in Noah’s Ark ?     8 (Noah, his wife, their 3 sons, and their wives)
Which single stayed second longest in the UK Charts at 66 weeks ?    Amazing Grace by Judy Collins
Who said (in French) “God created water but man made wine” ?     Victor Hugo
When is it unlawful to sound the horn of a car in Britain ?      Between the hours of 11.30pm and 7.30 am
Which of our national monuments includes “bluestones” ?       Stonehenge
Which country’s sporting colours are pale blue and white stripes ?        Argentina

What is your “pinkie” ?                   Your little finger
Name the four universities in Edinburgh ?      Queen Margaret, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh and Napier
Mount Ararat is in which present day country       Turkey
Haarlems Dagblad is the oldest what in the world ?         Daily newspaper
Which important battle in British history was fought near the village of Braxton ?       Flodden
What does EDF stand for, as in the energy supplier ?          Electricite de France
Which is the only city in the UK with whte telephone boxes ?       Kingston-upon-Hull
Which EC city is known as “Golden……”        Prague
What is the Carduelis chloris which is visiting birddfeeders in increasing numbers ?        Greenfinch
What is the colour for 5 magpies in the rhyme ?      Silver
What is colloquially as The Pink “un” ?      The Financial Times
Blackpool Tower is how many feet in height      518ft
How would you obey a cockney who tolde you to “open your minces” ?    Open your eyes (mince pies)
Which capital city as the largest population ?      Tokyo
Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight is famous for what ?       Multicoloured Sands
Describle the flag of Yorkshire           A white rose on a blue background
In the spectrum, indigo comes between which two colours ?     Blue & Violet
Name the second greatest Briton (BBC poll) born in Portsmouth on 9th April 1806        Isambard Kingdom Brunel
A 10th wedding anniversary present is made of what ?    Tin
What is the northernmost town in the USA ?    Barrow, Alaska
We know Barbara Ann Deeks better by what name ?    Barbara Windsor
What is the origin of the expression “to spend a penny” ?
From the first public flush toilets at the Great Exhinition of 1851. Which cost a penny to use them
Why was the East Kent Regiment known as the Buffs ?      From the colour of the facings on their uniform.

In which country is the highest waterfall in Europe?    Austria (The Krimml Falls)
In 1848 Victor Hugo abandoned the play he was working on, Twins, due to a fellow author writing his own version of a famous historical story. Which one?         Alexander Dumas

Australian Robert Fahey made history in 2001 by becoming the first man to win back-to-back Grand Slams in which sport?           Real Tennis
In what role were Ronnie Hazelhurst, Noel Kelehan and Harry Van Hoof long-standing contributors to the Eurovision Song Contest? Conductors
Which Scottish composer was Principal of the Royal Academy of Music from 1887 to 1924?   Alexander McKenzie
Whose last words were “I guess you were right Wyatt. I can’t see a damn thing”?    Morgan Earp
Which society processes behind the Cross of St Piran?   Mabion or Mebion of Kernow
According to the old ‘saw’, by which six tokens may you well know all Cornish Men?    

By Tre,Ros,Car,Lan,Pol and Pen
In which Cornish dungeon was George Fox the Quaker incarcerated?        Launston Castle   

Why cannot Prince William inherit the Dukedom of Cornwall while the Queen reigns?  

Because he Dukedom is reserved, solely, for the Eldest Son of the Sovereign
Why is the ancient region of Armorica now called  ?   Brittany (Because many West Britons fled from Cornwall and West Wales in the face of Saxon pressurein the 5th Century, only to return in the half-century of peace following the Celtic victory of Mons Badonicus in 496?
Born Jean Chauvin in Normandy, by which name is this great religious reformer best known?      John Calvin
Who was the original eponymous chauvinist?      Nicolas Chauvin, a 19th soldier devoted to Napoleon
Where is the province of Lothringen?     Lorraine, France
What was settled by the Armistice of Brest-Litovsk?    

The cessation of hostilities on Germany’s Eastern front in 1918
What was the Polish ‘Miracle’ of the Vistula?    

The defeat of the Russian army in 1920, by the Polish army under Marshall Pilsudski
Which was the great Imperial Russian Baltic naval base?      Kronstadt
Which famous old Royal Navy battleship led the attack on Narvik in 1940?     HMS Warspit
Who were the Allied Commanders at the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimean War? 

Omar Pasha (Turkish) General Pelisser (French) Lord Raglan (British)
Which Russian author wrote that he “found the siege of Sebastopol most acceptable and agreeable to his literary pursuits”?   Leo Tolstoy
Which first Lord of the Admiralty financed with naval money the development of the first British Battle Tank?     Winston Churchill
What is the name of the much filmed breakwater at Lyme Regis?   The Cobb
What ceremony takes place daily at the Menin Gate?    The Last Post
Who is reputed to have said “When I die, what a great actor will be lost”?      Nero
From which deity did the Julian dynasty claim descent?     Venus
Which English King was married in Cyprus?       Richard I to Berengaria of Navarre
Who was the Roman Governor of Cyprus at the time of St Paul’s missionary visit?         Sergius Paulus
How many domes has St Mark’s in Venice?      Five
What did Napoleon call the Piazza of St Mark’s?       The largest drawing room in Europe”
 In which pleasure park did Orson Welles take Joseph Cotten for a ride in The Third Man?

The Prater on the Big Wheel
Which city is substituted for Vienna in the film ‘Amadeus’?     Prague
Velma Valento; in which novel was this redhead sought by Moose Malloy?    Farewell, My Lovely
Which English (London) independent school did Raymond Chandler attend?        Dulwich College
Which comedians first sang  “Underneath the Arches”?      Flanagan & Allen
What instrument do you associate with Fats Waller?      Piano
Name the Spice Girls. Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Victoria Addams and Gerri Halliwell
With which songs and singers did Britain first and most recently win the Eurovision Song Contest?

Puppet on a String with Sandie Shaw and Love Shine a Light with Katrina and the Waves
In a symphony orchestra, where are the harpists situated?        Between the percussion and the clarinets

What sobriquet was given to the 19th century singer Jenny Lind?   “The Swedish Nightingale”
What single medical service and advantage did James Lind render to seamen, notably the British Navy, and what sobriquet did it engender?         Indroduction of lime juice to prevent scurvy – hence “Limeys”
Who was the first man to accomplish a solo circumnavigation of the globe?       Captain Joshua Slocum 1895/98
Which fliers recorded the first non-refuelled aerial circumnavigation of the world?

Jean Yeager & Dick Rutan in 1995
Who was the first pilot to have been recorded breaking the sound barrier?        

Capt. Chuck Yeager USAF in a Bell XS-1, in 1947
What Mach number must be exceeded for flight to become hypersonic?    Mach 5
What is an astronomical unit?        It equals the mean Sun to Earth distance of 149.6 million km
Who said “Space isn’t remote at all, it is only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight up.”?  

 Professor Fred Hoyle
What is the ultimate reading on the Richter scale?      Twelve
Which clothing was “designed for the mining man”(advert)?          Levi Strauss Jeans
Which famous 19th century General favoured the “Garden Tomb” as the last resting place of Christ on Earth?

Gordon (of Khartoum)
Who is generally accepted at being Christ’s ‘Beloved Disciple’?     John, son of Zebedee
What traditionally are the names of the Three Wise Men?         Balthazar, Caspar & Melchior
Whom did Wagner say was “the most stupendous person in all music”?        J.S.Bach
Which firm of North Eastern engineers constructed the Sydney Harbour Bridge?         Dorman Long
What  form of activity is T’ai Chi?      Meditation in Motion
What do the initials I.A.E.A. stand for?   International Atomic Energy Agency
What is the date of United Nations’ Day?      24th October
What is Edson Arantas do Nascimento’s ‘nom de guerre’!?      Pele
When did Rugby Union football become a professional sport?      1996
The scene of his book ‘The Outdoor Pastime of an American Hunter’ (1905), in which state is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, by the Little Missouri?        North Dakota
Of which US  state is Bismarck the capital?        North Dakota
Of which US  state is Salem the capital?      Oregon
Which city is the capital of Belarus?        Minsk
Which is the capital city of the Yemen?        Sana’a
Who was the author of “Orkney Tapestry”?       George MacKay Brown
In which naval battle did the 16-year-old boy gunner, Jack Cornwall, earn a posthumous VC?        Jutland
Who was the only recipient of a bar to his VC in World War II?      Charles Upham NZAC
After Coventry, which was the most badly bomb-damaged cathedral in the UK?       Landaff
Who was the first woman to be consecrated Bishop in the Anglican Communion?

Barbara Harris as the Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts in 1980
Which Parisian Club is particularly associated with the Can-Can?     The Moulin Rouge
Which country retained the Jules Rimet Cup after winning it three times?      Brazil
Which amateur Rowing Club received a large donation from the National Lottery, conditional upon its admission of women for membership?        The Leander Club
In which year was the Berlin Wall constructed?      1961
Name two animal diseases eliminated by our quarantine laws in the last century?       

Glander in Horses and Rabies in Dogs, Foxes etc
Who discovered penicillin?    Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928
 Who was the innovator/inventor of the thermionic diode, the development of which ultimately made television possible?   Sir Ambrose Fleming in 1904
Who was the ‘father’ of fingerprinting?      Sir Edward Richard Henry
Which Member of Parliament strove for 18 years to have his Bill to Abolish Capital Punishment passed into law by Parliament just before he died, in 1964?        Sidney Silverman
Who was the first woman to be called to the English Bar?     Ivy Williams in 1922
By whom is Whitaker’s Almanack now published?      H M Stationary Office
Which broadsheet was the first to publish a nude (in an advertisement for Fisons)?   

The Times in March 1971 (The model was Viv Neves)
What is the science of ophresiology?     The science of smell
Projected by ‘Yellow Pages’ and ‘Walking Fingers’, which author had runaway best-sellers with ‘Fly-fishing by ……’ and ‘…… Casts Again’? ”     J R Hartley”
What is ‘Glass’s Guide’?      The trade price of second hand cars
Easily visible from the M6 motorway passing Lancaster, what is the Baroque-style monument to the West?        Ashton’s Memorial
In medicine, what do the letters I.D.D.M stand for?        Insulin Dependendent Diabetes Melitus
What socially communicable disease is caused by the organism, Treponema Pallida?    Syphillis
Which disease was colloquially, and diagnostically (helpfully) known as ‘Spotted Fever’?    Meningococcal Meningitis
Once bitten – once kidnapped, trapped and escaped – where did  Ronald Colman return in the film “Lost Horizon”?      Shangri-La
What were the names of the gunboat in the ‘Yangtze Incident’?        HMS Amathyst

With which team did Manchester United draw 5–5 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500th and last game in charge?   

West Bromwich Albion

Boris Becker contested consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles finals in 1988, 1989, and 1990, winning in 1989. Who was his opponent in all three matches?   Stefan Edberg

Which veteran British actor, who died in April 2014, played Nikita Khrushchev, Beria, Manuel Noriega, Pope John XXIII, Mussolini, J. Edgar Hoover, and Winston Churchill?       Bob Hoskins

According to a W.B. Yeats poem, of what wood should a magician’s wand be made? It is supposedly attuned to earth energies – hence shamans use it in diving and dowsing?          Hazel

On stage collecting his Oscar for Best Director in 1998, which Canadian filmmaker and deep-sea explorer raised his statuette aloft and shouted “I’m the king of the world!”?         James Cameron

In Fawlty Towers, what was Polly’s surname?      Sherman

Invented in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895, by YMCA phys-ed director William Morgan, which game was originally called Mintonette?          Vollyball

1Whose 1942 painting Nighthawks is unusual for the painter as it features four people, his works usually featuring fewer than that?     Edward Hopper

“Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep”. What was the name of the village in which these lines were written?  

Stoke Poges

A Supermarine Rolls-Royce S6 was the first winner of which race, in 1929?       The Schneider Trophy

                                                                              Famous first lines… Identify the book from its first line 

 “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York”

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

 “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”       100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

 “I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had just gotten over a serious illness that I won’t bother to talk about, except it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up and my feeling that everything was dead.”

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

 “The play—for which Briony had designed the posters, programs and tickets, constructed the sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collection box in red crêpe paper—was written in her two-day tempest of composition, causing her to miss a breakfast and a lunch.”      Atonement by Ian McEwan

 “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.”

Ulysses by James Joyce

 “He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.”         Orlando by Virginia Woolf

“I was born in the city of Bombay…once upon a time. No, that won’t do, there’s no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar’s Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. The time matters, too.”  Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

“It was a pleasure to burn.”      Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

“All this happened, more or less.”         Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

 “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’”        The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.”          The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect.”
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

 “Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. Do not think that I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn.”    The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way ”         Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

‘”So now get up.”  Felled, dazed, silent, he has fallen; knocked full length on the cobbles of the yard. His head turns sideways; his eyes are turned toward the gate, as if someone might arrive to help him out. One blow, properly placed, could kill him now.’

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Who is the only player to have won two consecutive FA cups with two different teams? Brian Talbot (Ipswich 1978 & Arsenal 1979)

What was the name of the company that Reginald Perrin worked for in the TV series `The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin`?   Sunshine Desserts

 Which series of horror films take place in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio?       Nightmare on Elm Street

In which country is the world`s longest outdoor skating rink?         Canada (Rideau Canal, Ottawa)

What other Eastern European ciyy is St. George the patron Saint of?   Moscow

Which country won the 2005 Elephant Polo world championship?  Scotland

What was the name of the band on The Muppet Show?     Dr.Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

Who were the first British football club to win a European trophy? 

Tottenham Hotspur (European Cup Winners Cup in 1963, Beating Athletico Madrid in the final)

Mount Wilson in California, Siding Spring in Australia and Mauna Kea in Hawaii. What`s the scientific connection?

They are astronomical observatories

Who sang the first line of the USA for Africa`s `We Are The World`?       Lionel Richie

What is the name of the largest cut diamond in existence?        The Star of Africa

Which American soul singer`s dad played football for Glasgow Celtic ?     Gil Scott-Heron

In what year did ITV start broadcasting?      1955

What  was the first commercial shown in ITV advertising?  Gibbs SR Toothpaste

How many times did Nigel Mansell win the British Grand Prix?       Four

What was the name of the dog in the American TV sit-com `Mad About You`?        Murray

In what year was the world famous AGA cooker range invented?   1922

What is the national flower of Austria?  The Edelweiss

How many world title fights did Mohammed Ali contest under the name of Cassius Clay?  One

Which actor played the title role in `Oh no! It`s Selwyn Froggatt?`   Bill Maynard

Which was the first car to have a turbo charged engine?       Porsche 911 Turbo Carerra

By what name is the villain Sylvester Sneekly better known?      The Hooded Claw

What was the 1st Oscar winning film to feature no speaking parts forwomen?    Lawrence of Arabia

In the film `The Life Of Brian`, what was Brian`s mother`s name?       Mandy

Talia Shire, who plays `Adrian` in the Rocky movies, is the sister of which famous movie director?        Francis Ford Coppella

What was actor Joaquin Pheonix`s original christian name      Leaf

Which actor`s real name is Michael Douglas but had to change it for obvious reasons?      Michael Keaton

Eddie Murphy will always be remembered for Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop movies, but which famous actor was originally signed up to play the role?          Sylvester Stallone

Which famous actor had a small role in `Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves` and donated his fee for the film to charity?    Sean Connery

What was significant about Lance Henriksen`s characters in `Aliens` and `Alien vs Predator`?

In Alien he played `Bishop` the android. In `Alien vs Predator` he played Charles Bishop Weyland, the founder of the company who created the androids.

What does the acronym `LASER` stand for?          Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Dinosaurs became extinct at the end of which period?        Creaceous

In which four countries might you find a Disney Land?           USA, France, Japan & Hong Kong

In which year did Disney Land first open in California?     1955

How old was Elvis Presley when he had his first number one single?   21

In music, how was Jiles Perry Richardson better known?      The Big Bopper

What was Marilyn Monroe`s first married surname?       Dougherty

What is measured in Scoville Units?       The heat of Chillies

How tall in feet is Salisbury Cathedral`s spire from ground to tip?   404 feet

Who is credited as having discovered the singer Kate Bush?       Dave Gilmour

Who is known as the father of geometry?       Euclid

 On which island did the now extinct dodo live?   Mauritius

What James Bond film was the first not be based on an Ian Fleming novel or short story?         A View to a Kill

Which country scored the first goal in the first soccer World Cup Finals?       France (Lucien Laurent)

When was Oxford University founded?       1096

In centimetres, what is the maximum diameter of a hockey stick?        95cm

In which year did Alabama become the first American state to recognise Christmas as an official holiday?        1836

Which female vocalist released the album `Drag`?         k.d.lang

What does NICAM stand for?       Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex

Which `N` is the brand gets its name from the Latin word, meaning `snow-white` in English?        Nivea

 In which European city are the headquarters for Interpol?       Lyon

In what year was the first traveller`s cheque cashed?          1772
What is the most common pub name in the UK?    Red Lion
In what year was the last judicial hanging in Britain?        1964

In what year was the company Microsoft founded?         1975
Who was the first English monarch to be addressed as `Your Majesty`?      Henry VIII
Who is the patron saint of Spain?         St.James
 In the cartoon series `Rocko`s Modern Life` what kind of animal is Rocko?       A Wallaby
What was the first country in the world to allow women to vote?        New Zealand in 1893
In which year was the corkscrew patented?        1795
What is the capital of the American state of Wisconsin?     Madison