The Daily Teaser — 23-4-2013: World Book Night

You realise it’s the 23rd of April … ?

You’d worked that out, hadn’t you: you’re As capable of checking a calendar as I am.

Which means you’ve possibly worked out two things.

1)        It’s Saint Georges Day.   Have a good one, if you’re celebrating it.   Try and avoid the dragons, I’d prefer a live audience that’s not been eaten by green scaly mythological creatures.

And 2)        It’s ALSO World Book Night: marking the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel Cervantes, and an old regional Spanish tradition that sees lovers give each other a book.   (Usually of love poems.)

Either way … ?   Have fun, today: if you see me, I might just give you something to read … 

As I’m one of the volunteer givers for this year.

Let’s move on … 

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Yesterday’s saw Debbi and Adrence putting in their answers.   With Debbi mentioning Big Bang Theory*, it also saw Adrence bagging nought out of seven, and Debbi bagging seven.

Let’s see how they — and you — do with today’s World Book Night questions, shall we … ?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 23rd April is World Book Night: in which year of the 1990s was it first celebrated … ?

Q2) In part, World Book Night marks the death of William Shakespeare, on Saint Georges Day: in which year of the 17th Century … ?

Q3) Equally to the point, that day also saw the death of Miguel de Cervantes.   Which of his works is considered by many to be the world’s first novel … ?

Q4) There are twenty World Book Night Books being handed out in the UK, this year: name any one of them … ?

Q5) In which Spanish region are books traditionally given to one’s sweetheart on Saint Georges Day … ?

Q6) Excluding things like The Bible, The Qu’ran and The Communist Manifesto, what 1859 book is supposed to be the biggest selling in the English language … ?

Q7) And finally … what name is given to the original official publication of Shakespeare’s plays … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 22nd April, 1915, saw which gas used as a chemical weapon, for the first time … ?

A1) Chlorine.

Q2) During the second battle of where … ?

A2) Ypres.

Q3) 22nd April, 1993, saw the release of the world’s first successful web browser: what was it called … ?

A3) Mosaic.

Q4) 22nd April, 1977, saw the first use of optical fibre, to carry live what: tv shows, phone conversations or computer data … ?

A4) Phone conversations.

Q5) 22nd April, 1971, saw the death of Dr Francois Duvalier: president — and dictator — of where … ?

A5) Haiti.

Q6) More to the point, what was his nickname … ?

A6) ‘Papa Doc’.

Q7) And finally … 22nd April, 1912, saw the first publication of Pravda: what’s the meaning of the word, Pravda, in English … ?

A7) Truth.

Enjoy those: I’ll leave you with this rather relevant Elvis number … 

And with this thought from Umberto Eco …

“Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry.”

Umberto Eco.

Have a good day … !

*        I’ve got to admit, Debbi, I’ve never actually seen it: I’ve got Freeview, as it’s free … !   Which means I can never work out something my friends are raving about is on … !