The Daily Teaser and Friday Question Set …

Blimey …

That was impressive …

Right at the moment, I’ve got Yesterday on in the background.

It’s showing In Search of Medieval Britain, as presented by Kent University history, Dr Alixe Bovey.

And along with assorted bits about pilgrimage to Saint Davids, in Wales … ?

She’s just managed to shoot a medieval mangonel.

Adrian, Kevin, thought’s, please …

Lets get moving on, shall we … ?

»»•««

Yes, lets …

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi — who’s now officially in stock at Essex Library — putting in her answers: and, along with bagging 5 out of 5, she also managed to point out a typo I’d made, posting up the day before’s answers.

Cheers, Debbi!

Lets see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we … ? Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and Teaser video …

Q1) 15th April, 1921, saw mine owners in the UK announce wage cuts: this was one of the factors leading to the General Strike of 1921, but was it nicknamed Black Friday, Black Thursday or Black Wednesday … ?

Q2) 15th April, 1955, saw Ray Kroc opening his first franchised branch of which restaurant … ?

Q3) 15th April, 1998, saw the death of the former leader of the Khmer Rouge, dictator of Cambodia: what was his name … ?

Q4) 15th April, 1947, saw the birth of noted songwriter and producer, Mike Chapman: what was the name of the first Blondie album he produced … ?

Q5) And finally … 15th April, 1935, saw the signing of the Roerich Pact, between ten north and south American states: what was this pact designed to preserve?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 14th April, 2003, saw the completion of the Human Genome Project: how many pairs of chromosomes does each human have … ?

A1) 23: 22 pairs of autosomes, and on pair of sex linked chromosomes. (Pointless trivia for you: hitchhiker’s thumb is a recessive. Apparently …)

Q2) 14th April, 1979, saw Yusufu Lule sworn in as President of Uganda: which notorious dictator had he replaced … ?

Q2) Idi Amin.

Q3) 14th April, 1939, saw the first publication of which John Steinbeck novel … ?

A3) The Grapes Of Wrath.

Q4) 14th April, 1699, saw the initiation of the Khalsa: the term refers to the collective baptised membership of which religion … ?

A4) Sikhism.

Q5) And finally … 14th April, 1931, saw Alfonso 13th deposed, in favour of a newly set-up republic: in which country … ?

A5) Spain.

And, as it’s Friday, here’s the 60-question-set for struggling pub quiz masters: covered, as ever, by the same License as everything else …

Online 99.

ROUND ONE. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.

Q1) Which Girls took Sound of the Underground to No.1?

A1) Girls Aloud.

Q2) How many fish make up the star sign, Pisces?

Q2) Two

Q3) What’s the fruity name of Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter?

A3) Apple.

Q4) With which branch of medicine is Josef Mesmer associated?

A4) Hypnotism.

Q5) In recent years, which Labour politician was nicknamed Thumper, after having an egg thrown at him?

A5) John Prescott.

Q6) In the nursery rhyme, what did Tom, Tom, the farmer’s son, steal?

A6) A pig

Q7) What’s the English name for the game the Americans call Chequers?

A7) Draughts

Q8) What is Sweden’s national flower?

A8) Lily of the Valley

Q9) What do entomologist’s study?

A9) Insects.

Q10) What tree does the date grow on?

A10) Palm.

ROUND TWO. SEA LIFE.

Q11) The Whale Shark is the largest species of what?

A11) Fish

Q12) Which fish shares its name with a type of sporting footwear?

A12) The Skate

Q13) What is the name of the world’s heaviest marine mammal?

A13) Blue Whale

Q14) A mollusks body is covered with what?

A14) Shell

Q15) What name is given to a baby whale?

A15) Calf

Q16) Great White, Frilled and Hammerhead are types of what?

A16) Shark

Q17) Dolphins, lobsters or seals: which one has pincers?

A17) Lobsters.

Q18) What type of sea life is the Portuguese Man O’War?

A18) Jellyfish

Q19) How many tentacles does a squid have?

A19) 10.

Q20) What 5 limbed sea creature has its mouth at the bottom of its body?

A20) The Starfish.

ROUND THREE. PLANT LIFE.

Q21) What type of wood is Balsa, hard or soft?

A21) Hard.

Q22) Plantain and yams are relatives of which fruit?

A22) The banana

Q23) The Blackthorn is also known as which berry?

A23) The sloeberry.

Q24) The demands of which industry boosted the production of the rubber plant, last century?

A24) The car industry.

Q25) What does a berry typically contain?

A25) Seeds

Q26) How often do biennial plants flower and seed?

A26) Every 2nd year?

Q27) The name ‘tulip’ comes from a Turkish word meaning what?

A27) Turban.

Q28) How is the wild Rosa Canina better known?

A28) The Dog Rose

Q29) The Rose of York is which colour?

A29) White.

Q30) Gypsophilia is usually for what, flower arranging, smoking, or eating?

A30) Flower arranging.

ROUND FOUR. HISTORY.

Q31) In which European country were the Baader Meinhof Gang based?

A31) Germany.

Q32) Hastings Banda became Prime Minister of which African country, in 1964?

A32) Malawi.

Q33) Which small Caribbean country triggered a missile crisis, during the 1960’s?

A33) Cuba.

Q34) Black September were a terrorist group from which Middle Eastern country?

A34) Palestine/Israel.

Q35) In which year of the 1940s did the Battle of Britain begin?

A35) 1940.

Q36) General Pinochet lead a coup in which South American country?

A36) Chile.

Q37) During the 1980s, which Berkshire site was the scene of many anti-nuclear protests?

A37) Greenham Common.

Q38) Who succeeded François Mitterand as President of France?

A38) Jacques Chirac.

Q39) Milton Friedman was the senior policy advisor to which American president, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter or George Bush, senior?

A39) Ronald Reagan

Q40) In which far Eastern country was the Great Leap Forward, during the 1950’s?

A40) China.

ROUND FIVE. ROUND BRITAIN.

Q41) Is Aberdeen north or south of Glasgow?

A41) North

Q42) Prestwick and Gatwick are both what, airports, seaports or film studios?

A42) Airports

Q43) In which English county are the Dales?

A43) Yorkshire.

Q44) Denbighshire is in which country of the UK?

A44) Wales

Q45) On which Devon Moor is there a famous prison?

A45) Dartmoor

Q46) What is the administrative centre for Scotland’s Dumfries and Galloway region?

A46) Dumfries.

Q47) Eastbourne, Esher and Eccles. Which of these is on the coast?

A47) Eastbourne.

Q48) Where, in the UK, is Armagh?

A48) Northern Ireland. (Accept Ulster, but not Ireland; - that’s the Republic of Ireland.)

Q49) Who was the last Queen to inherit the throne of the UK, prior to Queen Elizabeth 2nd?

A49) Queen Victoria.

Q50) Dudley is near which major city of the Midlands?

A50) Birmingham.

ROUND SIX. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE IGNORANCE.

Q51) Who is the famous son of Uther Pendragon

A51) King Arthur

Q52) Where does a scorpion have its sting?

A52) In its tail.

Q53) What is the term for a fear of enclosed spaces?

A53) Claustrophobia.

Q54) What consortium runs the National Lottery?

A54) Camelot.

Q55) Which day of the week is named after the Norse god, Thor?

A55) Thursday.

Q56) What can be upside down, Ginger or Dundee?

A56) A cake.

Q57) Which writer said, “Am I dying beyond my means”?

A57) Oscar Wilde.

Q58) What metal melts at 30°C?

A58) Gallium.

Q59) How many Sisters make up the Pleiades?

A59) Seven.

Q60) Muster is the collective name for a group of which bird, the crow, the peacock or the cockateel?

A60) Peacocks.

Enjoy those, everyone: and just in case you can’t make the quote from the late Sir Clement Freud at the end of the slideshow … ?

I’ll put it up, here …

“In 1978 I was on a parliamentary delegation to Japan and returned via China during the Cultural Revolution, a choice also made by young Winston Churchill, then the Conservative MP for Stretford. I was debriefed by the Minister for Information who asked if there was anything at all I would like to ask.

I said: ‘Yes. Everything you do, you do with extreme care and precision. When I ask questions that your government does not like, my driver calls for me five minutes later than arranged. When I ask if there are any blind or handicapped children in China, I get cabbage soup for dinner.

Now I am in your country with a colleague, than whom I am older, have been in parliament longer, have held higher positions in our respective political parties: we are both staying at the Peking Palace Hotel and his suite is bigger than mine. Why?’

The Minister, very embarrassed, finally said: ‘It is because Mr Churchill had a famous grandfather.’

It is the only time that I have been out-grandfathered.”

Sir Clement Freud, 24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009