1
Which industrial city in
north-eastern France was the birthplace of Victor Hugo in 1802?
2
Which Italian judge spent most
of his professional life trying to overthrow the Sicilian Mafia, and
was subsequently killed by a car bomb they planted under his car in
1992?
3
Who served as US Secretary of
State from 1973 to 1977?
4
Mycology is the identification,
description, and classification of what?
5
Although Khartoum is the
capital, what is the largest city in Sudan?
6
In attempting to revive the
empire of his second cousin, Alexander the Great, which King of
Epirus fought several battles against Rome, with some success,
although his losses were so great that he has inspired a modern-day
phrase?
7
Who was the last German man to
win the Wimbledon singles title?
8
What is the largest object in
the Kuiper belt?
9
What year links the birth of
writer John Steinbeck, the founding of football club Real Madrid, and
the coronation of Edward VII?
10
A pupil and close follower of
Degas, which impressionist painter created works such as Lilacs
in a Window and Portrait
of Madame Sisley?
11
Often viewed as the
organisation that contributed to World War I, what was the name of
the secret military society of which Gavrilo Princip – assassin of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand – was a member?
12
Which Danish seaport is the
country's fifth-largest city, and is home to an iconic water tower?
13
John Dramani Mahama has been
the president of which African republic since 2012, replacing the
predecessor John Atta Mills?
14
From the Greek for “depth of
the sea”, what name is given to the ecological region at the lowest
level of a body of water, including the sediment layers?
15
This man (1902-84) joined a
company in 1954 and built it into a worldwide brand. He opened the
100th
US store in 1959, and by 2007 this number had reached 30,000 outlets
in 122 countries. Which man?
16
Which Japanese actor was known
for his sixteen-film collaboration with director Akira Kurosawa, in
works such as Rashomon,
Seven Samurai,
and Yojimbo?
17
As described in the last book
of the Bible's New Testament, what colour horse represents war?
18
Oliver Stone's film, Any
Given Sunday, depicts
which sport?
19
The music duo, Wham!,
comprised George Michael and who else?
20
Which Indian diplomat and
politician – sister of Jawaharlal Nehru and aunt of Indira Gandhi –
became the first woman president of the UN General Assembly?
21
One of the rarest mammals on
earth, the silky sifaka (Propithecus
candidus) is found on
which island, where it is known as the simpona?
22
In which major city is the
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine?
23
From the Greek for “yoked”,
what is the name of the initial cell formed upon the fusion of two
gamete cells during sexual reproduction?
24
This physicist founded the
modern theory of magnetism based on quantum theory, and also devised
theories of magnetic behaviour in crystals. His classic treatise, The
Theory of Electric and Magnetic Susceptibilities
(1932), earned him the title “the father of modern magnetism”.
Which man shared the 1977 Nobel Prize for Physics?
25
After his emigration there,
Australia became the setting for most of his later books, including A
Town Like Alice (1949)
and On the Beach
(1957). Which writer is being described here?
26
OTE is the national
telecommunications provider of which European country?
27
What three words were used to
describe a photograph of Earth taken from the Voyager
1 space probe in 1990?
28
Hisarlik is the modern name for
which ancient site?
29
Becoming notorious for
corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement of billions of dollars, he has
been called the “archetypal African dictator”. Who was president
of Zaire from 1965-1997?
30
The Øresund
Bridge connects Copenhagen in Denmark with which Swedish city?
31
The world's worst
single-aircraft crash occurred on 12th
August, 1985. Which airline was involved?
32
The Elton John song “Amoreena”
plays over the opening credits of which 1975 film?
33
Who took the iconic World War
II photograph, Raising
the Flag on Iwo Jima,
atop Mount Suribachi in 1945?
34
Fergana, a strategic point on
the ancient Silk Road in Uzbekistan, is famous for which creatures?
35
Which New York-born novelist
and writer frequently wrote about Jewish-American life, and wrote
novels such as The
Natural (1952) and The
Fixer (1966)?
36
Who is the oldest outfield
player at the 2014 FIFA World Cup?
37
For her role in the 1996 film,
The English Patient,
who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that year?
38
Which name, meaning “ruler”,
was given to several legendary Greek kings, but especially to the
brother of Jocasta, who awarded the throne to Oedipus?
39
What is the capital and largest
city of Arkansas?
40
What were discovered at Marmes
Rockshelter in Washington state in 1965? The site is now a National
Historic Landmark.
41
Which city was known as Lutetia
in ancient times?
42
Which Australian wrote the
Booker Prize-winning novel, Oscar
and Lucinda?
43
The word “swastika” - the
notorious Nazi symbol – comes from which language? In that
language, it means a mystical cross used to denote good luck.
44
In which country is the
Brokopondo Reservoir, one of the largest in the world?
45
Islam Karimov is the current
president of which country?
46
Which US writer used the pen
names Edgar Box, Katherine Everard, and Cameron Kay?
47
Which sport was invented in
1895 by William G Morgan at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts?
48
“Heavy water” is water made
with which hydrogen isotope, in which the nucleus comprises a proton
and a neutron rather than a proton alone?
49
What major geographical feature
was named after a US aviator who crashed nearby in 1937?
50
A term known to quizzers: what
is the popular name for Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF), after its two
leaders? It was a German left-wing revolutionary group which carried
out political bombings in the early 1970s.
Answers:
1 Besançon
2
Giovanni Falcone
3
Henry Kissinger
4
Fungi
5
Omdurman
6
Pyrrhus of Epirus
7
Michael Stich
8
Pluto
9
1902
10
Mary Cassatt
11
Black Hand Gang
12
Esbjerg
13
Ghana
14
Benthic zone
15
Ray Kroc
16
Toshiro Mifune
17
Red
18
American football
19 Andrew Ridgeley
20 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
21 Madagascar
22 New York City
23 Zygote
24 John Hasbrouck Van Vleck
25 Nevil Shute
26 Greece
27 Pale Blue Dot
28 Troy
29 Mobutu Sese Seko
30 Malmo
31 Japan Airlines
32 Dog Day Afternoon
33 Joe Rosenthal
34 Horses
35 Bernard Malamud
36 Mario Yepes
37 Juliette Binoche
38 Creon
39 Little Rock
40 Oldest Native American human remains
41 Paris
42 Peter Carey
43 Sanskrit
44 Suriname
45 Uzbekistan
46 Gore Vidal
47 Volleyball
48 Deuterium
49 Angel Falls
50 Baader-Meinhof
