QM Quiz #21

I have set most of the questions in this quiz from the latest Pears Cyclopaedia - mixture of stuff, as per usual.

1 Which Belgian poet and essayist (1862-1949) - recipient of the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature - wrote plays including Princess Maleine, Pelleas and Melisande, and The Blue Bird?
2 First excavated in 1965, the archaeological site of Lepenski Vir - said to date to around 8000 BC - lies on the banks of which major European river?
3 Widely identified as the politician who has served in the greatest number of different political offices, Norodom Sihanouk was, from 1953 to 1970, the effective ruler of which Asian country?
4 Given to women during or after the menopause, for what do the letters HRT stand?
5 Opened in Las Vegas in March 2014, the High Roller is the world's tallest what?
6 The first was launched in October 1957; the second was launched in November 1957; the third was launched in May 1958. What name links these three events?
7 Although harshly received by critics, it was a box-office success. Which 1970 David Lean film was a very loose adaptation of Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and featured Robert Mitchum and Trevor Howard in major roles?
8 Which novel chronicles the encounters and appointments of Leopold Bloom in Dublin over the course of the day 16 June 1904?
9 "It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble: the same is true of ___ and spin bowling." Complete this quote from the Australian sports journalist Gideon Haigh, which refers to a cricketer whose record of 708 wickets in his Test career was only surpassed by Muttiah Muralitharan in 2007?
10 Which French Romantic painter's The Raft of the Medusa depicts a moment in the aftermath of the wrecking of the namesake naval frigate, which ran aground off the coast of western Africa in 1816?
11 Which US pop-rock band, whose first album - Days Are Gone - spawned six singles, is comprised of sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana, as well as drummer Dash Hutton?
12 The Lincoln Borglum Museum serves as a visitor centre to which US tourist attraction?
13 69 people have died this week after drinking beer which was originally said to have been contaminated with crocodile bile, although it has been said that a toxic plant was the most likely cause for the deaths. In which African nation did this take place?
14 Other than Hindi and Bengali, which is the only language to be spoken in more than one Indian state?
15 A spin-off from The Muppets, what was the title of Jim Henson's live-action TV series which featured creatures such as the Doozers and the Gorgs?
16 Which German doctor and anthropologist is known as the "father of modern pathology", being the first to coin terms such as leukaemia, thrombosis, and embolism?
17 Perhaps most famous for his role as Tom Haverford in the NBC show Parks and Recreation, which US comedian released his debut album - Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening - in 2010?
18 Which chemical element is also known as wolfram, reflected in its chemical symbol?
19 The Dutchman Cornelis Drebbel was the builder of the first what in 1620?
20 Alberta, Saskatchewan, and which other province whose capital is at Winnipeg comprise the Canadian Prairies?




Answers:
1 Maurice Maeterlinck
2 Danube
3 Cambodia
4 Hormone replacement therapy
5 Ferris wheel
6 Sputnik
7 Ryan's Daughter
8 Ulysses
9 Shane Warne
10 Theodore Gericault
11 Haim
12 Mount Rushmore
13 Mozambique
14 Telugu
15 Fraggle Rock
16 Rudolf Virchow
17 Aziz Ansari
18 Tungsten
19 Submarine
20 Manitoba

QM Quiz #19

Not written one of these for ages, so I'll do so now - hope you enjoy:

1 Which term in Islam describes the collection of teachings, deeds, and sayings of the prophet Muhammad which constitute the primary source of guidance for Muslims aside from the Koran?
2 Starring Norman Beaton, Isabelle Lucas, and a young Lenny Henry, what was the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast?
3 Which French king ordered the building of the Bastille fortress in 1370?
4 2014's G20 summit concluded last week. In which city was it held?
5 The director David Lean's first four films were adaptations of works by which English playwright?
6 Which former Conservative MP became UKIP's second directly elected MP on the early hours of Friday morning after a victory in the Rochester and Strood by-election?
7 Home to the country's most successful football club of recent years, what is Hungary's second-largest city?
8 The Kuvendi is the parliament of which European country?
9 The organisation Greenpeace was founded after protests against US plans for a nuclear weapon test on which Alaskan island?
10 The chemical element hassium is named after a state in which country?
11 In which country was Elizabeth II when she heard that her father, George VI, had died and that she was queen?
12 The episode "An Unearthly Child" marked the first appearance of which famous TV character?
13 The first official US flag was flown during which 1777 engagement of the American Revolutionary War?
14 The M57 motorway is a ring road around which major UK city?
15 Which passenger steamship became known in 1912 as the ship that came to the aid of Titanic survivors when it sank, and was subsequently sank herself in 1918 off the Isles of Scilly?
16 The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race is run at which French racecourse at the beginning of October each year?
17 Who, alongside Calvert Vaux, designed New York City's Central Park?
18 Butser Hill is the highest point of which English range of chalk hills?
19 Which US journalist (1887-1920) is best remembered for his account of the October Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World?
20 The Church of the Holy Rude, where James VI of the Scots was crowned in 1567, is in which Scottish city?




Answers:
1 Hadith
2 The Fosters
3 Charles V
4 Brisbane
5 Noel Coward
6 Mark Reckless
7 Debrecen
8 Albania
9 Amchitka
10 Germany
11 Kenya
12 The Doctor (Doctor Who)
13 Siege of Fort Stanwix
14 Liverpool
15 Carpathia
16 Longchamp
17 Frederick Law Olmsted
18 South Downs
19 John Reed
20 Stirling

QM Quiz #17

1 In which national capital was athlete Mo Farah born?

2 Japan's second-highest volcano erupted this week, causing the deaths of at least thirty people. What is its name?

3 Described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world, in which English county is RAF Menwith Hill?

4 1979's Life in a Day was the debut album of which band?

5 Ghent, Antwerp, and Valenciennes are all among the towns that stand on which major river of northern France, western Belgium, and the south-west of the Netherlands?

6 In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, whose shrine are the story-telling pilgrims visiting?

7 During the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, fifty new churches were paid for by a tax levied on what item entering the capital?

8 The title of a 2008 thriller starring Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh, what was the codeword for the 1944 operation that was an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler?

9 The Victoria Cross was initially introduced to reward acts of courage during which war?

10 What ironic trait was shared by the composers Beethoven, Smetana, and Faure?

11 In mythology, what was the name of the Roman slave who aided and befriended a lion that subsequently saved his life after he was thrown to the aforementioned animals for attempting to escape?

12 Breeding in the south-western US and Mexico, what is the smallest species of owl?

13 The ongoing political comic strip, If..., has appeared in which daily newspaper since 1981?

14 Who remains to date the longest-serving leader of the Labour Party?

15 According to Jewish folklore, who was the first wife of Adam?

16 What is the densest naturally occurring chemical element?

17 What forename and surname links the wife of Shakespeare and a modern-day Hollywood actress?

18 Which monarch instigated the Christmas Day broadcast to the nation in 1932?

19 Aside from becoming a major early figure in the sport of golf, and lending his name to the sport's most prestigious trophy, what was Samuel Ryder's profession?

20 Which traditional sport of Central Asia consists of horse-mounted players dragging a goat carcass towards a goal?

Answers:

1 Mogadishu

2 Mount Ontake

3 North Yorkshire

4 Simple Minds

5 Scheldt

6 Thomas Becket

7 Coal

8 Valkyrie

9 Crimean War

10 Deafness

11 Androcles

12 Elf owl

13 The Guardian
14 Clement Attlee
15 Lilith
16 Osmium
17 Anne Hathaway
18 George V
19 Seed merchant
20 Buzkashi