All About Anna Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maryland

Founded in 1649 by Puritan exiles from Virginia, Annapolis is the capital of the US state of Maryland. It lies at the mouth of the river Severn, on the Chesapeake Bay, 40 km (25 mi) south of Baltimore, and 50 km (30 mi) east of Washington DC. Originally named Providence, and subsequently Anne Arundel's Towne (for Lady Ann Arundel, the wife of Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore), it was renamed Annapolis when it became the state's capital in 1694 - this time after the future Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland. The city - which was a major centre for the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th century - had a brief tenure as the temporary capital of the United States from 26 November 1783 to 19 August 1784.

A city with a long-standing maritime tradition, Annapolis has been home to the US Naval Academy since the latter was established in 1845. It is also home to St John's College, one of the country's oldest institutions of higher learning, founded in 1696. Known as America's Sailing Capital, it hosts a number of prestigious boat shows throughout the year; it is also famous for its thriving theatre scene.

Among the city's many historical sites and museums, there is a memorial to writer Alex Haley and Kunta Kinte, the protagonist of his 1976 novel "Roots", based on one of Haley's African ancestors. The memorial, which commemorates Kunta Kinte's point of arrival from Africa, stands in a small park at the head of Annapolis City Dock.

Answer: Alexei Vronsky

Published in 1878, Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" is centred around the titular character's affair with Count Alexei Vronsky, a handsome cavalry officer. However, as it is typical of 19th-century Russian novels, the plot does not solely focus on these two characters' scandalous relationship, but also on the lives of some of their relatives and friends - all members of the high society of St Petersburg during the reign of Emperor Alexander II (1855-1881). The novel, often called one of the greatest works of literature ever written, explores a wide range of ethical, social, and political themes.

Married to a man twenty years her senior, Anna Karenina is a young, beautiful woman, who comes to St Petersburg to help her philandering brother to save his marriage. Upon her arrival at the railway station, she meets Vronsky for the first time. The two fall in love, even though Anna initially rejects the Count's attentions, and begin an affair that will eventually destroy both of their lives. Anna takes her own life, and Vronsky leaves Russia to fight in the Russo-Turkish War, in the hope of finding a heroic death.

Yuri Zhivago is the main character of Boris Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago", and Eugene Onegin of the novel of the same title by Alexander Pushkin. Ivan Karamazov is one of the main characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov".

Answer: butter

Pommes Anna is much more than the sum of its parts. It calls for just two ingredients: firm-fleshed potatoes and a generous amount of clarified butter. The potatoes are sliced paper-thin, then layered in a pan, doused with butter, and baked in the oven. The result should be a golden-brown potato cake with a crispy crust and a soft interior. In order to ensure even cooking, the potato cake should be flipped every ten minutes or so during baking: to this purpose, special baking dishes that allow for easier turning are available. This luscious dish - which requires quite a bit of skill - is usually served as an accompaniment to roasted meats.

Pommes Anna was created in the mid-19th century by Adolphe Dugléré, chef at the fashionable Café Anglais in Paris. Potatoes had been widely accepted in France for only a few decades, after having been believed poisonous for most of the 17th and 18th century. The dish was allegedly named after Anna Deslions, a high-class courtesan who had her private salon above the restaurant's dining room, where she entertained a host of rich and powerful men.

Answer: presentation at the Temple

The character of the prophetess Anna appears only once in the Scriptures - in Luke 2:36-38, during the presentation of the child Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. However, even if her presence is fleeting, a lot of information about her is conveyed in only three lines of text. We learn that she was a member of the tribe of Asher, and her father was named Phanuel. Very advanced in years, she had been widowed after just seven years of marriage, and had dedicated her life to the service of God. She lived in the Temple, where she spent her days in prayer and other forms of worship.

In the Gospel of Luke, she makes her appearance immediately after Simeon, another elderly person invested with powers of prophecy. However, while Simeon's words to the Holy Family are reported in detail, Anna's words are briefly summarized - though we understand that she recognized the child Jesus as the Messiah, and shared this good news with everyone who had been waiting for the "redemption of Jerusalem".

Anna the Prophetess is venerated as a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is observed on 3 February, the day following Candlemas, the commemoration of the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

Answer: James Joyce

Written over a period of 17 years, "Finnegans Wake" is James Joyce's final work, published in 1939 - two years before the Irish author's death. Because of its experimental language and style - which employs a more advanced form of the stream-of-consciousness technique introduced in "Ulysses" - it is widely regarded as one of the most difficult works in Western literature. Consisting of 17 chapters, the novel follows the lives of the members of the Earwicker family through a non-linear narration, largely based on a dream.

In the book, Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) is the wife of HCE, the head of the Earwicker family, often interpreted as a personification of Dublin itself. Like Molly Bloom in "Ulysses", she is presented mostly through the words of other characters: in Chapter 8 of Part I, two washerwomen relate the tale of her life, with hundreds of river names mentioned through the text. The novel closes with a long monologue by ALP at the break of dawn, when she tries to wake up her husband from his long sleep, and eventually - like the River Liffey that she embodies - disappears into the sea.

Because of the character's connection to the city and water, a bronze monument has been dedicated to ALP in Dublin. The statue was created by sculptor Éamonn O'Doherty for the Dublin Millennium celebrations in 1988. It now stands in the middle of a fountain in Croppies' Acre Memorial Park, on the Liffey's north bank: because of that, the Anna Livia monument has been nicknamed the "Floozie in the Jacuzzi".

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Based on the story of notorious seducer of women Don Juan (whose earliest written version is found in the 1630 play "The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest" by Spanish dramatist Tirso de Molina), "Don Giovanni" is one of a trio of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Italian-language librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte (the other two being "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Così fan tutte"). Premiered in Prague in 1787, it is now regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time, blending comedy and drama with supernatural elements. The opera was adapted into a film by British director Joseph Losey in 1979.

In Da Ponte's libretto, as in de Molina's original play, Donna Anna is the daughter of a nobleman and military commander - which in the opera is simply named Il Commendatore - whom Don Giovanni attempts to seduce (or rape) at the beginning of the opera. After she manages to break free, her father challenges Don Giovanni to a duel, but is killed by the young libertine. Finding her father dead, Donna Anna makes her fiancé, Don Ottavio, swear vengeance against the murderer - whose identity she does not yet know. The pair pursue their plans for revenge throughout the opera, among misunderstandings and often farcical goings-on. The murder, however, will be avenged by the statue of the Commendatore - the "Stone Guest" in the title of de Molina's play. After Don Giovanni is dragged down to Hell by a host of demons, Donna Anna and Don Ottavio announce their intent to marry at the end of the young woman's year of mourning.

One of three female roles in "Don Giovanni", the role of Donna Anna is sung by a dramatic coloratura soprano.

Answer: a Hindu goddess

A name of Sanskrit rather than Jewish origin, Annapurna refers to the Hindu goddess of food and cooking. Annapurna is a manifestation of Parvati, the consort of Shiva - who is a daughter of Himavat, the guardian deity of the Himalayas (hence the goddess' association with the mountain). Anna is the Sanskrit word for "food", and Annapurna can be roughly translated as "filled with food". The goddess is often depicted seated on a throne, holding a ladle and a pot full of rice porridge, with a crescent moon on her head. She is also regarded as the protector deity of the holy city of Varanasi, where a large temple dedicated to her, Annapurna Devi Mandir, was built in 1729.

Located in north-central Nepal, Annapurna is a massif whose highest peak, Annapurna I, is the world's 10th-highest mountain, with an elevation of 8,091 metres (26,545 ft) above sea level. Though it was the first of the so-called "eight-thousanders" to be summited (in 1950, three years before Mount Everest), for a long time it held a negative record in terms of fatality rate. Even if things have improved in recent times, climbing Annapurna still poses considerable dangers - especially its daunting south face.

Answer: Greta Garbo

Directed by Clarence Brown, "Anna Christie" was based on the play of the same name by Eugene O'Neill (premiered in 1921). Starring Greta Garbo in the title role, as well as Charles Bickford, George F. Marion and Marie Dressler, the film is the story of a young woman who tries to turn her life around after having worked as a prostitute for two years - reconnecting with her estranged father, and finding love in the process. The film was marketed with the tag line "Garbo talks!", as it was the first non-silent movie starring the iconic Swedish-born actress - who by that time already spoke such good English that she had to add an accent to her scenes in order to sound like the daughter of Swedish immigrants.

MGM was worried that Garbo's first foray in a "talkie" would be a flop - as it had been the case with other famous silent-movie stars - but her performance was a success, and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film as a whole was also well-received. Garbo's first spoken line, "Gimme a whisky, ginger ale on the side, and don't be stingy, baby!", has become famous.

Greta Garbo was notoriously reclusive, and became even more so after her retirement from the screen at the age of 36. The quote "I just want to be alone", however, comes from her 1932 film "Grand Hotel".

Answer: Knights of Malta

Named after the saint traditionally venerated as the Virgin Mary's mother, "Santa Anna" was a carrack - a three-masted, ocean-going ship - that became the flagship of the navy of the Knights Hospitaller, a Catholic military order founded in Jerusalem in the 12th century. Some of this warship's feature were extremely advanced for the early 16th century: in particular, the ship's underwater hull was completely sheathed in lead plates fastened with bronze nails - which made her the first armoured ship in history. Lead plates also covered two of her six decks. "Santa Anna" had large, comfortable quarters for the officers, and could accommodate 500 fully armed knights in addition to the sailors. Other remarkable features were a forge to repair weapons and armour while at sea, a number of ovens and a mill in order to provide fresh bread for the crew, and even a garden to grow fruits and vegetables.

Launched in Nice in 1522, "Santa Anna" was the Order's first ship of the line. When, in 1530, the Knights Hospitaller moved their headquarters to Malta, "Santa Anna" helped to transport them to their new home. The following year, the powerful ship - armed with 50 guns - managed to rout an entire squadron of 25 Ottoman ships on her own. In spite of her participation to a number of successful missions in the Mediterranean - during which her contribution proved decisive - in 1540, less than 20 years after her launch, the Grand Master of the Order had "Santa Anna" decommissioned. According to some sources, the abandoned ship was eventually destroyed in a fire.

Answer: The King and I

Born in India in 1831, Anna Leonowens (née Edwards) accepted a post of teacher at the court of Mongkut (Rama IV), King of Siam, after the death of her husband in 1859. She spent almost six at years (1862-1867) at the King's court in Bangkok - first imparting a modern Western education to Mongkut's 39 wives and concubines and 82 children, then serving as the King's language secretary. Her two volumes of memoirs, "The English Governess at the Siamese Court" and "Romance of the Harem", were published when Leonowens was living in the US. Anna Leonowens spent her final years in Montreal, Canada, where she died in 1915.

In 1944, American writer Margaret Landon wrote a semi-fictionalized version of Leonowens' memoirs, titled "Anna and the King of Siam", in which Anna is described as the stereotypical eccentric female traveler of the Victorian era. The novel was first adapted as a film starring Rex Harrison and Irene Dunne in 1946. In 1951, the stage musical adaptation by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II became one of the decade's biggest Broadway hits. In 1956, a film version of the musical was released, with Deborah Kerr in the role of Anna, and Yul Brynner reprising his Broadway role as King Mongkut. While Leonowens' original books are not banned in Thailand, both the musical and the film based on it are, being regarded as disrespectful to the figure of the King.

The three musicals listed as wrong answers are all based on books. "Show Boat", however, is by Hammerstein and Jerome Kern.