A Bit of This and That 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Henry VII

Talk about a "What's yer hurry? Here's your hat!" mentality. The Lancastrian Henry VII defeated the Yorkist Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485; however, the decision to crown Henry King of England then and there was an astute political move.

Henry's claim to the throne of England was tenuous to say the least. Being crowned however, fait accompli, would make that crown just that harder to dislodge. He then married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, who was Richard's brother and king before him. Because she was Edward's oldest daughter, and had no surviving brothers, Elizabeth had a far stronger claim to the throne of England than Henry did.

Her worthy spouse followed this matrimonial coup up with one of the dirtiest mud-slinging campaigns about the dead Richard as possible, in order to strengthen his "right" as ruler even further in the eyes of the people of England.

Answer: Abracadabra

We know this word today as part of the performance used by a magician in a stage show when he is revealing a magic trick that is meant to dazzle or amaze an audience. "Abracadabra" is thought to have originated in the old Aramaic language where it means, more or less, "I create".

It first appeared in a medical book from the 3rd century, where people suffering from malaria were advised to wear an amulet with the word inscribed upon it. This was thought to banish the illness. The medical profession is just as helpful today with its treatments. Over time, "Abracadabra" continued to crop up periodically as a magical formula to cure or banish illness. An instance of this was during the Great Plague of London (1665-66) when people wrote the word on the outer doors of their homes to keep the plague at bay, much to the disgust of the author Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) who wrote of it fifty years later.

He described this superstitious belief in his 1722 historical novel "A Journal of the Plague Work" with something akin to an authorial snort or derision.

Answer: A whip

Isn't that amazing? Whips were indeed the first man-made objects to crack the sound barrier. Some whips, stockwhips in particular, can be made to crack with a sharp, ringing snap. During that cracking process - and in the hands of an expert handler, this is a real treat to see and hear - the tip of the whip moves so fast that it breaks the speed of sound.

The result of this is a miniature sonic boom which gives us the famous sound associated with these whips.

Answer: The Wild Man of Borneo

With the given name of Leonard Bouchardt, Oofty Goofty was born in Berlin in 1862, but his date of death remains unrecorded. On moving to the United States to live in the final years of the 19th century, Leonard toured in a sideshow for a short time as Oofty Goofty, the Wild Man of Borneo. To achieve the right look, he covered most of his body with tar and horsehair, and then sat in a cage where he was periodically fed raw meat by attendants during show time. To excite the gaping audiences even further during these sessions, he let out wild screams of "Oofty Goofty!" with, of course, appropriate wild Borneo mannish gestures. This career came to an end not long after it began when Oofty became very sick from not being able to perspire because of all the tar on his body. He was rushed to hospital where the medical staff tried for days to remove the tar, but failed to do so for some time because of all the horsehair. When finally they did so, they left him up on the hospital roof.

Following this hirsute beginning to his American career, Oofty Goofty then attempted to become an actor, but when his first attempt on the stage - playing Romeo, opposite a Juliet known to all and sundry as Big Bertha - this also proved disastrous. He next tried a career as "The Man Who Felt No Pain" during which he toured the country inviting people - for a price - to either kick him, hit him with a walking stick, or hit him with a baseball bat to see if he winced. This career failed as well when boxing champion, John L. Sullivan (1858-1958) obligingly thumped him - and broke three vertebrae in his back. This put Oofty Goofty back in hospital, and caused him to walk with a limp for the rest of his short life.

Answer: It was incredibly long

Born in Fiji in 1921, Bula had a name that was still, in 2014, the longest of any first class cricketer in the world. That name is Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau, an astonishing 77 letters long. The English translation of his name is "Returned alive from Nankula hospital at Lakeba island in the Lau group". Very meaningful. Can you imagine calling his name in an exciting test match? "Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau has taken his position on the pitch - and - wait, I've pronounced that incorrectly. Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau - oh drat it all. Wrong again. I'll try once more. I believe the L is silent. Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau has taken up position on the - pardon? He scored ten runs and the game finished five minutes ago".

Answer: The bowlers kept skating over the crease

Can you imagine the fun everyone had though? I'd love to have seen that game. An historical report on "Eccentric Cricket Matches" published in the Strand magazine in 1903 summed up this match as follows: "A few winters ago, when a fine stretch of water in Sheffield Park was frozen over, his lordship the Earl of Sheffield organized a match on the ice, in which several of his house guests appeared. All the players used skates, the wicket-keeper, as might be imagined, having no little difficulty to keep still, and the bowlers being continually no-balled for running, or rather skating, over the crease.

The beauty of ice-cricket lies in the fact that the batsman may score half-a-dozen runs while the fieldsman is endeavouring to regain his feet and pick up the ball, which may be lodged in a bank of snow".

Answer: 3

Kiss is a hard rock/heavy metal band which was formed in New York in 1973. Starting out relatively conservatively, they became known, over time, for their stage makeup which is a cross between a clown and a nightmare, their somewhat science fiction looking outfits, their fire breathing, their smoking guitars, blood spitting, their repulsively long tongues and so on - you know how it goes, just an average group of entertainers you'd take a group of Sunday School kiddies along to see.

Their music however has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States alone, so obviously they appeal to a lot of people. I think they're revolting, but that's neither here nor there.

Their first venture into the arena of entertainment though wasn't terribly successful. That was in 1973 at the Popcorn Club in Queens, New York, where they drew an audience of three.

There is absolutely no truth at all to the rumour that those three devotees in that audience consisted of one hearing impaired pensioner who thought she was at Bingo, one would-be vampire, and an extremely envious giraffe.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States. He held this position from 1901 until 1909, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest leaders of that nation. This President was a really interesting character and his life story makes fascinating reading. With regard to this question, however, President Roosevelt had six children - and children like pets.

The list of pets with comical names that subsequently wandered through the halls of the White House and the Roosevelt family home included five guinea pigs (Admiral Dewey, Bishop Doane, Dr. Johnson, Father O'Grady, and Fighting Bob Evans), two ponies (Algonguin and Fidelity), a hen (Baron Spreckle), a lizard called Bill, a blue Macaw (Eli Yale), various assorted dogs (including a Pekingese named Manchu and a Saint Bernard named Rollo), a garter snake (Emily Spinach), a small bear, a piebald rat, a badger (Joshua), a pig named Maude, a rabbit, two cats, a hyena, a barn owl and that one-legged rooster.

The rooster, one imagines, probably fell over sidewards if it got an agitated crow going. "Cock-a-doodle-dooof!"

Answer: To stop their lips sticking to their teeth

Lips sticking to teeth is actually quite a problem for people from any field who are nervous before going onstage, where, during the course of any performance, they are required to smile. Nervousness makes the mouth dry, and a smile with a very dry mouth can see the lips stuck on the teeth.

This happened to a singer I once knew who was incredibly nervous before her first solo appearance. To ease her nerves, I told her that if she smiled as she went on stage, this would release happy chemicals in her brain and she would feel more at ease.

This is true - kind of. So she did, but the tip didn't work for her, because, without the Vaseline, her top lip promptly got stuck on her teeth. She didn't want to stick her finger in her mouth in front of the audience to pull it down, and instead made the fatal error of singing the entire number (a sorrowful love song) with her lip curled under, her top teeth fully exposed, her words slightly mispronounced, and a terrified fixed grimace on her face.

Answer: Yes

Gracious, I hope not. I suffer from hayfever. A lot. If people learn of this medical condition, my reputation will be ruined - ruined I tell you! The medical profession believe this affliction may be the result of crossed wires in the autonomic nervous system. Oh wonderful. Cuckoo as well as being a threat to every male in sight.

They also believe that the nose, like the genitals, contains erectile tissue. Just perfect. I have a large nose. I'm an unbalanced sex maniac with a large lascivious snout.

There's only one solution left for me. Run for politics.