A Mix of Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rocinante

Don Quixote picks a name meaning 'ranked before all other horses' which reflects his own over-the-top notions of knighthood, a recurring theme of the novel.

Rocinante as a name has been used for the horse in the children's show 'Dora the Explorer' and echoing Miguel Cervantes' novel, his friend is 'Dapple' the donkey.

The dystopian drama 'The Expanse' features a spaceship named 'Rocinante', one of many references to the novel (another is 'Dulcinea', who is Quixote's fictional lady.)

The alternate answers all feature as characters in 'Don Quixote', 'Dapple' is a donkey, and 'Sancho Panza' is the farmer turned squire.

Answer: Baseball

Spalding was a successful player with the Boston Red Stockings (later to become the Atlanta Braves) before switching to the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) in the 1870s. Along with the owner of the Chicago White Stockings, William Hulbert, Spalding helped to organise the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.

After moving to Chicago in 1876, Spalding and his brother opened their first sporting goods store. He designed the first baseball in 1876, the first baseball glove in 1877, and wrote the first rulebook in 1878.

The company that he founded still exists today, manufacturing and selling goods for a wide range of sports, including baseball and basketball.

Answer: Hangman

Similar to the game of hangman, contestants on the show take it in turns to spin the wheel and to guess one of the letters. Each spin of the wheel earns either a certain amount of money, or the dreaded 'bankrupt' or 'lose a turn' wedge. The player who correctly guesses the phrase can win the cash amount if they have accumulated the highest total by the end of play.

The game is popular world-wide with over 60 different versions.

Answer: Papua New Guinea

The island of New Guinea is the second largest island in the world. The island comprises of two independent countries, Western New Guinea, part of Indonesia; and the eastern half, Papua New Guinea, an independent nation.

Papua New Guinea has been administered by three different countries: in 1884, Germany took control of the northern half, while the southern half became part of the British Empire. In 1902 this was transferred to Australia to administer and was known as New Guinea. During World War I, Australian forces took control of the German half, Papua, and after World War I, it became known as Papua New Guinea and was classed as an external territory of Australia.

Today Papua New Guinea is an independent nation, gaining independence in 1975. It is a linguistically diverse country with 851 known languages, 11 without any known speakers. Most of its population live in traditional communities, with much of the country still unknown to the rest of the world. Around 40% of the population live self-sufficient sustainable lives with little contact with the capital. This diversity is protected under the constitution which acknowledges the importance of sustaining the traditional villages.

Answer: 91

A bolt is a commercial unit of measurement, normally for the measurements of fabrics. While most fabrics are either 40 or 100 yards, a bolt of canvas is traditionally 39 yards.

When converted to metric measurements a bolt of 100 yards is equivalent to 91.44m. The width of a bolt can vary, according to the fabric that it contains. Cotton bolts are traditionally 42 inches (1.067 meters) wide and wool bolts are usually 60 inches (1.524 meters) wide.

Answer: Easter

Easter marks the day that Christian religions commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, after his crucifixion three days earlier on Good Friday. As the third day is Sunday, Easter always falls on this day.

The council of Nicaea in 325 CE (held to obtain agreement on matters of Christian doctrine), determined that the date of Easter would be determined through a lunisolar calendar, separate to the Hebrew calendar. Over time, Easter traditionally has come to fall on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon after March 21.

Answer: Billy Idol

The name 'Idol' was taken from a comment made by his chemistry teacher on his report card. The spelling 'Idol' was chosen to help distinguish it from Eric Idle, a member of 'Monty Python'.

In 1990, Idol was involved in a serious accident after he drove through a stop sign while riding his motorcycle. His leg was badly injured, requiring the insertion of a metal rod. This caused his part in the movie, 'The Doors' to be greatly reduced, and he lost the role of the 'T-1000' robot in 'Terminator 2'.

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower

Eisenhower had a long military career prior to becoming President. He joined during the First World War, however, his requests to be posted to Europe to fight were denied. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1941, and after the United States joined World War II, he oversaw the invasions of North Africa (1942), Sicily (1943), France (1944) and Germany (1945). Post World War II he served as the Army Chief of Staff (1945-1948) and the first Supreme Commander of NATO (1951-1952). He was the 34th President of the United States from 1953-1961.

In 1935 Eisenhower was posted to the Philippines as an aide to General MacArthur. It was here that he learnt to fly, gaining his pilot's license in 1939 at Fort Lewis. His was a private license and he did not serve as a pilot in the military. In 1957, he became the first US President to use a helicopter.

Answer: Pillow Talk

The song 'Que Sera, Sera' was first featured in 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' where it served as a plot point. It also won the 1956 Academy Award for 'Best Original Song' reaching number two on the 'Billboard Top 100' and number one on the UK Singles Chart.

It became Day's signature song, featuring as snippets in both 'Please Don't Eat The Daisies' and 'The Glass Bottom Boat', and the theme song for her TV series, 'The Doris Day Show'.

'Pillow Talk' gained Day her only Academy Award nomination.

Answer: Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton was born into a vaudeville family, and in one of the early acts in which he performed was 'used' as a mop by his father. Other parts of their routine included Buster being routinely thrown around the stage, leading to investigations to ensure he was not being abused. Buster was able to demonstrate a lack of bruises, and commented at a later age that he had learnt appropriate falling techniques at a young age.

Buster Keaton was an early star of the silent film era, starring with, and developing friendships with, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin. He became famed for his stoic, deadpan expression during slapstick routines.

As well as his fame as an actor, he was also a scriptwriter and director. In 1996, he was recognised by Entertainment Weekly as the seventh-greatest film director, and in 1999 he was ranked as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute. His movie 'The General' featuring the Civil War, while receiving mixed reviews upon its release is now regarded as his best work. Orson Welles once commented that it was "the greatest comedy ever made...and perhaps the greatest film ever made".