Animals I've Heard Of Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paolo Uccello

Only one of these painters was active in the given decade. It was Paolo Uccello (1397-1475) who left us the aforesaid triptych, which shows us the chaos reigning a battlefield.
Uccello was born in Siena and built a career in Florence. He completed several frescoes in the Green Cloister of the Santa Maria Novella, as well as the equestrian portrait of Sir John Hawkwood that still decorates the Duomo.
The "Battle of San Romano" is divided over three different museums: the National Gallery in London ("Niccolo da Tolentino Leads the Florentine Troops"), the Uffizi in Florence ("Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse") and the Louvre in Paris ("Micheletto da Cotignola Engages in Battle").
Ugolino di Nerio was an earlier Italian Renaissance painter. He started his career in Siena in 1317 and died there in 1349. The bulk of his production are biblical tableaus.
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) was a Japanese woodblock printer who left us mostly images from the leisure sector.
Maurice Utrillo (1883-1953) was a French painter, specialising in city landscapes.

Answer: Heinrich I der Finkler

All these have at one time or another ruled over large parts of Germany.
The correct answer was Heinrich der Finkler, of the Ottonian dynasty. He succeeded to the throne of Saxony in 912 and was elected King of Germany after the death of Konrad I. Konrad had appointed Heinrich as his successor in the kingdom of East Francia and the duchy of Franconia. Military success allowed Heinrich to add Lorraine and Bohemia to the territory he ruled.
Karl I (742-814), in English known as Charlemagne, was heir to the throne of the Franks. In 800, he was crowned Emperor of the Romans, a function that was vacant since 476.
Friedrich I (1122-1190) was chosen King of Germany in 1152, King of Italy in 1154 and Roman Emperor in 1155. He belonged to the Hohenstaufen family. His nickname is translated as "Red Beard".
Rudolf I (1218-1291) was the first of the Hapsburg's who ascended the throne of Germany. In 1273 he was crowned King of Germany and King of the Romans.
For those of you who are trying to decipher the common bond in this quiz, you'll need the English translation of the epithet "der Finkler". I won't spoil this yet.

Answer: Newcastle United

The only English soccer team listed in the options is Newcastle United. This team found its origin in 1894 as the result of the merger of two clubs from Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Up till the writing of this quiz, Newcastle has won the FA cup finals 6 times (the last time in 1955).
The players' outfit for their home matches is a black and white striped shirt, black shorts and black socks. This accounts for their nickname which fits in the common bond.
Kevin Keegan (attacker or midfield) played for Newcastle from 1982 until 1984.
Paul Gascoigne (midfield) played for Newcastle United from 1985 until 1988.
Alan Shearer was a striker playing for Newcastle from 1996 until 2006.
Peter Beardsley played as a forward and as a midfielder for Newcastle from 1983 until 1987 and again from 1993 until 1997.
Lazio Roma (nickname: "Aquile", meaning "The Eagles") is an Italian soccer team, where Paul Gascoigne played for a while.
Hamburger SV (nickname "Rothosen", to be translated as "Red Shorts") is based in Germany. They have employed Kevin Keegan.
And the Vancouver Whitecaps (nickname the Caps) is a Canadian soccer team. Peter Beardsley has played for the Caps.

Answer: Zimbabwe

The flag of Zimbabwe shows us the zimbabwe sitting on its nest. I won't tell you yet which kind of animal the zimbabwe is, for this might spoil your search for the common bond.
The Canadian flag shows us the maple leaf. Israel sports the Star of David. The Vatican flag sports Saint Peter's keys.
Incidentally, at least three other countries depict something of their own name on their flags. Cyprus shows a map of the island, Kosovo also includes an outline of the country, and Lebanon flies the Lebanon cedar.

Answer: The Raven

The poem we were looking for is a masterpiece by Edgar Allan Poe ( 1809-1849). It relates a dark and stormy night when the narrator was reading some books. His attention was caught by a raven tapping the window.
"Itsy Bitsy Spider" is an anonymous poem named after the first words. "The Tyger" by William Blake (1757-1827) starts with "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright". And the more recent poem "How Nice to Be a Naughty Frog" by Anthony Fry (born 1939) has as first line "Reading love in your eye's gives me pride."
The complete text of these poems can easily found on internet. Just search on title.

Answer: The Nutcracker

All these are notorious works of classical music, but only one was composed by Pjotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).
"The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky relates a fairy tale written by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman (1776-1822). When a little girl gets as Christmas present a Nutcracker toy shaped in the form of a soldier, she dreams the soldier comes alive and takes her with him to a beautiful country. There several dances are performed, among others the "Flower Waltz".
"The Trout Quintet" is an instrumental composition by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Sergei Prokofiev (1893-1951) composed the opera "Peter and the Wolf". "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" is an orchestral intermezzo out of the opera "Tsar Saltan" composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). This intermezzo for a full orchestra is nowadays usually played by a violin soloist.

Answer: Dovetail

To put it simply: a dovetail is a joint in which both ends of the pieces to be joint have been cut out into interlocking pieces. This is a joining technique that doesn't need any fasteners. Sometimes a drop of glue is added, but a good dovetail doesn't need this.
Dovetails are commonly used in carpentry. Occasionally dovetails appear in other materials than in wood, for example in cast iron.
Nails are of course frequently used in woodwork, but they add another material (namely metal).
Welding and a zipper are not used in woodwork. Welding wood is far too dangerous, and I can't see any practical use for a zipper connecting two blocks of wood.

Answer: Tweety

This cartoon character has a speech impediment. Translating this sentence in ordinary English would give "I thought I saw a pussycat."
Although all of these cartoon characters come from different shows starring one or more cats, only Tweety is the one with a recurring remark. Tweety is notorious in the cartoons starring Sylvester, a black cat. Whenever Tweety sees Sylvester around, he remarks "I tawt I taw a puddy tat" followed a few seconds later by the phrases "I did tee a puddy tat" and finally "Poor puddy tat". Tweety and Sylvester were created by Warner Bros. For the animated series Looney Tunes.
Mio Mao was during the 1930s the Italian name for Fritz the Cat, a character created by Robert Crumb.
Thomas O'Malley is one of the alley cats saving the "Aristocats" in the eponymous Disney animated movie.
Odie is the dog victim of Garfield's moods. Garfield was created by Jim Davis.

Answer: Gooseberry

The gooseberry grows in bushes from 1 to 3m high. The fruits are usually bright green, but red and even purple variants occur. It is quite common in Europe and the most northern part of Africa, as well as the most western part of Asia.
There are several varieties of strawberry, all belonging to the Fragaria genus. In Europe the Fragaria moschata (Musk strawberry) is commonly cultivated.
There are also several varieties of raspberry. The common variety in Europe is the Rubus idaeus (European red raspberry).
Elderberries belong to the genus Sambucus. Common species in Europe are the Sambucus nigra (black elder) and the Sambucus rucemosa (European red elderberry).
All these have edible fruits, but only the gooseberry grows on thorny bushes.

Answer: Birds

The only movie in which all three of these actresses starred together, is Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds". The story starts with Melanie (Tippi Hedren) meeting Mitch (Rod Taylor) in a pet bird's shop. When she goes over to the island where Mitch lives with his mother (Jessica Tandy) and sister (Veronica Cartwright), the birds begin gathering and preparing strange behaviour.
Birds are a common bond to this quiz. Let's briefly scan the answers.
Uccello is the Italian word for "bird".
The English translation for Heinrich der Finkler (or Heinrich der Vogler, as he's also called) is "Henry the Fowler".
The nickname of the soccer team Newcastle United is "The Magpies", perhaps with reference to their shirt colours. Magpies belong to the bird family of the Corvidae.
The Zimbabwe bird is the name of some sort of eagle living in Southern Africa, possibly the bateleur eagle (scientific name: Terathopius ecaudatus). This snake eagle belongs to the family of the Accipitridae, subfamily of Circaetinae.
The raven and the nutcracker are two birds of the Corvidae family.
A dove belongs to the Columbidae family of birds.
Tweety is a yellow canary. Canaries belong to the Fringilidae family.
The gooseberry might not be named after the goose (family of the Anseridae), but be derived from one of the Dutch or French names ("kruisbes" or "groseille", respectively).
And the title of Hitchcock's movie speaks for itself.