Anything Goes Number Four Trivia Quiz

Answer: Georges Seurat

Neo-Impressionist Georges Seurat, who died so tragically young at the age of thirty-one in 1891, introduced two startling innovations to the world of art with his techniques of chromoluminarism and pointillism. His paintings are created with individual dots of colour, rather than the brush stroke styles that were considered the norm, but the overall optical effect is utterly fascinating. One can't stop staring at them as there's always something new and unexpected to be found in them. Particularly so is his "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La grand Jatte" which was painted by Seurat between 1884-1886, taking two years to complete.

It's not hard to understand why. This is a massive work measuring some ten feet across, and Seurat took over sixty sketches of the individual subjects seen within the work. Featuring people from the assorted classes of society in a park on the island of La Grand Jatte near Paris, this beautiful evocative painting captures a world and a life style now gone forever.

Answer: Removed carbon particles from pig iron

A finery forge was used to remove carbon particles and impurities from smelting iron while it was in its pig iron state. Pig iron's high carbon content otherwise made the product very brittle. It was given that porcine name because, when the ingots were initially laid out in the moulds around a central hub, they roughly resembled piglets feeding off their mother. Finery forges date back to the 3rd century BC in China.

It took a long while for this technique to make its way to Europe but it began to very gradually appear from the 13th century onwards. From the late 1700s, however, finery forges were already being made redundant by the puddling process and roller mills.

Answer: Sleeping in sacred places for cures or inspiration

Incubation was a practice that was commonly carried out by many ancient cultures for several thousand years. It involved sleeping in a sacred site or beside the tomb of a great person or saint, in order to be cured of illness, or to gain inspiration and wisdom in choices in life.

It has even found mention in the Bible in the story of King Solomon, who asked wisdom from the Lord after travelling to the holy site at Gibeon and offering sacrifices. That night the Lord appeared to the king in his dreams, whereupon Solomon asked for "a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong".

This practice was still known in a few Greek monasteries at the beginning of the 21st century.

Answer: The Lake District of England

The Great Cockup is a fell (a barren piece of land) that reaches an elevation of some 1,700 feet in the northerly park of England's Lake District. There is also a Little Cockup in this lovely part of the world. The peculiar name endowed on same is not peculiar at all when one traces its etymology.

It derives from the Old English words of "cocc" (meaning woodcock or black grouse) and "hop" (secluded valley). If we still spoke Old English today, Wikipedia informs one that we'd describe this location as "a larger fell above the secluded valley where Woodcock or Black Grouse are found".

Answer: Talking gravestones

Amrum, one of the Frisian islands, is a German possession located to the west of the Jutland Peninsula. In the exquisite little village of Nebel on Amrum is St. Clement's church. This contains 152 historical gravestones which date back to the 17th century. These are known as talking headstones, not because they'll scare you out of your wits by suddenly addressing you as you walk by, but because of their extremely detailed life stories of the deceased resting below. Many of these are over two metres high (over six feet), and are inscribed with long and fascinating family histories on both sides. One, quoted below, gives us the details of a man named Harck Olufs who died in 1754:

Front side: "Here lies the great war hero, may he rest in peace in Amrum's Christian ground. Blessedly, Harck Olufs was born on Amrom on July 19 in the year 1708. While still in his youth he was captured by Turkish pirates from Algiers on 24 March 1724. He was enslaved and served the Turkish bey in Constantinople, Casnadaye, for eleven and one-fourth years, until the bey, out of consideration for his work, granted him freedom. On 25 April in the year 1736 he reached his fatherland again. The following year was united in holy matrimony with Antje Harken, and they had five children, one son and four daughters. All survived the death of their father on 13 October in the year 1754, after 46 years and 13 weeks of life".

Reverse side: "May God grant him a joyful resurrection on the earliest day. From the grave I speak the following lines of remembrance: Unfortunately, in my young years I had to yield myself to the Algerians and undergo almost 12 years of slavery. But God with his mighty hand set me free. Therefore I say once again, I know my God that I must die. But do not consider my faults. Protect thou the widow's home and, oh God, because I cannot care for them, take the wife and children under your care".

Answer: First aircraft hijacking in the country

On the 15th of November, 1972, a Fokker Friendship plane operated by Ansett Airlines, carrying twenty-eight passengers and four crew, took off from Adelaide in South Australia on its long journey to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. During its lengthy trip of some 1,500 kilometres, a male passenger - Czech migrant, Miloslav Hrabinec - who had boarded the flight carrying a concealed sawn off rifle, waited until the plane was beginning to make it descent into Alice Springs, before suddenly producing the gun and crying "This is a hijack!". After forcing his way into the cockpit, waving his weapon in the air, he was calmly informed by the captain that he was too busy to talk at the present moment because he was trying to land the plane. The flight attendant, Kaye Goreham, then told the would be hijacker to please take his seat and fasten his seatbelt until the landing was complete. Comically, he did so.

After the plane landed and police negotiations began, Hrabinec said he wanted to be flown to a remote area so he could parachute down and commit suicide by seeing how long he could last in the desert. He then demanded a small plane, pilot, parachute and jumpsuit. The local Aero Club manager, Ossie Watts, volunteered himself and his plane for the task, and, with an undercover constable, Paul Sandeman, posing as the navigator, they prepared to board the smaller craft. Hrabinec grew suspicious on seeing the navigator, however, and demanded the pilot search him for weapons. Watts obligingly did so but naturally didn't announce that Sandeman was indeed carrying a gun. Sandeman subsequently went for that gun but Hrabinec shot him in the hand and stomach before galloping off. Police snipers then wounded the villain, and he jumped into a ditch and shot himself - and our first aircraft hijacking was over. Poor man. Truly though, only in Australia would a hijacker obediently sit down and fasten his seat belt when told to do so.

Answer: Minus a shoe

Born in Scotland in 1981, Andrew Butchart is a champion long distance runner specialising in the 3000, 5000, 10,000 metres and cross country. At the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games held in the Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge meetings, Andrew broke the long standing Scottish record for this distance, held by Nat Muir since 1980, and taking four seconds off that time.

He finished ninth altogether in this race however, greatly hampered by the fact that he had to run the last lap missing one shoe.

He had stopped to remove it during the beginning of this lap when it broke on him, and then powered on regardless, in true championship fashion. The Fanny Blankers-Koen Games are named after the remarkable Dutch champion of the same name who won four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Answer: Had her new husband strangled

Berenice IV of Epiphaneia was born in Egypt in 77 BC and died in that country in 55 BC. She was a Greek princess of the Ptolemaic dynasty who were the rulers in Egypt from 305 until 30 BC. Berenice became queen of that great nation after her older sister, Cleopatra VI, was poisoned, and her father, Ptolemy XII Auletus, had been exiled from the country for several years.

It is thought that Berenice had a hand in polishing off her sibling. At the age of twenty though, she was considered by her consuls to be too young to be a ruler, and was far too fond of fashion and luxuries for their liking. So they forced the young queen into marrying Seleucus VII Kybiosaktes who was a ruler of a small Macedonian kingdom.

The indignant Berenice promptly had poor old Seleucus strangled as a wedding present.

She then continued to rule on her own until she was well and truly ready to marry a man of her own choosing, one Archelaus, a Greek nobleman who had joined the priesthood - but refused to make him co-regent. Perhaps she was a distant ancestor of Elizabeth I of England, who knows. Berenice didn't last too long after this happy event however, as her father, with the aid of the Romans, re-took the Egyptian throne and had the wilful Berenice beheaded.

Answer: Murderball

And a very appropriate light-hearted name this was too. Known initially as murderball, or quad rugby in the US, wheelchair rugby is played by athletes with a disability, while seated in their wheelchairs. It was created by five Canadian wheelies in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1976.

Initially it was played by those with quadriplegia as an answer to the already existing game of wheelchair basketball. The demands of dribbling and shooting for the hoop in basketball prevented quads (a fond name for them) from taking part in that game. So they came up with murderball instead, a game that didn't require the finer muscle control required of basketball. Wheelchair rugby is tough, and it can be really brutal at times with many players sent flying out of their chairs, and even on the odd occasion, being somersaulted right over while still tied in those vehicles.

But it's immensely exciting to watch, as those of you who saw it in the 2016 Paralympics may agree, and the players themselves are fierce competitors, who, though having the time of their lives, play as hard as possible, ramming each other's chairs at top speed in order to gain possession of the ball and score a goal.

Answer: Because of their spicy taste

Devilled (or deviled) eggs are hard boiled cackleberries that have been shelled, sliced in half lengthwise, and had their yolks removed. Those yolks are then mixed with mayonnaise and strong tasting and spicy foods such as mustard, pepper, capsicum and so on. Amazingly so, this recipe dates back to the days of ancient Rome when the eggs were served as a first course at feasts. In more modern times, devilled eggs, because of religious scruples, are often referred to by several other substitute names instead. These include stuffed eggs, eggs mimosa, Russian eggs, dressed eggs, picnic eggs, and even, as one in the eye for old Nick, angel eggs as well.

(Thanks to team member caparica for the idea for this question)