Comical Facts No 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: "If you drop me, you idiot, I'll break your neck"

Only it wasn't the word idiot she used. Aileen Pringle was born in 1895 in San Francisco, and died in Manhattan in 1989. She was the leading lady of more than sixty silent films. One of these included the 1924 film "Three Weeks" in which she plays the role of an unhappy woman married to the King of Sardalia.

She escapes from her life for several weeks and flees to Switzerland for a holiday. There she promptly falls in love with Conrad's character. Before the advent of sound in movies, and even while portraying the most romantic or terrified emotions during her work in silent films, Ms Saucy Pringle was notorious for her language and her off-colour remarks during most of her scenes.

Answer: He was drafted again

When Bean left the army, he had his name changed legally to Naeb Llahsram - his own name in reverse. That didn't matter one whit to the army, however, and he was redrafted into the army to serve several more years as a new recruit. It took him almost a year to convince the defence personnel who he was, and to be allowed to discharge again.

Answer: "Superman don't need no airplane either"

This is a tale that has been told about the great Ali in various forms over the years. The quips remain the same though. Only the destination and the actual airline involved change. If it did take place, one would have imagined that Ali would have been highly amused.

Born as Cassius Clay in 1942, Ali won and retained the World Heavyweight Championship boxing crown, incredibly so, between 1964-67, 1974-74, and 1978-79. He was light and graceful on his feet, deadly accurate and powerful with his fists, beautifully fit, and as cocky as they make them. Yet you had to love him. Sadly, the great Ali suffered from Parkinson's syndrome after retirement from the ring.

The sight of him striving to light the Olympic flame at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and being helped to his feet by his wife at the 2012 Olympics in London, was heartbreaking - and tribute to the great heart and endurance of a true champion.

Answer: Specially-trained eagles

Attacks by eagles on the new frail aircraft taking to the skies in the 1920s were a fairly common occurrence. In one instance in 1928, an attack by a group of eagles was so severe that the plane they were striking at had to crash land. Today, of course, with the size and speed of aircraft, eagles wouldn't have a chance, although on smaller planes, the odd attack has still been known to happen, including an attack in a small plane in which Bedichek was travelling in 1975.

It seems rather comical that the French army should consider training such birds to attack enemy aircraft, but this was the case.

The British army, on the other hand, while not going to the extent of considering training eagles to attack - probably out of fear for their lives - did issue instructions on the correct procedure for pilots to follow should such attacks occur.

Answer: Subversive

"It's A Wonderful Life" depicts the life of distraught businessman George Bailey who is contemplating suicide, until his guardian angel Clarence intervenes and shows him all the lives the George has made a positive impact upon in his community. It stars the great James Stewart as George, Donna Reed as his wife, and Henry Travers as Clarence. It really is a beautiful, heart-warming tale, and how the FBI could see it as subversive is anybody's guess. They, on the other hand, said that the depiction of the greedy businessman, who turned down the desperate George's application for a loan, was a common trick used by communists. Several other movies were also severely scrutinized under the eagle eyes of the FBI during this time in history when Americans became convinced they were in dire danger of being overtaken by communists. "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) also met with their censure. The first of these, which tells the story of one man taking on the might of the American political system, also, somewhat unfortunately, starred James Stewart. The second of the two tells the story of a group of servicemen trying to put their lives back together after returning home from World War II.

The FBI used three methods to decide whether a film was considered suspicious or not. These were (1) anything that placed American institutions in an unfavorable light, and (2) singing the praises of values that were un-American in nature, such as the little common man daring to take on Washington, and (3) making any references to events that placed American politics in an unsympathetic light. What would they make of movies being churned out of Hollywood now, oh what would they make of them now?

Answer: They were built with a circular shape

In an experiment to test out new and improved methods of sailing, the Russian navy had these warships built with a circular shape and with completely flat bottoms. The purpose behind this experiment, which obviously wasn't tested in miniature before construction began, was that the ships would be able to carry heavy guns and yet still travel in shallow waters where other warships couldn't.

Unfortunately, when the ships were afloat at last, they proved to be impossible to handle in any kind of waters.

In cross currents, in particular, the ship tended to spin round in circles. These two comical disasters were used very briefly during the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire in 1877-78, but were then only used as storeships from that time on.

Answer: The man had a large pair of spectacles made for the horse

When the oculist reported that the horse did indeed have a vision problem, the farmer, who was fond of the animal, had a specially designed pair of glasses made to fit the horse's eyes. This is the hilarious report than ensued in the Veterinary Journal:

"At first the horse was a little surprised, but rapidly showed signs of the keenest pleasure, and he now stands all the morning looking over the half-door of his stable with his spectacles on, gazing around him with an air of sedate enjoyment. When driven his manner is altogether changed from his former timidity, but if pastured without his spectacles on, he hangs about the gate whinnying in a plaintive minor key. If the spectacles are replaced he kicks up his heels and scampers up and down the pasture with delight."

The whinnying in a minor key absolutely cracked me up.

Answer: Popeye muscle

Named after Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon character that first appeared in comic strips in 1929, the full medical terminology for this condition is Proximal Biceps Tendon Rupture. It involves one of the two heads of the biceps tendon and symptoms usually present after an audible snap is heard.

A sharp pain follows this tendon rupture, but this recedes when the tendon retracts. However, a bulge is then noticed in the arm at the biceps muscle. If the pain persists, surgical intervention may be required.

The medical profession refer to this bulge as the Popeye muscle. They apparently haven't watched too many of the Popeye cartoons however, as that gallant little sailor's muscle bulges actually occur in his lower arm, rather than on the biceps.

Answer: By rolling them down the hill in a 40 gallon oil drum

This, wrote Zambia's director-general of their space program, gives them the feeling of rushing through space. His plans to launch their ten foot long aluminium and copper rockets, with 10 woebegone astronauts inside, included firing it from a giant catapult. Looking further into the future, he planned to land 12 astronauts and 10 cats on Mars as well, and stated firmly that they (the astronauts, not the cats) would be ordered not to teach Christianity to Martians unless it was requested. Also detailed in the ITN news source for this article, dated 13 November, 1964, were his methods of training his gallant astronauts to face free fall.

He did this by having them swing from the end of a long rope. Once the rope, with the terrified trainees clinging on valiantly, was at its zenith, he would cut the rope and let them fall to what was hoped would be a safe landing below. Understandly so, the United Nations failed to give him his grant to proceed further. Furthermore, the Zambian government promptly disowned their ambitious director-general.

Answer: A teapot

Apart from this peculiar delusion, the Earl was, from all accounts, perfectly fine. He lived from 1719 to 1781, serving as a Member of Parliament along the way. Two sources from the 1700s detail this obsession under which the Earl laboured. These were a letter from the Reverend George Chinnery to Viscountess Midleton, on 18 August, 1762, which is kept at the Surrey History Centre, and the typescript of the Earl's family history by one Rear Admiral W.G.S. Tighe.

In 1766, the Earl suddenly decided it was time to produce an heir and quickly married, whereupon he and his blushing bride produced a total of seven children over the following few years. This, details the family history, was in spite of the fact the Earl initially believed, when entering the holy state of matrimony, that his spout would fall off on his honeymoon night.