Cool Zooms, Part XI Trivia Quiz

Answer: Handel's 'Water Music'

The suite was commissioned by King George I and was written specifically to be played on the Thames. It was first performed by 50 musicians on a barge that travelled alongside the Royal Barge from Whitehall Palace to Chelsea, with the King (and his two mistresses) aboard. George I had an affinity for the music of Handel, and had the Water Music (which consisted of three suites of a kind of compilation of fashionable music of the day) played three times over for his delectation and that of the Londoners who lined the banks of the Thames.

This classical rendition was performed by Phoenix Rising member Vegemite Kid. Ta-da-da-da!

Answer: Pius IX

Pius IX was Pope from 1846-1878 and convoked the First Vatican Council which ran from June 29th, 1868 until October 20th, 1870. Although it was the Catholic Church's 20th ecumenical council, unlike previous ones it was the first to meet at the Vatican Basilica and the name is derived from this. Papal infallibility means that the Pope cannot make errors on church doctrine because of Jesus's authority given to Peter (the first Pope) and his successors. The first instance of papal infallibility being invoked since Vatican I was in 1950 when Pope Pius XII made the Assumption of Mary one of the Catholic Church's core beliefs.

Urban II was Pope from 1088-1099 and is remembered most for starting the Crusades in 1096. In 1881, he was beatified by Pope Leo XIII.

Because Clement VII's papacy was from 1523-1534, one of his many conflicts was with King Henry VIII of England. Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1527 and excommunicated the King in 1533, leading to the establishment of the Church of England in 1534.

John XXIII was Pope from 1958-1963 and convened the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). This was noteworthy for the extent of its reforms of the Catholic Church. John XXIII was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and canonized in 2014 by Pope Francis.

In compiling this question, Rising Phoenix's psnz gives no assurances as to the accuracy of the information presented here.

Answer: Lise Meitner

Of the 118 elements identified by the early part of the 21st century, only two have been named after women: Curium (Cm, 96) and Meitnerium (Mt, 109). Curium was named to honour both Pierre and Marie Curie, so counting Curium again, 18 elements are named after men.

Aside from Lise Meitner, all the other answers are Nobel Laureates in Chemistry or Physics. In the first hundred years of the Nobel Prizes (1901-2000), there were 162 Physics awards with two going to women: Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963). Over the same period, there were 134 Chemistry prizes with three going to women: Marie Curie (1911), Irène Joliot-Curie (1935) and Dorothy Hodgkin (1964).

Despite being nominated 48 times between 1924 and 1965, Lise Meitner never won a Nobel Prize. But she does have element 109 named after her. Theodore Gray in his work 'The Elements' comments that Meitner mainly never won a Nobel Prize because of her gender, but the distinction of having an element named in your honour trumps the "cheap trinket" of a Nobel. Records on deliberations released later from Nobel archives would also suggest that the Swedish committees awarding prizes were largely unaware of Meitner's work.

Lise Meitner (1878-1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who with her nephew Otto-Robert Frisch discovered nuclear fission: the energy producing process in atomic power stations and nuclear weapons. Meitner was Jewish, born in Austria and working in Germany in the 1930s before she escaped the Nazis and went to Sweden in 1938.

Element 109 was first discovered in Germany in 1982 in an experiment that produced just one atom of the substance. It was named after her in 1997 for the reason to "render justice to a victim of German racism and to credit in fairness a scientific life and work." Meitnerium is a heavy radioactive metal, does not occur naturally and its isotopes have seconds-long half-lives.

Kiwi born and bred and a former chemistry teacher, Phoenix Rising's psnz remembered RNZ's (Radio New Zealand) 2019 'Elemental' podcast series commemorating the International Year of the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements. The 15-minute episode 'Curium & meitnerium - in honour of two pioneering women' proved a worthy listen.

Answer: Hannibal Hamlin

The Republican Party in the USA grew quickly from its inception in 1854 when it was formed primarily to oppose President Franklin Pierce's Kansas-Nebraska Act. When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, he appointed Hannibal Hamlin, an attorney then career politician from Maine, as his Vice President. Hamlin, a former Democrat, first served in the federal House of Representatives from 1843-47 before moving to the Senate. He was very prominent in his anti-slavery views. As Lincoln was from Illinois, Hamlin was an attractive candidate for the deputy role due to his regional connections in the north-east. These wider considerations also were important in Hamlin's replacement by Andrew Johnson for Lincoln's ill-fated second term. Johnson was a 'War Democrat' from Tennessee who was seen to be valuable in garnering support for the reconstruction of the south following the Civil War.

This question was selected for attention from all the options by PR member MikeMaster99 who is fascinated by how quirks of fate (including a person's home state) may influence the course of history.

Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

'The Skye Boat Song' originally dates back to the late 19th century. It has a strong Jacobite theme detailing how Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped after the Battle of Culloden. The chorus of the original lyrics, composed by Sir Harold Boulton, was as follows:

"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king
Over the sea to Skye."

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of 'Treasure Island' and 'Kidnapped', decided that the lyrics didn't do the tune justice and wrote another version around 1892:

Chorus:
"Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.

Mull was astern, Rum on the port,
Eigg on the starboard bow;
Glory of youth glowed in his soul;
Where is that glory now?

[Chorus]

Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone!
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lad that's gone!

[Chorus]

Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone."

'Outlander' uses the chorus and third verse of his poem, but changes a "lad" to a "lass" in keeping with the main character of the show.

This question was brought to you by smpdit, who sits with bagpipes ringing in her ears, whilst gnawing on haggis and wearing tartan.

Answer: United Kingdom

Italy became the first country to lay claim to a Formula One world drivers' champion when Nino Farina took the inaugural title in 1950 and it gained another when Alberto Ascari won it in 1952 and 1953. Juan Manuel Fangio also took five titles for Argentina between 1951 and 1957 before any of the English-speaking nations listed in the question got a look-in. The UK's Mike Hawthorn took the 1958 championship; Australia's Jack Brabham claimed the next two in 1959 and 1960 (and won again in 1966 as well); and Phil Hill became the first US winner in 1961. New Zealand had to wait until 1967 when Denny Hulme became their first champion.

While F1 drivers get to lift a trophy every time they win a race, there is also a rarely seen trophy awarded to the winner of the drivers' championship that is handed out at a special world motorsports prize giving ceremony each December. The trophy only dates from 1995, but it is inscribed with the names of all the F1 champions from 1950 onwards.

Phoenix Rising's self-proclaimed biggest F1 fan, F1F1ona81, won the race to claim the right to write this question.

Answer: Hindi

Sri Lanka has been embroiled in linguistic politics since it achieved independence (as Ceylon) from Britain in 1948, after which it decreed Sinhala, the language of 75% of its people, its only official language. Despite concessions to the Tamil minority, the Sri Lankan Civil War began in 1983. A 1987 amendment to the Constitution gave the Tamil language equal status, with English as a third "link language", but the war continued for another 22 years. With the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ("Tamil Tigers") in 2009, Sri Lanka became effectively trilingual, even so far as its legislative debates. Sinhala stems from the Indo-European language family, yet its use of the ancient abugida script makes it an excellent example of diglossia.

Question submitted by Humanist who advocates for early instruction in foreign languages.

Answer: Chariots of Fire

Since 1946 the top award at the Cannes Film Festival (previously called the International Film Festival) has been known as either the Grand Prix or the Palme d'Or.

'The Lost Weekend' (1945), directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland, and 'Marty' (1955), written by Paddy Chayefsky and starring Ernest Borgnine, both won the Academy Award for Best Picture from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the Grand Prix ('The Lost Weekend') or Palme d'Or ('Marty'), indicating an early consensus between French and American cinematic tastes. It would be another 64 years until the Academy and the Festival would agree that their highest honors should be bestowed on the same movie, 'Parasite' ('Gisaengchung') (2019), a black comedy thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho who also co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won, heralding the emerging excellence of Asian cinema.

'Chariots of Fire' (1981) was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was also in contention for the Palme d'Or, but did not win it.

Question written by Humanist who turned to Netflix with the temporary shuttering of the local library.

Answer: The War of Jenkins' Ear

The War of Jenkins' Ear began in 1739, before being subsumed into the wider War of the Austrian Succession that lasted until 1748. The "Jenkins' Ear" part of that conflict took place largely in the period up to 1742 and started as a trade dispute between Britain and Spain, when the Spanish alleged the Brits were trading illicitly in the Spanish Caribbean. The conflict acquired its peculiar name from a British merchant ship captain who lost an ear during a confrontation with the Spanish coastguard eight years before the war began, while engaged in legitimate trading business. In addition, there had been an unremitting dispute over the border between the English colony of Georgia and that of the Spanish colony of Florida. Though much of the war took place on the sea, the part that did occur on land was between these two colonies.

This question was reconnoitred by Phoenix Rising undercover intelligence agent, VegemiteKid (not my real name).

Answer: Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake

The largest lake in North America is Lake Superior. It was first described as "la lac superior" by French explorers to refer to the fact that it was the only lake upstream from the other Great Lakes.

Lake Huron is the second-largest lake in North America and third-largest freshwater lake in the world. Located between Lake Superior and Lake Erie, its outlet is the St Clair River.

Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great lakes situated entirely within US boundaries. While it is third in area of the Great Lakes, it is the second in volume.

The Great Bear Lake is the fourth-largest in area in North America, largest entirely within Canada and the eighth-largest in the world. It is located in the Northwest Territories.

Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the fifth-biggest and the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres (2,014 ft), and the tenth-largest lake overall in the world. Yellowknife, the capital and only city in the Northwest Territories, is situated on its shores.

The other two Great Lakes, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, are the sixth and eighth-largest respectively in North America.

This question was watered down by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: Antonio Guterres

The United Nations Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 and the agency came into existence on 24 October 1945, with 51 countries represented.

António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, who served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995-2002, was selected as the UN Secretary-General in 2017. He was born in 1949, four years after the UN was founded.

Trygve Lie was a Norwegian politician, who was the first elected Secretary-General. He was born in 1896 and served in the position for six years (1946-52). South Korean-born Ban Ki-Moon was only a toddler when the UN was set up, having been born in 1944. His term in the top job was from 2007 to 2016.

Jacques Pantaléon never held a position in the UN. He was better known as Pope Urban IV, who was in charge of the Catholic Church many centuries ago (1261-64).

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member, ozzz2002, who is not diplomatic enough to be selected as a Secretary-General, OR a Pope!

Answer: Character from a play by Shakespeare

Harry Potter's owl was Hedwig, and many famous (or not so famous) Hedwigs are scattered throughout history.

Hedwig Eleonora (1634-1715) was married to Sweden's King Charles X Gustav and crowned Queen in 1654. She served as regent during the reigns of her son King Charles XI (1660-1672) and her grandson King Charles XII (in 1692).

The real Von Trapp family, written about by Baroness Maria Von Trapp, inspired a West German film 'The Trapp Family' and also the movie 'The Sound of Music'. The real von Trapp children were (from eldest) Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina. The names and sexes of the children were changed for the movie version and Hedwig then became Brigitta.

Actress Hedwig (Hedy) Lamarr became a household name for her movies from 1930 to 1954. She was also an inventor who, with friend George Antheil, invented and patented a frequency-hopping device that could not be tracked or jammed. During WWII the US Navy rejected the device, however, by the time of the Cuban missile crisis it had been installed in the Navy fleet.

Queen Hermione of Sicilia is a strong, regal character in Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale'.

Leith90 spread her wings and delivered this question into the Phoenix Rising cauldron.

Answer: Skewered chicken

Ah, chicken on a stick, yummy! Actually, it is chicken on a 'kushi', which is, essentially, a skewer made of bamboo or steel. Once skewered, the chicken is placed over a charcoal grill to cook and is seasoned in the process. The seasonings are defined as either 'salty', in which case it is simply salted, or, 'salty-sweet', where it is basted with a mixture called 'tare'. This is a sauce made up of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar. But let your imagination go and set your taste buds free... you can also use additional spices such as cayenne, the spice mix shichimi, black pepper or, perhaps, some wasabi.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 put aside his skewered view of things to bring you this question.

Answer: Russell Crowe

Both 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away' are Australian soap operas that have graced television screens since the 1980s. 'Neighbours' first aired on the Seven Network in March of 1985. It fared well in Melbourne but struggled in the larger Sydney market. Seven dumped it and their rival, Channel Ten, snapped it up in a heartbeat and turned it into a major success world-wide. This hurt Seven and, desperate to recapture that market, they launched 'Home and Away' in January of 1988. Both programmes represent two of Australia's greatest media exports and both have been inducted into the 'Logie Hall of Fame'.

Russell Crowe's stay at Ramsay Street ('Neighbours') was brief. He played a minor character named Kenny Larkin for four episodes in 1987. Five years later he would come to prominence in Australia cinema as the star of 'Romper Stomper' (1992), playing the role of Hando, a neo-Nazi skinhead.

On 'Home and Away', Heath Ledger was Scott Irwin for nine episodes in 1997, Naomi Watts played Julie Gibson for 19 episodes in 1991 but the stayer in the pack was Isla Fisher who played Shannon Reed for a whopping 354 episodes between 1994 and 1997.

This was brought to you by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who advised that no telephones were harmed during the making of this question.

Answer: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

On 30 April 2013, Willem-Alexander became King of the Netherlands after the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix. The former Queen reigned for 33 years, having ascended to the throne upon the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana. After her abdication she became known as Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix. Beatrix became the third Dutch Queen in a row to abdicate, with her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, having abdicated in 1948.

The other three succeeded their fathers to the throne. King Philippe of Belgium ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following the abdication of King Albert II for health reasons. King Albert had reigned for only 20 years. King Felipe VI of Spain ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I, who reigned for almost 40 years. Emperor Naruhito of Japan acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, following the abdication of his father, Akihito, after a reign of 30 years.

Phoenix Rising member lg549 inherited this question after the abdication of its previous owner.

Answer: ABBA

The album in question was called 'Dancing Queen' and contained covers of ten ABBA hits. It was released following Cher's appearance as Ruby Sheridan (the mother of Meryl Streep's character) in the jukebox musical sequel 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'. In the movie she performed a duet of ABBA's 'Fernando' with Andy Garcia and starred in the rendition of 'Super Trouper' by the whole cast that accompanied the end credits.

'Dancing Queen' (the Cher album, not the ABBA song) claimed number three on the US Billboard 200 on its chart debut and many of the songs from it featured on her world 'Here We Go Again' tour that also began in 2018.

When Phoenix Rising realised 'One of Us' was needed to write an ABBA-themed question, Fifiona81 shouted 'Gimme!, Gimme! Gimme!', leaving the rest to simply mutter 'Mamma Mia'...

Answer: Dominica

The flag of Dominica features a green field with a cross of yellow, black and white stripes. In the centre is a red disc with ten stars and a central sisserou parrot, which is both endemic to Dominica, and endangered. The green field represents the vegetation of the island. The cross is the Trinity and Christianity, with its three bands symbolising the "native people, the fertile soil, and the pure water". The red disc represents justice and the ten green five-pointed stars are representative of the country's ten parishes.

The frigate bird appears on the flag of Kiribati. Uganda's flag features a crested crane and there is a golden eagle on the Zambian flag.

This question was hoisted and flown into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument built on Salisbury Plain in the county of Wiltshire. It is composed of immense blocks of stone arranged in a circle with other blocks laid across the top. There is much discussion as to how the building works were achieved over 5000 years ago and how the stones were transported.

'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' is a novel by Thomas Hardy; it is a sad tale of a lower-class woman, disgraced through an unwilling liaison with a nobleman, which results in a child. The child dies, but destroys Tess's life, even though the affair was forced upon her due to the contradictory mores of society. She ends up committing murder as she sees no other way out of her predicament and is tracked down and apprehended at Stonehenge.

This question was built by smpdit, whose children upon being presented with Stonehenge were heard to mutter "it's just a bunch of rocks".

Answer: Lemur

Born in England (Somerset) in 1939, John Cleese has a marvelous pedigree in British comedy including TV's 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' and its associated movies, 'Fawlty Towers' and movies including 'A Fish Called Wanda', 'Fierce Creatures', the 'Shrek' and 'Harry Potter' series and many more. Cleese has also been politically active, campaigning for human rights, including fund raising for Amnesty International. He developed a fondness for lemurs during the filming of 'Fierce Creatures' which led to his 1998 documentary for the BBC titled: 'In the Wild: Operation Lemur with John Cleese'. He became active in efforts to protect these animals and such efforts were recognized when a newly identified species of lemur, the Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) was named in his honour.

This question was served up at the question table by PR member MikeMaster99 without any sign of the Sydney Opera House, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or herds of wildebeest from his window.

Answer: Porto-Novo

Porto-Novo is Portuguese for New Port (though French is the main language) and is the capital of Benin in West Africa. It is the main port on Benin's short mainland coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and the country's second-biggest city after Cotonou, which is the seat of government. Whilst the port city was originally settled by the Yoruba-speaking people, the settlement consolidated into a city-port with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1730. They made the port a slave trade departure point and named it after Porto, Portugal's second largest city of which it resembles.

The incorrect options are three of the island national capitals: Port Louis in Mauritius, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Port Vila in Vanuatu. The other "port" capitals are Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago and Port-au-Prince in Haiti. Stanley, better known as Port Stanley, is considered the capital of the Falkland Islands and Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey, both of which are British dependencies rather than sovereign countries in their own right.

This portable question was shipped into the quiz at just the right spot by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.