Hurricane Warning Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hawker

The Hawker Hurricane was first flown by Royal Air Force squadrons in 1937 and was designed by Sir Sydney Camm as a single-winged version of the Hawker Fury biplane. During the Battle of Britain, which took place between July and October 1940, the Hurricane played a significant role in the defence of the country against the Luftwaffe and was credited with taking down over half of the aircraft lost by the Germans (most of the rest were accounted for by the more famous Spitfire). Hurricanes were also deployed during Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk), the Blitz, and the defence of Malta. Versions of the plane known as Sea Hurricanes were adapted to operate from aircraft carriers, others were deployed by the Soviet Union and several squadrons were based in the Far East and fought against Japan.

Aircraft built by all of the incorrect options were also used in the Battle of Britain. Supermarine were responsible for the RAF's Spitfire, while the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and 110 fighters and Heinkel He 111 bombers were flown by Luftwaffe.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's song 'Hurricane' was first released as a single in November 1975 and made it to number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album it came from proved more successful, making it to number one on the US Billboard Hot 200 and achieving platinum certification. 'Hurricane' was a protest against the conviction of the middleweight boxer Rubin Carter for the murder of three people at a restaurant in New Jersey in 1966. Carter had maintained his innocence and the song (which was co-written by Dylan and Jacques Levy) suggested that he had been wrongfully accused and convicted of the crime as a result of racial discrimination.

Carter's conviction was eventually quashed in 1985, after he had spent nearly 20 years in prison. His story was turned into the 1999 film 'The Hurricane', in which Carter was portrayed by Denzel Washington. Carter's nickname of 'Hurricane' came from the speed with which he had knocked out various opponents in the early stages of his boxing career.

Answer: Snooker

Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins first won the snooker world championship in 1972 and then repeated the feat ten years later. He was also the runner-up on two occasions: in 1976, when he was defeated by Ray Reardon, and again in 1980 when he was beaten in the final by Cliff Thorburn, who later went on to become the first player to score a 147 break at the Crucible. Higgins' nickname came from his speed around the table and unusual playing style. He was also notable for having won the 'Triple Crown' of snooker - the World Championship (1972 and 1982), UK Championship (1983) and the Masters (1978 and 1981).

Although he was hugely popular with fans, Higgins was also criticised for a perceived lack of professionalism and several high-profile incidents which saw him convicted of assaulting a tournament referee, temporarily banned from the sport for threatening another player and accused of domestic violence. In later life, Higgins suffered from throat cancer (having been a heavy smoker for many years) and he died in 2010 at the age of 61.

Answer: Germany

The Hurricane Festival, often known simply as Hurricane, first took place in the village of Scheeßel, near Bremen in northern Germany, in 1997. Acts that appeared at that first event included Sheryl Crow, INXS and the Cardigans, while David Bowie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ed Sheeran are among the famous names that have also taken to its stage.

The festival is twinned with another, known as the Southside Festival, which usually takes place on the same dates in June and shares most of its line up with Hurricane. The Southside Festival is held in the town of Neuhausen ob Eck in Baden-Württemberg, the state located in the far south-western corner of Germany.

Answer: John Marin

John Marin was born in 1870 and initially became well-known as a watercolourist. However, he is particularly noted as being one of the first American abstract artists and later worked extensively with oils. He had a close association with the photographer and New York gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz (the husband of the modernist artist Georgia O'Keeffe) and regular exhibitions of his work were held by Stieglitz in the first half of the 20th century.

'Hurricane', painted by Marin in 1944, depicts a seascape during a hurricane, with large, thick patches of paint used to show both the turbulence of the water and the clouds whipping across the sky. It was donated to the Indianapolis Museum of Art by the local collector Caroline Marmon Fesler in 1961.

Marc Chagall and Paul Klee were both modernist artists active in the early to mid-20th century, but Chagall was of Russian and French nationality and Klee was of Swiss and German extraction. Grandma Moses was an American artist, but mostly painted realistic rural landscapes.

Answer: Hamilton

The musical 'Hamilton' was written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and tells the story of the former US Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who was killed in a duel by US Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804. Hamilton was born around 1755 on the Caribbean island of Nevis and lived through a hurricane that caused devastation to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1772. The publication of a letter he wrote about the hurricane led to local leaders donating money to fund the teenage Hamilton's education in the United States. The song 'Hurricane', which tells this part of Hamilton's history, appeared in Act II of the musical.

'Hamilton' received a total of 16 nominations for the 70th Tony Awards, which were held in June 2016, and converted 11 of them into wins. These included the prestigious Best Musical award, as well as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

The incorrect options all won at least one Tony Award at the same ceremony.

Answer: John Ford

John Ford was active as a film director and producer from the silent film era right through to the early 1970s. He was noted for his Westerns, many of which starred John Wayne, as well as classics such as 'The Grapes of Wrath' and 'The Quiet Man', both of which gained him a Best Director Oscar. In total, he won the Best Director Oscar on four occasions ('The Informer' and 'How Green Was My Valley' were the other two) and also received a nomination for 'Stagecoach' in 1940.

'The Hurricane' was directed by Ford and released in 1937. It was set in the South Pacific and told the story of a Polynesian sailor arrested and imprisoned by colonial officials in Tahiti. After managing to escape back to his home island, the sailor, Terangi (played by Jon Hall), saved his wife (Dorothy Lamour), his family and an official's wife from drowning when a massive hurricane struck the area. The film employed impressive (for the time) special effects to recreate the hurricane scenes and won an Oscar for Best Sound Mixing.

The incorrect options all won the Best Director Oscar on a single occasion. Norman Taurog won for 'Skippy' in 1931, Victor Fleming won in 1940 for 'Gone With The Wind' and Delbert Mann claimed the prize in 1956 for 'Marty'.

Answer: Wendell Fite

Wendell Timothy Fite was born in Dallas in 1965 and took the name 'DJ Hurricane' for his career as a rap artist, DJ and music producer. Although he was perhaps best known for taking part in several tours with the Beastie Boys during the 1990s as a DJ, he was also a member of the bands The Afros and Solo Sounds as well as a solo artist, releasing albums such as 1997's 'Severe Damage'. He also DJ'd for American singer Faith Evans on some of her tours in the late 2000s.

The incorrect options are all the names of famous rappers - Marshall Mathers III is better known as Eminem, Shawn Carter is the real name of Jay-Z and Calvin Broadus, Jr. is Snoop Dogg.

Answer: Breaux Greer

Breaux Greer competed for the United States at two Olympic Games in the javelin competition. He finished in 12th place at the 2000 Games in Sydney and 22nd place at the 2008 Games in Beijing, by which time he held the U.S. record for the event with a throw of 91.29 metres. He had more success at the world championships in 2007 where he won a bronze medal and at the US national championships, which he won a total of eight times. The incorrect options are all other US javelin throwers who have won multiple US titles.

In 2008, Greer signed up for the TV series 'American Gladiators'. The show pitched their own 'gladiators' against amateur contestants in a range of athletic events designed to test both strength and agility. Greer appeared under the gladiator name of 'Hurricane' for a single series only.

Answer: Australia

The first UK test of a nuclear device took place just off the Monte Bello Islands in Western Australia in October 1952 - with the agreement of the Australian government. A plutonium bomb was placed inside the hull of a WW2-era Royal Navy frigate (HMS Plym) and detonated in a lagoon next to Trimouille Island. It took 40 years for the area to be declared safe for visitors and the exclusion zone around it to be lifted. The test paved the way for the UK to become the third country in the world to successfully develop nuclear weapons.

The Monte Bello Islands are located approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles) off the north-west coast of Australia and are an important wildlife habitat, despite the nuclear tests that took place there in the 1950s.

The name 'Operation Hurricane' was also given to a WW2 Allied bombing campaign of October 1944 that destroyed large portions of the German cities of Brunswick, Cologne and Duisburg.