If I Only Had a Brain Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hippopotamus

The figures for brain: body mass ratio are 1:2,789 (hippo), 1:600 (horse), 1:560 (elephant) and 1:125 (dog). A more accurate measure of intelligence would be the ratio of the size of the brain to what it should be, given the body mass of the animal.

This would make the elephant more intelligent than the dog. Where do humans come on the list? At the top ... unless you count me with my pea-brain.

Answer: Twelve

we're in a bakery - a baker's dozen is thirteen so one bun short makes twelve. Why thirteen in a baker's dozen? It goes back to the times of King Henry III and a statute called the Assize of Bread and Ale which could result in potentially draconian punishment for supplying short measures. Bakers developed the practice of baking an extra loaf in a batch of twelve as a form of insurance.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

The quote can be found in 'Napoleon: In His Own Words' edited by Jules Bertaut, as translated by Herbert Edward Law (1916). 'Stupidity' is often used in the quote instead of 'absurdity'. Napoleon I rose to power as a general and then seized political power in 1799.

His disastrous military foray into Russia led to his exile to Elba. After re-emerging from exile, he met his Waterloo in 1815 which was followed by permanent exile to St Helena.

Answer: Greece

The source of the phrase "losing one's marbles" is probably not a reference to the Greek's loss of the sculptures and friezes to Lord Elgin. The term used to apply to losing one's temper as well as losing one's mind.

Lord Elgin acquired his Marbles over the course of a decade from 1801 while ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Greece. Greece at the time was under Ottoman control. Controversy over ownership of the Marbles continues to this day. Maybe that Lord Elgin has my missing marble as well.

Answer: Wood

Ten-pin bowling is a relatively recent game and is a variant of nine-pin bowling introduced into the United States from Europe. Versions of the game arguably go back as far as Egyptian times where stones bowls were used. Henry VIII is said to have used cannonballs for bowls. From 1906, wood was replaced with a hardened rubber as the material of choice for bowls, with plastic taking over during the 1960s and 1970s.

Answer: Pilaster

A pilaster is a type of column built into or onto a wall. A belfry is a bell tower or the part of a tower which houses the bells. Campanile is the Italian name for a bell tower and a steeple is another name for a church tower. A carillon is a set of bells typically in a tower and played via a keyboard. Many bells use an automated playing system.

Answer: Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, had a modified version of the leather Hessian boot made, which he is said to have worn during the Battle of Waterloo. When vulcanised rubber became available, the rubber version of the boot was (surprisingly perhaps) first produced and used in France. The two World Wars saw large scale use of the rubber boot by British forces and popularised their use in the UK. Other names used include gum boots, gummies, rain boots, billy boots and wellies.

Answer: Sweden

What made dynamite so successful was that unstable nitroglycerin became safer and easier to handle when mixed with an inert substance such as diatomaceous earth.

The wealth generated by dynamite (and other inventions such as gelignite) allowed its inventor Alfred Nobel to use his will to set up the Nobel Prize funds. His decision to do so is said to have been influenced by seeing his premature obituaries along the lines of "the merchant of death is dead", which were mistakenly printed by French newspapers following the death of one of his brothers in France.

Answer: Intergalactic space

There are still a few atoms floating around each cubic metre of space so strictly speaking space is not a perfect vacuum, however it is about as good as it gets in the natural world. Gravity keeps most of the atoms clustered around stars, planets, black holes and the like. Atmospheres around planets such as Earth gradually reduce in density as you move away from the surface. The quality of the vacuum therefore varies throughout space.

Answer: The Wizard of Oz

Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg collaborated to produce all the songs in the film "The Wizard of Oz" including "Over The Rainbow", which was voted number one in the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century".

The song "If I Only Had a Brain" was sung by the Scarecrow with the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man singing their versions "If I Only Had the Nerve" and "If I Only Had a Heart" respectively. It all worked out in the end so there is hope for me yet.