Initial Letter Link 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oregano

The name "oregano" comes from two Greek words meaning "brightness of the mountain". The herb is used widely in Italian cooking but also more widely around the Mediterranean. A constituent of pizza and pasta sauces, oregano also has a number of health benefits as it contains an antioxidant.

Answer: Etymology

Phonetics is the study of sounds in words, syntax the formation of sentences, and semantics the study of the meanings of words. In most dictionaries a word will be followed by an indication of the part of speech of the word (eg noun, verb, adjective) and then a description of its etymology.

This may include the language from which the word is derived and the meaning of the stem of the word in the original language.

Answer: Brunei

Brunei has been independent since 1984 and is ruled by the Sultan. It has remained a member of the Commonwealth and is also a member of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). It wealth is based on its large oil and natural gas resources.

Sarawak and Sabah are also located on the island of Borneo while Papua New Guinea is an island to the north of Australia.

Answer: Erik the Red

Although not the first Viking to see or even to land on Greenland, Erik Thorvaldsson, known as "the Red", probably because of the colour of his hair and beard, is believed to have been the first to build a settlement on Greenland. This probably occurred about the year 982CE during a period of exile from his home in Iceland following a quarrel in which he killed a neighbour.

Answer: Nevermore

"The Raven" is a very atmospheric poem from the deepest, darkest recesses of Poe's imagination. The writer is bemoaning his lost love and every question he asks the bird produces the same response and drives him deeper in despair. The first line sets the tone - "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary" - and the eighteen stanzas take us progressively into the poet's nightmare.

Not a poem to be read to lighten your mood!

Answer: Lime

The lime is of course a citrus fruit.

Orson Welles played the apparently dead friend of Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) called Harry Lime in "The Third Man", only for Martins' investigation into his death to show that it was a fake and his friend turns out to be a racketeer who had been smuggling penicillin.

The chemical calcium oxide is also known as quicklime or burnt lime.

Answer: Uncertainty principle

A Nobel prizewinner in Physics in 1932 for his work on quantum mechanics, Heisenberg was a German scientist who published the paper on his uncertainty principle in 1927. His work ranged widely and included participating in the creation of Germany's first nuclear reactor.

His work on nuclear research has become controversial as some of it took place while he worked for the German army during World War II.

Answer: Manchester

On 16 August 1819 a crowd estimated at up to 50,000 people gathered at St. Peter's Field in Manchester to hear "Orator" Henry Hunt speak on parliamentary reform. Only four years after the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the propertied classes were afraid of political radicalism which they feared might lead to violent revolution. The fact that the radicals had been drilling for weeks and came with their families in their best clothes suggested a level of organisation that seemed ominous to the authorities.

During the four years since Waterloo various radical actions had increased the nervousness of those in power, both locally and nationally. The magistrates of Manchester ordered the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry Cavalry, a recently formed local regiment, to arrest Hunt and others on the cart they were using as a platform (or hustings). The inexperienced soldiers, themselves nervous and in some cases fortified by drink, attempted to do this by charging into the crowd and using their sabres to force a way through. The result was panic and within minutes the field was cleared. There were conflicting reports of casualties but at least eighteen people were killed and about seven hundred injured.

In mocking memory of the victory at Waterloo a local newspaper nicknamed the event "Peterloo". It is one of the most infamous occasions of repression in British history.

Answer: Rupiah

The Ringgit is the currency of Malaysia, the Riel that of Cambodia, while several countries including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have currencies called rupees.

Answer: Melbourne

In 1956 Melbourne became the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the summer Olympics. As a result of Australia's strict animal quarantine regulations to prevent the spread of diseases such as foot and mouth, the equestrian events took place in Stockholm.

The concern about the importation of plant or animal diseases lasted for many years. In 1970 when I travelled to Australia, the only thing in my baggage that the Customs officer inspected was the end of my cricket bat to make sure there was no soil adhering to it!