Keep Your Head Together Trivia Quiz

Answer: The French Revolution

Lasting ten years, the French Revolution was a landmark uprising in the history of France when the bourgeoisie attempted to throw off the shackles of oppression and bring an end to the French aristocratic regime of the time. The famous storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789 sparked the revolution and the events that followed. Upon its end, the revolution brought a new wave of much-needed democratic, social and cultural evolution to France.

Answer: Harry Potter

Also known as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, Nearly Headless Nick is the house ghost for Gryffindor. His nickname came about because his execution didn't quite go as planned. The axe that was supposed to behead him was, in fact, blunt and repeated attempts to remove Nick's noggin failed to completely do so. Thus, Nick lived on as a ghost with an almost detachable head.

In Harry, Ron and Hermione's first year, they befriend Nick and even get invited to a party in their second year in celebration of his death.

This particular scene didn't make it into the film adaptation of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', but Nick's petrification by the Basilisk did appear. In the films, Nick was played by star of 'Monty Python' and 'Fawlty Towers' John Cleese.

Answer: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' formed part of 'The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.', a formidable anthology of some of Washington Irving's most notable writings. In this particular short story, the ghost of a Headless Horseman is said to roam the settlement of Tarry Town.

After a night of ghost stories and a failed attempt at a marriage proposal, the central character, Ichabod Crane, meets the Headless Horseman and rides for his life out of sheer terror, eventually going missing in mysterious circumstances.

Answer: W.A.S.P.

The Los Angeles-born heavy metal group released 'The Headless Children' in 1989, after seeing successes with 'W.A.S.P.' (1984), 'The Last Command' (1985) and 'Inside the Electric Circus' (1986). Featuring a cover of The Who's 'The Real Me', 'The Headless Children' managed to peak at #48 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

It saw better success overseas, however, reaching #8 in the UK on the British Phonographic Industry Top 40 chart.

Answer: Henry VIII

Remember that old mnemonic? Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. As was the case for wives 2 and 5, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard met a rather grisly end at the hands of King Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn, charged with treason, incest and adultery, met her maker on the nineteenth of May, 1536 at the Tower of London. Catherine Howard too was accused of adultery and died on the thirteenth of February, 1542.

Answer: The Godfather

Based on the novel by the Italian-American author Mario Puzo, the Francis Ford Coppola-directed 'The Godfather' told the story of the Corleone family, a crime family living and operating in New York. During the film, Vito Corleone, the Don of the family, sends his personal advisor to coerce the head of a production studio into giving his godson a role in an upcoming film.

In one of cinema's most iconic scenes, the studio head awakes one morning to find the head of his prized horse in his bed. This, however, did not go without some controversy.

The severed head used in the scene was, in fact, from a real horse, and animal rights activists were up in arms. The outrage was quelled somewhat when it was revealed that, quite rightly, a horse was not deliberately beheaded, but rather that it came from a dog food canning factory prior to being processed. 'The Godfather' was recognised at the 1973 Academy Awards, picking up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (for Marlon Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: Mike

In 1945, a farmer attempted to kill one of his chickens to have for dinner that night. That chicken was called Mike. Fortunately for him, the axe used missed one of his major blood vessels and kept his brain stem relatively intact. A blood clot prevented him from bleeding to death, and thus, a small legend was born. Mike was able to survive by having his owner feed him using eye droppers, and the state of his brain stem was good enough to still allow him to move around and breathe. Sadly, Mike died choking in 1947 after 18 months of headlessness.

Answer: Doctor Who

The Order of the Headless Monks made their appearance in 'A Good Man Goes to War', the seventh episode of Series 6 of the revived 'Doctor Who'. The episode itself marked the end of the first half of the series and concluded with a thrilling cliffhanger, which was resolved somewhat in the second half of the series, broadcast several months later.

In the episode, the Headless Monks were a religious order who served Madame Kovarian and her army at the Demon's Run base and were there to fight the Doctor and his companions.

They wore long, dark robes with a hood obscuring where their head once was. At one point, the hood is lowered to reveal the skin around the neck and shoulders tied off. Still capable of seeing, or at least knowing where they're going, the Monks are slain by the Doctor and co. at the Battle of Demon's Run, before a big revelation and the episode's cliffhanger.

Answer: Warren Zevon

One of Warren Zevon's most notable songs, 'Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner' came from his third album, 'Excitable Boy', which also featured the classic 'Werewolves of London'. As a frequent guest on the American talk show 'The Late Show with David Letterman', his last appearance on the programme in 2002 was marked with the entire show devoted to him and his music.

The very last song played by Zevon on that broadcast was 'Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner'. His declining health precluded him from making any further live music appearance, and just over a year after his last 'Late Show' stint, Zevon died.

Answer: Cockroach

The unique physiological make-up of a cockroach allows them to, in some cases, survive a beheading. Insects do not possess lungs like most other animals do; instead, they breathe through small holes called spiracles dotted all over their body. Thus, a mouth, and therefore a head, is not required to breathe.

Moreover, their low metabolic rate and need for very little food means that they can survive for quite a lot longer without food than most other creatures. The simple open circulation that exists inside a cockroach means it cannot bleed to death; blood clotting will occur fairly quickly to prevent any major loss. Cockroaches have the potential to live for a long time after decapitation, so there is quite a bit of scientific truth in that oft-remembered cockroach fact.