Killer Bs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blinded by the Light

Written by Bruce Springsteen, 'Blinded by the Light' is one of those rare beasts; a 'B' side single that has, over the years, achieved a level of greatness that the 'A' side has failed to do. How many players can even recall 'Don't Kill It Carol' or the album from which the single was taken? Bruce Springsteen wrote and released this song back in 1973 and the Manfred Mann cover version was recorded for their 1976 album 'The Roaring Silence'.

The Manfred's released the song as an 'A' side in the US which achieved number one status on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977. Surprisingly, in 1979 the band selected the song again for the 'B' side of their single release 'Don't Kill it Carol', a track taken from their album 'Angel Station'... Not only a killer 'B' side but something of a killer 'A' side as well!

Answer: Brazen Bull

The Brazen Bull as it came to be known was a dreadful instrument of torture and death. It consisted of a huge hollow bronze figure of a bull inside which its victim was placed. A fire was lit underneath the body of the beast and, as the bronze became hotter and hotter, the victim inside was roasted alive.

The body cavity of the bull also contained a network of pipes that exited through the bull's mouth and as the hapless individual inside died in agony, their cries were amplified for the amusement of the king and his court. Unfortunately for Perillos, the tyrant decided to try out this new device on the very man that had made it for him... Even more unfortunately, (at least for Phalaris) when the tyrant was finally deposed, he also met his fate in the belly of his beast.

Answer: Rallying

Remember the Ford RS2000 rally car? Or maybe the legendary Audi Quattro S1? Group B rallying began in 1982 when the FIA introduced the set of regulations that were to control it. This group, and these regulations, was responsible for the development of some of the most powerful and the fastest rally cars ever to appear on the rally circuit.

As well as vehicles built by those manufacturers that it would be reasonable to expect to see such as Audi, BMW, Lancia and Porsche, eastern bloc manufacturers such as Lada, FSO Polonez and Skoda became involved. Sadly after a high number of fatal accidents that included not just the drivers and navigators but the fans as well, Group B rallying was withdrawn in 1986; this was a shame in this authors opinion as many of the spectator deaths and injuries could have been prevented by better marshalling.

Answer: Yersinia pestis

What can be said about the Black Death that has not already been said thousands of times before? The Black Death or Bubonic Plague has been a scourge of mankind since time immemorial. The disease appears with frightening regularity although, thankfully, a full scale outbreak has not arisen for many, many years; the last occurrence of the disease in Great Britain was during 1666.

The bacterium Yersinia pestis was first isolated and identified as the probable cause of the infection by Alexandre Yersis, a Swiss physician who was assisting with an outbreak of the plague in Hong Kong during 1894. Thankfully the expected 60% fatality rate of the past has been greatly reduced with the use of a number of modern antibiotics which include streptomycin and tetracycline.

The disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei is more commonly known as Sleeping Sickness and the Lyssavirus is the pathogen that causes rabies, both of which are regarded as highly dangerous. Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the agent which causes the disease diphtheria.

Answer: Blood agents

As an NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) warfare instructor, I actually spent much of my military service preparing and training soldiers to fight and survive in environments contaminated with any number of lethal agents, particularly nerve agents and, in this case, blood agents.

A blood agent is a chemical toxin that is absorbed into the blood and kills its victim by interfering with the bloods ability to transport oxygen to the tissues of the body. Blood agents are generally regarded by the military as 'non-persistent' agents; this means that, once delivered, they are only effective for a short duration before rapidly disseminating into the environment. Usage of these agents in built up areas, which prevent their dispersion so quickly, is another story altogether and these toxins prove to be highly effective.

Besides its toxicity, the most dangerous blood agent, by far, is hydrogen cyanide as it is relatively persistent in enclosed areas and stable in storage. At the other end of the scale is a substance known as phosgene which is highly toxic but very unstable and which may cause difficulties for those delivering the agent as well as for those that may be on the receiving end...

But they're banned; aren't they?

Answer: The Big Bang Theory

The hugely successful US television comedy show 'The Big Bang Theory' was first shown on the US CBS network on the 24th of September 2007. In the early series the show featured five main characters; Dr Leonard Hofstadter played by actor Johnny Galecki, Dr Sheldon Cooper played by Jim Parsons, Dr Raj Koothrappali portrayed by Kunal Nayyar, Engineer Howard Wolowitz and waitress, aspiring actress and neighbour Penny played by actress Kaley Cuoco. Obsessive-compulsive theoretical physicist Dr Sheldon Cooper, a child prodigy with an IQ of 187 uses the phrase 'Bazinga!' on those occasions where he believes that he has successfully played a joke on someone...

His victims are usually those that he calls his friends. I really enjoy 'TBBT' as it has often been referred to but saying that, if I'd had to live with him, I think that by the end of the first season I would have gleefully killed Sheldon Cooper myself!

Answer: Anthrax

Metal band Anthrax was formed by New York City musicians Scott Ian and Dan Lilker in 1981 and were the only one of the big four pioneering 'Thrash Metal' bands of the period to hail from the eastern part of the United States; the others, Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer were all formed and based on the other side of the continent.

This album, which was the first compilation by Anthrax contains a selection of unused songs recorded and intended for use as 'B' sides, a number of recordings of songs from the bands live shows and other oddities and cover versions; the cover version of the song 'Protect and Survive' by British punk band Discharge was recorded purely for fun.

The album also contains an example of the band's habit of spelling some song titles in reverse as a ruse to slip parental advisory song titles past the arbiters of decency.

The album performed well, reaching the number 27 spot on the US Billboard 200 Chart and the number 13 position on the UK Album Chart.

Answer: Birds

Opinions differ as to the source and meaning of this phrase; one school of thought is that it is related to the hunting of small birds using a slingshot and relates to the act of doing something very skilfully, another foreshortened idiom of indeterminate age has been traced to China which simply states 'two birds, one stone'.

In modern usage we use it as an expression of achieving an aim using the minimum of effort as in the example "I was visiting London on business anyway, so I took the opportunity to visit my uncle living there". I apologise to any fans of Justin, but I was looking for something suitable that began with 'B' and just couldn't help myself!

Answer: Bull Shark

Along with both the Tiger Shark and the Great White Shark, the Bull Shark, Carcharinus leucas, is one of the most dangerous creatures in the seas... And in some rivers! Bull Sharks are a diadromous species which means that they can live as easily and almost as happily (if a shark can ever be considered 'happy') in fresh water as they can in the seas and individuals have been recorded in the Mississippi River as far north as the state of Illinois.

The species is one of the largest of the shark family and is certainly one of the more aggressive; samples taken from some specimens show that they have very high levels of testosterone in their blood. Ally this with the fact that the Bull Shark prefers an environment where the water is shallower than one hundred feet in depth, predominately coastal areas, and it is easy to see why these animals could be responsible for more attacks on humans than any of the more ocean-going species such as the Great White.

The female Bull Shark is generally larger than the male and grows to a size of around thirteen feet in length and to over twelve hundred pounds in weight.

Answer: Brian

Now, I know that Brian Cox is not a bad man, but I needed something related to the movies for this question rather than to try and find the real thing! The 1986 film 'Manhunt' was the first to feature the chilling character, the murderous cannibal, Dr Hannibal Lecter.

The film was directed by Michael Mann and follows the investigation by Will Graham, an FBI criminal profiler played by the actor William Petersen, into a series of murders attributed to a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy, a mountain of a man played by the actor Tom Noonan.

Although the film performed relatively badly on its release, earning just over eight million dollars at the box office, it has, over the years achieved something approaching cult status, possibly due to it being discovered by fans of the later film manifestations of Hannibal Lecter in 'The Silence of the Lambs', 'Hannibal' and 'Red Dragon'.