Mike's Merry Mayhem Manipulating 'M' Quiz

Answer: Mickey

'Steamboat Willie' was the third animated feature with Mickey Mouse and his girlfriend Minnie, but was the first to be distributed by the Walt Disney studio. It was directed by Disney himself and Ub Iwerks. Mickey was originally intended to be 'Mortimer' but Disney's wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it. Mortimer Mouse did appear later, at times as Minnie's uncle and in other roles as a competitor for Minnie's affections. Walt Disney provided the voice for Mickey from 1928 until 1947. That role was then taken over by Jimmy MacDonald (1947-1977), followed by Wayne Allwine until his death in 2009, after which Bret Iwan became Mickey.

Answer: Minnesota

Minnesota's nickname is 'The Land of the 10,000 Lakes'. This is not hyperbole; according to Wikipedia there are over 11,800 lakes in the state that exceed 10 acres (0.040 km2) in size. The gigantic lumberjack figure and folklore hero, Paul Bunyan, first appeared in print in 1906 in a story by James MacGillivray.

The stories became more popular after use in an advertising campaign for a logging company in 1914. The origin of the character is believed to be from French-Canadians during the Papineau rebellion in 1837. One of the rebels fighting the English with great effect was a giant bearded man named Paul Bonjean.

Answer: Magnificent

'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' subtitled 'Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes' is an English comedic film released in 1965. It starred Stuart Whitman, James Fox, Robert Morley and Sarah Miles. The premise behind the storyline is that a member of the English gentry, Lord Rawnsley, offers a very large reward to the winner of the air race from London to Paris.

The comedy arises from the completely overblown racial stereotypes and ludicrously funny madcap scenarios, brilliantly played by the main cast and great support including Eric Sykes, Benny Hill, Tony Hancock and Gert Fröbe playing a Prussian Officer. Naturally there's a love triangle, featuring Lord Rawnsley's daughter (Miles), a British army officer (Fox) and the upstart American cowboy (Whitman).

There are lots of shots of wonderful early aircraft too (this was set only seven years after Kittyhawk).

Answer: Mauritius

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a real, flightless bird found on the island of Mauritius. Adult birds stood about 3 feet (1 m) tall and weighed 20-40 lbs (9 - 18 kg). Dutch sailors were the first to report the existence of the dodo to the outside world in 1598, with the last creditable sighting only 64 years later.

The dodo was part of the pigeon family and one theory suggests that over a long period it lost the ability to fly as there were abundant food supplies and no predators on Mauritius. The island was also uninhabited until the middle ages when Arab sailors arrived.

The dodo's extinction was due to hunting by humans, their domesticated animals (notably cats and pigs which destroyed the on-ground nests) and introduced invasive species including rats. Loss of jungle habitat through land clearing exacerbated the problem.

Answer: Manfred Mann

The song was 'Blinded by the Light', written by Bruce Springsteen and released in February 1973 to moderate success. Just over three years later, Manfred Mann's Earth Band took the song to Number 1 on the Billboard Top 100. Keyboard player Manfred Mann was born Manfred Sepse Lubowitz in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 21st October 1940.

After recording South Africa's first two rock and roll albums in a two piece group with friend Saul Ozynski, he relocated to the UK as a protest against the apartheid regime.

He changed his name to Manfred Manne which he then changed again to Mann. He had a string of hit records from 1964 to 1969 including 'Pretty Flamingo', 'Doo wah diddy diddy', 'Sha la la' and 'The Mighty Quinn'. The 'Manfred Mann' group then split in 1969 and he formed the 'Earth Band' in 1971. Over the period 1971 to 2004, the group released 18 studio albums and 2 live albums plus a number of compilation sets.

Answer: Maltesers

Maltesers were created by the American businessman Forrest Mars Snr in 1936 and went on sale a year later. The name is a portmanteau word combing 'malt' and 'teasers'. Forest was the son of Mars Inc founder, Frank Mars, and is probably most renowned for developing M&Ms.

In Australia and New Zealand, the orange flavored, chocolate covered lollies called 'Jaffas' (made by Allens) were the first choice for rolling down the aisles, as the harder outer casing made a louder noise than Maltesers. Sadly, with the advent of carpeting in cinemas, this old gag has disappeared.

Answer: Magna Carta

The Magna Carta, written in Latin, was signed and sealed by King John on June 15, 1215. This was in an effort to appease powerful, rebelling barons who were deeply distrustful, and at times openly contemptuous, of the powers held by the highly unpopular King. For those barons, if a mutually acceptable alternative to John was not available, there may have been a civil war.

Instead, this document, known as 'The Great Charter of the Liberties of England' appeased the barons for a short time. However, King John's refusal to abide by some of the terms he had signed, led to the First Baron's War of 1215-17.

Much of the intensity in the fighting concluded with John's death from dysentery in 1216. Nevertheless, the Magna Carta was retained and modified under his successor, the youthful Henry III, and many of the clauses formed the basis for English laws for centuries.

Answer: Malthus

Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus, Fellow of the Royal Society, was born in Surrey, England, in 1766. He spent a considerable amount of time writing the six editions of 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' from 1798 to 1826, inspired to argue against the prevailing 18th century paradigm that a growing population could eventually achieve perfection.

His writings about competition for resources inspired others including evolutionary biologists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Malthus foresaw the time when the population size could not be supported by available resources, especially food, which would then lead to starvation. Malthus didn't foresee the developments arising (in part) from the industrial revolution increasing food yield per land area, assisted by the introduction of artificial fertilizers, notably ammonia from the Haber-Bosch process in the early 20th century. Nevertheless, Malthusian ideas of resource limitation have influenced modern thinkers including Paul Ehrlich and 'The Club of Rome' who published 'The Limits to Growth' in 1972 (updated in 2004).

Answer: Magnesium (Mg)

Lumps of magnesium metal are hard to ignite, but in powdered or ribbon form are easily lit and produce a brilliant white light (and UV light too). Once alight, it cannot be extinguished by water (it simply forms magnesium oxide and hydrogen) or carbon dioxide.

The only conventional method is by smothering, usually with sand. Magnesium was discovered by Joseph Black in 1755 and first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. Found in over 60 minerals including dolomite and olivine, it is commonly used as an antacid (milk of magnesia) and as Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate).

The cationic form, Mg2+, is an essential component of the biological molecule chlorophyll.

Answer: Maurice Micklewhite

Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14 March 1933 in Southwark, a region of central London and an environment that developed his famous cockney accent. He started acting as 'Michael Scott' but changed his name after finding out from an agent that there was another Michael Scott.

He took the surname Caine from the 'Caine Mutiny' which was playing at that time (1954). He had a number of small film roles in the late 1950s, and larger stage roles in the early 1960s but hit the big time with his critically acclaimed role in 'Zulu'. Soon after he played Harry Palmer in the 'Ipcress File' and then 'Alfie' and his career as a frontline actor was established. Since that time he has won Best Supporting Actor Oscars for his roles in 'Hannah and Her Sisters' (1986), and in 1999 for 'The Cider House Rules'.

He has also received a BAFTA and Golden Globe Best Actor Award for 'Educating Rita' in 1983. He was knighted in 2000. In addition to his prolific film career, he has also had numerous TV roles.