Miscellany No. 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Falstaff

Sir John Falstaff first appeared in 'Henry IV Part One'(1576-7). Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901) based the 3-act comic opera 'Falstaff' on William Shakespeare's 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'(1597-8) written on the express wishes of Elizabeth I, who wanted to see Falstaff fall in love. Windsor is a Royal town in Berkshire home to Windsor Castle - an official residence of the Queen and the largest occupied residential castle in the world.

Answer: Onion

The Ailsa Craig onion (also the name of a variety of tomato) gets its name from the onion-shaped island at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. Gaelic for 'Fairy Rock', Ailsa Craig lies at the heart of an ancient volcano and was once inhabited for the mining of granite.

This rock was used to make curling stones and most of the stones still in use today are made of Ailsa Craig granite. The only inhabitants of the island now are sea birds.

Answer: West Indies

Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (b. 1924 Barbados d.1967 Kingston, Jamaica) played International Test Cricket for the West Indies and also played for Barbados and Jamaica. He was a Right Hand bat and a Slow Left Arm Orthodox bowler. Named Wisden 'Cricketer of the Year' in 1951, he was knighted for services to cricket in 1964.

The grounds of Kingston, Jamaica and the Memorial Ground at St Augustine, Trinidad are both named after Frank Worrell.

Answer: Lance

Used for over a century, the lance was abolished by the British Army in 1927. The pike was abandoned in 1705 and at the end of the 19th century the breech-loading rifle replaced the musket. The bayonet is still classified as a military weapon with almost all assault rifles in current use having provision for the fixture of a bayonet.

Answer: Weather forecast

In September 1860 The Times was the first British newspaper to publish a weather forecast. This was the brainchild of Admiral Robert FitzRoy who was one of the first people to attempt scientific weather forecasting. He designed the Admiral FitzRoy Domestic Barometer around 1850 which is on display at the Science Museum, Kensington, London. Admiral FitzRoy was Captain of The Beagle and it was he who chose Charles Darwin to accompany him on the famous expedition of 1831.

Answer: Jedi

Before the census, e-mails were circulated stating if 10,000 people entered 'Jedi' on their census returns the British government would have no option but to classify it as a legal religion. Druidism, Divine Lightmission and Wiccan are also legally acceptable religions.

Answer: Irn Bru

Andrew Greig Barr (1872-1903) took over the family soft drinks firm in Glasgow and deveoped Iron Brew (later Irn Bru) in 1901. Barr's are the largest British manufacturer of soft drinks and Irn Bru is familiarly known as 'Scotland's other national drink'.

Answer: The Angel of the North statue

Antony Gormley sculptured the 'Angel of the North', a statue standing 20 metres high overlooking the A1 road just outside Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. With a weight of 208 tonnes, the statue was designed to last over a century and withstand winds in excess of 100mph. Brian Gamlin, a Bury (Lancashire) carpenter devised the sequence of numbering a dartboard in 1896 but died before he could patent it. Joe Gormley, later Baron Gormley of Ashton-in-Makerfield, was President of the National Union of Mineworkers.

In October 2003, Lloyd Scott wearing an antique diving suit completed his underwater marathon of Loch Lomond, walking the 26 miles in twelve days.

Answer: Salisbury

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral stands 404 feet in height. Built in the English style, work began in 1220. It is the mother church of the Salisbury diocese which mostly covers the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The cathedral houses one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215.

Answer: Cricket

The Duckworth-Lewis method is a system devised by English statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis used to adjust victory targets of one-day cricket in the event of rain delaying play. In 1997 this system was adopted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and likewise by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Answer: Tate Britain

Tate Britain, opened on the site of Millbank Prison in 1897 as the Tate Gallery, houses the National Collection of British Art. This collection was donated by its benefactor Sir Henry Tate, inventor of the sugar cube. Tate Britain houses a collection of British art dating from 1500 to the present day.

The Tate Gallery was renamed Tate Britain in 2000 when Tate Modern was opened. The National Gallery is in Trafalgar Square; The National Portrait Gallery is situated in St Martin's Place and the Royal Academy of Arts is located in Burlington House, Piccadilly.

Answer: Zip fastener

The Japanese company known the world over for the manufacture of zip fasteners began in 1934 as San-es Shokai. Having various name changes in 1938 and 1945, the company was renamed YKK Corporation in 1994. YKK was registered as a trademark in 1946.

Answer: The White Tower

The construction of The Tower of London began in the reign of William the Conqueror with limestone from Caen, Normandy. The White Tower (then called the Great Tower) was the main keep being built inside the old Roman city wall and was surrounded by a moat.

The name 'White' for the tower dates from Henry the Third who had it whitewashed in 1241. The Tower of London has housed the Crown Jewels since 1303 and in 1988 was inscribed as a World Heritage site.

Answer: Cook

James Cook (1728-79) British naval officer and explorer. He was killed by natives of the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii. Peter Cook (1937-95), comedy partner of Dudley Moore. He was famous for the television comedy series 'Not Only But Also' and was a founder of 'Private Eye', a satirical magazine. Norman Cook alias Fat Boy Slim is a DJ and producer who was once a member of The Housemartins pop band.

Answer: Legs

The Redshank, a wading bird, has red legs and has grey-brown plumage above and white below. Breeding mainly takes place in Scotland and north-west England and the birds (some coming from Iceland) winter in Cornwall and southern Ireland. The Redshank summers in all coastal areas of Great Britain.