Pi's Commemorative Journey Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sir Joseph Paxton

Joseph Paxton (1803 -1865) was a man of many talents. He was a gardener, an architect, and Member of Parliament for Coventry. He worked as Head Gardener for the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, and was responsible for the design of a number of glasshouses there, as well as the magnificent gravity-fed Emperor Fountain, which is on record as reaching to 300 feet.

The greenhouses at Kew resemble Paxton's designs at Chatsworth very closely.
Paxton's greatest achievement was the building of the Crystal Palace in London's Hyde Park, to house the 1851 Great Exhibition. The exhibition had more than six million visitors, which was equivalent to the entire population of Britain at the time, and one of the innovations he made was the provision of public lavatories. These cost one penny to use - hence the expression 'going to spend a penny'.

The Palace was dismantled once the Exhibition was over, and re-erected at Sydenham Hill. It re-opened in 1854 and continued in use as an exhibition centre for many years. It was destroyed in 1936 in a great fire.

NB: Chris's garden was lovely, and all her own work!

The incorrect answers refer to famous Victorian builders and architects.
Barry designed the Palace of Westminster, and Pugin designed its Gothic Revival interior.

Cubitt was a prolific builder, responsible for building many of the gracious town houses in central London and elsewhere, as well the east front of Buckingham Palace.

Question by Invinoveritas.

Answer: Discworld

Discworld, a flat disc carried on the back of four elephants who are themselves balanced on the back of a giant turtle called the Great A'Tuin, is the setting for a series of fantasy novels written by Sir Terry Pratchett. The series began with the publication in 1983 of "The Colour of Magic" and continued through 41 novels. The final book in the series, "The Shepherd's Crown", was published posthumously in 2015 following the author's death from Alzheimer's disease. The stories are populated by a wide, wacky and wonderful cast of characters such as Rincewind the failed wizard, the Ramtop Witches including the inimitable Esmerelda "Granny" Weatherwax and, the most recurrent character, Death, who always speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS.

I have Chris to thank for introducing me to the magical world of Terry Pratchett. Chris used to write the most wonderful stories for the team in which we would all set off in the Flying Pi, our hot air balloon, for a great adventure. In these stories she, as an avowed Terry Pratchett fan, assumed the persona of "Granny" Weatherwax and was the self-declared leader of our intrepid band of adventurers. Her stories and vivid portrayals of the different characters caught my imagination so I started reading "The Colour of Money" and I was hooked. I'll always be grateful to Chris for sharing her love of fantasy and science fiction and for opening my eyes to such a rich and colourful world.

There is a quote from the Discworld novel "The Reaper Man" which states that "No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away..." I have no doubt that, through her quizzes on FunTrivia and in the memories of the people that knew her, Chris will carry on causing ripples in the world.

Question by KayceeKool.

Answer: A sissy bar

'Sissy bar' comes from the term 'sister bar'. Its purpose is to give the rear passenger a degree of back support and comfort.

Question by Knud77.

Answer: Lawrence Summerset

Summerset is the majordomo who oversees Eve's husband Roarke's vast household and is like a second father to him. Like Roarke, he came to America from Dublin, Ireland where he had been involved in criminal activities in the past. He and Eve seem to secretly enjoy their verbal sparring bouts, which are a regular theme throughout the books, but both have been there for each other in times of need.

Detective Delia Peabody first appears in the books as Eve's aide and later becomes her partner. Mavis Freestone is Eve's best friend and the first real friend she made when she came to New York. She is married to fashion designer Leonardo, and Eve is godmother to their baby daughter, Bella Eve. Charles Monroe is a 'licensed companion' who makes his first appearance in the first book in the series, "Naked in Death". He is great friends with Peabody and a valuable source of information to Eve throughout the series.

Chris loved reading and enjoyed many different genres of books. She was a great fan of the "In Death" series, as I am, and was always keen to read the books as soon as they were published.

Question by Jennifer5.

Answer: Lee Mead

Lee Mead was born on 14th July 1981 in Southend-on-Sea, a seaside resort town on the north side of the Thames, in the county of Essex, England. After finishing school Lee studied at a performing arts college. His first professional role was as a cruise ship singer on the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry. He later moved into musical theatre and was successful in getting parts with touring companies which let him obtain the experience that gave him an edge in finally becoming part of the cast in minor and understudy roles in "Phantom of the Opera" in the West End. In 2007, he won the Andrew Lloyd Webber contest, broadcast on the BBC, to find an unknown to play the lead in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat". Following that he has played lead parts in other musicals, including "Wicked". He studied briefly at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and in 2015 started playing a nurse in the UK TV soap "Casualty".

Question by Calpurnia09.

Answer: Bees

Two hives of Italian honey bees (Apis mellifura ligustica) were introduced in 2009, and since then more hives have been added. The hives reside on a small island in the middle of the Palace lake, where the bees are undisturbed by visitors and groundsmen alike. The bees have access to over 350 species of wildflowers and produce around 160 jars of honey each year.

In 2008, Queen Elizabeth II invited then chairman of The London Beekeepers Association, John Chapple, to introduce and manage the bees on her behalf.


Question by Leith90.

Answer: Thomas Paine

This quote comes from "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine was born in Norfolk, England, in 1737 into a poor Quaker family, where he learnt the values that made him one of the most important thinkers of his day. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1774, after a meeting with Benjamin Franklin in London. Once there he committed himself to the struggle for American independence. When this was achieved he went to France and while there wrote his most influential work, the "Rights of Man", Part I in 1791 and Part II in 1792.


Chris shared the same reasoning and the same ideals as this great man.

Question by gracie3.

Answer: English Seyval Blanc

The answer is, of course, the English wine as all the others are known all over the wine-drinking world. It seems certain that the Romans introduced vines to England. After the Roman invasion in 43CE, wine drinking became common. When excavations are done of Roman villas, homes or garrisons, evidence is found of wine cups, amphorae and even grape stems and seeds. By the time the Romans left, wine drinking had spread to the rest of the population and was an important part of Christian ceremonies. During the Dark Ages the skills that had been learned from the Romans declined. When King Alfred defeated the Danes in the late 9th century, Christianity was again established in the regions that were suitable for viticulture and there is ample documentary evidence that the monasteries were engaged in wine-making, particularly in the West country and Central south regions. The Norman invasion of 1066 led to an expansion of the wine industry, the like of which did not happen again until 900 years later. The Domesday book records vineyards in 42 locations. From the Middle Ages to the present time viticulture declined, not only because of the dissolution of the monasteries but also because the weather became markedly cooler during this period.

In 1951, some pioneer vignerons established research stations and vineyards to find the most suitable wine varieties for England. The industry is now thriving but has yet to make an impact on the world market because the amount produced is small compared to the top wine-producing countries.

Question by Calpurnia09.

Answer: Alsatian

German Shepherds were Chris' favourite breed. She took a particular liking to Susie, her sixth Shepherd, which is no wonder as they're the second most popular breed of dog in the United Kingdom. Shepherds were originally bred as - you guessed it - herd dogs but because of their trainability, strength and intelligence, are excellent candidates for other types of work such as search-and-rescue, police and military work, and assistance dogs. Chris had her hands full with Susie when they rescued her at 10 months of age. She had had no training by that time so it was boot camp for that little girl. The outlook for mature dogs with no training is bleak but Chris rose to the occasion, put her through her paces and, slowly but surely, created a most amazing dog. She saved that dog's life. She'll miss you Chris, as we will.

Question by Barbarini.

Answer: Paul McCartney

On 12 March 1969, Paul McCartney broke the hearts of legions of female Beatles fans when he married Linda Eastman at the Marylebone Register Office in London. The new Mrs McCartney was a photographer who was well-known for her portraits of musicians and rock stars. She became the first woman to have a photograph featured on the front page of "Rolling Stone" magazine when her shot of Eric Clapton appeared on the cover of the May 11 1968 edition. Although she shared her maiden surname with the Eastmans of Eastman-Kodak fame and despite urban legend, she was not related to them.

Chris was both an avid photographer and a great lover of music. She was an active participant in the "Our Photos" section of the FunTrivia Forums and always used her own photos when compiling her photo quizzes. She was also a music buff with a wide ranging taste and knowledge. Although she penned a quiz entitled "I Hate the Beatles", she was actually quite fond of their music. As you can gather from the above, she also had an inimitable and well developed sense of humour!

Question by KayceeKool.