Random Jottings, Part III Trivia Quiz

Answer: Morocco

The University of Karueein (or Quaraouyine) in Fez, Morocco, was founded in 859 A.D. This pre-dates Oxford University by more than 200 years! The University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088.

Answer: Star of Africa

The Star of Africa was cut from the Cullinan Diamond in 1905, which weighed 3106 carats. It was cleaved into a pear-shaped, 74-facet gem, by Henri Koe, a master cutter from Amsterdam, in 1908. The Koh-i-noor was presented to Queen Victoria by Indian royalty in 1850, and is part of the gem collection that makes up the Crown Jewels. The Hope is in the Smithsonian Institute.

Answer: Entrechat

The barre is the practice bar used by dancers, a jete is a jump from one foot to the other and a pirouette is a complete turn on one leg. Wayne Sleep performed five entrechat in one jump to create a world record, in 1973. He was in the air for a total of 0.71 seconds.

Answer: Belarus

Belarus is by far the largest, at 207,000 square kilometres. Hungary occupies 93,000 square kilometres which is slightly larger than third-placed Austria (83,000 square kilometres). Switzerland covers 41,000 sq kms.

Answer: 15

Braille, a young Frenchman, invented the language that bears his name in 1837. Blinded in a childhood accident, he adapted his 6-dot system from an overly complex 12-dot system that was rejected by the French Army. He died in 1852, and is buried in the Pantheon, with other French heroes.

Answer: An extinct wild ox

The last of the aurochs was seen in Jaktarow Forest, Poland in 1627, after being hunted to extinction, primarily for its horns that were highly valued as jewellery. The auroch is considered to be the progenitor of most modern breeds of domestic cattle.

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR was seen by US viewers opening the World's Fair, New York, on April 30, 1939.

Answer: Australian Rules

Aussie Rules has 18 players per team, Union has 15, Rugby League fields 13, and Soccer has 11.

Answer: Postage stamp forgery

Sperati achieved notoriety in the philatelic world, forging high value stamps from over 100 countries. His 'creations' fooled many reputable experts, and there is no doubt that his work rests in collections to this day. An indication of his expertise and fame (infamy) is that the fakes are often more highly valued than the original! His 'career' covered the period from 1910, until his death in 1957.

Answer: Fish Who Answer the Telephone

Amazingly enough, all of these are real books! Other quirky titles include "Who's Who in Barbed Wire", "Not Worth Reading", "Waterproofing Your Child" and my personal favourite, "Hand Grenade Throwing as a College Sport"...