Simply Red (Not the Band) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shepherd's delight

This is one of the more accurate weather sayings. The red sky is caused by sunlight shining through particles caught in the atmosphere as a result of high pressure. The high pressure breaks up blue wavelengths, leaving the reds and oranges that we see.

If we see a red sky at sunset, this usually means high pressure is coming in from the west, bringing good weather with it - which is good news for most people, shepherds included. On the other hand, if the red sky is at sunrise, this suggests the high pressure has already moved past to the east, to be followed by a low pressure system that brings wet and windy conditions.

Answer: 1960s

Mao Tse-Tung (or Zedong) (1893-1976) founded and ruled over the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death.

The "Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" is popularly known as Mao's "Little Red Book", and was at one time essential reading for communist sympathisers around the world. It first appeared in 1964, in a version distributed to Chinese Communist Party attendees at a conference, and within a few years had become almost a mandatory possession for Chinese citizens. There is no definitive figure for the total number of copies produced, but it is generally agreed to be several billion.

Answer: Red panda

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) shares a few characteristics with its namesake the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), but is only very distantly related to it. It is also native to parts of China, extending into the eastern Himalayas, and its diet includes a large proportion of bamboo.

However, it is less fussy than the giant panda and also feeds on smaller mammals, birds, insects, and eggs. Sadly, it is classified as an endangered species, for a variety of reasons including loss of habitat and poaching.

Answer: Railways

"Red For Danger: A History of Railway Accidents and Railway Safety" was first published in 1955, and is now regarded as the classic book on British railway disasters. Rolt was especially interested in the way each major accident led to developments in railway safety, which makes his book much more than just a morbid catalogue of catastrophe and death. Born in Chester in 1910, he also wrote biographies of industrial pioneers such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, James Watt and Thomas Newcomen. He died in 1974, aged 64.

Hopefully you spotted the clue in the picture, which is of a railway signal light.

Answer: French Revolution

The so-called "Phrygian cap" is a soft pointed cap worn with the top hanging forward, and was named after the region of Phrygia in what is now Turkey. Its association as a symbol of liberty and revolution really came about as a result of confusion with the soft caps worn by freed Roman slaves. During the French Revolution in the late 18th century it became a well-known symbol of the revolutionaries. "Marianne", the symbolic representation of France, still traditionally wears a red Phrygian cap.

Answer: Iron oxide dust

Mars has a solid, rocky surface that consists of silicate rocks and a variety of minerals and metals. This is coated in red iron oxide dust, which is clearly visible from Earth.

Speculation has been rife for many decades about the existence or not of water on the surface of Mars. Its polar ice caps consist of frozen carbon dioxide, but evidence of water ice has been discovered in the soil. More significantly, a 2015 probe discovered evidence of saline water actually flowing on the surface, raising hopes of there being some form of bacterial life living there.

Answer: North America

Members of the cardinalidae family of birds are found throughout the Americas. The family takes its name from the Northern cardinal, which was given its name by settlers from Europe, who were reminded of the red robes and headgear worn by cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church.

It is common throughout much of North America, ranging from southern Canada down through the eastern United States as far as Mexico.

Answer: William Blake

William Blake (1757-1827) holds a special place in the history of English Romanticism, not least because he was equally distinguished both as a painter and as a poet. Indeed, he often combined the two, and many of his poetical works were originally produced in versions illustrated by himself.

"The Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun" is one of several illustrations that Blake made of a passage from the Biblical Book of Revelation, Chapter 12, which describes a "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars", and the "great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" (a representation of Satan) which attempts to devour her unborn child.

Answer: Retired Extremely Dangerous

The initials are officially used as a designator for Frank Moses, played by Bruce Willis, although they could just as easily be applied to any of his three co-conspirators: Melvin Boggs (John Malkovich), Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman) and Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren). All four of them were involved in a secret mission in Guatemala in the 1980s, but now someone else involved in the incident wants them all dead.

The film features the usual proliferation of chases, gunfights and explosions, the sort of things that Bruce Willis can deal with in his sleep, so much of the film's fun comes from seeing the British actress Helen Mirren playing very much against type as a brutal killer.

Answer: Irish

The words of "The Red Flag" were written by the Irish left-wing agitator Jim Connell (1852-1929) in 1889, and first published in December 1889 with the title "A Christmas Carol". Although it is usually sung to the same tune as the German carol "O Tannenbaum", Connell originally had in mind the Scottish tune "The White Cockade".

For those unfamiliar with the song, the first verse gives sufficient flavour of its revolutionary sentiments:

"The people's flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts' blood dyed its every fold."