Ten Of The Best Trivia Quiz

Answer: Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments were recorded in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5.

They were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Note: Protestant and Jewish Bibles number the commandants slightly differently from Roman Catholics.

Answer: Decagon

Regular decagons all have sides of equal length. Each internal angle is equal to 144°.

In the UK, the 50 pence coin has ten sides. The shape is also used in other countries.

Nonagons have nine sides; dodecagons 12; and triskaidecagons 13.

Answer: David Tennant

"Doctor Who?" was first broadcast in 1963. The premise was of a 'time lord' who could travel in space and time and was frequently called upon to save Earth from various foes and disasters.

The Time Lord had the ability to regenerate into a new body, thus creating the scope for different actors to play the same character.

David Tennant played the doctor over three series from 2005 to 2010.

Tom Baker was the fourth doctor and Paul McGann the eighth. James Nesbitt has never played the doctor.

In 2017, there was much consternation among fans when it was announced that Jodie Whittaker was to be the 13th doctor and was...a woman!

Answer: Jane Austen

The new 'polymer' note - it is a sort of plastic - was designed to be longer lasting than notes printed on paperstock.

It also had enhanced security details aimed towards preventing forgery.

By the time it was launched in September 2017, 275 million notes had been printed. Austen may well have been alarmed to know that what she could buy for £10 in 1817 would be worth just 13 pence when the note was launched.

Great Britain already had a polymer £5 note, which featured Winston Churchill.

The first UK polymer note was that launched in 1999 by the Northern Bank in Belfast.

The pioneers of polymer notes were the Australians, who introduced them in 1988.

Answer: Tin

Tin or aluminium are acceptable choices. Both represent durability and flexibility.

If you want to send jewellery or a gemstone, then a diamond is the stone to select.

Give candy or iron on the sixth; bronze or pottery on the eighth; and coral on the 35th.

Answer: Jack Nicholson

Nicholson received his tenth nomination for performance awards in 1992 for "A Few Good Men".

By the time he was 80, he had been nominated 12 times in either "Best Actor" or "Best Supporting Actor" category and won "Best Actor" for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1976; and "As Good as It Gets" (1998) and "Best Supporting Actor" for "Terms of Endearment" (1984);

Meanwhile, Bette Davis received a tenth nomination for Best Actress for "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" in 1962.

At the time this quiz was written, Meryl Streep was the most nominated performer in Hollywood history after she received her twentieth nomination for "Florence Foster Jenkins" in 2016. She won on three occasions.

Answer: Virginia

Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 25, 1788

It became the first English possession in North America when the Jamestown colony was established in 1607. It was named after Queen Elizabeth I. "The Virgin Queen".

Of the others, Georgia was admitted on January 2, 1788, Maryland on April 28, 1788, and Louisiana on April 30, 1812 (4th, 7th and 18th.)

Answer: The Beatles

At the time this quiz was written, October 2017, nine artistes had achieved more than ten number ones on the Hot 100.

The Beatles had 20; Mariah Carey 18; Rhianna 14; Michael Jackson 13; The Supremes and Madonna had 12 each; Whitney Houston had 11; and Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson had 10 each.

Elvis Presley, meanwhile, had 11 that predated the Hot 100 and six on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Help" was The Beatles' 10th number one, topping the Hot 100 in 1965.

Answer: Buffalo Soldiers

Established in 1866, the 10th Cavalry was one of six regiments of the regular army set aside for black enlisted men.

They saw service against Native American tribes, who gave them their nickname.

One of its soldiers, Sergeant William McBryar, was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1890 for operations against Apaches who resisted confinement to a reservation.

The regiment also served in the conflict in Cuba in 1898. It served on the Mexican border from 1916 to 1922. As part of General John Pershing's expedition against Mexican revolutionary "Pancho" Villa, it lost nine killed in a firefight with Mexican forces at Carrizal on June 21, 1916.

The regiment saw no active service during WW2 and was disbanded in May 1944.

The reggae singer Bob Marley wrote a song called "Buffalo Soldier" about the name given by Native Americans to black soldiers.

Answer: Michael Phelps

The American swimmer won 13 gold, two silver and one bronze medals in four Summer Olympics between 2004 and 2016.

If you add in relay races, he won 23 golds, three silvers and two bronzes in those years.

The three "wrong" answers were all winners of nine individual gold medals in their Olympic careers.

By the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio in 2016, only five people have ever won nine golds in Olympics. The fifth on the list is gymnast Larisa Latynina.