Take this Ten Shades of Red Quiz! Average Trivia | Colors

Answer: Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' is about the eponymous character's adventures while defending the Earth from attacks by the Mysterons - a race of sentient computers based on Mars. Captain Scarlet worked for a worldwide security organisation called Spectrum. The programme was first broadcast in 1967 and was one of many puppet-based series, including 'Thunderbirds', created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (a husband and wife team) in the 1950s and 1960s. The Andersons pioneered a technique known as 'supermarionation' to synchronise movements of the puppets' mouths with the recorded dialogue and 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' was the sixth of their series in which it was applied.

Scarlet is a bright shade of red with a slight orangey tint. The term 'scarlet' was originally used in Middle English to refer to brightly coloured cloth that was often, but not always, red.

Answer: Nevada

The Ruby Mountains can be found in north-east Nevada, primarily in Elko County. The highest peak in the range is called Ruby Dome and stands about 3,500m (11,000 feet) high. The Ruby Mountains are far from the highest in Nevada however, as Ruby Dome is only the 27th highest peak in the state. The highest are mostly all located in the Snake Range (to the south-east of the Ruby Mountains), although the highest point of all, Boundary Peak, is in the White Mountains which straddle Nevada's boundary with California. Nevada's laws on marriage and divorce mean that the cities of Las Vegas and Reno have become synonymous with speedy marriages and divorces respectively. Nevada's official state nickname, the 'Silver State', is derived from the mining industry that developed after silver was discovered in the 1850s.

The term 'ruby red' comes from the gemstone ruby, which is a variety of corundum. Rubies get their distinctive deep-red appearance because of chromium impurities in the stone. Other varieties of corundum are called sapphires - which contrary to popular belief are not all blue and can also be green, yellow, orange or purple depending on the mix of chemical elements present.

Colorado was formerly known as the 'Silver State', California is known as the 'Golden State' and Idaho is the 'Gem State'.

Answer: A US navy submarine

The film 'Crimson Tide' is about a conflict between the senior crew members of the USS Alabama - a missile-carrying nuclear submarine. The captain (played by Gene Hackman) wants to follow his initial orders and fire on a rogue Russian nuclear facility, but his Lieutenant Commander (played by Denzel Washington) believes these orders have since been retracted and wants to avoid all-out war. The film details the struggle between the two men for command of the vessel - and the button that launches the missiles...

Crimson is a deep purplish-red colour that was originally derived from dried scaly insects of the Kermes genus.

The three incorrect options were all locations seen in various 1995 films. Man-made atolls featured in Kevin Costner's 'Waterworld'; the moon was seen (but not visited) in 'Apollo 13'; and Scottish battlefields were featured in Mel Gibson's 'Braveheart'.

Answer: Fox hunting

Fox hunting in the UK historically consisted of the chase (and generally capture) of red foxes by a pack of hounds directed by people on both foot and horseback. However, this practice was outlawed in Scotland in 2002 and in England and Wales in 2004. Most hunts have now had to adapt to simply following artificial trails, although they are still able to keep up other traditions, such as the complicated etiquette surrounding exactly who is allowed to wear the iconic red jackets, 'or pinks'.

Pink is a pale red that takes its name from flowers of the genus Dianthus. It is also the colour stereotypically associated with little girls and the gift of a pink rose would represent gratitude or appreciation.

Deer stalking involves pursuing and shooting deer on foot (it is known as deer hunting elsewhere in the world) and the clothing most associated with it is the 'deerstalker' hat famously worn by Sherlock Holmes. Wildfowling is a term for the shooting of waterfowl, particularly ducks. People out wildfowling need well-camouflaged, waterproof clothing - bright red coats would be seriously counterproductive (although perhaps useful for the poor ducks). Pheasant shooting, or any game bird shooting for that matter, is also not associated with the wearing of red coats.

Answer: Maroon 5

Maroon 5 was formed in 2001 when the four-man band 'Kara's Flowers', led by singer Adam Levine, was joined by guitarist James Valentine. The new name was adopted to mark this new start (and probably the new number of band members). The band's debut album 'Songs About Jane' was released in 2002 and reached number six on the US Billboard 200 album chart and number one on several album charts worldwide.

Maroon is a dark red-brown colour. The name is derived from the French 'marron', meaning brown or chestnut.

Code Orange and Buckcherry are both American bands with reddish colours in their name (I'm assuming here that orange can be described as reddish!). Simply Red is an English band whose lead singer is Mick Hucknall.

Answer: Carmine Coppola

Carmine Coppola won his Oscar for Best Original Score jointly with Nino Rota for 'The Godfather Part II'. Rota had also initially been nominated for the same award two years earlier for his work on 'The Godfather', but had his nomination revoked due to eligibility concerns. Carmine Coppola's son, Francis Ford Coppola, also picked up the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 'The Godfather Part II'.

Carmine is a deep shade of red. It derives from the pigment of the same name that is produced from cochineal insects and often used as a food colouring. The name Carmine is of Italian origin and is the masculine form of the girls' name Carmen.

Rubin Goldmark was an American composer who taught at the Juilliard School of Music and was also known for teaching both Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin; Charles Redford was the father of film director Robert Redford; and Hilding Rosenberg was a Swedish composer who was not related to the American film director, Stuart Rosenberg.

Answer: James Shirley

James Shirley (1596-1666) was an active playwright for the whole of the reign of King Charles I, which covered the years 1625 to 1649. However, despite being the resident playwright for the acting company called Queen Henrietta's Men (who were named in honour of Charles I's wife) and writing more than 30 plays, he remains significantly less well-known than William Shakespeare. Shirley wrote a mixture of tragedies, comedies and tragi-comedies (much like Shakespeare) - 'The Cardinal' was a tragedy and basically appears to have been about an evil cardinal (a high-ranking Roman Catholic priest) and an arranged marriage involving the cardinal's nephew.

Cardinal is also a shade of vivid red. Use of the term in English appears to date from the late 17th century, so Shirley was unlikely to have been thinking of the colour when he wrote the play.

William Shakespeare was an active playwright during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I - the father of King Charles I. Christopher Marlowe was also an Elizabethan playwright and John Fletcher is particularly known for collaborating with Shakespeare on one of his later plays 'The Two Noble Kinsmen'.

Answer: Iron oxide

Iron oxide, or rust, forms on the surface of iron or iron alloys such as steel. It is caused by a chemical reaction between the metal and oxygen, with the iron losing an electron and the oxygen gaining it. The rate at which this process occurs is increased when the metal is exposed to catalysts such as water, acids or salt. Rust tends to weaken structures made from iron or steel, notable disasters at least partially attributed to rusting include the Mianus River Bridge collapse in Connecticut in 1983 and the sinking of the oil tanker 'Erika' off the coast of France in 1999.

Rust the colour is described as a reddish-orangey-brown that looks, rather unsurprisingly, very much like rust the chemical compound. The word derives from the old Germanic 'rusta', which means redness.

Titanium hydride is an inorganic compound used in the manufacture of magnets and fireworks, aluminium nitride has uses in electronics and silver iodide is used in photography and antiseptics.

Answer: Vermilion flycatcher

The vermilion flycatcher can generally be found from central and southern areas of South America in the south to southern areas of the USA in the north. Spotting the males of this species is relatively easy as they have bright red (vermilion) plumage, excepting their brown back, wings and tail. Females are less easy to distinguish as they share the generally brownish plumage worn by most other species of flycatcher. Their diet mainly consists of flies (big surprise) and other insects, usually caught in mid-flight.

Vermilion is a bright scarlet-like red colour obtained from powdered cinnabar - an ore of mercury. It has been a known pigment for thousands of years; it was used in paint in Roman times and for the red sections of ancient illuminated manuscripts.

The crimson rosella is a small parrot native to Australia; the summer tanager is an American songbird; and the red-billed (or Senegal) firefinch is found in sub-Saharan Africa. Unsurprisingly, the firefinch does not catch its prey by setting fire to it, but they do all have red feathers.

Answer: Second Italian War of Independence

Magenta is a town in Lombardy, Italy that is located approximately 24 km (15 miles) west of the city of Milan. The Second Italian War of Independence (also known as the Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War or the Italian War of 1859) was a conflict between the allied forces of France, Sardinia and the United Provinces of Central Italy against the power of the Austrian Empire. It formed part of the process of Italian unification that occupied much of the 19th century. The Battle of Magenta, which took place on the 4 June 1859, was a significant victory for France and her allies, who went on to win the war just over a month later.

Magenta is a purplish-red colour that was first extracted from an aniline dye named fuschine in 1859. The name was changed to magenta in honour of the recent battle.

The First War of Indian Independence is one name given to the conflict of 1857 when Indians rebelled against British colonial rule. The Second Opium War of 1856-1860 was fought by Britain and France against China over trading rights. The Crimean War (1853 to 1856) was a conflict between a group of allies (Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia) and Russia.