The Joy Of Knowledge 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beautiful

Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad) is approximately seven hundred metres long and the word 'Krasnaya' means beautiful in Old Russian. It was the venue of May Day parades during the Soviet era. Red Square houses the Kremlin, the GUM department store (Russia's most famous shopping mall) and the multicoloured domes of St Basil's Cathedral which was built between 1555 to 1561.

This commemorated Ivan the Terrible's victory over the Mongols at the Tatar state of Kazan in East European Russia.

Answer: Russia

Yul Brynner (Yul Bryner) was born in Vladivostok, Russia on 11 July 1915. He was named Yul after his grandfather, Jules Bryner. He claimed he was half-Japanese and was born on the island of Sakhalin. It was only after his son, Rock, wrote a biography 'Yul:The Man Who Would Be King' in 1989, that his early life history was revealed.

He became an actor after being injured in a fall while being a trapeze artist. He will be remembered as the mysterious gunfighter in black in 'The Magnificent Seven' (1960) and for his Oscar-related performance with Deborah Kerr in 'The King and I' (1956).

He developed lung cancer in the mid 1980s and died from it on 10 Oct 1985 in New York City.

Answer: Texas

El Paso is one of the oldest cities in Texas and is located in the Chihuahuan Desert on the Rio Grande River bordering Mexico. It covers an area of approximately 248 square miles and is the fourth largest city in Texas. It adjoins the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico.

Answer: On the sea bed

Demersal creatures live on or near the seabed and include cod, halibut and flounder. Shrimps and crab-like creatures are also classified as dermersal creatures.

Answer: Geronimo

Geronimo (1829-1909) fought against whites, Spaniards and North Americans who tried to take over his people's lands. In 1858 he began bringing vengeance upon his intimidators when his mother, wife and children were killed by Mexicans. It's just a thought but what would Geronimo say if he jumped out of an aeroplane .... me!
Sir Cliff Richard (Harry Webb) was born in Lucknow, India on 14 Oct 1940 but I couldn't imagine him being labeled 'One who Yawns'!

Answer: Joshua tree

The Joshua tree is a desert yucca plant only native to Southwestern America. It was named by Mormon pioneers after the prophet Joshua because its extended branches reminded them of the prophet waving his arms to the people. Its greenish-white flowers appear between March and May and its leaves are sword-shaped.

The Joshua tree grows to a height of forty feet. It can live up to a thousand years in areas above three thousand feet in the cooler parts of the Mojave desert.

Answer: Joseph Mallord William Turner

The $31,410 Turner Prize was established in 1984 and named after Britain's greatest landscape painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) who was accepted into the Royal Academy at the age of fifteen. He was born at 21 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, London. Turner was well known as an English Romantic Landscape artist. 'The Fighting Temeraire' is one of his most famous works of art; It hangs in the National Gallery in London, England.

Answer: New York Times

Time Square is an area of New York City and is the city's theatre district. It is located by the intersection of Broadway, 7th Avenue and 42nd Street and was formerly called Longacre Square. New York mayor, George B McClellan, renamed it on 8 April 1904 to honour the new offices (Times Tower) housing the New York Times newspaper, built nearby. Times Square celebrated its hundredth birthday in 2004.

Answer: Woody Allen

Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg) was born 1 December 1935 in Brooklyn, New York and was a former night-club comedian associated with smart one-liners. He has a biological son called Satchel Farrow to his ex-lover, actress Mia Farrow. Mia has adopted ten children since 1973 and Woody controversially married Korean-born Soon-Yi Previn in 1997. Mia had adopted Soon-Yi with her ex-husband, conductor Andre Previn, which has caused a great deal of bitterness between Woody and herself. Woody once said that he doesn't want to achieve immortality through his work but to achieve it through not dying.

His image of a bespectacled American actor with a neurotic characteristic inspired drama critic Jack Kroll to say "He has the face that convinces you that God is a cartoonist"

Answer: Jacques

In the original movie "The Pink Panther' (1964) Peter Sellers is obsessed with catching the notorious jewel thief known as 'The Phantom'. 'The Pink Panther' (2006) remake stars Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau in pursuit of who murdered a famous soccer coach and who stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond. Kevin Kline plays the part of his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus.

Answer: Harry Hill

Harry Hill (Matthew Hall) was born on 1 Oct 1964 and is actually a qualified doctor. He graduated with a medical degree at St George's Hospital Medical School in Tooting, London, before becoming a stand-up comedian. He portrays a character with thick black glasses, a bald head, several pens in his top pocket and this enormous oversized shirt collar which flows over his jacket. It's his dry sense of humour which appeals to me. Here are some examples.
My dad use to say fight fire with fire, which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.
My aunt used to say, what you can't see, can't harm you .... well, she died of radiation poisoning a few months back.
I knew I was going bald when it was taking longer and longer to wash my face. Harry's television skills were displayed when he took over as the new presenter of the 'You've Been Framed' show in 2004 which featured funny home videos. 'Harry Hill's TV Burp' programme has completed its fifth series.

Answer: Polish

Mount Kosciuskos is located in the Snowy Mountains of the Australian Alps in New South Wales. It was named by Polish explorer Count Paul Strzelecki in 1840 in honour of the Polish national hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko who achieved great national fame for his defence of Dubienka against the Russians in 1792.

This 7,310 feet mountain is located within a national park and is a popular winter sports area.

Answer: A type of tree

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and was named after the Brazil wood (pau brasil) which was a tree highly valued by early colonists. The pau brasil had strongly perfumed flowers and its flaky dark brown bark covers the red heartwood underneath.

This rare tree was cultivated as an ornamental or park tree and is the national tree of Brazil. Dye extract was taken from the heartwood and along with the bark, was used locally for medicinal purposes. Its extremely dense hardwood was ideal for making bows for stringed instruments.

These trees today are on the verge of extinction due to deforestation but a few are preserved in botanical gardens.

Answer: Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) was the son of a French barrister and his English wife. He was born in Saint-Cloud, near Paris. After joining the Fabian Society, which was a small group of intellectuals associated with the Labour Party, he befriended George Bernard Shaw and Herbert George Wells.

They helped him to become the literary editor of the Morning Post. His nonsensical verse for children include 'The Bad Child's Book of Beasts' (1896) and the 'Cautionary Tales' (1907) Many of his books were illustrated by GK Chesterton who was a close friend.

In 1942 he suffered a stroke and died some eleven years later.

Answer: Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French-born mathematician, physicist and theologian. Inventions of his include the first digital calculating machine (1647), the barometer, hydraulic press and the syringe. His quotation could be an apt motto for FunTrivia. He is also credited with "If all men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world".
I hope you enjoyed the quiz and learn something new.