X-ceptional X-asperation - the X quiz

Answer: 1995

The first X Games took place in 1995, in Rhode Island. The competitions were in:
BMX (Stunt Bike)
Barefoot Waterski Jumping
Bungee Jumping
Inline Skating
Kiteskiing
Mountain Biking
Skateboard
Sky Surfing
Sport Climbing
Street Luge
Windsurfing
X Venture Race

Answer: Xaasongaxango

Xaasongaxango is the national language of Mali, spoken by some 120,000 persons (according to a 1991 survey). It is very similar to Western Maninkakan and Bamanankan. It is also spoken in Senegal by about 9000 people, who call the language "Xasonga"... can you blame them for shortening it?!

Xipaya is probably extinct - when last surveyed in 2000, only two speakers of the language remained. It was once heard in the Para region of Brazil.

Xaragure is a language found in parts of New Caledonia, but is only spoken by about 570 persons.

Xokleng is also found in Brazil, spoken by about 760 persons in the Santa Catarina region.

Answer: Xanthorhiza

Xanthorhiza is Yellowroot, a smallish shrub native to the eastern United States. Its name comes from it having been the source of yellow dye used by Native Americans.

Xeranthemum is a European plant, and is considered to be a symbol of immortality.

Xanthoceras is a Chinese shrub or tree known more commonly as Yellowhorn.

Xanthosoma is Elephant's Ear, a low-growing plant with huge leaves which can be ornamental or can be used as a crop - the corms can be substituted for yams.

Answer: Fei-Sheng Xu

Fei-Sheng Xu, apparently of Chinese origin (but no other information is readily available) was listed as a "non-Classical" composer of the piece, along with "Classical composers" Wanghua Chu, Zhuang Liu, Li Hong Sheng, Shucheng Shi and Chengzong Yin.

Iannis Xenakis was born in 1922 and died in 2001. He was born in Romania to Greek parents, and ended up a French citizen. Heavily influential in post-war classical composition, he was an engineer who collaborated with Le Corbusier and a mathematician who was involved with the formation of concepts such as game theory. Probably his best known work is "Metastaseis", written in 1953/4.

Zhenmin Xu, born in 1934, composed "Memories of the Past at Jinling".

Jose Ximenez (1601-1672) is known to have written two pieces, "Obra del Primer Tono de Ileno" and "Batalla del sexto tono". No more is known of him.

Answer: 1997, Big Bear Lake, California

The first Winter X Games were held in 1997, at Big Bear Lake in California. About 38000 people attended the event, which is geared to Generations X and Y, favoured by corporate marketers. The Winter X Games have since expanded to promote not just sports, but also recycling, music and good clean (if dangerous) fun!

Answer: hand

Rontgen wife apparently had placed her hand on the photographic plate when it was being exposed to X-radiation.

Some of the others who were instrumental in the discovery of X-rays and their use include Johann Hittorf, Ivan Pulyui, Nikola Tesla, Fernando Sanford, Philipp Lenard, Thomas Edison, Frank Austin, Gilman Frost and Edwin Frost.

Possibly the first death attributed directly to cancer from radiation exposure was that of Clarence Dally, a glassblower working with Edison, who persistently tested the new X-ray tubes on his hands; the cancer proved unresponsive to treatment, and despite his having both arms amputated, the cancer killed him.

Answer: Xunantunich

Xunantunich, found in Belize, is a Mayan site. The name translates to "stone woman" and is called so after the ghost of a woman in white (with fire-red eyes, no less) which shows up in front of a pyramid, walks up the steps and disappears into a wall. That pyramid, El Castillo, is the country's second-tallest structure.

Xá:ytem (don't ask, I did a cut and paste...) is one of the oldest sites of human habitation in North America, found in British Columbia, Canada. Early inhabitants of the continent lived there up to 9000 years ago.

Xagħra (yes, another cut and paste involved here) is a stone circle with burial grounds dating between 3000 and 2400 BCE, with an older tomb dating to somewhere between 4100 and 3800 BCE. It is found on the island of Gozo in Malta.

Xcaret is a pre-Columbian site in Mexico, a Mayan port city which originated around 200-600 AD.

Answer: Shaun White

(This has to be the easiest question I've ever written!)

Shaun White, Olympic snowboard superstar, is also a skateboard superstar - and has competed and won gold at the X Games in both disciplines. Born in 1986 in California, his talent was evident early, and by age 9 he was a protege of Tony Hawk.

Tony Hawk, born in 1968 in California, is probably the greatest skateboarder of all time, with 9 Summer X Games gold medals, 3 silver and 2 bronze.

C. R. Johnson was born in 1983 in California. He helped pioneer freeskiing, a style of skiing which involves tricks at various points throughout the course. He was killed in a skiing accident in February, 2010.

Kevin Pearce is a snowboarder, born in 1987 in New Hampshire. He was the first person ever to compete in three X Game events in one day. He was critically injured in a fall in December 2009 when he hit his head on the edge of the halfpipe. Many of the boarders participating in the 2010 Winter Olympics had "I ride for Kevin" stickers on their boards. It is not known yet if Kevin will ever be able to ride again.

Answer: Xavier Zubiri

Xavier Zubiri (1898-1983) was from the Basque region of Spain. He created a school of thought relating to reality and thought. As it makes absolutely no sense to me, I will quote the Wikipedia entry: "Zubiri's main accomplishment is the creation of an entire metaphysical system stemming from his view of man as a "sentient intelligence" situated in reality. In this system, man is "relegated" by the "power of the real", so that his personal reality is intimately connected with being situated in a real context. At the same time, man can be considered the author of his own personal being, his "I", through the appropriation of experience and the exercise of personal freedom within this real context, so that Zubiri can refer to man as the "animal of realities". This openness of man to possibilities is what makes man an "open essence", as opposed to a "closed essence" (i.e., a structure that simply operates according to rules of functionality)."

Xavier Abril (1905-1990) was a Peruvian poet.

Xavier Cugat (1900-1990) was a band leader, born in Spain, brought up in Cuba and living and working in the United States.

Xavier Hernández Creus (b 1980) was born in Terrassa, Spain. He is a midfielder in football (soccer, for our US players), and has been capped 94 times for the Spanish national team.

Answer: of or like wood

It means "of or like wood". Some associated words include "xylophagous", which means boring into wood, and "xylophilous", which means living on or in wood.