Big Quiz 2012

Questions

1. What public service opened in Cardiff prison, Wales, in 2012, staffed by inmates?

   1. Restaurant
   2. Gym
   3. Library
   4. Garden centre/center

2. The lease for which famous state building was sold in 2012 for a luxury hotel development?

   1. Admiralty Arch, London
   2. Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
   3. Arc de Triomphe, Paris
   4. Victory Arch of Constantine, Rome

3. The British warship HMS Dauntless was controversially deployed where in Jan 2012?

4. Chile experienced large and violent protests by whom in 2012, invoking comparisons with similar 2006 action called (after the protestors' uniforms) The Penguins' Revolution or The March of the Penguins?

   1. Public servants
   2. Students
   3. Waiters
   4. Nuns

5. Kenyon Produce was the original name of what famous brand bought by Germany's Intersnack corporation in 2012?

6. Whose first personal Twitter posting, in Dec 2012 from @pontifex, ended: "I bless you from my heart"?

7. What type of creature was Lonesome George, who in 2012 was the last of his subspecies to die?

8. A pastel version of what artwork sold at a New York auction for a record $120m?

9. In 2012 which former Liberian president was found guilty of crimes against humanity?

10. Which Eastern European nation saw protests against Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Jan 2012?

11. 2012 was the 100th anniversary of the introduction of what Summer Olympics disciplines?

    1. Art and Music
    2. Cooking and Patisserie
    3. Flying and Gliding
    4. Puppetry and Ventriloquism

12. In 2012 British MP Nadine Dorries controversially appeared on what reality TV show?

    1. Big Brother
    2. Survivor
    3. I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here
    4. American Idol

13. Who played the part of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony?

14. The effective discovery of what particle was announced by CERN at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012?

15. What nationality is Felix Baumgartner, who skydived through the sound barrier in 2012?

16. In which city did the Rolling Stones play a 2012 surprise gig at Le Trabendo club to 350 fans for £12 each?

    1. Tokyo
    2. Paris
    3. London
    4. New York

17. Bradley Wiggins, British winner of the 2012 Tour de France is noted for his 'trademark'?

    1. Sideburns
    2. Goaty
    3. Moustache
    4. Shaved head

18. What popular cartoon TV series celebrated 500 editions in 2012?

19. Light a Penny Candle and Circle of Friends are books by which hugely popular Irish writer who died in 2012?

20. The town of Schmallenberg in Germany gave its name informally to a virus discovered there which afflicted what across Europe in 2012?

    1. Cattle/Sheep/Goats
    2. Trees
    3. People
    4. Birds

21. In 2012 who offered $5m to charity in return for Barack Obama's college and passport application records?

22. Who was appointed US Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States Jan 2012?

23. Which English football manager was acquitted of tax evasion charges Jan 2012?

24. Which American singer, actress and model, said by Guinness World Records to be the most awarded ever, died in Los Angeles in 2012?

25. Name the devastating mid/N American hurricane of Oct 2012?

26. Enrique Pena Nieto became president of which country in 2012?

27. Name the best-selling educational author of the 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' who died in Idaho in 2012?

28. Who coached/managed both the England and Russia football teams during 2012?

29. What top-selling UK newspaper was produced on Sundays for the first time in 2012?

30. Name the tragic genius 'father of computing', and inventor of the eponymous seminal computer machine, whose 100th birthday would have been 23 Jun 2012?

31. What cartoon character featured on a $100,000 auctioned poster in Texas, Nov 2012?

32. Who became the youngest F1 triple champion (to date) in Nov 2012?

33. Which international sportsman successfully switched to boxing, defeating US heavyweight Richard Dawson in 2012?

34. Who wrote the 200 year-old letter auctioned for 150,000 euros in 2012, expressing a wish to destroy the Kremlin?

35. What did Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph, UK, win in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 2012 Diamond Jubilee?

36. In the 2012 Olympics logo, what number contained the word 'London'?

    1. The first 2
    2. 0
    3. 1
    4. The second 2

37. 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the what European capital city's status, moved from Turku by Czar Alexander I of Russia?

38. Which BBC Director General was appointed and resigned in 2012?

39. In 2012 who became the first black person to feature on South African banknotes?

40. Xi Jinping achieved the top-ranked position in China in 2012 in what field?

    1. Squash
    2. Buddhism
    3. Chess
    4. Political leadership
    5. Computer games

41. In 2012 what nation is the world's second-largest economy, the largest exporter and second-largest importer?

42. In 2012 Price Nayef became the second crown prince, after Prince Sultan, to die before ascending to the throne in which country?

43. In 2012 what laconically-branded sport increased engine capacity from 800 cc to 1,000 cc?

44. Who wrote the 2012 Man Booker prizewinning novel Bring Up the Bodies?

45. Pope Benedict XVI's 2012 book was his third in a three-volume series about?

    1. Religious Architecture
    2. Jesus
    3. The Vatican
    4. Catholic Cooking

46. Which famous character from computing tweeted 'This is for everyone' in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony?

47. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson are better known as what 2012 record-breaking unit?

48. Which famous person formally nominated Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the Democratic Party candidates in the US 2012 general election?

49. Name the TV/movie actor who died in 2012 and starred in 1960s fantasy sitcom I Dream of Jeannie?

50. What two countries jointly hosted the 2012 EUFA European Football Championship; and who won and who came 2nd (four answers required)?

51. Lady Gaga cancelled her 2012 tour to which country after threats of chaos from protestors?

52. Who won his seventh French Open Tennis Championship in 2012?

53. What event in the 2012 Olympics saw eight competitors disqualified for "not using best efforts"?

54. What Italian cruise ship tragically ran aground at Giglio Island, Italy, in Jan 2012?

55. Who began his speech, "Where is Dave?

56. 2012 is the 50th anniversary of what short exclusively land-based war between two vast nations?

57. A Judy Garland dress which sold for $302,000 in 2012 was worn in which movie?

58. Andy William's (1927-2012) TV Show featured what animal who liked cookies?

    1. Gorilla
    2. Bear
    3. Dog
    4. Racoon

59. Who in 2012 made the first submarine solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the lowest point of the oceans (subsequently to release a 3D film of the dive)?

60. How many Sundays are in 2012?

61. Which famous hairdresser who died in 2012 created the wedge-bob?

62. What is the year 2012 in Roman numerals?

63. Name the French president who began his term in 2012?

64. Who became the oldest actor to win an Oscar in 2012?

65. In 2012 'The Orphan of Zhao' became the first play of which country to be produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company?

66. Name the ex-construction worker who died in 2012, whose video-taped beating by Los Angeles police and their initial subsequent acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots?

67. Which bank was fined a record $1.9bn by US authorities for money-laundering in Dec 2012?

68. A project led by broadcaster NHK and Tobu Railway Co, which city's 'Skytree' opened as the world's tallest self-supporting tower and 2nd largest building in 2012?

69. Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland, granddaughter to King Carl XVI Gustaf, became 2nd in line to what nation's throne when born in 2012?

70. Among Time magazine's 2012 100 Most Influential Persons in the World, Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller was elected leader for the second time of what Caribbean island?

71. What successful football club announced in Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium an Adidas-sponsored yellow and navy-blue shirt for 2012-13 named 'Efsane Çubuklu Forma' ('Legendary Barred Kit')?

72. What Sesame Street character featured in anti-Romney advertising in the 2012 US election?

73. What organization won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize?

74. The 21st century's second and last solar transit (across the Sun) of what planet happened in 2012?

75. What country experienced the world's biggest electricity power-cut in July 2012?

76. 2012 was the 300th anniversary of the world's first industrial steam-powered machine, which was a?

    1. Mill engine
    2. Water pump
    3. Locomotive
    4. Paddle-steamboat

77. Name the famous moonwalking astronaut who died in 2012?

78. Which 2002-founded UK budget airline ceased to operate in 2012?

79. In which nation's London embassy did Wikileaks founder Julian Assange seek diplomatic asylum in 2012?

80. Which entertainer's gravestone was removed from a Scarborough UK cemetery in 2012?

81. In 2012 which vast multinational supermarket corporation recorded its first fall in profits since 1994?

82. Sir Patrick Moore, world-leading expert on astronomy for six decades who died in 2012, was technically qualified at what academic level?

    1. Professor
    2. Doctor
    3. Amateur

83. The American Football Super Bowl final in 2012 is branded by what Roman numerals?

84. Which nation defied international warnings when launching a rocket in Dec 2012?

85. Who famously accused Tony Abbott of sexism and misogyny in 2012?

86. In 2012 fossils of 1.9m years-old Homo rudolfensis were discovered in?

    1. Kenya
    2. Australia
    3. USA
    4. Iceland

87. The 2012 global top-ten ranking website QQ.com, owned by Tencent corporation, is what nation's largest internet portal?

88. What city hosted the richest (biggest prize) horse race in 2012?

89. At 2012 what is the most viewed non-commercial/non-professional Youtube video ever?

90. In which 2012 sporting event was the Chinese Ren Cancan defeated by its first ever female Olympic Gold medal winner?

91. Jermaine Jackson filed a petition in 2012 to change which letter of his surname to what new letter?

92. Justin Welby was appointed to what famous old position in 2012?

93. Name the RBS banker stripped of his knighthood in Jan 2012?

94. Name the ancient 3,000-unit indoor market and city location of the motorbike chase in the 2012 film Skyfall (two answers required)?

95. Name the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover which landed on Mars in 2012?

96. Davy Jones (1945-2012) fronted what popular 1960s pop group?

97. British actor Brian Cobby (1929-2012) provided the first male voice for what British announcements?

    1. Speaking Clock
    2. British Rail
    3. Harrods elevators
    4. Shipping (weather) forecasts

98. Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, the world famous performance artist who died in 2012, is better known by what name?

99. What nationality is Carlos Slim, the richest person in the world according to Forbes 2012?

100. Name the retired software pioneer and 2012 fugitive from a murder inquiry who fled Belize and surfaced in Guatemala?