General Knowledge Quiz 290

Questions

1. Easter Island - the Pacific island home of the Rapa Nui people and their moai (giant head statues) - is administered by which South American nation?

2. How many Circles of Hell were described in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy?

3. Who - in 1812 - became the first, and so far only British Prime Minister to be assassinated?

4. Which US company is the largest in the world by revenue, and can also boast the largest private workforce, with around 3 million employees as of 2018?

5. Agra - the home of the Taj Mahal - was the capital of which long-lasting empire, controlling much of India from the 16th until the mid-19th century?

6. Which species of big cat - the namesake of a Floridian NFL team - is the largest in the Americas?

7. Which building in the City was the tallest in London from 1710 until as recently as 1967?

8. From which arid planet does Luke Skywalker hail from in Star Wars?

9. Chihuahua and Tabasco are states within which Latin American country?

10. The Pitcairn Islands - a British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific - is predominantly populated by descendants of which 18th-century mutinous ship's crew?

11. Which Austrian actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in both 2009 and 2012, for his roles in two films directed by Quentin Tarantino?

12. Until May 2018, what was the official name of the southern-African nation of eSwatini?

13. How many Circles of Hell were described in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy?

14. Which lake in Siberia is the deepest in the world, containing ~22-23% of the Earth's fresh surface water?

15. Monotremes (egg-laying mammals) are represented by 4 species of echidna, and one species of which other mammal - native to eastern Australia?

16. Which Japanese football team did Gary Lineker play for from 1992-1994, and Arsene Wenger manage from 1995-1996?

17. Which city in Nordrhein-Westfalen served as the capital of West Germany from 1949 to unification in 1990?

18. Which Chinese philosopher was the founder of the philosophical and spiritual movement Taoism?

19. Former footballer and 1995 Balon d'Or winner, George Weah, was elected in 2018 as Prime Minister of which African nation?

20. What is the stage name the pop artist Robyn Fenty, born in Barbados in 1988?

21. Which major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1979 was the focus of the 1964 film Zulu starring Michael Caine?

22. Triton is the largest natural satellite of which major planet in our solar system?

23. On which ship did Charles Darwin make his famous travels the Galapagos Islands, during which he began formulating his theory of evolution by natural selection?

24. "It's been seven hours and fifteen days..." is the opening line to which 1990 hit by Sinéad O'Connor?

25. Until May 2018, what was the official name of the southern-African nation of eSwatini?

26. António Guterres currently holds what position of power, previously occupied by people such as Kofi Annan and Dag Hammarskjöld?

27. Which peoples - who founded the Duchy of Normandy, the Kievan Rus' and guarded the Byzantine Emperor - were known to those of East and Southern Europe as the Varangians?

28. Atticus, Jean Louise (Scout) and Jeremy (Jem) are the main characters in which 1960 novel written by Harper Lee?

29. Which country's national rugby team is known as the Cherry Blossoms?

30. Bohemia and Moravia are historical regions of which Central European nation?

31. In which year did Pele achieve his first World Cup victory, at the age of only 17?

32. Which oil and gas-rich city, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest settlement on the Caspian Sea?

33. Which monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland was overthrown by Dutchman William of Orange (William III) and his wife Mary (Mary II) during the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688?

34. Who - in 1812 - became the first, and so far only British Prime Minister to be assassinated?

35. "It's been seven hours and fifteen days..." is the opening line to which 1990 hit by Sinéad O'Connor?

36. In which modern-day Oceanic country was the infamous and bloody Battle of Guadalcanal fought during the Second World War?

37. Which major Asian city was known as Edo until the Emperor moved the capital to there in 1868?

38. Aside from Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, which other two sitting presidents have been assassinated?

39. The hit song American Pie by Don McLean is said to have been written about which other musician, who died in a plane crash in 1959?

40. Tabasco and Chihuahua are states in which Latin American nation?

41. Zeus, measured in 2011 as the tallest dog ever recorded, is which breed?

42. Moonlight won Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Award ceremony - however, which movie was initially falsely announced by Faye Dunaway to have won the accolade?

43. There are three Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom: the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and which other self-governing island?

44. Though killed by Filipino natives halfway through his voyage, which Portuguese sailor is generally credited as leading the first circumnavigation of the Earth?

45. Celestial (of sky, space) is from Latin 'caelum' meaning?

    1. Sun
    2. God
    3. Heaven
    4. Air

46. “A quantity representing the power to which a fixed number must be raised to produce a given number” is a?

    1. Tangent
    2. Digit
    3. Logarithm
    4. Fraction

47. A lodestone or loadstone is another word for a?

    1. Paperweight
    2. Plumbline
    3. Paving slab or Magnet

48. Mythical Greek creatures centaur, pegasus, unicorn and hippocampus share what element?

    1. Eagle
    2. Horse
    3. Goat
    4. Rhinoceros

49. Which three numbers have two possible formats in seven-segment digital displays (e.g., calculators, clocks)?

50. What border has seen the most failed fatal crossings in the 21st century to date?

    1. Red Sea
    2. Mediterranean Sea
    3. USA-Mexico
    4. Russia-China

51. What is 146million km from Earth?

    1. The Sun
    2. The Moon
    3. Zero gravity
    4. The highest clouds

52. Callisthenics refers to vigorous exercise using?

    1. Gym equipment
    2. Balls
    3. Water
    4. Body-weight

53. The chess notation O-O and O-O-O refer to different types of Check; Checkmate; Resignation; or Castling?

54. The sousaphone is a marching-band version of the?

    1. Trombone
    2. Saxophone
    3. Tuba
    4. Xylophone

55. Name the BBCTV 1970s-founded information service, a phonetic portmanteau of 'seeing' and 'fascimile'?

56. The Goths (comprising Visigoths and Ostragoths) triumphed in?

    1. Harry Potter
    2. Star Wars
    3. Waterloo
    4. The Roman Empire

57. Centrifugal and centripetal are opposite forces in circular motion relative to?

    1. Gravity
    2. Centre
    3. The Sun
    4. Water

58. Analysis of human skeletons from c.5,000BC found Neolithic women's (What?) were of 'superhuman' strength?

    1. Arms
    2. Legs
    3. Neck
    4. Teeth

59. Invented in China c.500BC the oldest board game still played is?

    1. Chess
    2. Draights
    3. Go
    4. Monopoly

60. A UK school ban of what fairy story was unsucessfully suggested in 2017, because it 'advocated kissing a girl without consent'?

61. Formula One's exclusive tyre/tire supplier from 2011 to 2018 is?

    1. Goodyear
    2. Dunlop
    3. Pirelli
    4. Michelin

62. Website sabotage (e.g., by query/registration overload or similar) abbreviated to DDOS means Distributed (What?) Of Service?

63. Lava-formed hexagonal columns such as N.Ireland's Giant's Causeway, California's Devil's Postpile, and India's Kavadia Mountain are?

    1. Sandstone
    2. Clay
    3. Basalt
    4. Chalk

64. What grows in the stages of egg, avelin, fry, parr, smolt, kelt?

    1. Chickens
    2. Frogs
    3. Salmon
    4. Snails

65. What Italian wine translates as 'grape of the wild vine'?

66. In Arthurian legend Excalibur is a?

    1. Horse
    2. King
    3. Lake
    4. Sword

67. Which city was formerly known as Edo?

68. Which two films hold the record for most Academy Awards won?

69. Which two regions - both of which share their names with dog breeds - joined Canada from the UK in 1949?

70. The famous city of Timbuktu lies in which African nation, occupying large swathes of the western Sahara desert?

71. The Peace of Westphalia marked the end of which major European conflict, and the effective independence of the modern-day Netherlands from Spain?

72. Which American author invented the character, Tarzan?

73. Who won the first ever series of the X Factor?

74. Which country boasts the only non-quadrilateral flag in the world?

75. What houses were removed from the name of the British royal family in 1917 and replaced with Windsor - due to anti-German sentiment?

76. What are the only two doubly-landlocked countries (only bordering other landlocked states) in the world?

77. What was the name of the male group who shared the victory with Girls Aloud in the 2002 talent show, Popstars: The Rivals?

78. What word prefixes fold, punch, field, board, spread and stage?

79. Which modern-day country was formerly known as Zaire?

80. Which is the southern-most US state?

81. What geographical feature do these 11 nations exclusively have in common: São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil?

82. Spumante, frizzante, and tranquillo refer to different types of what?

83. The strategy boardgame Go, zither-playing, calligraphy and painting were the essential 'four arts' of a learned person in the ancient culture of?

    1. China
    2. India
    3. Native American USA
    4. Aboriginal Australia

84. The first dinosaur bone to be identified (1676, the end of a megalosaurus thighbone) was named due to its shape?

    1. Armpitum camelum
    2. Moutham fishum
    3. Beakham cockum
    4. Scrotum humanum

85. Cerberus in Greek mythology is a multi-(What?) (What?) guarding (What?)?

    1. Eyed
    2. Armed
    3. Headed
    4. Legged
    5. Dog
    6. Lion
    7. Bull
    8. Frog
    9. Heaven
    10. Hades (Hell)
    11. Olympus
    12. Heaven

86. Pak choi (US bok choi) is a Chinese?

    1. Board game
    2. Lunchbox
    3. Cycle lane
    4. Cabbage

87. What is the major US agency missing from this list: Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada), and CNSA (China)?