Round One General Knowledge

Round One – General Knowledge

1. A nice easy one to get you started: what three letter word can go before pick, cream and hockey to make three new phrases?

2. Which international airport has the airport code ‘LHR’?

3. What species of bird can be Greylag or Canadian?

4. Which comedy duo had ‘The Dance of the Cuckoos’ as their theme tune?

5. Inventor of the centigrade scale, Anders Celsius, was born in which Scandinavian country?

6. Who was the author of the book ‘A Brief History of Time’ (1988)?

7. What was the final battle of the Napoleonic wars?

8. Which 1959 Marilyn Monroe film featured what looked like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?

9. The films ‘The Natural’ (1983), ‘Bull Durham’ (1988), ‘Field of Dreams’ (1989) and ‘Rookie of the Year’ (1993) all featured which sport?

10. Mount Logan is the highest mountain in which Commonwealth country?

Round Three – 2009 –Name the month: NOT MARCH OR SEPTEMBER

1. The second G-20 Summit, involving world leaders rather than finance ministers, meets in London, author J. G. Ballard dies, swine flu is first detected in Mexico and Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor receive lifetime bans from the S. F. A.

2. Sasha Baron Cohen’s ‘Bruno’ is released, Roger Federer wins the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title for the sixth time, former England manager Bobby Robson dies and Blur’s twenty year reunion tour is held in Hyde Park.

3. Serena Williams wins the Australian Open Women’s Singles title, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ wins Best Picture at the Golden Globes, US Airways flight 1549 ditches in New York’s Hudson River and Barack Obama is inaugurated as President of the U. S. A.

4. Norway win the Eurovision Song Contest, Gurkhas who served in the Armed Forces are allowed to settle in Britain, Jenson Button wins the Monaco Grand Prix and Rangers beat Falkirk 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final.

5. Ronnie Biggs, great Train Robber, is freed on medical grounds as is alleged Lockerbie bomber Mohmed Al Megrahi, England regain The Ashes with a 2-1 series win over Australia, Noel Gallacher leaves Oasis and Chelsea defeat Manchester United on penalties to win the Charity Shield.

6. A Nigerian bomber tries to blow up a passenger jet bound for Detroit, actor Richard Todd dies, and James Cameron’s film ‘Avatar’ is released.

7. Michael Jackson dies, a remake of ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ starring John Travolta is released, Air France Flight 477 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and Alan Johnston becomes Home Secretary after Jacqui Smith’s resignation.

8. In rugby union, Scotland defeat Australia 9-8 at Murrayfield, the first time since 1982, Thierry Henry ‘hands’ World Cup qualification to France, the U. S. A. opens its first marijuana café in Portland, Oregon and Gordon Brown travels to Cumbria to meet flood victims. 9. Ireland approves the Treaty of Lisbon, in the U. S. A., a six year old boy was alleged to be trapped inside a homemade hot air balloon, Boyzone’s Stephen Gately dies and Tim Berners-Lee issues an apology for including an unnecessary two slashes in URLs.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl 43, Sean Penn wins Best Actor Oscar for ‘Milk’, Ford’s Theatre, Washington, reopens for the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer to win the Australian Open Men’s Singles title.

Round Five – General Knowledge

1. Name the year: the winter Olympics are held in Albertville, France, ‘Silence of the Lambs’ wins Best Picture Oscar, Microsoft releases Windows 3.1, Disneyland Paris opens, the English Premier League is formed, Betty Boothroyd becomes first woman to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons and Wet Wet Wet hit No1 in the U. K. singles chart with ‘Goodnight Girl’.

2. Valletta is the capital city of which Mediterranean island?

3. Who directed the first three (of five) ‘Death Wish’ series of films starring Charles Bronson?

4. What are the two main colours of the Moroccan national flag?

5. Which British daily newspaper replaced the Daily Herald in 1964?

6. Strangeways Prison is in the north of which English city?

7. What was the only major naval battle of World War I?

8. Which mobile phone manufacturer introduced the RAZR in 2005?

9. Astronomy: how does the phrase ‘Via Lactea’ translate into English?

10. Country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs): dot uk is Great Britain, dot fr is France, dot zm (zulu mike) is which African country?