General Knowledge Questions and answers
1. What does `The Cherry Orchard' have in common with old editions of `Startrek'?
2. In Australia, how is the date of Mothers' Day calculated?
3. Which President of the USSR encouraged the policy of Glassnost?
4. What was built by inmates taken from Changi Prison Camp?
5. What is the world's largest desert?
6. Nino Culotto was his pen-name. What was his REAL name?
7. What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet?
8. Who wrote `The Entertainer', music made famous by the film,`The Sting'?
9. In Greek legend, what was eaten on the island of Jerba?
10. What was the name of Ulysses' son, who grew to manhood in his absence?
11. Which Knight caused the death of the Lady of Shallott?
12. What monument occupies centre stage in
Trafalgar Square
?
13. Which book catapulted Germaine Greer to fame?
14. What was the classical standard language of ancient India?
15. Who directed and starred in films such as `The little Tramp'?
16. Name the three types of classical architectural column.
17. Who was Doctor Zhivago's great love?
18. Name the commoner who ruled England in 1658-59.
19. Which ghost ship is the theme of an 1841 opera by Richard Wagner?
20. What career did the Duke of Wellington pursue after the Battle of Waterloo?
21. Which popular hymn was composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan of Opera Fame?
22. What is the literal meaning of `pince-nez'. glasses?
23. Beneath which Paris monument is the tomb of France's unknown soldier?
24. What type of puppets are t hose whose movements are controlled by strings?
25. Which drug is best known for its use in preventing malaria?
26. Identify the 15th century British war fought by the Houses of Lancaster and YorkBR>
27. Which sea is so named because it is too salty to maintain life
28. What is the most indispensable instrument in astronomy?
29. Which literary doctor owns a parrot called `Polynesia'?
30. Name the Australian singer whose first hit, in the 1960s, was `I Remember You'.
`Four On The Floor' pertain?
31. What is Sydney's equivalent to San Francisco's `Bay To Breakers' footrace'?
32. Which independent island is Australia's nearest neighbour to the west?
33. At the end of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet', which of the principals are dead?
34. Name two fictional or historical characters who fought with quarterstaffs on a log bridge ?
35. What is the name of Greg Norman's business?
36. Name a state of U.S.A. beginning with `B'.
37. Whom did Yoko Ono marry only to lose to an assassin?
38. Wo dubbed Australia `The Lucky Country' in one of his novels?
39. Which biblical event supports the superstition that 13 is an unlucky number?
40. How much was 240 pence in predecimal currency
41. Which comic- strip drake is a multi-billionaire?
42. What was the first event decided at the 1896 Olympics?
43. Which is the only continent occupied by one nation?
44. What inspired the convex golden disc as the Order of Australia ?
45. Which 1980 song hit was writen by Joe Dolce, an Italian migrant?
46. What is God called by the Islamic or Muslim faith?
47. Which radiation belt around the earth was named after an American physicist?
48. What is significant about a score of 4137 points in billiards?
49. Who was the famous Nez Perce Indian chief?
50. Which Slim Dusty 'hotel' song is Australia's only gold 78 record?
51. After Carruthers, Rose and Famechon, who was Australia's fourth world boxing champion?
52. What is an ocarina whose size and shape resembles a goose egg?
53. In which American city was the world's first skyscraper built in 1885?
54. What is the Christian name of Webster, who published a dictionary still used today ?
55. Outside of the Presidency, what is the highest American political office?
56. Name the only boxer to knock out Mohammed Ali
57. Which Australian state is host to the town of Gundagai?
58. On what date to Americans celebrate their Independence Day?
59. Who starred in the film version of To Kill A Mockingbird?
60. Which modern language gives us the term finito ?
61. Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
62. Which Australian city will host the 2001 Goodwill Games?
63. The prefix gastro refers to which bodily organ?
64. If you are celebrating your Diamond Anniversary, how many years have you been married ?
65. Boxers often suffer from a condition in which their ears are misshapen..what is this called?
66. Who wrote the famous poem Daffodils?
67. In what decade of this century was it decided US Presidents would be restricted to two terms?
68. What was the given name of Stalin's daughter who defected to the US in 1967?
69. Name the South African surgeon who carried out the first heart transplant operation.
70. The revolutionary newspaper, Pravda was first published in 1912...but WHERE?
71. What the the first ship to reach Titanic after the disaster?
72. Where in the US did the dance , the Charleston originate?
73. Which American author wrote the novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
74. Who piloted the US aircraft shot down byt he USSR in 1960 ?
75. Where were the 1960 Summer Olympics held?
76. In what year was the Rainbow Warrior sunk in New Zealand waters?
77. Who became the first Overlord Of England and Wales?
78. Which animal is likely to suffer from the disease, heaves ?
79. Who wrote The Happy Prince?
80. For what sport is a harrier bred??
81. Where in Australia is Palm Valley ?
82. What breed of farm animal is a Polwarth?
83. Who named Manly Cove , situated in Sydney Harbour?
84. Name the main ore of iron.
85. What is the study of heredity called?
86. Rose Hill was the original name of Australia's second settlement ...what is it called now??
87. What term is used to describe fertile land being 'rested' for a season?
88. Who is the patron saint of children ?
89. Who did Amin overthrow in 1971?
90. What ancient unit of measurement is suppposedly the distance from the elbow to the tip of the index finger?
91. Which was the second James Bond novel to be made into a movie?
92. Can you name the only two countries to have declared independence from Britain?
93. What is the official language of Egypt?
94. On which continent is Vincon Massif the highest peak?
95. Do polar bears eat penguins?
96. In which country would you find Tabasco?
97. What is the more common name for the tympanic membrane ?
98. Name the street that is home to British journalism.
99. What was H.G. Wells' first novel?
100. Which Australian city was host to the nations's first steam train.and its first electric train?
101. What is the best-known university in Paris?
102. What is the birthstone for September?
103. Where did John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvery Oswald and Jack Ruby all die?
104. What is the last book of the Bible?
105. Which movie's last line is " After all, tomorrow is another day"?
106. In Disney comics, who are Daisy Duck's three nieces?
107. At which Melbourne hotel did the Beatles stay in 1964 ?
108. Who was the first New Australian to become, in 1961, Miss Australia?
109. Which edifice stands on the banks of the River Jumna, at Agra?
110. What does one call ornamental work in silver or gold thread?
111. Which Norse god had, as handmaidens, the Valkyrie?
112. Which British Battleship was sunk, in 1941, by The Bismark?
113. What is the alternative name for a beekeeper?
114. Which 1975 Dickens drama was planned as a musical but screened without any songs ?
115. Which British novel was the subject of "Sailor"?
116. How many books comprise the Old and the New Testaments?
117. At what angle above the horizon must the sun be to create a rainbow?
118. Which song is based on California's 1849 gold rush?
119. What is the only crime for which church sanctuary is not available?
120. What was the full name of Brutus, one of Caesar's murderers?
121. What was the American codename for the development of the atom bomb?
122. Which western law enfromcement agency's motto was , "One riot-One Ranger?"
123. What is the Hebrew name of Calvary, where Christ was crucified ?
124. Which number on a roulette wheel is coloured green?
125. How many cannons are involved in a Royal Salute
126. What type of Moscow institution is GUM?
127. Which island is 50 times larger tha its mother country, Denmark?
128. Who was the first white man to climb Mt Kosciusko?
129. Name Australia's first "Girlie" magazine, launched in 1936
130. What name is given to the Pope's pontificial ring?
131. What ingredient did Cap O' Rushes order omitted from the wedding meats?
132. Who are the traditional inhabitants of Dovrafell?"
133. What was the name of Childe Rowland's sister, whom he rescued ?
134. Which witch travelled in a mortar which she drove along with a pestle?
135. Who caught Tommy Grimes?
136. What was it that Princess Margaret was changed into by her wicked stepmother, the Witch-Queen of Bamborough Castle?
137. Who fought the Queen of the Fairies for Tamlane, her love..and won??
138. Which fiend terrorized the Hall of Hrothgar?
139. And who freed Hrothgar's Hall of this menace?BR>
140. What was kept in Iduna's magic casket?
141. What was the name of the first patented contraceptive pill ?
142. What name is given, collectively, to the first five books of the Old Testament?"
143. In what year did Japan bomb Pearl Harbour ?
144. Ulan Bator is the capital of which nation?
145. What unit of heat is required to raise 1 gm of water by one degree Celsius?
146. Which airline owned the jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988?
147. What number did Michael Jordan make famous during his career with the Chicago Bulls??
148. Which floor covering is constructed by covering hessian or canvas with linseed oil, powdered cork and rosin?
149. In which American state would you find the city of Phoenix?
150. How many sides does a RHOMBUS have?
151. Which American state has its capital Harrisburg?
152. Which six letter word describes the number of members of a body required to be present to conduct business legally ?
153. Which company that developed the pentium processor for computers?
154. What name was given to the rockets used to launch the Apollo space missions?
155. Until the end of the 20th Century, what was the most popular name adopted by the popes?
156. In which year did Pope Benedict XV declare Joan of Arc a saint?
157. The mummies of Egyptian Pharaohs were often buried in what type of transport, believed to assist them to travel to the next world?
158. How many films did Charles Chaplin make during his 53-year carer, from 1914 to 1967?
159. Which band had a hit with the song ,California Dreamin'?
160. What name is given to the star that appears on the flag of Israel?
161. Which amusement park opened in Anaheim, California, on July 18th., 1955 ?
162. Name the wife of the Phillipines dictator, Ferdinand Marcos
163. K is the chemical symbol for what?
164. On what date is Australia Day celebrated?
165. Who wrote the play, "The Mousetrap"?
166. How old was Boris Becker when he won his first Wimbledon Singles title?
167. How many Spice Girls were there in 1997?
168. Who played the title role in the film "Gandhi"?
169. In the nursery rhyme, what do we ask Mary, mary, Quite contrary?
170. In what country would you find the Grand Prix circuit known as Silverstone?
171. Which American President was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz ?
172. Complete the proverb No kitchen is big enough to hold...
173. Who developed Meccano?
174. To which people did Delilah pass soon the secret of Samson's strength?
175. Who wrote the shortest of the gospels?
176. Complete this proverb: The end justifies .........
177. Who said: "A crank is a man with a new idea--until it catches on"?
178. Who wrote the song, Imagine?
179. Name the first woman in space
180. Who was convicted of shooting and killing John F Kennedy?
181. In which country did the Volkswagon originate ?
182. "The Sound Of Music" is set in which European country....
183. Which planet has the longest year?
184. In Earth terms , how long is that year?
185. What is the highest mountain in New Zealand?
186. What is the 12th letter of the English alphabet
187. Who teamed up with Neil Diamond to perfom the hit song, "You Don't Send Me Flowers"?
188. 1974 saw Portugal involved in a revolution which became known by which floral name??
189. What term is used to describe the wool cut from around a sheep's eyes?
190. What type of creature is a beagle?
191. In which Asian nation would you find the state of Punjab?
192. What is the wellknown French word for "pen"?
193. Ra is the chemical symbol for which element?
194. What five-letter word, beginning with q, is used to describe a lock or curl of hair on the forehead?
195. How many metres make a kilometre?
196. Who was the great Spanish Painter whose first name was Pablo?
197. Who founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain?
198. Which 1970s band had a hit with "Mama Mia"?
199. In which year did Fred Astair die?
200. Which river did Johann Strauss describe as "blue"?
201. For what crime is Vincent Perrugia best remembered?
202. Which Florentine woman was mother to 3 kings of France, and wife to another?
203. Who was the 3rd man on the moon?
204. Who designed Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress?
205. What was the name of Homer Simpson's Bowling team?
206. Which 1970's hit movie was based on a poem by James Dickey?
207. Which famous musician & singer was born McKinley Morganfield?
208. Who was the last person to be executed in the Tower of London?
209. In what film would you have seen a sword fight on the Cliffs of Insanity?
210. What is the world's largest bird of prey?
211. Sir Mark Oliphant was once Premier of which Australian State?
212. Near which Israeli city would you find the Mount Of Olives?
213. What colour are the towers of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge?
214. What is the sixth letter of hte English alphabet?
215. How many years of marraige are celebrated by a Golden Wedding Anniversary?
216. How many dwarves lived in the house discovered by Snow White?
217. By what short name were the Secret State Police of Nazi Germany known?
218. Musican Bo Didley is famous for playing which instrument?
219. Which acress began life as Doris Kapellhoff?
220. What name is given to the punctuation mark with a dot directly above a comma?
221. What country produces Rioja wines?
222. Who was the favourite daughter of Shakespeare's King Lear?
223. Which Australkian city includes the suburbs of Cottesloe and Subiaco?
224. Who discovered Oxygen in 1774?
225. Name the author of A Town Like Alice
226. How many Earth years does it take Pluto to orbit the sun?
227. What name is given to the central part of a fleshy fruit, containing the seeds?
228. What letter appears to the right of Y on a keyboard?
229. What is it that makes soda water fizz?
230. What disease is the Sabin Vaccine used to prevent?
231. Name the actor grandfathr of Drew Barrymore.
232. Who is the female host of the television show, Better Homes and Gardens?
233. Which comedian once said, "A well-balanced person has a drink in each hand"?
234. Complete this proverb: A growing youth has a ......?
235. What are the three given names of author JRR Tolkein?
236. Who portrayed Kevin Arnold in the television series, The Wonder Years?
237. With whom did Barbra Streisand team to release the hit song, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"?
238. Complete this proverb: Facts are ..............
239. Who portrayed Melanie Wilks in the film, Gone With The Wind?
240. Name the Australian artist who painted "The Rabbiters"
241. In the famous 'White Horse' FA Cup final of 1923, what was the name of the White Horse?
242. Which is the largest of the Trucial states?
243. Whose last words were 'The rest is silence'?
244. What was double-headed for Russia & Austria, but single-headed for Germany?
245. In the famous April Fools Day joke, where did Richard Dimbleby say that spaghetti was being grown on trees?
246. Which Florentine woman was mother to 3 kings of France, and wife to another?
247. Who designed Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress?
248. For what crime is Vincent Perrugia best remembered?
249. Who was the 3rd man on the moon?
250. In which sport are Bonspiel and Crampit common terms?
THE ANSWERS
1. Mr Checkhov!
2. It's always the second Sunday in May.
3. Mr Gorbachov
4. The Burma Railway.
5. The Sahara
6. John O'Grady
7. Omega
8. Scott Joplin
9. Lotuses.
10. Telemachus
11. Sir Lancelot
12. Nelson's Colums
13. The Female Eunuch
14. Sanskrit
15. Charlie Chaplin
16. Doric, Ionic and Coninthian
17. Lara
18. Richard Cromwell
19. The Flying Dutchman
20. Political: he was British PM 1828-30
21. 'Onward Christian Soldiers'
22. 'Pinch-nose'
23. Arc De Triomphe
24. Marionettes
25. Quinine
26. War Of The Roses
27. Dead Sea
28. Telescope
29. Dr Doolittle
30. Frank Ifield
31. City To Surf race
32. Mauritius
33. Both Romeo and Juliet
34. Robin Hood and Little John
35. Great White Shark Enterprises
36. There is none!
37. John Lennon
38. Donald Horne
39. Thirteen people at the Last Supper
40. One pound
41. Scrooge McDuck
42. Triple jump
43. Australia
44. Wattle blossom
45. Shaddap You Face
46. Allah
47. (James) Van Allen Belts
48. It is Walter Lindrum's world-record break
49. Chief Joseph
50. The Pub With No Beer
51. Rocky Mattioil,WBC Junior Middleweight
52. Wind musical instrument
53. Chicago
54. Noah
55. President of the United States Senate
56. Larry Holmes in 1980
57. New South Wales
58. July 4th
59. Gregory Peck
60. Italian
61. Michelangelo
62. Brisbane
63. The stomach
64. Sixty
65. Cauliflower Ear
66. William Wordsworth
67. The 6th., 1951
68. Svetlana
69. Dr Christian Barnard
70. Russia
71. The Carparthia
72. Charleston, South Carolina
73. Anita Loos
74. Francis Gary Powers
75. Rome
76. 1985
77. Egbert of Wessex
78. A horse
79. Oscar Wilde
80. It is a hunting dog
81. The Northern Territory
82. A sheep
83. Governor Arthur Philip
84. Hematite
85. Genetics
86. Parramatta
87. Fallow
88. St Nicholas
89. Milton Obote
90. The cubit
91. From Russia With Love
92. The USA and Rhodesia
93. Arabic
94. Antarctica
95. No, Polar bears live in the Arctic, while Penguins inhabit the Antarctic and other southern areas
96. Mexico
97. The eardrum
98. Fleet Street
99. The Time Machine
100. Melbourne
101. The Sorbonne
102. Sapphire
103. Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA.
104. Revelation
105. GoneWith The Wind
106. April, May and June
107. The Southern Cross
108. Tania Verstak
109. The Taj Mahal
110. Filigree
111. Odin
112. HMS Hood
113. Apiarist
114. Great Expectations
115. HMS Ark Royal
116. 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New
117. 40 degrees
118. Clementine
119. sacrilege
120. Marcus Junius Brutus
121. Manhatton Project
122. Texas Rangers
123. Golgotha
124. Zero
125. Twenty-one
126. The largest department-store
127. Greenland
128. Paul Strzlecki
129. Men
130. The Fisherman's Ring
131. Salt
132. The trolls of Denmark
133. Burd Ellen
134. Russia's Baba Yaga
135. Mr Miacca
136. The Laidly Worm
137. Fair Janet
138. Grendel
139. Beowulf
140. The Apples Of Youth which kept the Aesir young
141. Enovid
142. The Pentaleuch
143. 1941
144. Mongolia
145. One calorie
146. Pan Am
147. 23
148. Linoleum
149. Arizona
150. Four
151. Pennsylvania
152. Quorum
153. Intel
154. Saturn
155. John,(6)
156. 1920.
157. Boats
158. 89
159. The Mamas and The Papas
160. The Star Of David
161. Disneyland
162. Imelda
163. Potassium
164. January 26th
165. Agatha Christie
166. 17
167. Five
168. Ben Kingsley
169. How Does Your Garden Grow?
170. England
171. William Mckinley
172. ...Two Women
173. Frank Hornby
174. The Philistines
175. Mark
176. ...The means
177. Mark Twain
178. John Lennon
179. Valentina Tereshkova
180. Noone. Lee Harvey Oswald was suspected but murdered before any conviction was recorded
181. Germany
182. Austria
183. Pluto
184. 247 years, 255 days
185. Mt Cook
186. L
187. Barbara Streisand
188. Carnation Revolution
189. Eyeclip
190. Dog
191. India
192. Plume
193. Radium
194. Quiff
195. 1000
196. Picasso
197. Colonel Harlan Sanders
198. ABBA
199. 1987
200. The Danube.
201. He Stole The Mona Lisa
202. Catherine De Medici
203. Charles Conrad
204. Norman Hartnell
205. Pin Pals
206. Deliverance
207. Muddy Waters
208. Josef Jakobs
209. The Princess Bride
210. Californian Condor.
211. South Australia
212. Jerusalem
213. Red
214. F
215. 50
216. 7
217. Gestapo
218. Guitar
219. Doris Day
220. Semi-colon.
221. Spain
222. Cordelia
223. Perth
224. Joseph Priestly
225. Nevil Shute
226. 248
227. The core
228. U
229. Carbon Dioxide
230. Polio
231. John Barrymore
232. Noni Hazlehurst
233. Billy Connolly
234. Wolf in his belly
235. John Ronald Reuel
236. Fred Savage
237. Neil Diamond
238. Stubborn things
239. Olivia De Havilland
240. Sir Russell Drysdale
241. Billy
242. Abu-Dhabi
243. Hamlet s
244. Imperial Eagle
245. Southern Switzerland
246. Catherine De Medici
247. Norman Hartnell
248. He Stole The Mona Lisa
249. Charles Conrad
250. Curling