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The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

Simply Paul
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Border Caz

+Border Caz

Posted
Posted

What do the following have in common:

 

The Northern Lights

A character from the Arabian Nights

An instrument that measures pressure without using fluid

A nuclear weapon

The second wife of Henry 8th

The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted

For the sake of saving an unmaintained cache, let's give The Birdman of Alcotraz a Ding.

 

He got them all right:

 

Aurora Borealis

Ali Baba

Anaeroid Barometer

Atom Bomb

Anne Boleyn

 

Let's agree to move the game on and give Birdman the chair for the next question.

 

It's a good cache, so let's nurture it while the GC.com bureaucrats ain't botherin'.

Birdman-of-liskatraz

+Birdman-of-liskatraz

Posted
Posted

Ohh Ta....

 

So, here's a question to make you think....

 

Which Countries first ever Football team comprised of the following named players?

 

Charles Dawe, John Dawe, James Bennetts, John Bennetts, William Blamey, Richard Sobey, William Bragg, William Thomas, Percy Bunt, Lionel Bunt, Albert Pangelly and William Pengelly

 

Shouldn't be too hard....

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

Good Cornish names there. Now we know that wherever in the World there's a hole in the ground you'll find a Cornishman at the bottom winning the minerals. So my guess is that it's a country we taught the art of hard-rock mining. Knowing a little of Birdie, I suspect this country is now famous in it's own right for football - possibly South America, ...

 

So I'll guess Brazil?

 

Geoff

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

Indeed - Mexico... DING

Thanks, I knew that Brazil has a lot of tin - hence the first guess - but I'll admit to a mental coin-toss between Mexico and Uruguay.

 

Next question: What unusual trait do the duck-billed platypus and echidna share?

 

Geoff

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

Yep! While George Washington became the first President of the independent United States in 1789, he wasn't the first President of America since colonial America had Presidents before gaining independence.

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

I seem to recall that they elected a president to stop George Washington becoming king, but I may be well wrong.

You might be correct. However, AFAICT the role of the first Presidents was similar to the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons in that they presided over - hence the title "president" - the assembled Congress to keep order in the assembly, but had little or no executive power.

The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted

I remember Hanson in the mid-1980s boasting that they were "doing rather well over there" while I was living in New York. A local explained to me why there were so many harrumpphs about a Brit company using that name with that slogan.

 

The first President's name was John Hanson.

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

Good try, but no ding.

 

AIUI Hanson is often cited as the first elected president, but he wasn't the first to be appointed. One of the presidents before Hanson is possibly as famous as Washington because of a quirk of colloquialism. John Hancock was President when the Declaration of Independence was signed, which is allegedly the reason why his signature is so prominent on that document, which in turn is why "John Hancock" is US slang for "signature". That said, you have to look earlier even than John Hancock for the first President!

norsch

norsch

Posted
Posted

Just looked on wikipedia at this one, their entries say that Peyton Randolph was the first president of The Continental Congress, wikipedia gives the first President of America as John Hanson.

 

Strange

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

Just looked on wikipedia at this one, their entries say that Peyton Randolph was the first president of The Continental Congress, wikipedia gives the first President of America as John Hanson.

 

Strange

No matter whether you accept Peyton Randolph, it most definitely wasn't John Hanson. From this, you can see three "series" of "President".

 

The first series was from when the American Colonies got together to rebel against Britain to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. The full title of the President then was "President of the Continental Congress of America". Randolph was the first and third of that series, with John Hancock the fourth.

 

The second series was after the Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781. From that point, each state was independent and the full title of the President was "President of the United States in Congress Assembled". Since Hanson was the third of that series, it follows he could not have been the first.

 

The third series was post-Constitution, from George Washington to Barack Obama.

 

HTH,

 

Geoff

Simply Paul

+Simply Paul

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Ok. If you're a similar age as me, where might you have used a strigil?
Roman baths... used to scrape off the oil and dirt.... Cheers MaxKim.
A speedy DING to MaxKim. I'm older than I look :)
MartyBartfast

+MartyBartfast

Posted
Posted

Thanks SP, straight forward question.....what is a zoetrope? :anibad:

 

I think It's an old fashioned device for making apparently moving images from a series of still pictures by having the pictures inside a revolving drum, and viewing them through slits cut in the drum as it revolves.

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted (edited)

A "magic lantern". IIRC this comes from Victorian times (or perhaps earlier). It's essentially a rotating cylinder with slits alternating with images on the inside. As you look through the slits, the images appear one after another to give the illusion of movement. Early ones showed horses and circus acts and a more contemporary one is the BBC2 ident.

 

Edited to add: Darn! pipped at the post!

Edited by Pajaholic
maxkim

+maxkim

Posted
Posted

Thanks SP, straight forward question.....what is a zoetrope? :D

 

I think It's an old fashioned device for making apparently moving images from a series of still pictures by having the pictures inside a revolving drum, and viewing them through slits cut in the drum as it revolves.

 

Big Ding there.... Sorry for the delay... working away in this weather takes it's toll... :D Cheers MaxKim

maxkim

+maxkim

Posted
Posted

A quickie, inspired by todays weather:

 

When was the last official White Christmas in the UK?

 

2009?

 

Not according to the Met Office.

In Leeds it was according to yhrir web site as were several places around the UK.... Which place do you mean... is it London?,,,,, :rolleyes::D:)

purple_pineapple

+purple_pineapple

Posted
Posted

I'm sure that's right and forgive me for not being more specific but I was looking just for the coldest weather related outdoor temp.

 

i'm trying to recall what i read yesterday! is it -28 at Blaerar (or some similar kind of spelling!)

Pajaholic

Pajaholic

Posted
Posted

I'm sure that's right and forgive me for not being more specific but I was looking just for the coldest weather related outdoor temp.

 

i'm trying to recall what i read yesterday! is it -28 at Blaerar (or some similar kind of spelling!)

Thanks for the mental jog. There was a news item yesterday wondering whether Braemar would break it's record of -27.something °C that it equalled during a cold snap in the 1980s. However, I suspect it was substantially colder during the Little Ice Age (15th to 17th centuries) and they must have had thermometers to be able to record it at some point during that time!

 

Geoff

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