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South African (Off-Topic) Quiz


DamhuisClan

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Posted

Simon van der Stel arrived on the 12th of October 1679 to be the new Commander of the Cape.

He was married to Johanna Jacoba Six, a gentlewoman by birth who came from an influential family who were the patrons of Rembrandt.

 

Something was very odd about this marriage. What would that be ?

 

Johanna was a man?

Posted

Looks like a bit of a Ping Pong match between myself and Tomtwogates...

Ball is in your court again Tom...

 

Simon and Johanna got married in 1663.

She indeed did not join him when he left on the Vrye Zee, in 1679.

They never saw each other again.

He was Commander at the Cape Colony until he retired in 1699.

He then spend his retirement years at Groot Constantia.

She died in the year 1700.

 

21 out of 37 years of married living worlds apart... Amazing...

I guess some would say he was a very lucky man..

He did stay devoted to her, and frequently sent her money.

She in turn would sent him works of art from time to time.

 

All four of their sons did join him at some stage here in the Cape, and one of them, Adriaan become Governor after his fathers retirement.

Posted

Okay - who was Zacharias Wagenaer (Wagenaar) and what was he responsible for which is still around today?

 

He was the 2nd Commander of the Cape Colony.

He took over from Jan van Riebeeck.

 

He built a reservoir in the area of the Vars-rivier to provide fresh water to visiting ships.

This reservoir is preserved behind glass in a shopping centre near the Castle, in it's original place.

Posted

Okay - who was Zacharias Wagenaer (Wagenaar) and what was he responsible for which is still around today?

 

He was the 2nd Commander of the Cape Colony.

He took over from Jan van Riebeeck.

 

He built a reservoir in the area of the Vars-rivier to provide fresh water to visiting ships.

This reservoir is preserved behind glass in a shopping centre near the Castle, in it's original place.

 

Ping-Pong - okay Henzz - I promise not to answer your next question! <_< <_<

Posted

All of us spend some time on the roads every day.

To avoid absolute chaos there is something called "The rules of the road"

This is basically a set of rules, regulations and laws that govern us all, while being on public roads..

 

During what year (I'll accept your answer as correct if you are closer than 10 years) did the first "Rules of the road" come into effect in South Africa. Given it was not nearly as complex as what it is today, but the government of the time felt the need to set some rules down for the safety of all, pedestrians and those in vehicles alike..

Posted

O.K. Mr Pooks, maybe this was a silly question.

DamhuisClan was the closest, so I'll hand it over to him then..

 

Here is the story...

 

During the first British Occupation the streets and roads of Cape Town was in a deplorable state, and the Governor lodged many complaints with the Burgher Senate, which was responsible for the construction and maintenance of the thoroughfares of Cape Town, who in turn blamed an insufficient treasury.

 

Light horse drawn wagons were used for transporting such loads as wine barrels. People traveled by private coach, chaise, wagonette and light carts. Regulations was put in place for the protection of pedestrians in the town, whose rights and duties was clearly defined, as were those of horse or ox driven traffic.

 

As soon as a wagon or heavy cart, drawn by eight or more horses or oxen, came to within two miles of Cape Town, a leader had to walk in front of the team, and lead it through the streets. A comprehensive road-code was drawn up in 1798, which is a foreshadow of present day traffic regulations.

 

Use had to be made of the left hand side of the road, in order to leave the right hand lane free for approaching traffic. Provisions was also made for one way traffic leaving and entering town.

 

All yours DamhuisClan.

Posted

Oh wow a wild guess helped.

 

You may use a calculator or Excel type program for this one:

 

Given:

A "special" piece of paper is 0.1 mm thick,

It is possible to fold this "special" piece of paper double an infinite number of times.

The distance to the moon is roughly 384,403 km.

 

Question:

How many times must this special piece of paper be folded double to reach the moon?

Posted

I also get 42. Interestingly, in practice no matter how big or how thin the paper you start with, you cannot fold it more than 7 times (if I remember correctly)

Posted

Ok, Ill give it over to 7Gryph7.

 

My calculations came out to 45 times.

 

I find that amazing... just over 40 times. And getting to the sun is not that much more.

 

Oh darn ... I see I counted the cells in Excel, and started the on the 3rd cell. So yes 42 is the (ultimate) answer (to life, the universe and everything)

 

Over to you 7Gryph7

Posted

sorry guys, im away from home for the weekend , Hunting my 100 finds :-D milestone, and wont be able to check the thread.

 

As "the pooks" had the same answer ill hand the turn over to them.

 

Will check in again on monday to see whats going on here.

Posted

ok, im back at home.

 

Seeing as no-one took the turn while I was gone, I will put down a easy one just to get the ball rolling again.

so here goes.

 

"The great star of Africa" - what is it and where can it be seen?

Posted

Easy one. It is the largest cut diamond in the world. Known as the Cullinan 1 and set into the Royal Scepter. Cullinan 2 is also cut from the same stone and set into the Royal Crown. Both are kept in the Tower of London.

Posted

this movie came into the world 4 years before me, so theres no way I would know this without Google. laughing.gif

 

Not true? I have watched plenty of movies that came around before I was born?

Think Mike Hoare (or perhaps he was also around before your time ;) )

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