WikiQuiz General Knowledge #39
Lieutenant Columbo
"Enough Rope," a 1960 episode of "The Chevy Mystery Show," marked the first time which detective solved a crime on television?
Helen Frankenthaler
"I wanted to live in this land. I had to live there, and master the language." So spoke what woman recalling the first time she saw a Jackson Pollock exhibition? Pollock's influence can be felt in her early masterpiece "Mountains and Sea" (below), created through her trademark "soak stain" technique.
Stephen King
"In the Tall Grass" and "Throttle" are the only two collaborations between what best-selling horror writer and his son Joe Hill?
Virginia Apgar (APGAR Test)
A quick test to assess the health of a newborn child immediately after birth - in order to combat infant mortality - is named for the surname of which American anesthesiologist?
Transformers
According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, what film, based on a cartoon series which ran for four seasons from 1984 through 1987, occupies the #1 spot on the list of highest-grossing movies based on TV cartoons? The other movies from the same series occupy spots #2, #3, and #4 on the same list.
The Walls of Jericho
According to the book of Joshua Chapter 6 versus 1 to 27, Israelites marching seven times around them whilst blowing ram's horns caused what to fall down?
Mount Saint Elias
An expedition led by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, was the first to surmount what second-tallest mountain in Canada that is also the second-tallest mountain in the United States?
Uruguay (After Jose Gervasio Artigas)
Artiguism is the set of political, social and economic ideas named after the national hero of which country?
Shanghai Tower
At 828m, the Burj Al Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. Standing 198m shorter, what building takes second place on the list?
Drake
At the start of 2020, Spotify released the list of most streamed music artists of the past decade (2010-2019). Which artist was ranked #1, ahead of second-placed Ed Sheeran?
Rigoberta Menchú (Tum)
Before she became famous on "The Office" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Ellie Kemper penned a self-aware McSweeney's humor piece in which she facetiously compared her own privileged upbringing to incidents described in the (now controversial) memoir of what Guatemalan activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient?
Central African Empire
Between 1976 and 1979 the Central African Republic was known by what other name?
Christopher Cross
Billie Eilish became the second person to win the four main categories at the 2020 Grammys: Best New Artist, Song of the Year for "Bad Guy," Record of the Year for "Bad Guy," and Album of the Year for "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?". But which singer did it first in 1981?
Max Euwe
Briefly, this Dutch chess grandmaster was president of FIDE in the mid 1970s. But he would be best remembered for being the only person to defeat the great Alexander Alekhine in a World Championship game, in 1935. However, he held on to the title for only two years, losing the rematch in 1937 to Alekhine, which the Soviet grandmaster held till his death. Who is being described, the fifth person to hold the World Chess Champion crown?
The Jackal
British Small Arms Dealer Charles Calthrop, 2-year-old Alexander Duggan, Danish Pastor Per Jensen, American Student Marty Schulberg and French World War 2 Veteran André Martin were all aliases used by which fictional assassin, whose real identity was never discovered?
Najmieh Batmanglij
Called by the Washington Post "the grand dame of Iranian cooking," what chef and cookbook author has two artistically prominent sons: One a longtime member of Vampire Weekend and the other a frequent creative collaborator with Brit Marling ("The East," "The OA")? Neither of them had anything to do with "The Dark Knight."
Middlesbrough
Dixie Dean famously holds the record for the most goals in one English football season, scoring 60 for Everton between 1927-1928. But during the previous season a now-forgotten player called George Camsell had netted 59 goals for which north-east club?
Oh ah Just a Little Bit
Doing so in 1996, what song is the last UK entry in the Eurovision song contest to reach number one in the British singles chart?
Angelique Kerber
Doing so in 2016, who is the last female tennis player to win more than one Grand Slam singles title in the same calendar year? That year she won Australian Open and US Open titles.
Boxing
Eddie Eagan was the first man to win gold in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. His 1932 Winter Games gold was for Bobsleigh, what was his Summer Games Gold for?
Jan Ullrich
Even though Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive Tour de France victories have now been expunged from the records, none of the second-place finishers have been retrospectively promoted to champion. Which former winner finished second to Armstrong on three occasions during that time and, theoretically, would now be a four-time champion (although all his post-2005 results have now been banned due to doping)?
Robert F. Kennedy
Football player Rosey Grier, track star Rafer Johnson, and writer George Plimpton were among those present at what man's assassination? Please provide first and last name.
Wells Fargo
Founded by and named for two men who also helped create American Express, what bank operates the only 2 ATMs in Antarctica?
Niels Henrik Abel
French mathematician Charles Hermite said of this 19th-century man: "he has left mathematicians enough to keep them busy for five hundred years." Another Frenchman Adrien-Marie Legendre, said: "quelle tête celle du jeune Norvégien!" ("what a head the young Norwegian has!"). His most famous single result is the first complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solving the general quintic equation in radicals, a problem that was then unresolved for over 250 years. Who?
Labour Party
From 1908 to 1910, Arthur Henderson was the second person to be the parliamentary leader of which political party?
Hanging
Harry Allen and Robert Leslie Stewart became the last men to carry out what act in the UK on the 13th of August 1964?
Puerto Rico
Harvard Law graduate Pedro Albizu Campos is a key figure in the independence movement of what island? He was imprisoned as a result of 1950 revolts that led to a gunfight in which his barber (!) singlehandedly held off 40 police and National Guard for three hours; those revolts also precipitated an assassination attempt on Harry Truman.
Sessue Hayakawa (Colonel Saito in The Bridge on the River Kwai)
He was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man in the United States and Europe. His "broodingly handsome" good looks and typecasting as a sexually dominant villain made him a heartthrob among American women during a time of racial discrimination, and he became one of Hollywood's first male sex symbols. Of his talkies, he is probably best known for the 1957 film which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. Who?
North Island and South Island (New Zealand)
Hector's dolphin and Maui's dolphin are rare subspecies found only in the waters off of which TWO ISLANDS?
400
How many gradians are in a full circle?
Eleanor Rigby
I think most of know that Yesterday by The Beatles is the most covered popular song in history, with more than 400 different versions. But which song comes in second, with more than 350 different versions?
Alf Common
If Jean Pierre Papin is 10 Million Pounds, Giuseppe Savoldi 1 million pounds, Luis Suarez 100,000 pounds and David Jack 10,000 pounds, who is 1,000 pounds?
Polgar
Ildikó Mádl formed one-fourth of the national squad that triumphed in the women's division of the 1988 and 1990 Chess Olympiads. What surname was shared by all three of her teammates?
Poet Laureate
In 1638, William D'Avenant became the second person to hold which prominent position in British society?
Kimberly, South Africa
In 1881, which city established Africa's first stock exchange? The following year, it became the second city in the world (after Philadelphia) to have electric street lights.
Bertha von Suttner
In 1903, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (for Physics). Who became the second, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905?
George Dantzig
In 1939, what mathematician solved two open problems in the field of statistics after he arrived late to class and mistook them for homework?
Lasse Viren
In 2016, Mo Farah retained his Olympic 5000m and 10000m titles, the second person to achieve that double double. Which Finnish athlete was the first person to achieve the same feat, winning in 1972 and 1976?
James Patterson
In 2019, the second most borrowed author from UK libraries was Daisy Meadows, author of the Rainbow Magic series of children's books. Who topped the list for the 12th year running?
Orbit the earth
In August 1961, Gherman Titov became the second man to achieve what distinction?
Ellie Goulding
In January 2020 which singer became the first artist to have a number one single in the UK in the 2020s with a cover of the Joni Mitchell song River? It was her first top ten single since 2015's On My Mind
Chris Chataway
In May 1954, Roger Bannister famously broke the four-minute mile barrier in a race held at Iffley Road Track in Oxford. But who came a distant second in that same race?
Tokyo Story
In a Sight & Sound list of the best films produced in Asia, this 1953 film ranked number one. It was loosely based on the 1937 American film Make Way for Tomorrow, directed by Leo McCarey. Directed by Yasujirō Ozu, which movie is this?
Henry Cooper
In a bout taking place at Arsenal's former ground Highbury, who in May 1966 became the first British boxer to challenge Muhammed Ali for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship?
Akela (The friend was Rudyard Kipling, who wrote The Jungle Book)
In the scouting programs (popularized by Robert Baden-Powell), what five-letter name is given to any cubmaster or den leader who acts as a leader to the scout? Baden-Powell was inspired to use this name because of an author friend's successful literary work.
California
In which US State would you find Squaw Valley, the home of the 1960 Winter Olympics?
New York Mets
Joan Whitney Payson was the primary founder of what professional sports franchise, which she lobbied to create after both the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers decamped to the west coast?
Colorado
Lauren Boebert, the owner of Shooters Grill — which encourages servers to openly carry firearms — and a political neophyte, recently won a Republican congressional primary in what state? She is also noted for endorsing QAnon conspiracy theories.
Sakhalin
Located in the North Pacific, 27 miles to the North of Hokkaido, what is the largest island of the Russian Federation? Between the end of the Russo-Japanese War up to the final days of World War 2, the island was co-owned by Russia/USSR and Japan.
A High Wind in Jamaica (alt. The Innocent Voyage)
Long before he became fixated on "Space Invaders," a 15-year-old Martin Amis acted in a 1965 film adaptation of what most famous novel by Richard Hughes? It deals with a group of children who are kidnapped by pirates; fun does not ensue.
George V
Lord Dawson of Penn, the great-grandfather of Damian Lewis, is now known to have ended the life of what British monarch by administering euthanasia? Please provide regnal name and number.
Pearl Buck
Luise Rainer would go on to win a second-best Actress Oscar the year after for playing O-Lan in the film The Good Earth. The film is based on a novel of the same name written by which American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
India
Martina Hingis won 10 Grand Slam doubles titles between 2015 and 2017. Seven of them came in partnership with tennis players from what country?
Descartes Highland
Named after a French Philosopher, which area of Lunar Highlands was the landing site of the Orion Lunar Lander on the Apollo 16 mission?
Margaret Wintringham
Nancy Astor has gone down in the record books as the first woman to take her seat in the UK parliament, having been elected in 1919. But what is the name of the woman who won the Louth by-election in 1921 (thus replacing her recently-deceased husband) to become the second woman to take her seat in the House of Commons?
Seabiscuit
On 1 November 1938, in what was dubbed the "Match of the Century", War Admiral came in second to which far more famous winner? In 2003, the winner was 'honoured' with a film starring Tobey Maguire that told the story.
Yasmina Reza
Only four plays have won the Best Play Tony Award after being translated into English from another language. Two of those were written by what Frenchwoman?
Indonesia
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Canada is the country with the longest coastline with over 125k miles and more than 50% of the world's entire length of coastline. With a total of just under 34k miles, which country comes second on the list?
Augustus
Reigning for 40 years and 7 months, who is longest reigning Roman Emperor?
Millard Fillmore
Serving from 1850 to 1853, who was the last President of the USA who represented the Whig Party?
Jefferson Davis
The "JD" in the name of UK pub company JD Wetherspoons ultimately derives (via "The Dukes of Hazzard") from the initials of what 19th century political leader? Do not confuse him with the father of Miles "Spider-Man" Morales.
Predator
The 7 feet 2-inch-tall actor Kevin Peter Hall, played the title character in which Arnold Schwarzenegger film?
Coachella music festival
The Empire Polo Club in Indio, California is the usual venue for what annual gathering?
Egyptian (Ammonia, Ammonium from Amun)
The chemical compounds NH3 and NH4 get their name from a deity present in which civilisation's mythology?
Little Nell Trent
The death of which Charles Dickens' character caused Oscar Wilde to say 'One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of without dissolving into tears...of laughter'?
Denmark
The previous three male Prime Ministers of what nation (none of whom are related to the others) all carry the surname "Rasmussen"?
Haiti
The self-styled Emperors Jacques I and Faustin I ruled what Caribbean country?
Philoctetes
The subject of plays by each of the Big Three ancient Greek tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), what outcast archer is credited with killing Paris during the Trojan War?
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The title character of which musical has the surname Dillmount? In the musical she sings the songs Not for the Life of Me, How the Other Half Lives, The Speed Test and Gimme?
Nick Kroll
What American actor, who helped shoot the film "Olympic Dreams" on location inside the Olympic Village in Pyeongchang, has recently begun to shed his abrasive comic persona with straight dramatic roles like lawyer Bernie Cohen in "Loving" and Mossad agent Rafi Eitan in "Operation Finale"? He also co-created an acclaimed Netflix animated series.
Evgenia Medvedeva
What Russian figure skater was virtually unbeatable during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons but fell off just enough to be forced to settle for silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics?
Kilikiti/Kirikiti (derived from Cricket)
What is Samoa's national sport? It's name derives from a popular sport spread by missionaries throughout Polynesia. No one truly knows the full extent of the game's rules, and an organisation called the NZKA is trying to standardize its rules since the early 2000s.
Haakon
What is the first name of the current Heir Apparent to the Norwegian throne? It is a name he shares with the man who served as King of Norway between 1905 and 1957?
George Antheil
What is the name of the American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor who was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014 along with Hedy Lamarr? In 1941 they had developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used a code (stored on a punched paper tape) to synchronise random frequencies, referred to as frequency hopping, with a receiver and transmitter. This technique is now known as spread spectrum and is widely used in telecommunications.
Cole and Dylan Sprouse
What is the name of the child stars who played the role of the kid in 'Big Daddy'? One of the bothers also played Ross' son Ben in 'Friends'. They later both starred in 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' before one of them went on to play Jughead Jones in 'Riverdale'.
Hans Bärlach
What police inspector dying of cancer is the protagonist of two detective novels by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, "The Judge and His Hangman" and "Suspicion"?
Donald P. Bellisario
What prolific producer has had at least one series created by him on the US major network primetime schedule in every year since 1980, with the exception of 1994? "Pretty Little Liars," on which his daughter played Spencer Hastings, is not one of those shows.
Maria Yudina
What real-life Soviet pianist is depicted as being responsible for the title event in the graphic novel "The Death of Stalin" and its 2017 Armando Iannucci-directed film adaptation? She is played by Olga Kurylenko in the movie.
Marin (Sanna Marin of Finland and Carolina Marin of Spain)
What surname is shared by the world's youngest Prime Minister currently - at age 34 when she took the role - and the reigning Olympic champion in Badminton?
Undertaker
What was the occupation of the characters Billy Mitchell in Eastenders, Monsieur Alfonse in Allo Allo and Private Frazer in Dad's Army?
The Pit and the Pendulum
Which 1842 short story by Edgar Allen Poe is set during the Spanish Inquisition and is seen as a study of the effect that terror has on the narrator?
2 Broke Girls
Which American sitcom sees Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs play the title characters Max Black and Caroline Channing who work in a Brooklyn Diner and dream of one day opening their own shop selling Cupcakes?
On the Buses
Which British Sit Com that originally ran from 1969 to 1973 had a spin-off called Don't Drink the Water and had an American remake called Lotsa Luck?
Anna Held
Which Polish born singer and Broadway star was played by Luise Rainer in the film 1936 The Great Ziegfeld? As a result, she is the first real life person to be portrayed in a role which would win The Academy Award for Best Actress?
The Forbidden City
Which World Heritage Site in China is listed by UNESCO as having the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world?
Roger Moore
Which actor's final appearance as James Bond was in the film A View to a Kill?
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (after Fairfax Moresby, named by his son John Moresby, who was the first European to spot the city)
Which is the only capital city in the world named after a person born in India?
Siegfried and Roy
Which magical duo, a former permanent act at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas if they used their surnames instead of their forenames would have been known as Fischbacher and Horn?
Gold
Which metal forms the alloys Tumbaga with Copper, Rhodite with Rhodium and Electrum with silver?
Alistair MacLean
Which novelist also wrote under the pseudonym Ian Stuart? He wrote 1961's The Dark Crusader and 1962's The Satan Bug under that name.
Dana Zatopkova (wife of Emil Zatopek)
Which olympian, who won the women's javelin throw for Czechoslovakia in the 1952 Olympics an hour after her husband won the men's 5,000-meter run, died in March 2020?
The Baths of Caracalla
Which venue likely built between 212 to 216AD was used for the Gymnastics at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the first ever concert by the Three Tenors?
Mark Van Doren
Which winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1940, who worked as a English Professor for over 40 years at Columbia University where he taught Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg had his fame eclipsed by his son in 1957 due to said son being caught up in a quiz cheating scandal?
Kiev/Kyiv, Ukraine
Which world capital city's airport is named after Igor Sikorsky, the Russian-American aviation pioneer of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft?
Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind, 1940). She was born in Darjeeling.
Who is the first "India-born" winner of an acting prize at the Academy Awards? She ended up winning two in her career.
Rabindranath Tagore
Who is the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature?
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona and Inter Milan)
Who is the only player in the history of European football to win the treble (domestic league, domestic cup and the European cup) in consecutive seasons with two different teams?
Thomas Woolner
Who was the only one of the 7 original members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood who worked as a sculptor?
Jack Nicklaus
Widely considered to be the greatest golfer ever, Jack Nicklaus still holds the record for most Major wins, having scooped 18 in his career. But which player has finished as the runner-up 19 times in Major tournaments?
chili cook-off
Winner of Le Mans 1959 and portrayed by Matt Damon in "Ford v Ferrari," Carroll Shelby is remembered by food enthusiasts for helping launch the first major culinary competition of what SPECIFIC TYPE in Terlingua, TX?