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Sinclair Lewis | On this date, December 10th, in 1930, Sauk Centre native Sinclair Lewis became the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature. | Which American-born Sinclair won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930? |
York | Judi Dench was born in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre. She is a ten-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance (1981) in which she appeared with her husband, Michael Williams , and Best Supporting Actress in A Handful of Dust (1988) and A Room with a View (1985) . She received an ACE award for her performance in the television series Star Quality: Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill (1985). She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and was created Dame of Order of the British Empire in 1988. | Where in England was Dame Judi Dench born? |
Portugal | Portugal granted Angola independence in 1975 and the MPLA assumed control of the government in Luanda; Agostinho Neto became president. The FNLA and UNITA, however, proclaimed a coaliton government in Nova Lisboa (now Huambo), but by early 1976 the MPLA had gained control of the whole country. Most of the European population fled the political and economic upheaval that followed independence, taking their investments and technical expertise with them. When Neto died in 1979, José Eduardo dos Santos succeeded him as president. In the 1970s and 80s the MPLA government received large amounts of aid from Cuba and the Soviet Union, while the United States supported first the FNLA and then UNITA. In Cabinda, independence forces that had fought against the Portuguese now fought against the Angolan government. Although the FNLA faded in importance, UNITA obtained the support of South Africa, which was mounting its own campaigns against the Southwest Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), a Namibian liberation group based in Angola. | From which country did Angola achieve independence in 1975? |
Chicago | David Soul (born August 28, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor and British citizen and singer best known for his role as the "seat-of-the-pants" California police detective Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson (opposite co-star and long-time friend Paul Michael Glaser) in the cult television program Starsky and Hutch (1975-79). | Which city does David Soul come from? |
Chicago Bears | Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1985 season. The Bears defeated the Patriots by the score of 46–10, capturing their first NFL championship since 1963, three years prior to the birth of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XX was played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. | Who won Super Bowl XX? |
Norway | Under the influence of the European Enlightenment , in the latter part of the 18th century there began a movement to limit the scope of capital punishment. Until that time a very wide range of offenses, including even common theft, were punishable by death—though the punishment was not always enforced, in part because juries tended to acquit defendants against the evidence in minor cases. In 1794 the U.S. state of Pennsylvania became the first jurisdiction to restrict the death penalty to first-degree murder, and in 1846 the state of Michigan abolished capital punishment for all murders and other common crimes. In 1863 Venezuela became the first country to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, including serious offenses against the state (e.g., treason and military offenses in time of war). Portugal was the first European country to abolish the death penalty, doing so in 1867; by the early 20th century several other countries, including the Netherlands, Norway , Sweden , Denmark , and Italy , had followed suit (though it was reintroduced in Italy under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini ). By the mid-1960s some 25 countries had abolished the death penalty for murder, though only about half of them also had abolished it for offenses against the state or the military code. For example, Britain abolished capital punishment for murder in 1965, but treason, piracy, and military crimes remained capital offenses until 1998. | Which was the first European country to abolish capital punishment? |
Walter | Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is an American actor, producer, and singer. His career began on the Off-Broadway stage and then in television in the 1980s, most notably as David Addison in Moonlighting (1985–1989). He is known for his role of John McClane in the Die Hard series. He has appeared in over 60 films, including Color of Night (1994), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Sin City (2005), Red (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), and Looper (2012). | What is Bruce Willis' real first name? |
Golding | Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results. Its stances on the already controversial subjects of human nature and individual welfare versus the common good earned it position 68 on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1900–1999. | Which William wrote the novel Lord Of The Flies? |
Big Bill Broonzy | The Chicago Blues Festival begins this weekend, and so this evening the BEST OF STUDS TERKEL features the legendary American bluesman, William Lee Conley Broonzy – better known as Big Bill. First heard on WFMT on July 22, 1953, this musical conversation between Studs and Big Bill Broonzy is one of the very earliest Studs Terkel Program broadcasts in our archives. | How is musician William Lee Conley better known? |
Joan Rivers | Joan Alexandra Molinsky, better known by her stage name, Joan Rivers, was an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, playwright, screenwriter, film director, columnist, lecturer, radio host, jewelry designer and TV-host. As a young girl she worked at a number of jobs before trying her hand at acting. After appearing in numerous small plays she took up stand-up comedy. She became a known face throughout America after appearing as a guest on 'The Tonight Show' which was hosted by her mentor Johnny Carson. With the new found popularity she went onto make guest appearances in many talk shows and released chart-topping comedy albums. In 1986, she became the first woman to host a late night network television show called 'The Late Show with Joan Rivers'. The show's timings clashed with the timings of Carson's show which embittered her former mentor who never spoke to her again. In the last years of her career, she mostly conducted comedic interviews of celebrities walking on the red carpet at award shows. Throughout her career her comic style remained rather controversial as she'd often use satirical and scathing words to make fun of herself and other celebrities. She also wrote 12 best-selling memoir and humor books | How is Joan Molinsky better known? |
Ballet | Patricia Neary (born October 27, 1942) is an American ballerina, choreographer and ballet director, who has been particularly active in Switzerland. She has also been a highly successful ambassador for the Balanchine Trust, bringing George Balanchine's ballets to some 60 cities around the globe. | In which branch of the arts is Patricia Neary famous? |
Italy | Italy has been traditionally the largest importer, processor and exporter of silk products in Europe. In 1997, Italy imported some 3200 tons of raw silk and over 700 tons of silk yarn, primarily from China. Italy also imported about 300 tons of ladies' blouses, of which over 80% came from China. Silk garment imports, however, have drastically gone down over the last five years. (In 1992, the country imported more than 700 tons of ladies' blouses.) Italy is well-known for highly developed skills in silk processing (finishing, dyeing and printing silk fabrics). Exports of silk scarves rose by about 15% between from 1996 to 1997, to 586 tons. Exports of silk neckties reached 1230 tons the same year. | Which country is Europe's largest silk producer? |
Helicopter | The Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 (or S-46) was a single-engine helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky. It had a single three-blade rotor originally powered by a 75 horsepower (56 kW) engine. The first "free" flight of the VS-300 was on 13 May 1940. The VS-300 was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in the United States and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical-plane tail rotor configuration for antitorque. With floats attached, it became the first practical amphibious helicopter. | The VS-300 was a type of what? |
Heidelberg | Joseph Goebbels was born in Rheydt, Germany, on 29th October, 1897. He attended the established Heidelberg University where he was awarded a doctorate of philosophy in 1920. He had not served in the German Army during the First World War as he was disabled by a clubbed foot which hindered his ability to walk. | At which university did Joseph Goebbels become a doctor of philosophy? |
Edward | Queen Elizabeth II is shown with her youngest son, Prince Edward, 15 months, in a picture taken recently by Lisa Sheridan in a sitting room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, June 11, 1965 in England. | Which prince is Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son? |
1914 | Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Satan and his demons were cast down to earth from heaven after October 1, 1914, at which point the end times began. Witnesses believe that Satan is the ruler of the current world order, that human society is influenced and misled by Satan and his demons, and that they are a cause of human suffering. They also believe that human governments are controlled by Satan, but that he does not directly control each human ruler. | When did the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses say the world would end? |
Robert Ballard | The remains of the Titanic were found in 1985 by Dr. Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and marine biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When he located the Titanic, he saw that, as some survivors reported, the ship had broken apart. He believed the weight of the water-filled bow raised the stern out of the water and snapped the ship in two just before it sank. Debris falling out of the ship was strewn over a 1/2 mile across the sea floor. The bow and the stern were found nearly 2000ft. apart. | Who found the remains of the Titanic? |
Maeve Binchy | Evening Class is a novel by Maeve Binchy. It was adapted as the award-winning film Italian for Beginners (2000) by writer-director Lone Scherfig, who failed to formally acknowledge the source, although at the very end of the closing credits is the line 'with thanks to Maeve Binchy'. | Who wrote the novel Evening Class? |
Fiji | Air Pacific Limited, trading as Fiji Airways (and formerly as Air Pacific), is the flag carrier airline of Fiji. It is based in Nadi and operates international and domestic services to 10 countries and 17 cities around the Pacific Ocean, including Oceania, the United States and Hong Kong. Fiji Airways annually transports almost two-thirds of the visitors to the country. | Which country does the airline Air Pacific come from? |
Bo donaldson | blatantly bad 70s songs: billy, don’t be a hero (bo donaldson and the heywoods) | Who had a 70s No 1 hit with Billy, Don't Be A Hero? |
Federico Fellini | La Dolce Vita (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life") is a 1960 Italian comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film follows Marcello Rubini, a journalist writing for gossip magazines, over seven days and nights on his journey through the "sweet life" of Rome in a fruitless search for love and happiness. La Dolce Vita won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Costumes, and remains one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. | Who directed the movie La Dolce Vita? |
Costa Rica | Avianca Costa Rica, formerly known as Lacsa (Spanish: Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A.), minority owned by the Synergy Group, is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled services to over 35 destinations in Central, North and South America. When it was a subsidiary of Grupo TACA, the airline was also known as TACA/LACSA. Since May 2013, when Grupo TACA was bought, Avianca Costa Rica is one of the seven nationally branded airlines (Avianca Ecuador, Avianca Honduras, etc.) in the Avianca Holdings group of Latin American airlines. | Which country does the airline LACSA come from? |
Stanley Kubrick | 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay, written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, was partially inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel". Clarke concurrently wrote the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, published soon after the film was released. The film follows a voyage to Jupiter with the sentient computer Hal after the discovery of a mysterious black monolith affecting human evolution. The film deals with the themes of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life. It is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects, and ambiguous imagery. It uses sound and minimal dialogue in place of traditional narrative techniques; the soundtrack consists of classical music such as The Blue Danube and Also sprach Zarathustra. | Who directed 2001: A Space Odyssey? |
Iwo Jima | (Placename) a group of three volcanic islands in the W Pacific, about 1100 km (700 miles) south of Japan: the largest is Iwo Jima, taken by US forces in 1945 and returned to Japan in 1968. Area: about 28 sq km (11 sq miles). Japanese name: Kazan Retto | Which is the largest of the Japanese Volcano Islands? |
Boxer | Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975) was an American professional boxer and former World Heavyweight Champion. | Ezzard Charles was a world champion in which sport? |
Amelia Earhart | Amelia Earhart: The First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic | Who was the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic? |
Seattle | Seattle, which is the state's largest city, lies in the center of the Puget Sound region and sits between Elliot Bay and Lake Washington. Across the Sound are Bainbridge Island, the Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Peninsula. To the east, and across Lake Washington, is the neighboring city of Bellevue. | Which port lies between Puget Sound and Lake Washington? |
Chicago | The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney who wished to capture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. The Rotary name derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices. | In which city were Rotary Clubs set up in 1905? |
Gerald R. Ford | As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President. | Who became US Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned? |
Eastman | George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented the roll of film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream. The roll film was also the basis for the invention of the motion picture film in 1888 by world's first filmmaker, Louis Le Prince, and a decade later by his followers Léon Bouly, Thomas Edison, the Lumière Brothers and Georges Méliès. | Which George invented the Kodak roll-film camera? |
Oscar Madison | Felix Unger, played by Thomas Lennon , is a professional photographer and recent divorcee. He moves in with his old college friend Oscar Madison after his wife Ashley kicks him out of the house. Felix is a bit of a neat-freak and is extremely neurotic and fussy, especially when compared to Oscar. In his free time, he does yoga. He also fancies cooking and baking. Throughout the series, he often gets mistaken to be gay by several characters. Him and Ashley were good friends with Oscar and Gaby when both couples were still together. | Which series had the characters Felix Unger and Oscar Madison? |
Sony | Piet Kramer, who at the time was a member of the optical group at Philips that made a significant contribution to the CD technology, commented on Philips� and Sony�s collaborative work: �When Philips teamed up with Sony to develop the CD, our first target was to win over the world for the CD. We did this by collaborating openly to agree on a new standard. For Philips, this open innovation was a new approach � and it paid off. In the late 70s and early 80s, we never imagined that one day the computing and entertainment industries would also opt for the digital CD for storing the growing volume of data for computer programs and movies.� | Who along with Philips developed the CD in the late 70s? |
Switzerland | Nestle is a multinational corporate since the headquarter is located in Switzerland but operates businesses in the many other countries over the world such as Europe, United State, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong etc. As we know, Nestle is an infant's product. Besides producing infants, Nestle has also produces some other products such as chocolate, yogurt drink, cornflakes, ice-cream etc which can easily found in supermarkets all over the world. | Where is the multinational Nestle based? |
Mahogany | “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To?)” is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerald Goffin, and recorded first by American singer Thelma Houston in 1973, and most notably by Diana Ross as the theme to the 1975 Motown/Paramount film Mahogany. | Do You Know Where You're Going To? was the theme from which film? |
Colorado | Stapleton International Airport was the primary airport serving Denver, Colorado, United States from 1929 to 1995. At different times it served as a hub for Continental Airlines, the original Frontier Airlines, People Express, Trans World Airlines, (TWA), United Airlines and Western Airlines. Other airlines with smaller hub operations at Stapleton included Aspen Airways, the current version of Frontier Airlines and Rocky Mountain Airways with all three of these air carriers being based in Denver at the time. | Stapleton international airport is in which US state? |
Sophie's Choice | After a stint on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, Kline made his film debut in Alan Pakula's 1982 Sophie's Choice. It was an inarguably auspicious beginning: aside from the wide acclaim lavished on the film, Kline earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Landau. The following year, he again struck gold, starring in The Big Chill, Lawrence Kasdan's seminal exploration of baby-boomer anxiety. Two years later, Kline and Kasdan enjoyed another successful collaboration with Silverado, an homage to the Westerns of the 1950s and '60s. | What was Kevin Kline's first movie? |
William Shatner | Well known owners of the breed are President John F. Kennedy, who’s Doberman was named Moe. Actor William Shatner has owned a handful of Doberman Pinschers over time, their names were Kirk, Morgan, China, Heidi, Paris, Royale, Martika, Sterling, Charity, Bella and Starbuck. Even Mariah Carey flaunted her Doberman, Princess, in her “All I Want For Christmas is You” video. | Which actor had a Doberman Pinscher called Kirk? |
Thursday | The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday (October 29), the Great Crash, or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, began on October 24, 1929 ("Black Thursday"), and was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its aftereffects. The crash signaled the beginning of the 10-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries. | What day of the week was the Wall Street Crash? |
Columbia | After the United States helped Panama win its independence, a treaty was immediately negotiated to allow the US to build a canal. The treaty granted considerably more to the US then the failed agreement with Columbia had, including rights to use military within Panama and US control of the Canal Zone in perpetuity. In essence, the Canal Zone would be part of the US in all but name. However, the man who signed for the Panamanians, the Frenchman Bunau-Varilla, was not part of the official delegation from the new Panamanian government, and some Panamanians felt that the rights granted to the US in the treaty were excessive. | The US signed a treaty with which country to allow the construction of the Panama Canal? |
Bad | Michael Jackson's short film for "Man in the Mirror" was the third of nine short films produced for recordings from Bad, one of the best selling albums of all time. The "Man in the Mirror" single hit No. 1 in four countries in 1988, topping the charts in the United States, Italy, Belgium and Poland and reaching Top 5 in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. In the U.S., "Man in the Mirror" was the fourth of five consecutive No. 1 singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100-making Michael the first artist to achieve this milestone. | Man In The Mirror first featured on which Michel Jackson album? |
Gigi | "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" is a 1957 song written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and often associated with performer Maurice Chevalier. It opened and closed the 1958 film Gigi. Alfred Drake performed the song in the 1973 Broadway stage production of Gigi, though in the 2015 revival, it was sung as a duet between Victoria Clark and Dee Hoty. | Which musical featured the song Thank Heaven for Little Girls? |
Hong Kong | Sunday, January 9, 1972. :�� Former ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth, is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbour. | The Queen Elizabeth liner was destroyed by fire in the 70s in which harbour? |
Kit Carson | it was the first narrative Western film with a storyline, and included various western cliches (a shoot-out, a robbery, a chase, etc.) that would be used by all future westerns [Note: the same claim was made for the earlier 21-minute Kit Carson (1903)] | What was the first movie western called? |
Meryl Streep | #219 Meryl Streep / Alan Osmond / Lindsay Wagner – 22 June 1949 | Born On The Same Day | Which Oscar-winning actress was born on exactly the same day as actress Lindsay Wagner? |
Eighteen | In January 1920 the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution came into effect and it was then illegal to sell or manufacture alcohol. The name of the amendment was the National Prohibition Act otherwise known as the Volstead Act | Which Amendment to the Constitution brought in prohibition in 1920? |
Teapot Dome scandal | In 1924, in reaction to the Teapot Dome scandal, President Coolidge set up the Federal Oil Conservation Board to encourage closer coordination in oil production between the federal government and the oil industry. Its activities laid the basis for a loose interstate oil cartel that set crude oil prices until 1973. | Which oil scandal hit the US in 1924? |
Hook | Collins had cameo appearances in Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) and the AIDS docudrama And the Band Played On (1993). He starred in Frauds, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. He supplied voices to two animated features: Amblin's Balto (1995) and Disney's The Jungle Book 2 (2003). A long-discussed but never completed project was a film titled The Three Bears; originally meant to star Collins, Danny DeVito, and Bob Hoskins. He often mentioned the film, though an appropriate script never materialised. | Phil Collins appeared in which Spielberg film with Robin Williams? |
Austria | Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian pianist, poet and author. | Which country does musician Alfred Brendel come from? |
Rhode Island | Theodore Francis Green State Airport is a regional private jet airport located in Rhode Island, United States suitable for a variety of private jets and its International Air Transport Association code is PVD. | Theodore Francis international airport is in which US state? |
General Hospital | Demi Moore dropped out of high school at age 16 to pursue an acting career, and posed for a nude pictorial in Oui magazine in 1980. After making her film debut in 1981, she appeared on the soap opera General Hospital and subsequently gained attention for her roles in Blame It on Rio (1984) and St. Elmo’s Fire (1985). Her first film to become both a critical and commercial hit was About Last Night (1986), which established her as a Hollywood star. | In which soap did Demi Moore find fame? |
7 million | London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken within Greater London. Its estimated mid-2015 population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, and accounting for 12.5 per cent of the UK population. London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The city's metropolitan area is one of the most populous in Europe with 13,879,757 inhabitants, while the Greater London Authority states the population of the city-region (covering a large part of the south east) as 22.7 million. | To the nearest million, what is the population of London, England? |
Pottery | Clarice Cliff was unique. She chose to interpret art deco in her medium -- ceramics -- with vivid colors and strong lines unlike any seen before. For a very few brief years she was encouraged to try anything -- no matter how extreme -- and try anything she did. She said in 1930 that "color seems to radiate happiness and the spirit of modern life" and somehow that is what she created with her pottery -- joy and a sense of limitless possibility. When you look at a piece of Clarice Cliff Pottery you can almost see that room full of young boys and girls listening to the radio, gossiping about the dance to come, and painting as fast they can. Bevis Hillier argued that "the cosy genius...continues to appeal because there are moments when one feels like cosiness rather than angst, profundity or high art." Clarice Cliff was a cosy genius who made people feel brighter in the darkening 1930s. Clearly her work is having the same effect in the 1990s. | What did Clarice Cliff create? |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | "We Have All the Time in the World" is a James Bond theme and popular song sung by Louis Armstrong. Its music was composed by John Barry and the lyrics by Hal David. It is a secondary musical theme in 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the title theme being the instrumental "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," also composed by Barry. | Which James Bond film features a song by Louis Armstrong? |
1965 | U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam (1965): In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson , per the authority given to him by Congress in the subsequent Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, decided to escalate the Vietnam Conflict by sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed near Da Nang in South Vietnam; they are the first U.S. troops arrive in Vietnam. | In what year were US ground troops first dispatched to Vietnam? |
Lusitania | liner under British registration, sunk off the Irish coast by a German submarine on May 7, 1915. In the sinking, 1,198 persons lost their lives, 128 of whom were U.S. citizens. A warning to Americans against taking passage on British vessels, signed by the Imperial German Embassy, appeared in morning papers on the day the vessel was scheduled to sail from New York, but too late to accomplish its purpose. The vessel was unarmed, though the Germans made a point of the fact that it carried munitions for the Allies. The considerable sympathy for Germany that had previously existed in the United States to a large extent disappeared after the disaster, and there were demands from many for an immediate declaration of war. President Wilson chose the course of diplomacy and sent Germany a strong note asking for "reparation so far as reparation is possible." Germany refused to accept responsibility for the act in an argumentative reply, but issued secret orders to submarine commanders not to attack passenger ships without warning. After prolonged negotiations, Germany finally conceded its liability for the sinking of the Lusitania and agreed to make reparations and to discontinue sinking passenger ships without warning. The immediate crisis between the United States and Germany subsided. The incident, however, contributed to the rise of American sentiment for the entry of the United States into World War I, with recruitment posters two years later urging potential enlistees to "Remember the Lusitania!" | Which ship was sunk by a German submarine in 1915 with a loss of 1400 lives including 128 Americans? |
50s | Experimentation with magnetic tape recording of video signals began just post World-War II. Prototype machines were built in the early 1950s. The first practical, commercial broadcast quality video recorder was released by Ampex in 1956. The model VR-1000 cost $50,000 and used 2" wide videotape. KING-TV in Seattle got Serial Number 1. (CBS in Hollywood had earlier received the first production prototype, the VRX-1000.) | In what decade were video recorders first developed? |
Len Deighton | Spy Hook is a 1988 spy novel by Len Deighton. It is the first novel in the second of three trilogies about Bernard Samson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Spy Hook is part of the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy, being succeeded by Spy Line and Spy Sinker. This trilogy is preceded by the Game, Set and Match trilogy and followed by the final Faith, Hope and Charity trilogy. Deighton's novel Winter (1987) is a prequel to the nine novels, covering the years 1900-1945 and providing the backstory to some of the characters. | Who had the noels Spy Hook and Spy Line published in the 80s? |
Switzerland | Ursula was born in Berne, Switzerland, on March 19th, 1936. So she recently turned 71 and can now benefit from reduction prices to any theater showing her movies. Her father Rolf is German and mother Anna is Swiss. She has six siblings, the oldest two being born in Germany while she in the others in Switzerland due to political issues concerning her father. Her wandering spirit came alive very quickly and at the tender age of 15, she went AWOL with a French actor, who took her to Rome. Though she had the permission of her mother, her grandfather was not pleased and called Interpol to the rescue! But when sanity finally prevailed, Ursula's movie career began in the prestigious Cinecitta studios, as an extra for some minor films, mainly light comedies on the saucy side. | In which country was Ursula Andrews born? |
And that's the way it is | One of Cronkite's trademarks was ending the CBS Evening News with the phrase "...And that's the way it is," followed by the date. Keeping to standards of objective journalism, he omitted this phrase on nights when he ended the newscast with opinion or commentary. Beginning with January 16, 1980, Day 50 of the Iran hostage crisis, Cronkite added the length of the hostages' captivity to the show's closing in order to remind the audience of the unresolved situation, ending only on Day 444, January 20, 1981. | What was CBS TV news broadcaster Walter Cronkite's stock closing phrase? |
Nevada | Oct. 19, 1998 -- The Nevada Athletic Commission voted 4-1 to restore Tyson's boxing license, with the lone holdout commissioner James Nave. | Which state renewed Mike Tyson's boxing license in 1998? |
Korean | Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree at Purdue University and served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, where he logged over 900 flights. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California. | Neil Armstrong was a pilot in which war? |
Alistair Cooke | LONDON -- Former BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke , who was famous in the United States as host of Omnibus in the 1950s and Masterpiece Theatre in the 1970s and '80s, died Tuesday at his New York home. He was 95. No cause of death was given. The Britain-born American citizen broadcast a 15-minute weekly news commentary, Letter From America, on BBC Radio for 58 years, recording his last one this month (HR 3/3). The show, which began in 1946, had more than 2,500 editions, making it the longest-running radio program in the world. "I can no longer continue my 'Letter From America, ' " Cooke said in a statement released by the BBC at the time. "I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye." » | Which English-born US citizen hosted Masterpiece theater? |
Radium | This element was the first one discovered by the Curies while they were investigating the cause of pitchblende radioactivity. Pitchblende, after removal of the radioactive elements uranium and thorium, was more radioactive than the uranium and thorium combined. This spurred the Curies to search for additional radioactive elements. They first separated out polonium from pitchblende in July 1898, and five months later, also isolated radium. [http://www.aip.org/history/curie/discover.htm English translation] | Which element along with polonium did the Curies discover? |
Elephant | The Banana Splits themselves were an ersatz rock band made up of a dog (Fleegle), a lion (Drooper), a gorilla (Bingo), and a baby elephant (Snorky). | In The Banana Splits what sort of animal was Snorky? |
38th Parallel | During the next two weeks the negotiators worked out an agenda and began substantive talks.[18] The first issue was the location and nature of the truce line and demilitarized zone. The KPA/CPV side insisted on a truce line along the 38th Parallel. The UNC, whose forces had pushed north of the parallel except for an area near Kaesong, sought a line well north of the existing line of ground contact, arguing that UNC air and naval power should be factored into the location of the truce line. The 38th Parallel was significant to both sides. KPA/CPV ejection of the UNC from North Korea and restoration of the status quo could be portrayed as a victory by them, while if the UNC achieved a truce line north of the 38th Parallel it would have more than met its initial objectives. ROK President Rhee, to whom the 38th Parallel was a hated symbol of Korea's division, also demanded that the UNC not accept a truce along that line. In spite of these differences, the two sides had by 22 August come close to agreement on a Military Demarcation Line (MDL) based on the ground contact line. But at that point the KPA/CPV unilaterally declared a recess. | Which parallel was the truce line in the Korean War? |
Half | Flash, Bang, Wallop from Half A Sixpence, arranged by Lin Marsh's for voice and piano with guitar chords; ideal for auditions, karaoke or music theatre fans. Featured in the Faber Music Theatre Songbook. | Which musical featured the song Flash Bang, Wallop? |
Blackmail | Blackmail (1929): Hitchcock's First Sound Film | What was Hitchcock's first sound movie? |
Henry James | Henry James (1843-1916), noted American-born English essayist, critic, and author of the realism movement wrote The Ambassadors (1903), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and The Portrait of a Lady (1881); | Who wrote The Turn Of The Screw in the 19th century and The Ambassadors in the 20th? |
Nautilus | On August 3, 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe. | Which American nuclear submarine was the first to sail across the North Pole under the ice cap? |
Friendship 7 | Bottom line: John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962. His space capsule was called Friendship 7. | What was John Glenn/'s first spacecraft called? |
Vietnam | The Iron Triangle (Vietnamese:Tam Giác Sắt) was a 120 sqmi area in the Bình Dương Province of Vietnam, so named due to it being a stronghold of Viet Minh activity during the war. The region was under control of the Viet Minh throughout the French war in Vietnam and continued to be so throughout the phase of American involvement in the Vietnam War, despite concerted efforts on the part of US and South Vietnamese forces to destabilize the region as a power base for their enemy, the communist North Vietnamese–sponsored and–directed South Vietnamese insurgent movement, the National Liberation Front or Viet Cong (NLF). | Where was The Iron Triangle? |
Nitrous oxide | Laughing gas is the common name for nitrous oxide or N2O. It is also known as nitrous, nitro, or NOS. It's a nonflammable, colorless gas that has a slightly sweet flavor and odor. In addition to its use in rockets and to boost engine performance for motor racing, laughing gas has several medical applications. It has been used in dentistry and surgery as an analgesic and anesthetic since 1844, when dentist Dr. Horace Wells used it on himself during a tooth extraction. Since that time, its used has become commonplace in medicine, plus the euphoric effect from inhaling the gas has led to use as a recreation drug. | What is the correct name of laughing gas? |
60 feet | These three bases are square white bags that are secured to the ground. They are safe havens for offensive players trying to make the difficult journey from home and back to home. The distance between bases is 60 feet in most softball leagues and for Little League baseball. By the time players reach high school, they find the same field dimensions as Major Leaguers: 90 feet between bases. | What is the distance between bases on a little league baseball field? |
The Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938 | After retiring from playing, Ruth was the first base coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938 but he lasted only one season before quitting. | After retiring as a player, with what team did baseball great Babe Ruth spend one year as a coach? |
Frosted food | In the early 1920s, the company develops the first top display case, which allows customers to view the merchandise inside. Other innovations include the 1927 introduction of the first all-metal case and the 1928 introduction of the first display case capable of maintaining frozen food and ice cream at the right temperatures. When Swift and Company is looking for a case to use for frozen meat, they are surprised to learn that one has already been developed by Hill. Swift uses the Hill case successfully in their laboratory test helping to establish the retail frozen food business in grocery stores. In 1929 Hill installs the first frozen food case in a retail food store and in 1930 Clarence Birdseye recommends the use of the Hill 2000 model to display the Birdseye “frosted foods” then being introduced in the marketplace. | When Birdseye introduced the first frozen food in 1930, what did the company call it/ |
Suez Canal | On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas was officially opened in a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said. The canal took more than 15 years to plan and build, and its construction was repeatedly hindered by political disputes, labor shortages and even a deadly cholera outbreak. When finally completed, the 101-mile-long waterway permanently transformed international shipping by allowing vessels to skip the long and treacherous transit around the southern tip of Africa. On the 145th anniversary of its opening, check out nine surprising facts about the canal that links the Eastern and Western worlds. | Which 100-mile long waterway links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea? |
Egypt | The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam built across the Nile at Aswan, Egypt between 1898 and 1902. Since the 1960s, the name commonly refers to the Aswan High Dam. Construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the Egyptian Government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, as the ability to control floods, provide water for irrigation, and generate hydroelectricity were seen as pivotal to Egypt's industrialization. The High Dam was constructed between 1960 and 1970, and has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt. | In which country is the Aswan Dam? |
Uganda | Idi Amin Dada (; 2816 August 2003) was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment the King's African Rifles in 1946, serving in Kenya and Uganda. Eventually, Amin held the rank of major general in the post-colonial Ugandan Army, and became its commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971, deposing Milton Obote. He later promoted himself to field marshal while he was the head of state. | Where did Idi Amin rule from 1971-1979? |
South Africa | The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the currency of South Africa. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c". Unlike the dollar, the decimal separator between a rand and cent is expressed by a comma. The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand (South African rand). The rand is the currency of the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. | Which country has the rand as its currency? |
Morocco | Tangier is Morocco's second most important industrial centre after Casablanca. The industrial sectors are diversified: textile, chemical, mechanical, metallurgical and naval. Currently, the city has four industrial parks of which two have the status of free economic zone (see Tangier Free Zone). | In which country are Tangier and Casablanca? |
Sadat | The assassination of Anwar Sadat occurred on 6 October 1981. Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt, was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Operation Badr (1973), during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal and taken back a small part of the Sinai Peninsula from Israel at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. A fatwā approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric later convicted in the US for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The assassination was undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. | Who was the Egyptian president who was assassinated in 1981? |
Burkina Faso | Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. Residents of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabé ( ). French is an official language of government and business. | Which country was called Upper Volta until 1984? |
Tutankhamun | KV62 is the standard Egyptological designation for the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, now renowned for the wealth of valuable antiquities it contained. The tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, underneath the remains of workmen's huts built during the Ramesside Period; this explains why it was largely spared from desecration and from the tomb clearances at the end of the 20th Dynasty, although the tomb was robbed and resealed twice in the period after its completion. | Who was the Egyptian king whose tomb an treasures were discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922? |
Kenya | The equator is the imaginary line that separates the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere and runs across the center of the Earth at a latitude of exactly zero degrees. In Africa, the equator runs for almost 2,500 miles/ 4,020 kilometers through seven West , Central and East African countries just south of the Sahara Desert. Ironically, the list of African countries bisected by the equator does not include Equatorial Guinea . Instead, they are as follows: São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon , Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Uganda , Kenya and Somalia. | Name the East African country which lies on the equator. |
Morocco | King Hassan II of Morocco was a leading figure in North African politics after his ascension to the throne in 1961. | In which country did King Hassan II ascend the throne in 1961? |
Gordon | A visually stunning historical epic set against the deserts of the Sudan, Khartoum (1966) stars Charlton Heston as the enigmatic General Sir Charles "Chinese" Gordon, assigned by British Prime Minister Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) to protect their interests in the Sudan. The real life British General Gordon was killed in 1885 in a bloody clash with Sudanese rebels and became a hero to Victorian England and an icon for the British imperial cause. | Which British general was killed at Khartoum in 1885? |
Zambia and Zimbabwe | Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River is located on the border between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe in the continent of Africa. | On the border of which two countries is Victoria Falls? |
Humphrey Bogart | Humphrey Bogart wins the Oscar for Best Actor for The African Queen at the 24th Academy Awards. Greer Garson presents the award; hosted by Danny Kaye. | Which actor won an Academy Award for his performance in The African Queen? |
Alan Paton | Alan Paton wrote Cry, the Beloved Country during his tenure as the principal at the Diepkloof Reformatory for delinquent African boys. He started writing the novel in Trondheim, Norway in September of 1946 and finished it in San Francisco on Christmas Eve of that same year. Concerning the state of racial affairs in South Africa, the novel tells the story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his search in Johannesburg for his son, who is accused of murdering the white social reformer Arthur Jarvis. Paton gave the novel to Aubrey and Marigold Burns of Fairfax, California, who sent it to several American publishers, including Charles Scribner's Sons, whose editor, Maxwell Perkins, immediately agreed to its publication. According to Paton's note on the 1987 edition of the book, the novel was titled as such during a competition in which Paton, Aubrey and Marigold Burns each decided to write a proposed title and all three chose Cry, the Beloved Country. | Who wrote the novel Cry, the Beloved Country about South Africa? |
Nairobi | The Capital City of Kenya (officially named Republic of Kenya) is the city of Nairobi. The population of Nairobi in the year 2007 was 2,940,911 (4,000,000 in the metropolitan area). | What is the capital of Kenya? |
Portugal | The United States' deep investment in destabilizing the democratically elected, post-independence government of Angola is arguably the most profound example of Western influence and its destructive consequences for Africa. In 1975 Angola gained its independence from Portugal, and three nationalist groups subsequently fought for control of the government: the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), led by President José Eduardo dos Santos and backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union; UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), led by Jonas Savimbi and backed by South Africa and the United States; and the FNLA (National Liberation Front of Angola), backed by Zaire's president, Mobutu Sese Seko (he had changed the name Congo to Zaire in 1971.) | From which European country did Angola achieve independence in 1975? |
Somalia | Full-sized map of the countries that make up the Horn of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. | Which country mainly makes up the Horn of Africa? |
Freetown | The Capital City of Sierra Leone (officially named Republic of Sierra Leone) is the city of Freetown. The population of Freetown was 6,294,774. | What is the capital of Sierra Leone? |
Tanzania | Zanzibar (; Zanjibār), is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania in East Africa. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25 - off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone Town, which is a World Heritage Site. | Which country is the island of Zanzibar part of? |
Sudan | Africa, the planet's 2nd largest continent and the second most-populous continent (after Asia) includes (54) individual countries, and Western Sahara, a member state of the African Union whose statehood is disputed by Morocco. Note that South Sudan is the continent's newest country. | What is Africa's largest country? |
Burkina | Burkina Faso is bordered by Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast. | Which African country is bordered by Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, and Mali? |
Winnie Mandela | In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault, but her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal. In 1992 she was accused of ordering the murder of Dr. Abu-Baker Asvat, a family friend who had examined Seipei at Mandela's house, after Seipei had been abducted but before he had been killed. Mandela's role was later probed as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in 1997. She was said to have paid the equivalent of $8,000 and supplied the firearm used in the killing, which took place on 27 January 1989. The hearings were later adjourned amid claims that witnesses were being intimidated on Winnie Mandela's orders. | Who was the woman sentenced to six years in jail after the murder of Stompei Seipi? |
Zimbabwe | The Midlands Province of Zimbabwe includes Gweru and Kwekwe . Gweru is the capital of the province and is the third largest city in Zimbabwe. | In which country are the towns of Gweru and Kwekwe? |
Marcus Garvey | In the early 1920's, Garvey was an influential black spokesman and founder of the "back-to-Africa" movement. He often spoke of the redemption of his people as coming from a future black African king (Magical Blend, June/July 1994, p. 76). On one occasion, Garvey proclaimed, "Look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King, he shall be the Redeemer" (The Rastafarians, p. 67). Only a few years later that prediction would be fulfilled in the person of Ethiopia's king, Haile Selassie. As Barrett has explained, "in the pantheon of the Rastafarians, Marcus Garvey is second only to Haile Selassie" (Ibid). | Who was the founder of the Back to Africa movement who largely inspired Rastafarianism? |
Togo | Togo [1] is a narrow country in West Africa , sandwiched between Ghana on the west and Benin on the east, with a small border with Burkina Faso to the north, and a 56km coastline on the Atlantic Ocean to the south. | Which African country is sandwiched between Ghana and Benin? |
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