World General Knowledge

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 4^th 

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 26^th 

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